Another two bite the dust.
The first weekend of 2023 March Madness saw four 1-seeds between the men's and women's NCAA Tournament brackets make a disappointing exit before the Sweet 16.
Stanford and Indiana women's basketball teams are the latest to leave the court slack-jawed, joining the Kansas and Purdue men's teams in stunning early exits.
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Stanford's 54-49 loss to 8-seeded Ole Miss on Sunday marks the Cardinal's earliest NCAA exit since 2007. Stanford has been to the Sweet 16 a total of 28 times. There have only been two other times since the birth of the tournament in 1982 that they were eliminated prior to regional play.
While Stanford is accustomed to playing deep into March, Indiana entered this year's tournament as a No. 1 seed for the first time in school history after posting 27 wins and winning the Big Ten regular-season championship. A 70-68 defeat Monday against 9-seeded Miami — a day after the Hoosiers' men's team also was eliminated by the Hurricanes — brought everything crashing down in Bloomington.
Indiana has only been to the NCAA Tournament nine times since it started over four decades ago. The last time the Hoosiers were eliminated in the second round was 2019, but that year they were seeded No. 10.
As the tournament enters the second weekend, reality is tilted and brackets are busted. To wave goodbye to two 1-seeds at this stage will never not be rare. But this isn't the first time it's happened, and it certainly won't be the last.
MORE: Watch every NCAA Women's Tournament game live on Sling TV
The Sporting News traveled back in time to find when other multiple No. 1 seeds were booted before the Sweet 16.
Women's No. 1 seeds to miss NCAA Sweet 16
The last time multiple No. 1 seeds were booted from the competition before the Sweet 16 was in 1998. That tournament a quarter-century ago marked the first and only time that had ever happened.
Until March 20, 2023.
The first time it happened actually doubled as the first time a 16-seed took down a 1-seed – when Harvard had bested Stanford 71-67 in the first round of the 1998 tournament.
A rundown of how those teams' respective NCAA Tournament runs ended:
| Tournament | Team | Round reached | Final game |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Stanford | First round | Lost to (16) Harvard, 71-67 |
| Texas Tech | Second round | Lost to (9) Notre Dame, 74-59 | |
| 2023 | Stanford | Second round | Lost to (8) Ole Miss, 54-49 |
| Indiana | Second round | Lost to (9) Miami, 70-68 |
What top-four seeded teams are left in each NCAA women's region?
The wrath of elimination has left the Seattle 4 Region practically barren of top-four seeds. The only favorite standing is 2-seed Iowa, which managed to defeat Georgia by eight to advance. Both of the Greenville regions are doing a lot better at holding their ground, with only one top-four team having been slashed (Indiana).
These are the remaining top-four seeded teams in the tournament, heading into the Sweet 16 competitions:
| Region | Team | Next Game |
|---|---|---|
| Greenville 1 | (1) South Carolina | Sat. vs. (4) UCLA |
| (2) Maryland | Sat. vs. (3) Notre Dame | |
| (3) Notre Dame | Sat. vs. (2) Maryland | |
| (4) UCLA | Sat. vs. (1) South Carolina | |
| Greenville 2 | (2) Utah | Fri. vs. (3) LSU |
| (3) LSU | Fri. vs. (2) Utah | |
| (4) Villanova | Fri. vs. (9) Miami (Fla.) | |
| Seattle 3 | (1) Virginia Tech | Sat. vs. (4) Tennessee |
| (2) UConn | Sat. vs. (3) Ohio State | |
| (3) Ohio State | Sat. vs. (2) UConn | |
| (4) Tennessee | Sat. vs. (1) Virginia Tech | |
| Seattle 4 | (2) Iowa | Fri. vs. (6) Colorado |
For information on upcoming matchups, check The Sporting News' live bracket here.