- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
Okay, I know this is a little bit geeky, but I looked up the cumulative seeds in the final four, going back to 1979. During that time, the average cumulative seeding of the final four was about 10.6. Last year it was 11, slightly above the average, but the previous four years were 8, 9, 9, and 7. 2000 had the highest total, 22 (1, 5, 8, & 8) but the second highest was way back in 1980 with 21. 1980 was also the only year with no #1 seeds in the final four.
This year, the Atlanta bracket will send either a 2 or a 4, and the Oakland bracket will send either a 1 or a 2.
There may be a certain amount of parity affecting the first two rounds (I haven't checked that out), but the effect doesn't appear to reach to the Final Four.
