For only the third time since 1979 (when the NCAA when to a seeded format in its mens basketball tournament) two teams seeded seventh or lower have made it to the Final Four. Seventh seed UConn  and eighth seed Kentucky become the third set of teams seeded seventh or lower to both make the Final Four. The other two instances:

2011: Butler (8th seed) and VCU (11th seed)

2000: North Carolina (8th seed) and Wisconsin (8th seed)

Of the four teams above, only Butler was able to make it to the championship game.

Kentucky, as a #8 seed, becomes the 11th team since 1979 to make it to the Final Four as an eighth seed or worse. The others:

8th seeds to make Final Four: UCLA (1980), Villanova (1985), North Carolina (2000), Wisconsin (2000), Butler (2011)
9th seeds to make Final Four: Penn (1979), Wichita State (2013)
11th seeds to make Final Four: LSU (1986), George Mason (2006), VCU (2011)

Let’s take it a step further. UConn and Kentucky become the 25th and 26th teams since 1979 seeded as fifth seeds or worse to make the Final Four. Of the 24 teams prior to this year’s pair, only nine of those teams made it to the Final Four championship game. Here are the nine teams prior to this year that were seeded fifth or lower that made it to the Final Four championship game. (* indicates they won the championship)

1980: UCLA (8th seed)
1983: North Carolina State (6th seed)*
1985: Villanova (8th seed)*
1988: Kansas (6th seed)*
1992: Michigan (6th seed)
2000: Florida (5th seed)
2002: Indiana (5th seed)
2010: Butler (5th seed)
2011: Butler (8th seed)

Teams seeded fifth or worse are 12-21 in Final Four games since 1979.

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