How many times have multiple 1 seeds lost before Sweet 16? Purdue, Kansas add to March Madness history of early exits

You’re no longer the loneliest number at the 2023 NCAA tournament.

Purdue and Sporting News’ Player of the Year Zach Edey both went toothless in the second half of their game against Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday, suffering just the second loss to a 16-seeded player in March Madness history. FDU accomplished this by double matching Edey and challenging someone. everyone, otherwise to score. The Boilermakers didn’t rise to the challenge in their 63-58 loss.

It seemed like the Boilermakers would be the only 1 seed not progressing further in March Madness. But Matt Painter’s team didn’t have to wait long for the arrival of miserable company: Kansas, the top seed in the West Region.

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The Jayhawks, without Bill Self, fell 72-71 to 8-seed Arkansas in the second round on Saturday. While the loss was arguably “better” considering it was a Razorbacks team that made the Elite Eight in 2022, it wasn’t any less painful. Big 12 Player of the Year Jalen Wilson accidentally benched a free throw in the closing moments of the game, essentially ending his team’s NCAA tournament hopes. Seconds later, Kansas became the second 1-seed to lose in the opening weekend.

The 2023 NCAA tournament has already seen incredible games. Along with the eliminations of Purdue and Kansas, 15-seeded Princeton and 13-seeded Furman sent home 2-seeded Arizona and 4-seeded Virginia, respectively. The Tigers later became the fourth 15 seed to advance to the Sweet 16.

But the elimination of two 1-seeded players at this stage of the NCAA tournament is one of the rarer occurrences in March Madness history — even in tournaments like this one, where the excitement was widespread.

BENDER: Misery has company: Purdue has left to deal with the shock of the NCAA tournament’s historic collapse

The Sporting News looks at the other times several 1-Seeds have lost ahead of the Sweet 16:

How many times have multiple 1 seeds been lost before Sweet 16?

The 2023 NCAA tournament marks only the fifth time multiple 1-seeded players have left March Madness before the Sweet 16.

The first instance occurred in 1981, four years before the group expanded to 64 teams. Oregon State and DePaul both suffered tournament opening losses after enjoying first-round byes.

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It was 19 years before two 1-seeded players were eliminated before the Sweet 16, as Arizona and Stanford lost. Four years later, Stanford and Kentucky left as the third tandem before the third round.

It wasn’t until 2018 that the NCAA tournament saw its first first-round exit with a 1-seed when 16-seed UMBC throttled Virginia 74-54. Two days later, Xavier joined Virginia to leave the field.

A rundown of how these teams’ respective NCAA tournament heats ended:

competition	team	round reached	endgame
1981	DePaul	Second round	Lost 49-48 to (9) Saint Joseph’s
	Oregon State	Second round	Lost 50-48 to (8) Kansas State
2000	Stanford	Second round	Lost 60-53 to (8) North Carolina
	Arizona	Second round	Lost 66-59 to (8) Wisconsin
2004	Kentucky	Second round	Lost 76-75 to (9) UAB
	Stanford	Second round	Lost 70-67 to (8) Alabama
2018	Virginia	First round	Lost 74-54 to (16) UMBC
	xavier	Second round	Lost 75-70 to (9) Florida State
2023	Purdue	First round	Lost 63-58 to (16) FDU
	Kansas	Second round	Lost 72-71 to (8) Arkansas