The all-No. 1 seed Final Four − featuring Auburn-Florida (Johni Broome and Walter Clayton Jr.) and Duke-Houston (Cooper Flagg and LJ Cryer) − is extremely rare for March Madness.
In fact, it’s only happened one other time in NCAA tournament history.
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When is the last time the Final Four featured four No. 1 seeds? Memphis basketball fans know the answer.
In 2008, the Tigers (coached by John Calipari) were joined in the Final Four by fellow 1-seeds North Carolina, Kansas and UCLA at − coincidentally enough − the Alamodome in San Antonio, where the Final Four will take place this weekend.
It was there that Memphis got 25-plus point performances from Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts, as well as a 15-rebound game from Joey Dorsey, to beat the Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love-led Bruins 78-63 on April 5, 2008.
The same night, Kansas got 25 points from Brandon Rush to overcome Tyler Hansbrough’s Tar Heels, the top overall seed, 84-66.
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On April 7, Memphis was fewer than 10 seconds away from winning its first national championship. But, with the Tigers leading 63-60, Kansas’ Mario Chalmers hit a 3-pointer with 9 seconds left in regulation. The Jayhawks went on to win 75-68 in overtime.
Memphis reached the Sweet 16 in 2009, but the program has not advanced past the round of 32 since. Penny Hardaway’s Tigers have been to three of the last four NCAA tournaments, most recently falling to Colorado State in the first round.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com, follow him @munzly on X, and sign up for the Memphis Basketball Insider text group.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: When is last time the Final Four featured four No. 1 seeds? Memphis knows
