{"id":670631,"date":"2026-03-21T12:32:26","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T12:32:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/670631\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T12:32:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T12:32:26","slug":"history-of-4-seeds-vs-13-seeds-in-march-madness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/670631\/","title":{"rendered":"History of 4 seeds vs. 13 seeds in March Madness"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>    Share<\/p>\n<p>            <a id=\"social-share-facebook\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.ncaa.com\/news\/basketball-men\/article\/2026-03-21\/history-4-seeds-vs-13-seeds-march-madness\" data-shareto=\"facebook\" class=\"sharebutton icon-social-facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.ncaa.com\/news\/basketball-men\/article\/2026-03-21\/history-4-seeds-vs-13-seeds-march-madness\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><br \/>\n                <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ncaa.com\/modules\/custom\/casablanca_social\/modules\/casablanca_social_hanger\/img\/social-facebook.svg\" width=\"30px\" height=\"30px\"\/><br \/>\n            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>            <a id=\"social-share-twitter\" data-shareto=\"twitter\" class=\"sharebutton icon-social-twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https:\/\/www.ncaa.com\/news\/basketball-men\/article\/2026-03-21\/history-4-seeds-vs-13-seeds-march-madness\" title=\"Share on X\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><br \/>\n                <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"X\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ncaa.com\/modules\/custom\/casablanca_social\/modules\/casablanca_social_hanger\/img\/social-twitter.svg\" width=\"30px\" height=\"30px\"\/><br \/>\n            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Yale joined the list of No. 13 seeds pulling out upsets in 2024, as the Bulldogs upset No. 4 Auburn 78-76.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s everything you need to know about 13 seeds vs. 4 seeds in March Madness.<\/p>\n<p>History of 13 vs. 4 seeds in March Madness<\/p>\n<p>Thirty-three No. 13 seeds have upset No. 4 seeds since the NCAA tournament field expanded in 1985. Following the first round of the 2025 NCAA tournament, No. 13 seeds\u00a0had a 33-127 record all-time. That equated\u00a0to a 20.63 winning percentage.<\/p>\n<p>Here are all of the times it&#8217;s ever happened.<\/p>\n<p>\t13 seed upsets over 4 seeds<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tYear<br \/>\n\t\t\tResult<br \/>\n\t\t\tScore<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2024<br \/>\n\t\t\tYale def. Auburn<br \/>\n\t\t\t78-76<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2023<br \/>\n\t\t\tFurman def. Virginia<br \/>\n\t\t\t68-67<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2021<br \/>\n\t\t\tOhio def. Virginia<br \/>\n\t\t\t62-58<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2021<br \/>\n\t\t\tNorth Texas def. Purdue<br \/>\n\t\t\t78-69 (OT)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2019<br \/>\n\t\t\tUC Irvine def. Kansas State<br \/>\n\t\t\t70-64<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2018<br \/>\n\t\t\tMarshall def. Wichita State<br \/>\n\t\t\t81-75<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2018<br \/>\n\t\t\tBuffalo def. Arizona<br \/>\n\t\t\t89-69<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2016<br \/>\n\t\t\tHawaii def. California<br \/>\n\t\t\t77-66<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2013<br \/>\n\t\t\tLa Salle def. Kansas State<br \/>\n\t\t\t63-61<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2012<br \/>\n\t\t\tOhio def. Michigan<br \/>\n\t\t\t65-60<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2011<br \/>\n\t\t\tMorehead State def. Louisville<br \/>\n\t\t\t62-61<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2010<br \/>\n\t\t\tMurray State def. Vanderbilt<br \/>\n\t\t\t66-65<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2009<br \/>\n\t\t\tCleveland State def. Wake Forest<br \/>\n\t\t\t84-69<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2008<br \/>\n\t\t\tSan Diego def. UConn<br \/>\n\t\t\t70-69<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2008<br \/>\n\t\t\tSiena def. Vanderbilt<br \/>\n\t\t\t83-62<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2006<br \/>\n\t\t\tBradley def. Kansas<br \/>\n\t\t\t77-73<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2005<br \/>\n\t\t\tVermont def. Syracuse<br \/>\n\t\t\t60-57<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2003<br \/>\n\t\t\tTulsa def. Dayton<br \/>\n\t\t\t84-71<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2002<br \/>\n\t\t\tUNC Wilmington def. USC<br \/>\n\t\t\t93-89<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2001<br \/>\n\t\t\tKent State def. Indiana<br \/>\n\t\t\t77-73<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2001<br \/>\n\t\t\tIndiana State def. Oklahoma<br \/>\n\t\t\t70-68<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1999<br \/>\n\t\t\tOklahoma def. Arizona<br \/>\n\t\t\t61-60<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1998<br \/>\n\t\t\tValparaiso def. Ole Miss<br \/>\n\t\t\t70-69<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1996<br \/>\n\t\t\tPrinceton def. UCLA<br \/>\n\t\t\t43-41<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1995<br \/>\n\t\t\tManhattan def. Oklahoma<br \/>\n\t\t\t77-67<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1993<br \/>\n\t\t\tSouthern def. Georgia Tech<br \/>\n\t\t\t93-78<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1992<br \/>\n\t\t\tSouthwestern Louisiana def. Oklahoma<br \/>\n\t\t\t87-83<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1991<br \/>\n\t\t\tPenn State def. UCLA<br \/>\n\t\t\t74-69<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1989<br \/>\n\t\t\tMiddle Tennessee def. Florida State<br \/>\n\t\t\t97-83<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1988<br \/>\n\t\t\tRichmond def. Indiana<br \/>\n\t\t\t72-69<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1987<br \/>\n\t\t\tXavier def. Missouri<br \/>\n\t\t\t70-69<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1987<br \/>\n\t\t\tMissouri State def. Clemson<br \/>\n\t\t\t65-60<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1985<br \/>\n\t\t\tNavy def. LSU<br \/>\n\t\t\t78-55<\/p>\n<p>Some more tidbits:<\/p>\n<p>\tBasketball legend David Robinson was on the right side of the first 13-4 upset in 1985. Robinson&#8217;s Navy Midshipmen cruised to a 78-55 victory over fourth-seeded LSU in the opening round.<br \/>\n\tOf the 33\u00a0upset victories, six finished in the Sweet 16, starting with Richmond in 1988 and most recently with La Salle in 2013.<br \/>\n\tThe No. 13 seed is 7-2 in games decided by one point.<br \/>\n\tMultiple 13 seeds have upset 4 seeds in five years: 1987, 2001, 2008, 2018 and 2021.<\/p>\n<p>How much more likely is a 13-4 upset than a 14-3 upset?<\/p>\n<p>Twenty-three 14 seeds have upset 3 seeds since 1985, giving them a 23-137 record all-time. That equates to a 14.38 win percentage. Thus, a 13-4 upset is more than 6 percentage points more likely to happen than a 14-3.<\/p>\n<p>Here are all of the times it&#8217;s ever happened.<\/p>\n<p>\tThese are the times a 14 seed upset a 3 seed in men&#8217;s March Madness<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tYear<br \/>\n\t\t\tResult<br \/>\n\t\t\tScore<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2024<br \/>\n\t\t\tOakland def. Kentucky<br \/>\n\t\t\t80-76<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2021<br \/>\n\t\t\tAbilene Christian def. Texas<br \/>\n\t\t\t53-52<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2016<br \/>\n\t\t\tStephen F. Austin def. West Virginia<br \/>\n\t\t\t70-56<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2015<br \/>\n\t\t\tGeorgia State def. Baylor<br \/>\n\t\t\t57-56<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2015<br \/>\n\t\t\tUAB def. Iowa State<br \/>\n\t\t\t60-59<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2014<br \/>\n\t\t\tMercer def. Duke<br \/>\n\t\t\t78-71<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2013<br \/>\n\t\t\tHarvard def. New Mexico<br \/>\n\t\t\t68-62<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2010<br \/>\n\t\t\tOhio def. Georgetown<br \/>\n\t\t\t97-83<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2006<br \/>\n\t\t\tNorthwestern State def. Iowa<br \/>\n\t\t\t64-63<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t2005<br \/>\n\t\t\tBucknell def. Kansas<br \/>\n\t\t\t64-63<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1999<br \/>\n\t\t\tWeber State def. North Carolina<br \/>\n\t\t\t76-74<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1998<br \/>\n\t\t\tRichmond def. South Carolina<br \/>\n\t\t\t62-61<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1997<br \/>\n\t\t\tChattanooga def. Georgia<br \/>\n\t\t\t73-70<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1995<br \/>\n\t\t\tWeber State def. Michigan State<br \/>\n\t\t\t79-72<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1995<br \/>\n\t\t\tOld Dominion def. Villanova<br \/>\n\t\t\t89-81<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1992<br \/>\n\t\t\tETSU def. Arizona<br \/>\n\t\t\t87-80<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1991<br \/>\n\t\t\tXavier def. Nebraska<br \/>\n\t\t\t89-84<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1990<br \/>\n\t\t\tNorthern Iowa def. Missouri<br \/>\n\t\t\t74-71<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1989<br \/>\n\t\t\tSiena def. Stanford<br \/>\n\t\t\t80-78<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1988<br \/>\n\t\t\tMurray State def. NC State<br \/>\n\t\t\t78-75<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1987<br \/>\n\t\t\tAustin Peay def. Illinois<br \/>\n\t\t\t68-67<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1986<br \/>\n\t\t\tArkansas Little-Rock def. Notre Dame<br \/>\n\t\t\t90-83<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t1986<br \/>\n\t\t\tCleveland State def. Indiana<br \/>\n\t\t\t83-79<\/p>\n<p>Recent\/best highlights of 13-4 upsets<\/p>\n<p>One of the most memorable games in NCAA tournament history was a 13-4 upset.<\/p>\n<p>Valparaiso won in dramatic fashion over Ole Miss in 1998. With 2.5 seconds left in the game with a two-point deficit, the Crusaders had one final shot to tie or win.\u00a0Inbounding from the opposite baseline, Jamie Sykes threw an inbounds pass to Bill Jenkins at midcourt, who tapped it to Bryce Drew, who tossed up a desperation 23-foot 3-pointer. The shot went in as time expired to send Valpo to the second round.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And here are some of the most recent 13-4 upsets.