March Madness Betting Trends To Keep In Mind This Year

In 2014, the Connecticut Huskies were the first #7 seed to ever win the NCAA tournament. (Photo credit: joedelrusso / Foter / CC BY-SA)


We all love March Madness Cinderella stories.

Every year, there are upsets that make you scratch your head, curse at your March Madness picks and tear up your NCAA tournament brackets.

But did you know some upsets are more common than others, and some have never been done before?

We don’t recommend making a bet just because something similar took place in the past. But as the saying goes, ‘Let the trend be your friend.’

Here are some March Madness betting trends about NCAA tournament seeds that might help you when filling out your bracket or making your March Madness picks this year:

March Madness Betting Trends (as of 2017)

  • No. 1 seeds are 128-0 all-time against No. 16 seeds. The closest a No. 16 seed came to upsetting a No. 1 seed was in 1996, when Western Carolina lost 73-71 to Purdue.
  • No. 1 seeds are 19-0 all-time against No. 12 seeds.
  • Only one team seeded No. 7, No. 9 or No. 10 has ever reached the championship game (No. 7 Connecticut, which won the 2014 title).
  • Only one time have all four No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four in one tournament. That took place in 2008, when UCLA, Kansas, Memphis and North Carolina all made the semifinals.
  • No. 1 seeds are 111-17 all-time in the Round of 32 (the second round). In 2012, all four No. 1 seeds reached the Sweet 16 and three of four made it through to the Elite Eight. In 2016, all four No. 1 seeds reached the Elite Eight, but just one of them advanced to the Final Four.
  • Just three times have there been no No. 1 seeds in the Final Four (1980, 2006, 2011).
  • Two No. 6 seeds have won the NCAA tournament, none in the last 28 years.
  • Only one No. 4 seed has ever won the NCAA tournament.
  • A No. 11 seed has reached the Final Four three times, including George Mason in 2006 and VCU in 2011.
  • A No. 5 seed has reached the national championship game on two occasions (Florida in 2000, Indiana in 2002). Neither team won the final.
  • The lowest-ever seed to win the NCAA championship was No. 8, when Villanova claimed the title in 1985.
  • A No. 1 seed has won the NCAA championship 19 times, including 7 of the last 11 years.
  • Since 1979, only five teams seeded lower than No. 3 have won the NCAA championship.
  • No. 11 seeds are 3-3 alltime against No. 1 seeds.
  • No. 12 seeds have won more than a third of the alltime meetings with No. 5 seeds in the first round, going 46-82. Oregon, Mississippi and California all won as No. 12 seeds in 2013, and Stephen F. Austin, Harvard and North Dakota State won in 2014.
  • No. 1 seeds are 65-7 alltime against No. 9 seeds.
  • No. 8 seeds are 80-72 alltime against No. 9 seeds.