Chris "The Bear" Fallica's March Madness, bracket bustin' nuggets to know
Everyone loves March Madness and filling out their tournament bracket.
Matchups certainly matter, but history matters, too.
The teams might change, but the types of teams remain the same.
Anyway, here are some bracket and team tidbits to keep in mind when you fill out your NCAA Tournament bracket.
Picking the 1-seeds
Yes, the 1-seeds look strong. However, only once since expansion in 1985 have we seen all four 1-seeds reach the Final Four — that happened in 2008. In other words, picking all four 1-seeds to reach the Final Four isn’t the most prudent thing one can do. In 39 Final Fours since 1985, 33 times we’ve seen one or two 1-seeds make it. As mentioned, all four made it once. None made it one time, one made it 17 times, two have made it 16 times and three have made it four times.
Seeds at the Final Four since 2010
No. 1 seeds — 18
No. 2 seeds — 10
No. 3 seeds — 4
No. 4 seeds — 6
No. 5 seeds — 5
No. 7 seeds — 3
No. 8 seeds — 3
No. 9 seeds — 2
No. 10 seeds — 1
No. 11 seeds — 4
In fact, it’s not even wise to pick all 1s and 2s to reach the Elite Eight. It's never happened in the expansion era, and only once has seven of the eight top-2 seeds reached the Tournament quarterfinals. Only once in the last 14 years have all four 1-seeds reached the Elite Eight (2006), and 2007 was the last time more than two No. 2 seeds made it. In each of the last four Elite Eights — and seven of the last eight — at least two teams seeded sixth or worse have reached the quarters. Maybe chalk will win out this year, but history suggests that will not be the