As the final week of the menâs college basketball regular season unfolds, itâs time to look forward to the wonders of March Madness, with the 68-team tournament tipping off with the âFirst Fourâ in Dayton on March 18, kicking off the wildest calendar month of the year.
Each spring, a handful of hardwood Cinderellas steal the nationâs hearts, coming from conferences that non-diehards forget exist, with exemplars like George Mason, Florida Golf Coast, Butler, Loyola Chicago and VCU all being among the programs that have won over the hearts and minds of Americans during their respective tournament runs.
March Madness is nearly here. At BetMichigan.com, we were curious about what regions and conferences had the most bracket-busting teams that have shaken up the tournament. Using Sports-Reference.com and our Michigan sports betting expertise, we counted the number of times a team that was ranked as a 10+ seed beat a 1-9 seeded team since the 2014 season. We then broke those teams down by region of the country where their school is located and what conference they are in. A team was counted multiple times if they beat multiple lower-seeded teams throughout the tournament.
Ranking Bracket Busting Regions
Rank | Region | Total Bracket Busters |
1 | Midwest | 29 |
2 | South | 27 |
3 | East | 24 |
4 | West | 22 |
When it comes to the March Madness regions that produce the most hardwood chaos each March, few have done more damage than under-seeded teams in the Midwest Region, with 29 âbracket bustersâ coming from that portion of the bracket since 2014.
Overall, the Midwest beat out other bracket-busting mainstays like the South Region (27 bracket busters), East Region (24 bracket busters) and the West Region (22 bracket busters), illustrating how chaotic the heartlands can be for top-seeded teams each spring.
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Top Bracket Busting Conferences
Rank | Conference | Total Bracket Busters |
T-1 | Big Ten | 18 |
T-1 | Atlantic Coast (ACC) | 18 |
3 | Atlantic 10(A-10) | 13 |
T-4 | Ivy League | 5 |
T-4 | West Coast (WCC) | 5 |
T-6 | Big 12 | 4 |
T-6 | Conference USA (C-USA) | 4 |
T-6 | Big East | 4 |
When it comes to producing double-digit seeded teams that get hot at the right time, the little sisters of the poor canât hold a candle to Power Four stalwarts like the Big Ten and ACC, which have produced 18 teams apiece that qualify as âbracket bustersâ since 2014, beating out the closest conference that qualifies as a âmid-majorâ brand, in the A-10, with 13 bracket busters.
Throw in the two-way tie of the Ivy League and the West Coast Conference (five teams apiece), the Big 12, Conference USA, and Big East (four teams each) and you have the full rundown of the top bracket-busting conferences covered, as 68 NCAA menâs basketball teams look towards Selection Sunday with the collective dream of winning six games on the sportâs maddest stage.
Among the teams that could qualify as âbracket bustersâ in 2025, per ESPN bracket guru Joe Lunardi, are Baylor, San Diego State, Georgia, and Indiana (which are all in the âlast four byesâ line), along with the final four of Ohio State, Arkansas, Nebraska and Boise State â as all eight would receive double-digit seeds if the four-letter networkâs tourney expert is correct.
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Author
Christopher Boan is a staff writer for BetMichigan.com. He has covered sports and sports betting for more than seven years and has worked for publications such as ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
