3 #12 Seeds Upset #5 Seeds as the 2009 March Madness Tournament Begins

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

Fourteen top-four seeded teams made it to the Sweet 16 and three #12 seeds upset #5 seeds during the first two rounds of the 2009 NCAA Basketball Tournament March 19-22.

Advancing to the Sweet 16 to continue their March Madness bids were #1 seeds Pittsburgh, Connecticut, North Carolina and Louisville, #2 seeds Duke, Memphis, Oklahoma and Michigan State, #3 seeds Villanova, Missouri, Syracuse and Kansas, and #4 seeds Xavier and Gonzaga. Only #4 seed Wake Forest was eliminated by #13 Cleveland State and #4 seed Washington was eliminated by #5 seed Purdue.

The three #12 seeds that pulled off upsets of #5 seeds included Wisconsin over Florida State, Western Kentucky over Illinois and Arizona over Utah. Other upsets included #11 Dayton over #6 West Virginia, and #10 Michigan over #7 LSU. Only one game went into overtime as #9 Siena eliminated #8 Ohio State in double overtime.

There were two horrific blowouts as #1 Connecticut swamped poor #16 Chattanooga by 56 points, 103-47, and #1 North Carolina made short work of #16 Radford by 43 points, 101-58. Connecticut ripped #9 Texas A&M by 26 (92-66) in its second contest.

Besides Siena's double overtime win over Ohio State, 6 other teams won games by a basket or less. They included Wisconsin, UCLA, Oklahoma State, Marquette, Purdue and Gonzaga. Only Purdue would make it to the Sweet 16.

Only one double digit seed--#12 Arizona—would make it into the Sweet 16. When you add up all 16 seeding spots, the total of 49 set a record for the lowest ever, besting the prior record of 50 set in 1989.

The place top-seeded teams fared worst this year was the Midwest Regional which saw #4 Wake Forest, #5 Utah, #6 West Virginia, #7 Boston College and #8 Ohio State get eliminated in their first game.

The Big East became this year's elite conference with an NCAA-record 5 teams among the final Sweet 16: Louisville, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Villanova and Syracuse. North Carolina also tied Kentucky for the most NCAA tournament victories (98) with its win over LSU.

Here are the 2009 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Regional Semifinal Match-Ups:

East Regional:

#1 Pittsburgh versus #4 Xavier - Thursday, March 26

#2 Duke versus #3 Villanova - Thursday, March 26

West Regional:

#1 Connecticut versus #5 Purdue - Thursday, March 26

#2 Memphis versus #3 Missouri - Thursday, March 26

South Regional:

#1 North Carolina versus #4 Gonzaga - Friday, March 27

#2 Oklahoma versus #3 Syracuse - Friday, March 27

Midwest Regional:

#1 Louisville versus #12 Arizona - Friday, March 27

#2 Michigan State versus #3 Kansas - Friday, March 27

So who will make it to the Elite 8?

Consider these cold, hard historical facts:

1) When you know that no team less than a #4 seed has won the championship for 20 straight years, you might want to eliminate #5 Purdue and #12 Arizona.

That leaves #1 seeds Pittsburgh, Connecticut, North Carolina and Louisville, #2 seeds Duke, Memphis, Oklahoma and Michigan State, #3 seeds Villanova, Missouri, Syracuse, and Kansas, and #4 seeds Xavier and Gonzaga.

2) Only three of the #1 seeds are likely to advance to the Final 4 since only 70% of #1 seeds advance into the Elite 8. The odds say that either Pittsburgh, Connecticut, North Carolina or Louisville will not make it among the Elite 8.

3) Amazingly, only one or two of the #1 seeds have made it to the Final 4 in 18 of the last 24 years. Last year was an exception as ALL four #1 seeds made it into the Final 4 for the first time ever.

Morehead State eliminated Alabama State 58-43 in the play-in game for the 64th slot in the tournament.

Here are the 2009 NCAA Tournament First Round Results:

East Regional:

#1 Pittsburgh eliminated #16 East Tennessee State 72-62

#2 Duke eliminated #15 Binghamton 86-62

#3 Villanova eliminated #14 American University 80-67

#4 Xavier eliminated #13 Portland State 77-59

#12 Wisconsin upset #5 Florida State 61-59

#6 UCLA eliminated #11 Virginia Commonwealth 65-64

#7 Texas eliminated #10 Minnesota 76-62

#8 Oklahoma State eliminated #9 Tennessee 77-75

West Regional:

#1 Connecticut eliminated #16 Chattanooga 103-47

#2 Memphis eliminated #15 Cal State Northridge 81-70

#3 Missouri eliminated #14 Cornell 78-59

#4 Washington eliminated #13 Mississippi State 71-58

#5 Purdue eliminated #12 Northern Iowa 61-56

#6 Marquette eliminated #11 Utah State 58-57

#7 California eliminated #10 Maryland 84-71

#9 Texas A&M eliminated #8 Brigham Young 79-66

South Regional:

#1 North Carolina eliminated #16 Radford 101-58

#2 Oklahoma eliminated #15 Morgan State 82-54

#3 Syracuse eliminated #14 Stephen F. Austin 59-44

#4 Gonzaga eliminated #13 Akron 77-64

#12 Western Kentucky upset #5 Illinois 76-72

#6 Arizona State eliminated #11 Temple 66-57

#10 Michigan upset #7 LSU 62-59

#8 LSU eliminated #9 Butler 75-71

Midwest Regional:

#1 Louisville eliminated #16 Morehead State 74-54

#2 Michigan State eliminated #15 Robert Morris 77-62

#3 Kansas eliminated #14 North Dakota State 84-74

#13 Cleveland State upset #4 Wake Forest 84-69

#12 Arizona upset #5 Utah 84-71

#11 Dayton upset #6 West Virginia 68-60

#10 Southern California eliminated #7 Boston College 72-55

#9 Siena eliminated #8 Ohio State 74-72 in Double Overtime

Here are the 2009 NCAA Tournament Second Round Results:

East Regional:

#1 Pittsburgh eliminated #8 Oklahoma State 84-76

#2 Duke eliminated #7 Texas 74-69

#3 Villanova eliminated #6 UCLA 89-69

#4 Xavier eliminated #12 Wisconsin 60-49

West Regional:

#1 Connecticut eliminated #9 Texas A&M 92-66

#2 Memphis eliminated #10 Maryland 89-70

#3 Missouri eliminated #6 Marquette 83-79

#5 Purdue eliminated #4 Washington 76-74

South Regional:

#1 North Carolina eliminated #8 LSU 84-70

#2 Oklahoma eliminated #10 Michigan 73-63

#3 Syracuse eliminated #6 Arizona State 78-67

#4 Gonzaga eliminated #12 Western Kentucky 83-81

Midwest Regional:

#1 Louisville eliminated #9 Siena 79-72

#2 Michigan State eliminated #10 Southern California 74-69

#3 Kansas eliminated #11 Dayton 60-43

#12 Arizona eliminated #13 Cleveland State 71-57