What is the highest seed total for a Final Four in March Madness?

As the college basketball calendar winds to a close, March Madness has gifted us a men’s Final Four chock full of plucky underdogs. That raises the question – what is the highest combined seed total for a Final Four?

The NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament has, historically speaking, always been the gift that keeps on giving. This March has been no different, giving us everything from buzzer beaters to a busted whiteboard to a shirtless coach, even the greatest upset in tournament history.

It has also given us plenty of firsts, and there’s no better example to look toward than this season’s Final Four.

For the first time since the 1970 season, three of the four participants in the national semifinals will be making their debut – Florida Atlantic, San Diego State and Miami (FL). As Turner’s Jim Nantz put it so eloquently after the Hurricanes’ win on Sunday, “this tournament is for dreamers.”

A No. 9 seed and a pair of No. 5 seeds reaching the penultimate round illustrates the beauty of the concept that is March Madness. What this Final Four lacks in basketball pedigree (UConn is the only team who has been here before), it makes up for in storylines. Like FAU, who plays in a 2,900-seat arena or Miami winning the region on the anniversary of Jim Larrañaga taking George Mason to the Final Four in 2006.

KTUL reporter TJ Eckert noted on Twitter the combined seed total of these four teams is 23, which is the highest combined total since the 2011 Final Four.

March Madness: Highest seed totals in tournament history

Seeding officially began at the NCAA Tournament for the 1979 season. Since then, there have been five instances which the combined seed totals of the Final Four equaled 20 or higher: 1980, 2000, 2006, 2011 and now 2023.

The 1980 NCAA Tournament is, unofficially, thought of as the first tournament of the modern era. While only 48 teams were invited, that season marked the first time the selection committee handed out multiple at-large bids to the same conference; in prior years, each league was only allowed one at-large. It was also the first time the selection committee employed the ‘S curve’ for competitive balance within the regions.

The 1980 Final Four featured teams like the West Region’s No. 8 seed UCLA, who upended No. 1 seed DePaul en route to the national semifinals. Other seeds such as No. 5 seed Iowa, No. 6 seed Purdue and eventual champions Louisville, a No. 2 seed, also qualified for a combined total of 21.

That tournament became the first of now four instances in which a No. 1 seed did not reach the Final Four.

Twenty years later, another Final Four combined for a seed total of 22 – the 2000 Final Four in Indianapolis.

That season featured a pair of No. 8 seeds, Wisconsin and North Carolina, in the penultimate round. Although that year’s Big Dance was filled with upsets, such as No. 11 seed Pepperdine dispatching Indiana in what proved to be Bob Knight’s last game, it was ultimately a No. 1 seed who took home the title: Michigan State, led by tournament Most Outstanding Player Mateen Cleaves.

The aforementioned 2006 season and 2011 campaign both featured combined seeds of 20-plus. In 2006, No. 11 seed George Mason upset Michigan State, North Carolina and UConn to reach the Final Four. They were joined by a No. 4 seed (LSU), a No. 3 seed (Florida) and a No. 2 seed (UCLA) for a combined seed total of 20.

The wildest season on this list might be 2011. Upsets ruled; a No. 11 seed out of the East Region made the Final Four, four double-digit seeds won games in the Southwest Region and four more double-digit seeds made the Sweet Sixteen. Oh, and the NCAA debuted the First Four that year. Talk about madness.

That year, No. 3 seed UConn, No. 4 seed Kentucky, No. 8 seed Butler and No. 11 seed VCU all hit the hardwood in a familiar place: Houston, Texas, home of this year’s Final Four. Other than location, this year’s Final Four shares another similarity with the one 12 years ago – this year marks the first time since 2011 two of the four have come from non-major conferences.

The 2011 campaign still holds the record for the highest combined seed total in NCAA Tournament history, with its final quartet of teams combining for a total of 26.

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