It's always tempting to go "chalk" with your March Madness men's bracket picks and to choose multiple No. 1 seeds to reach the Final Four, but just how many top seeds should you pick to reach the Final Four this year?
All four No. 1 seeds have made the Final Four just once, so it would be wise to predict that at least one of this year's No. 1 seeds gets tripped up before then.
Of course, there is no perfect formula to calculate which teams or seeds will advance to the Final Four — just look back at the 2008 NCAA tournament (all four No. 1 seeds advanced) and the 2011 NCAA tournament (teams seeded No. 3, 4, 8 and 11 made it). Or even 2023, when the Final Four had No. 4, No. 5, No. 5 and No. 9 seeds.
However, history tells us you should *probably* pick two No. 1 seeds to reach the Final Four if you're looking for a cut-and-dried rule regarding top seeds.
Here's a breakdown of how many No. 1 seeds have made the Final Four since the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
| Number of No. 1 seeds to make Final Four | Frequency | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 1 | 2.63% |
| 3 | 4 | 10.53% |
| 2 | 14 | 36.84% |
| 1 | 16 | 42.11% |
| 0 | 3 | 7.89% |
If you pick two No. 1 seeds to make the Final Four and only one No. 1 seed makes it, you have a 50 percent chance of picking the right team. If multiple top seeds advance to the Final Four, your chances are even better of picking the right teams. On average, around 1.6 No. 1 seeds make the Final Four each NCAA tournament. While the most common occurrence is only one No. 1 seed making the Final Four (16 of the 38 years since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985), two or more No. 1 seeds have made the Final Four in 19 NCAA tournaments. For that reason, it's better to error on the side of picking perhaps one too many No. 1 seeds than one too few.
So, if choosing two No. 1 seeds is the best option based on historical averages, what should you do with your other two Final Four picks?
A No. 2 seed has made the Final Four 32 times in the 38 years of there has been a 64- or 68-team tournament, which is almost once per year on average. Pick a No. 2 seed.
With the fourth team, take a flier on a team seeded as a No. 3 or lower. As a reminder, at least one team seeded seventh or lower has made the Final Four in nine of the last 10 NCAA tournaments.
| Seed | Number of Final Four Appearances |
|---|---|
| No. 1 | 60 |
| No. 2 | 32 |
| No. 3 | 17 |
| No. 4 | 14 |
| No. 5 | 9 |
| No. 6 | 3 |
| No. 7 | 3 |
| No. 8 | 6 |
| No. 9 | 2 |
| No. 10 | 1 |
| No. 11 | 5 |
Whether you decide to pick one No. 1 seed or two top seeds to make it to the Final Four, it's definitely worth picking at least three teams that are a top-three seed in their region. On 16 occasions, exactly three of the four teams that made the Final Four were a top-three seed. And in 11 other seasons, all four Final Four teams were a top-three seed, so more than 70 percent of the time, at least three teams in the Final Four have been a No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3 seed.
