UnderdogMindset

Lowest seed to win March Madness

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Posted: Mar 12, 2023 Updated: Aug 25, 2023
CBB Lowest seed March Madness Worst Odds

The lowest-seeded team to ever win the NCAA national basketball championship was 8-seed Villanova in 1985. The Villanova Wildcats beat the 9.5-point favorite Georgetown Hoyas in the largest NCAA national championship game upset then. At the time, the John Thompson and Patrick Ewing-led Hoyas were considered among the best teams ever. They had already beaten the Wildcats twice that season. Yet, in the end, Villanova prevailed 66-64 to win its first championship.

References

  • To win it all in 1985, Villanova had to do what it couldn't all season

    Neither factor applied to the 1984-85 Villanova men's basketball team. The Wildcats entered the tournament unranked, off a loss, and snakebitten by two of the favorites to win it all. To win the national championship, the Wildcats had to go through some of the best programs of their time. It's what makes Villanova's first national championship so special - and improbable - even 35 years later.

  • Villanova vs. Georgetown, 1985: Seven things you didn't know about Wildcats' 'Perfect Game' upset

    Now 35 years later, Villanova’s 66-64 victory over Georgetown remains one of the most famous college basketball games ever played. The Wildcats and Hoyas both were members of the Big East and had met twice before that season, with the Hoyas winning both times. Villanova entered as a No. 8 seed and expected little from its tournament appearance given a regular season that concluded with a massively disappointing performance in an 85-62 loss at Pitt and a record that stood at 19-10 after a two-game appearance at the Big East Tournament.

  • The Perfect Game

    VILLANOVA'S HISTORIC UPSET OF GEORGETOWN in the 1985 NCAA championship game remains one of college basketball’s most memorable and compelling moments.

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