March Madness gets more extreme as final No 1 seeds tumble out

March has gone from madness to unprecedented. With Miami’s win over Houston and San Diego State’s takedown of Alabama on Friday night, the men’s NCAA Tournament will not have a No 1 seed in the Elite Eight for the first time since seeding began in 1979.

“There’s not a lot of difference between the best team in the country and the worst team in the country,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said. “You’re seeing that on this stage.”

Purdue, Kansas, Houston and Alabama are all gone, ensuring the Final Four will not have a No 1 team for the first time since 2011 and for the third time overall. The four teams deemed by the NCAA to be the best in the country combined to win five tournament games this year, the fewest by No 1 seeds since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

The fewest combined No 1-2 seeds in the Elite Eight before this year was two, something that had happened on three occasions.

“It’s a lot of really good programs in the country that have lost – I mean, we could go down the list of them,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “That’s what makes the NCAA Tournament the NCAA Tournament. They’re all good teams.”

The madness started in the opening round of the East Region, when fairytale Fairleigh Dickinson wrecked brackets around the world by becoming the second No 16 seed to beat a No 1. It was goodbye, Purdue.

Arkansas were the next giant killers, taking down reigning national champion and West Region No 1 seed Kansas in the second round.

The Sweet 16 turned sour on Friday for Alabama, the bracket’s No 1 overall seed. The Crimson Tide were no match for Dutcher’s ball-and-body-hawking San Diego State Aztecs in a 71-64 South Region loss in Louisville, Kentucky.

Miami capped the No 1 carnage in the Midwest Region