How 10 Seeds do in the NCAA's Men's Basketball Tournament

The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament involves 64 teams seeded from 1 to 16 in each quarter of the bracket. 10 seeds come into the Tournament without much fanfare but are still often dangerous teams capable of a run to the second weekend.

No team has ever pulled off the upset of winning the Tournament after entering as a 10 seed. Eight 10 seeds have advanced to the Elite Eight, but the most recent of them – Syracuse – became the only one to advance to the Final Four in 2016. The second-most recent was Davidson in 2008, who went on an iconic tournament run with Steph Curry before falling 57-59 to a top-seeded Kansas team that went on to win the championship themselves.

Dating back to 1985, 10 seeds have a 58-90 record against 7 seeds in the opening round. That amounts to slightly under 40 percent.

1999 is the only instance where all four NCAA Tournament 10 seeds advanced to the second round
1993 and 2007 are the only years where all four 10 seeds made first-round exits.

NCAA Tournament 10 seeds figure to be underdogs in far more of their games than not. Even so, they’re quality programs with a history of pulling off upsets. Keep an eye on 10 seeds this year as a deep run is not without precedent.