All four No. 1 seeds advance to the men’s Final Four for the first time since 2008

The GIST: There’s only been one Final Four made up exclusively of No. 1 seeds since the men’s March Madness bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1985…until now, that is.

• All four top teams survived and thrived in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight this weekend, booking their tickets to the talent-packed main event, which tips off Saturday. Here’s how the chalkiest Final Four in recent memory came together.

Duke and Houston cruise to huge wins: Fans expected a high-scoring shootout between two top-10 offenses when Duke squared off against No. 2 Alabama on Saturday. But the Crimson Tide’s prolific three-point shooting went cold, and the Blue Devils rolled to a 85–65 dub and their first Final Four since 2022.

• It was a similar scene when Houston put the hurt on No. 2 Tennessee in yesterday’s resounding 69–50 dub. The Vols shot an abysmal five for 29 from the three-point line against the Cougars’ best-in-class defense, sending Houston to their seventh program Final Four.

SEC lands two Final Four teams: The conference was by far the most competitive in Division I this year, with a record 14 teams earning bids to the bracket (the previous record was 11). Not to mention, a whopping four of the Elite Eight teams hailed from the Southeastern Conference. Suprema-SEC.

• And the dominance doesn’t stop there: Florida and Auburn topped No. 3 Texas Tech and No. 2 Michigan State, respectively, this weekend, guaranteeing the SEC one team in the title game. It’s about quantity and quality.