March 24, 2005
By
CSTV.com
Every Tom, Dick and Harry is giving you an analysis of this weekend's NCAA Tournament action. Who will win? Why? Will it be the greatest Final Four field ever? Xs and Os. Blah blah blah.
I'm here today to blow everyone's analysis out of the water and render it moot.
You see, I can look at the teams in the Sweet 16, take their seeds, and, with just the use of the history of Final Four, tell you who will win this weekend. It is all scientific, really.
The sample I will draw my information from starts with the 1979 Final Four, the first one that used the seeding method. But, there is one anomaly in the Final Four since 1979: in 1980, there were no No. 1 seeds. That is the only time it has ever happened, so for the purpose of this exercise, that year is being excluded.
Okay. Now that we have the technicalities out of the way, let's get down to business ...
Here are the teams remaining (not that anyone needs reminding):
Austin Regional: Duke,
· There has never been a Final Four with four No. 1 seeds. One must lose.
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· No 10 seed or 12 seed has ever made the Final Four.
· There has never been a year where the seeds were all even numbers or odd numbers; it has always been a combination. Put this one aside for later and we'll see if we need it.
· The last team not currently in one of the seven power conferences to make a Final Four with a seeding higher than No. 4? Penn back in 1979. See U later,
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· The last time two teams from the same conference with seeds higher than No. 4 made it to the Final Four? 1980. And since that year is thrown out, it becomes never.
· 1980 was also the only year a No. 5 and No. 6 made the Final Four the same year. We have our No. 5, so sixth-seeded Texas Tech is officially eliminated.
Let's take a break to see where we stand:
In:
Still Alive:
· Whenever a No. 5 seed has made the Final Four, there has never been a higher odd number seed. No. 7 isn't so lucky after all for
· Only one Big East team has ever gone to the Final Four as a No. 4 seed -
· One team still to be decided. But, there has never been a No. 2, 4, 5 seeding combination in the Final Four. We've got a 4 and 5, so we can't have a 2. That means no return trip this year for Oklahoma State.
So there you have it. It will be a Final Four of Illinois,
Why? Because the numbers say so.
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