The best NCAA March Madness teams by seed

There hasn’t been a 14-seed to make the Sweet 16 since 1997 and two have done it ever. Cleveland State is the best to ever receive a No. 14 seed for being the more dominant team that advanced the furthest, over the 1997 Chattanooga squad. The Vikings were dominant in the Association of Mid-Continent Universities league, now known as The Summit League, going 13-1 in conference play. Their remaining pair of regular-season losses were to then-No. 2 Michigan and Ohio State.

In the 1986 NCAA Tournament, Cleveland State took down Bobby Knight’s Indiana and then advanced to the Sweet 16 against St. Joseph’s. The Vikings’ season ended at the hands of Navy, led by David Robinson, by a single point. Cleveland State has made two NCAA Tournament appearances since. First, defeating Wake Forest in 2009 as a No. 13 seed before bowing out in the second round. In 2021, the Vikings returned to March Madness as a No. 15 seed, losing to Final Four-bound Houston.