Last season, No. 2 seed Houston made the Final Four and the 2019 NCAA Tournament saw No. 2 seeds reach greater heights than they had, at least collectively, in the previous two tournaments. Every No. 2 seed in 2019 — Michigan State, Michigan, Tennessee and Kentucky — made the Sweet 16.
Two made the Elite Eight and the Spartans made the Final Four. Only one of those No. 2 seeds won by single digits in the second round — Tennessee.
In the 2018 NCAA Tournament, No. 2 seeds Cincinnati and North Carolina lost in the second round. A third, Purdue, lost in the Sweet 16. The 2017 NCAA Tournament saw a similar level of shortcoming from the No. 2 seeds with two losing in the second round and one dropping a game in the Sweet 16.
Swap 2017's Duke and Louisville for 2018's Cincinnati and North Carolina, 2017's Arizona for 2018's Purdue and 2017's Kentucky for 2018's Duke and the story you read seems all too familiar.
All this goes to show you: there’s no certainty when it comes to the No. 2 seed.
The 1991 Syracuse team learned that lesson quickly. The Orange suffered a 73-69 loss to No. 15 seed Richmond, which was the first time ever a No. 15 seed sent a No. 2 seed home.
Before the Spiders’ upset, the No. 2 seeds didn’t have much trouble defeating the No. 15 seeds. From the expansion to 64 teams in 1985 until the Syracuse upset, only four games had been decided by eight points or fewer:
| Year | Winner | Loser | Score | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Georgia Tech |
Mercer | 65-58 | 7 |
| 1986 | Michigan | Akron | 70-64 | 6 |
| 1987 | Syracuse | Georgia Southern |
79-73 | 6 |
| 1990 | Kansas | Robert Morris |
79-71 | 8 |
But the Orange's loss in 1991 showed that perhaps beating a No. 2 seed wasn't as far-fetched as first thought.
Three more upsets occurred in 1993, 1997 and 2001 before No. 2 seeds went undefeated against No. 15 seeds for the next 11 years.
All in all, No. 2 seeds have lost only nine games in the opening round, most recently Ohio State in 2021, when the Buckeyes lost to Oral Roberts in overtime, 75-72. However, three of those losses happened in back-to-back years with both Duke and Missouri in 2012, and Georgetown in 2013.
The Blue Devils have the most appearances in the No. 2 seed spot with 10. The 2012 NCAA Tournament loss to Lehigh has been the Blue Devils' only setback, although in 1997 and 2008, Duke survived Murray State and Belmont, respectively, by a combined four points.
More No. 2 seeds have been knocked out in the Round of 32 — 44 of the 135 first-round winners, most recently Iowa in 2021 — than any other round in the tournament, but five different No. 2 seeds have won a national championship: 1986 Louisville, 1991 Duke, 1998 Kentucky, 2004 Connecticut and 2016 Villanova.
*Note: All data is from the 1985 NCAA Tournament to the present.