<\/p>\n<p>In 2024, Yale rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half to shock Auburn:<\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncaa.com\/video\/basketball-men\/2024-03-22\/auburn-tigers-vs-yale-bulldogs-game-highlights-202421113\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/fe502e54-c9ba-4d68-8d5f-a634d159eecf-1486894-3.png\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Auburn Tigers vs. Yale Bulldogs: Game Highlights<\/p>\n<p>Ohio stunned Virginia in 2021:<\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncaa.com\/video\/basketball-men\/2021-03-20\/mbk-204-ohio-uva-extended-highlights\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2c524a9f-0d87-4481-b7e2-d3d226e9c60b-185350-8.png\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ohio vs. Virginia: Extended highlights from 2021 NCAA Tournament<\/p>\n<p>Also in 2021, North Texas defeated Purdue in OT:<\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncaa.com\/video\/basketball-men\/2021-03-20\/mbk-220-purdue-north-texas-extended-highlights\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/328d3685-2b04-42ca-a2fc-86f105d6fd9a-184773-1.png\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Purdue vs North Texas: Extended highlights from 2021 NCAA tournament <\/p>\n<p>In 2023, Furman shocked Virginia on a late shot:<\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncaa.com\/video\/basketball-men\/2023-03-16\/virginia-cavaliers-vs-furman-paladins-game-highlights-202319134\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/f5e8b030-82d4-45d6-aa9b-4cf64542d9f1-1105401-8.png\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Virginia Cavaliers vs. Furman Paladins: Game Highlights<\/p>\n<p>UC Irvine&#8217;s win over Kansas State in 2019:<\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncaa.com\/video\/basketball-men\/2019-03-22\/mbk-ncaa-tournament-performance-irvine-upset\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20190322_IRVINE_UPSET.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>UC Irvine upsets Kansas State for first tournament win<\/p>\n<p>Hawai&#8217;i&#8217;s first NCAA tournament win ever, which came against California in 2016:<\/p>\n<p>            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncaa.com\/video\/basketball-men\/2016-03-18\/mbk-204-hawaii-california-first-round\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1458334778835-mbk-204-hawaii-california-1920.jpg-371926.1280x720.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>            <\/a><\/p>\n<p>First Round: Hawai&#8217;i upsets Cal<\/p>\n<p>Joe Boozell has been a college basketball writer for NCAA.com since 2015. His work has also appeared in Bleacher Report, FOXSports.com and NBA.com. Joe\u2019s claim to fame since joining NCAA.com: he\u2019s predicted the correct national championship game twice\u2026 and picked the wrong winner both times. Growing up, Joe squared off against both Anthony Davis and Frank Kaminsky in the Chicagoland basketball scene. You can imagine how that went.<\/p>\n<p>The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NCAA or its member institutions.<\/p>\n<p>                                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Utah-State-beats-Villanova.JPG\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                                    History of 9 seeds vs. 8 seeds in March Madness<\/p>\n<p>The 8-9 matchup is, as you&#8217;d expect, the toughest March Madness matchup to pick. Here&#8217;s the history of 8s and 9s in the NCAA tournament.<\/p>\n<p>                                <a class=\"article-related-cta\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncaa.com\/news\/basketball-men\/article\/2026-03-21\/history-9-seeds-vs-8-seeds-march-madness?utm_campaign=article-carousel\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">READ MORE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/mcneese-over-clemson-mbb.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                                    History of 5 seeds vs. 12 seeds in March Madness<\/p>\n<p>The 12-5 upset is one of the most popular March Madness picks each year \u2014 and with good reason. Here&#8217;s the history of 12 seeds vs. 5 seeds in the NCAA tournament. <\/p>\n<p>                                <a class=\"article-related-cta\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncaa.com\/news\/basketball-men\/article\/2026-03-21\/history-5-seeds-vs-12-seeds-march-madness?utm_campaign=article-carousel\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">READ MORE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/oakland-kentucky-2024-ncaa-tournament.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                                    History of 3 seeds vs. 14 seeds in March Madness<\/p>\n<p>The 14-3 March Madness upset is rare, but it happens enough that we shouldn&#8217;t be shocked when it does. Here&#8217;s the history of No. 14 seeds vs. No. 3 seeds in the NCAA tournament.<\/p>\n<p>                                <a class=\"article-related-cta\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ncaa.com\/news\/basketball-men\/article\/2026-03-21\/history-3-seeds-vs-14-seeds-march-madness?utm_campaign=article-carousel\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">READ MORE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                            <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Share Yale joined the list of No. 13 seeds pulling out upsets in 2024, as the Bulldogs upset&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[7,217,7456,85725,354,1400],"class_list":{"0":"post-670631","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-college-basketball","10":"tag-march-madness","11":"tag-march-madness-live","12":"tag-mens-college-basketball","13":"tag-ncaa-tournament"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116267189239114828","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}