March Madness: Getting to know the No. 16 seed in the NCAA tournament

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*Note: All data is from the 1985 tournament to the present.

The history of the 16 seed is well-documented: No wins in 128 games against a 1 seed in the history of the men’s tournament. But that doesn’t mean there weren't great performances or close games that pushed the envelope of history.

While the average margin for a 1 vs. 16 game in the NCAA tournament is 25.1 points, 15 games have been decided by fewer than 10 points. And in 1989, two 16 seeds took their opponents to the brink of defeat, as East Tennessee State and Princeton both led their opponents at halftime. However, ETSU failed to put away Oklahoma, who came back from 17 points down to win, 72-71, and Princeton narrowly lost to Georgetown, 50-49.

RELATED: Have 1 seed vs. 16 seed games been getting closer?

Oklahoma trimmed ETSU’s double-digit lead in the first half to six at halftime, and a go-ahead score by Mookie Blaylock with 1:21 left in the game pushed the Sooners past the Buccaneers on March 16, 1989. One day later, again history was almost shattered, as Princeton had two chances to win its opening round game over Georgetown before center Alonzo Mourning blocked last-second shots by Bob Scrabis and Kit Mueller to preserve the victory for the Hoyas.



One year later, a 16 seed took a 1 seed to overtime for the first time in tournament history, as Murray State’s Greg Coble hit a 3-pointer late in the game to tie Michigan State 65-65 before the Spartans eventually won in overtime.

Year
Winner
Loser
Score
1985
Michigan
Fairleigh Dickinson
59-55
1989
Oklahoma
East Tennessee State
72-71
1989
Georgetown
Princeton
72-71
1990
Michigan State
Murray State
75-71
1996
Purdue
Western Michigan
73-71



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