Lowest seed to beat UK?

[WhyNotBBN]

In an argument with a dumb Duke fan. So who is the lowest seed to ever beat UK? I can't find a double digit seed to have ever beaten us?

 

[Raroyder]

I'm going to go with Middle Tennessee sometime in the early 80s. I can't remember their seed number and am too lazy to look it up, but if I recall correctly it was a first round game and was atrocious.

 

[FtWorthCat]

It had to be Middle Tennessee or UAB in back-to-back years when Coach Hall was there. I don't know if they seeded the teams back then though.

 

[yoshukai]

I'm thinking Middle Tenn. was a 14 or 15 seed .

 

[HenryMuto]

I am not sure if this is the lowest but Middle Tennessee was an 11 seed in 1982 beat 6 seed Kentucky 50-44 in the first round.

I will keep digging to see if this is the lowest.

Sure beats losing to a 15 seed Lehigh and 14 seed Mercer within a 3 year span.

 

[HenryMuto]

I also forgot when Kentucky was a 1 seed in 1986 we lost to 11 seed LSU 59-57

 

[HenryMuto]

That's the only 2 times Kentucky has lost to a double digit seed.

UAB was a 9 seed.

 

[akers65]

Originally posted by HenryMuto:
I also forgot when Kentucky was a 1 seed in 1986 we lost to 11 seed LSU 59-57

that wasn't a first round game, I can't remember the round number for that game....

 

[UK Cats Rock]

Originally posted by akers65:

Originally posted by HenryMuto:
I also forgot when Kentucky was a 1 seed in 1986 we lost to 11 seed LSU 59-57

that wasn't a first round game, I can't remember the round number for that game....

Going by memory, I believe that was the Elite 8.

I also believe that had we beaten MTSU, we would have played Louisville in the next round.

Again, all by memory and didn't look it up, so I could be way off......

 

[akers65]

Originally posted by UK Cats Rock:

Originally posted by akers65:

Originally posted by HenryMuto:
I also forgot when Kentucky was a 1 seed in 1986 we lost to 11 seed LSU 59-57

that wasn't a first round game, I can't remember the round number for that game....

Going by memory, I believe that was the Elite 8.

I also believe that had we beaten MTSU, we would have played Louisville in the next round.

Again, all by memory and didn't look it up, so I could be way off......

thanks, and I think you are correct, at least that was the round I thought it was

 

[musrat59]

We lost to LSU in the Southeast regional final in Atlanta.

 

[Cats_2010]

Originally posted by UK Cats Rock:

that wasn't a first round game, I can't remember the round number for that game....

Going by memory, I believe that was the Elite 8.

I also believe that had we beaten MTSU, we would have played Louisville in the next round.

Again, all by memory and didn't look it up, so I could be way off......

You are correct on both counts. Elite 8 loss to LSU after having beaten them three times already that season. Ricky Blanton and the flailing arms. Lost to MT at vandy with the twin towers. Jumped out to a 10-0 lead and somehow squandered that game with louisville waiting next. I was only a teenager then but I always thought Hall did his best to lose that game because he didn't want to play louisville.

 

[mjj_2K]

It's MTSU for the 1st round. UK was only a 6 seed that year (82).

Amazing UK factoid I had never thought of, but UK has only lost 6 times to anyone seeded below 6. UAB in 81, MTSU in 82, LSU in 86, Ohio State in 87, UAB again in 04, and UConn last year. That's it. Villanova in 88, Marquette in 94, USC in 01, and Marquette again in 08 were all 6 seeds.

UK has lost 28 NCAA Tournament games since seeding started in 79. Of those losses, 10 have been to 1 seeds.

 

[mkasten25]

Originally posted by mj2k10:
It's MTSU for the 1st round. UK was only a 6 seed that year (82).

Amazing UK factoid I had never thought of, but UK has only lost 6 times to anyone seeded below 6. UAB in 81, MTSU in 82, LSU in 86, Ohio State in 87, UAB again in 04, and UConn last year. That's it. Villanova in 88, Marquette in 94, USC in 01, and Marquette again in 08 were all 6 seeds.

UK has lost 28 NCAA Tournament games since seeding started in 79. Of those losses, 10 have been to 1 seeds.

I'd be curious to see how many times Duke has played a 1 seed. They did for the championship this year.


(I looked it up. Duke's WIkipedia has a good detail of their tournament runs)

1980 - #1 UK (W)
1986- #1 Kansas (W)
1987- #1 IU (L)
1988- #1 Temple (W)
1989 - #1 Georgetown (W)
1990- #1 UConn (W)
1991- #1 UNLV (W)
1994- #1 Arkansas (L), NC
1999- #1 Michigan State, #1 UConn (W/L)
2013- #1 Louisville (L)
2015- #1 Wisconsin (W)

8-5 vs 1 seeds. But as you can tell they don't play them anymore.




Also of note, Duke's easy tourney runs and early losses
1985 - played a 14 and 11 (lost to the 11)
1991, 92, played a 3 and 6 seed for the title
1997 - played a 15 and a 10 (lost to 10)
2000 - played a 16, 8, 5 (loss as a 1 seed)
2004 - played a 16, 8, 5, 7 to a final four
2007- loss to 11 as a 6
2008- played a 15 and 7 (loss as a 2)
2010- played a 16,8,4,3,2,5 to the title
2012 - loss to a 15 as a 2
2014- Loss to a 14 as a 3
2015 - 16, 8, 5, 2, 7 for the title

 

[JasonS.]

Let us all be grateful there were no message boards then. Especially poor Coach Hall.

 

[UKWildcatT]

Originally posted by cats2010:

Originally posted by UK Cats Rock:

that wasn't a first round game, I can't remember the round number for that game....

Going by memory, I believe that was the Elite 8.

I also believe that had we beaten MTSU, we would have played Louisville in the next round.

Again, all by memory and didn't look it up, so I could be way off......

You are correct on both counts. Elite 8 loss to LSU after having beaten them three times already that season. Ricky Blanton and the flailing arms. Lost to MT at vandy with the twin towers. Jumped out to a 10-0 lead and somehow squandered that game with louisville waiting next. I was only a teenager then but I always thought Hall did his best to lose that game because he didn't want to play louisville.

Bowie actually didnt play that season (he was out for the 81-82 and 82-83 seasons).

 

[spotter34]

The loss to #15 seed UAB in 2004 is the lowest seeded team that beat us. In those games against UAB and MTSU in the early 80's there weren't 64 teams. I think there were only 48 teams so the lowest seed then was a 12.

 

[BigBlueJebus]

UAB was NOT a 15 seed in 2004. They won the 8-9 game in the first round and played UK in the second round. Can't remember if they were the 8 or the 9 seed.

Originally posted by spotter34:

The loss to #15 seed UAB in 2004 is the lowest seeded team that beat us. In those games against UAB and MTSU in the early 80's there weren't 64 teams. I think there were only 48 teams so the lowest seed then was a 12.

 

[EvilMD]

UAB was a nine that year. We beat Southern in the first round and they beat the 8 seed.

 

[spotter34]

Hello!! Good night what am I thinking. You guys are right. That loss was always so painful, probably because I thought they were a 15 seed. Knowing they were an 8 seed lessens the pain. Sorry for the error.