March Madness Best Performance By Seed
Every team that participates in March Madness is assigned a seed, ranging from one through sixteen. Teams with lower seeds (one, two, three) are considered the best teams, while teams seeded higher (16, 15, 14) are considered to be the least likely to win the tournament. Teams are judged and assigned a seed by the NCAA Selection Committee based on multiple criteria, including their regular season record, strength of schedule, wins against top teams, and more.
Best Performance by Seed in March Madness
Below are the best performances in March Madness by lower ranked seeds.
Best Performance by 16-Seed
- UMBC: 2nd Round (2018)
Best Performance by 15-Seed
- Saint Peter's: Elite Eight (2022)
- Florida Gulf Coast: Sweet Sixteen (2013)
- Oral Roberts: Sweet Sixteen (2021)
- Richmond: 2nd Round (1991)
- Santa Clara: 2nd Round (1993)
- Coppin State: 2nd Round (1997)
- Hampton: 2nd Round (2001)
- Norfolk State: 2nd Round (2012)
- Lehigh: 2nd Round (2012)
- Middle Tennessee: 2nd Round (2016)
Best Performance by 14-Seed
- Cleveland State: Sweet Sixteen (1986)
- Chattanooga: Sweet Sixteen (1997)
Best Performance by 13-Seed
- Richmond: Sweet Sixteen (1988)
- Valparaiso: Sweet Sixteen (1998)
- Oklahoma: Sweet Sixteen (1999)
- Bradley: Sweet Sixteen (2006)
- Ohio: Sweet Sixteen (2012)
- La Salle: Sweet Sixteen (2013)
Best Performance by 12-Seed
- Missouri: Elite Eight (2002)
- Oregon State: Elite Eight (2021)
Best Performance by 11-Seed
- LSU: Final Four (1986)
- George Mason: Final Four (2006)
- VCU: Final Four (2011)
- Loyola Chicago: Final Four (2018)
- UCLA: Final Four (2021)
- Loyola Marymount: Elite Eight (1990)
- Temple: Elite Eight (2001)
- Dayton: Elite Eight (2014)
- Xavier: Elite Eight (2017)
Best Performance by 10-Seed
- Syracuse: Final Four (2016)
- LSU: Elite Eight (1987)
- Texas: Elite Eight (1990)
- Temple: Elite Eight (1991)
- Providence: Elite Eight (1997)
- Gonzaga: Elite Eight (1999)
- Kent State: Elite Eight (2002)
- Davidson: Elite Eight (2008)
- Miami (FL): Elite Eight (2022)
Best Performance by 9-Seed
- Wichita State: Final Four (2013)
- Boston College: Elite Eight (1994)
- Kansas State: Elite Eight (2018)
- Florida State: Elite Eight (2018)
- UTEP: Sweet Sixteen (1992)
- UAB: Sweet Sixteen (2004)
- Northern Iowa: Sweet Sixteen (2010)
Best Performance by 8-Seed
- Villanova: National Champion (1985)
- Butler: Championship Game (2011)
- Kentucky: Championship Game (2014)
- North Carolina: Championship Game (2022)
- North Carolina: Final Four (2000)
- Wisconsin: Final Four (2000)
- Auburn: Elite Eight (1986)
- Rhode Island: Elite Eight (1998)
- Alabama: Elite Eight (2004)
- North Carolina: Sweet Sixteen (1990)
- Georgia: Sweet Sixteen (1996)
- UCLA: Sweet Sixteen (2002)
- NC State: Sweet Sixteen (2015)
- Wisconsin: Sweet Sixteen (2017)
- Loyola Chicago: Sweet Sixteen (2021)
Best Performance by 7-Seed
- UConn: National Champion (2014)
- Michigan State: Final Four (2015)
- South Carolina: Final Four (2017)
- Navy: Elite Eight (1986)
- Temple: Elite Eight (1993)
- Tulsa: Elite Eight (2000)
- Michigan State: Elite Eight (2003)
- Xavier: Elite Eight (2004)
- West Virginia: Elite Eight (2005)
- Florida: Elite Eight (2012)