If a No. 13 seed upsetting a No. 4 seed in the NCAAB Tournament seems like a huge long shot, be aware that it has happened at least once in 16 of the past 22 tournaments, the exceptions being 2004, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2022.
Last year, March Madness bettors saw No. 13 Furman knock off No. 4 Virginia by one point after a brutal last-second turnover. Though No.13 seeds are just 4-12 SU over the past four tournaments, they’ve been ultra-impressive ATS going 10-6 since 2019. With both Furman and Louisiana-Lafayette covering the spread last season.
Though the 4-seeds won all four matchups in 2022, the underdog No.13’s went 3-1 ATS. This year the No. 4 seeds are a strong group including Duke, Auburn, Alabama, and Kansas.
2024 4 vs 13 Seed Matchups
Check out all 4 vs 13 seed March Madness matchups.
South: No. 4 Duke vs No. 13 Vermont
East: No. 4 Auburn vs No. 13 Yale
West: No. 4 Alabama vs No. 13 Charleston
Midwest: No. 4 Kansas vs No. 13 Samford
Seed vs Seed Stats: 1 vs 16 | 2 vs 15 | 3 vs 14 | 4 vs 13 | 5 vs 12 | 6 vs 11 | 7 vs 10 | 8 vs 9
No. 4 Vs No. 13 Betting History
It was nearly a clean sweep for No. 4 seeds in 2016 and 2017, as the only higher seed to lose was Cal in ’16. The Golden Bears were upset 77-66 by Hawaii despite closing as 5.5-point favorites, but Cal was missing several players due to injuries and popular assistant coach Yann Hufnagel following his dismissal amid sexual harassment allegations.
Aside from Cal’s poor performance, Duke just barely held off a hard-charging UNC Wilmington team and won 93-85 while failing to cover the 10-point spread. In the 2018 NCAA Tournament, No. 13 seeds Buffalo and Marshall upset Arizona and Wichita State, respectively. Both teams ended up falling in the Round of 32, however.
No. 13 seeds haven’t gone down without a fight even in years when they didn’t manage an upset. In 2015, they still went 3-1 ATS with Valparaiso (+5), UC Irvine (+8.5) and Harvard (+9.5) each covering the number in games that were decided by a combined seven points. In 2012 and 2013, the No. 13 seeds went 2-6 ATS but both teams that covered moved on to the next round. In 2010 and 2011, the No. 13 seeds went 5-3 ATS.
Largest No. 13 Seed Upsets In March Madness History
There have been 32 No. 13 seeds that have pulled off upsets in the first round over the past 37 years of the NCAA Tournament. That includes the very first year of the bigger March Madness bracket in 1985 when Navy crushed LSU 78-55 for the largest margin of victory ever for the matchup.
Even though college basketball bettors have never seen a No. 13 seed win a Sweet 16 game, six have made it to the third round before getting knocked out at that point of the NCAA Tournament. The two most recent times saw La Salle (2013) and Ohio (2012) take down No. 12 seeds in the second round to make it to the Sweet 16, which has actually happened in three of the six occurrences overall.