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Has a No. 16 seed ever made the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament?

We go over how often a 16-seed has made it to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament

By Grace McDermott
UMBC Retrievers forward Arkel Lamar and guard Jourdan Grant celebrates during the second half against the Virginia Cavaliers in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at Spectrum Center Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

The No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson Knights are headed to the round of 32, where they will face the No. 9 Florida Atlantic Owls on Sunday. They have the chance to become the first ever No. 16 seed to reach the Sweet 16 in tournament history this week.

History of 16 seeds in Sweet 16 of NCAA Tournament

On Friday, the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights became just the second ever No. 16 seed to win a non-First Four tournament game. This upset was particularly surprising, as the Knights were the 68th seed of the field of 68. They took down No. 1 Purdue, 63-58, following in the footsteps of the No. 16 UMBC Retrievers.

UMBC made history in 2018, not just beating that year’s No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers but blowing them out by 20 points. But they went on to lose to the No. 9 Kansas State Wildcats in the second round, 50-43.

So as of yet, no No. 16 seed has ever made it to a regional semifinal.

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