All Four No. 1s Are Still Alive -- for Now

March 22,2006 — -- How do you like your Final Four?

Straight-up blue bloods, or with a dash of trailer trash? All A-listers, or with a couple of party crashers thrown in? A bourgeois affair, or a proletariat party?

History says that college basketball's final weekend is usually a mix of top dogs and (mild) underdogs. But from where we stand today, on the cusp of the Sweet 16, we're still in play for an unprecedented celebration of snobbery: All four No. 1 seeds could make it to Indianapolis.

Since the NCAA began publicly seeding its tournament in 1979, it's never happened before. In fact, it's rarely been close to happening.

There have been only four instances when all four No. 1s even reached the Elite Eight: 1987, 1993, 2001 and 2003. Two of the four (eventual champion Indiana and UNLV) advanced from there to the Final Four in '87; three (champ North Carolina, Fab Five Michigan and Kentucky) advanced in '93; two (champ Duke and Michigan State) advanced in '01; and just one (Texas) advanced in '03.

(If it didn't happen in '93, one of the greatest years ever for college basketball, it might never happen. The only No. 1 to miss the party was Indiana, which might have had the best team in the country until Alan Henderson hurt his knee late in the year. The Hoosiers were beaten in the regional final in St. Louis by No. 2 seed Kansas.)

So the odds are stacked heavily against Duke, Connecticut, Villanova and Memphis advancing en masse to Indy. Don't count on seeing it.

None of the four has relinquished the favorite's role in its respective region, but there is plenty of competition -- plus past precedent -- still blocking the path. Let's take a brief look at each No. 1's chances:

MemphisThe Tigers won their first two games by the most points (32) of any No. 1 seed, and face the lowest remaining seed in the tournament Thursday (No. 13 Bradley). That's the good news if you're a Memphis fan.

The bad news is that Bradley has proven itself in this event by beating two trendy Final Four picks (Kansas and Pittsburgh). And not only have the Braves traveled a tougher tournament road, they played in a tougher conference (Missouri Valley vs. Conference USA).