Few things in the NCAA tournament are predictable. But one thing that slipped under my radar before the dance started was the near impossibility of Washington making the Final Four.
You see, since the field expanded to 64 in 1985, only one team has started the season outside the AP top 20, been selected as a one-seed, and made the Final Four. The first two parts are not unusual. Washington was the 11th team in 21 years to get a one-seed without being in the preseason top 20 (they started at #22). But only Minnesota in 1997 was able to carry that burden to the Final Four. UW became the seventh of those 11 teams to lose in the sweet sixteen or earlier.
It’s a shame I didn’t remember this until now, especially because I wrote about it in September.