In the Final Four for 2023, there are firsts galore. Three schools are making their first-ever appearances, and it’s the first time in history no team ranked better than No. 4 reached the Final Four, plus even more.
Firsts abound in the 2023 NCAA Final Four
The 2023 Final Four is a shocker, marking the first time in history no team ranking higher than No. 4 reached the finals, Sports Illustrated reported.
All the No. 1 seeds are absent: Alabama, Houston, Kansas, and Purdue.
All the No. 2 seeds are absent: Arizona, Marquette, Texas, and UCLA.
All the No. 3 seeds are absent: Baylor, Gonzaga, Kansas State, and Xavier.
For the first time since 1970, three schools are making their first-ever appearance in the Final Four: San Diego State University (No. 5 seed), Miami (No. 5 seed), and Florida Atlantic (No. 9 seed), CNN reported.
The Final Four
The Final Four are:
1. UConn Huskies (4-seed). Path to the Final Four: 87-63 vs. 13-seed Iona (1st round); 70-55 vs. 5-seed Saint Mary’s (2nd round); 88-65 vs. 8-seed Arkansas (Sweet 16); 82-54 vs. 3-seed Gonzaga (Elite 8).
2. Miami Hurricanes (5-seed). Path to the Final Four: 63-56 vs. 12-seed Drake (1st round); 85-69 vs. 4-seed Indiana (2nd round); 89-75 vs. 1-seed Houston (Sweet 16); 88-81 vs. 2-seed Texas (Elite 8)
3. San Diego State Aztecs (5-seed). Path to the Final Four: 63-57 vs. 12-seed Charleston (1st round); 75-52 vs. 13-seed Furman (2nd round); 71-64 vs. 1-seed Alabama (Sweet 16); 57-56 vs. 6-seed Creighton (Elite 8)
4. Florida Atlantic Owls (9-seed). Path to the Final Four: 66-65 vs. 8-seed Memphis (1st round); 78-70 vs. 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson (2nd round); 62-55 vs. 4-seed Tennessee (Sweet 16); 79-76 vs. 3-seed Kansas State (Elite 8)
No matter what happens on Saturday, April 1, all four teams have made basketball history, ESPN reported.
The Miami Hurricanes will play against the UConn Huskies in Houston, Texas, on Saturday, April 1.
The San Diego State University Aztecs will play against the Florida Atlantic Owls in Houston, Texas, on Saturday, April 1.
6 people predicted every Final Four team correctly
Chalk it up to luck, knowledge of the game, or psychic ability, but six people managed to correctly predict every Final Four team. With three schools making their first final four appearances ever, there was some heavy-duty prescience happening there! Statistically, only about 1 in every 600,000 brackets predicted the final four correctly, NCAA reports on the result of their men’s bracket challenge game.
