March Madness: The History Of The 6 vs. 11 Matchup

Written By Brett Collson | Last Updated at March 20, 2025

March Madness is here and as always, there's an intriguing quartet of No. 6 vs. No. 11 games in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. In the past four tournaments, nine of the 16 teams at No. 11 have won outright in the first round, so picking No. 11s for upset wins in the first round might be a popular play for this year’s selection of NCAA Tournament odds.

Historically, these 11 seeds often don't stop after one win. Who can forget 11th-seeded Loyola Chicago’s run to the Final Four in 2018? And in 2021, 11-seed UCLA had a stunning run to the National Semi-finals. Most recently, it was NC State reaching the Final Four before falling to No. 1 Purdue.

6 vs 11 seed

Below we will look at 6 vs 11 seed matchups for the 2025 NCAA men's basketball tournament.

West Region: No. 6 Missouri (-6.5) vs. No. 11 Drake | Thursday, March 20 (Wichita, KS)

The Missouri Tigers open up as a 6.5-point favorite against Drake on Thursday in Wichita with a fairly low total set at 133.5 points. Missouri was one of the surprises of the season out of the SEC, going 18-2 at home and posting the fifth-best offensive efficiency in the country. The Bulldogs won the regular season and conference tournament in the Missouri Valley after going 30-3 with a 17-3 conference record. This game has a 7:35 p.m. ET start time (truTV).

East Region: No. 6 Brigham Young (-2.5) vs. No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth | Thursday, March 20 (Denver, CO)

The BYU Cougars open as a 2.5-point favorite in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, which will take place in Denver (4:05 p.m. ET, TNT) where the Cougars may have a geographical advantage. BYU went 14-6 en route to a third-place finish in the Big 12 while its counterpart in VCU won the Atlantic 10 Tournament after splitting a share of the regular-season crown. The game had an initial total of 142.5

South Region: 6. Ole Miss (+1.5) vs. 11. North Carolina | Friday, March 21 (Milwaukee, WI)

The Ole Miss Rebels went 22-11 including 10 wins in SEC play to earn a No. 6 seed. They are playing a North Carolina team (ACC) hot off a statement 95-68 First Four victory over San Diego State. Ole Miss opened as a +1.5 underdog while the game total was 155.5. This one is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET (TNT).

Midwest Region: 6. Illinois vs. No. 11 Texas/Xavier | Friday, March 21 (Milwaukee, WI)

The Illinois Fighting Illini won 26 games this season out of the Big Ten and are an offensive juggernaut when it's all clicking. They will play Xavier (Big East), who advanced with a First Four win over Texas. Illinois opened as a -3.5 favorite while the initial total was 159.5. This one has a 9:45 p.m. ET tipoff (CBS).

Also read:

Odds and bracket

The 2025 NCAA Tournament field will be announced on Sunday, March 16. Below will be an interactive bracket with odds for each game, including the 6 vs. 11 matchups.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPieQbkn9t8

6 vs 11 seed history

In last year's tournament, 11 seeds were lethal, as three of the four took down the 6-seed in first-round upsets. Heading into this year's tournament, there have been a total of 61 No. 11 seeds advance out of the first round over 6 seeds.

Here are the 6 vs 11 results from last season:

Out of the three 11 seeds to advance, NC State made the biggest statement by advancing all the way to the Final Four. The Wolfpack ended up losing to No. 1 Purdue 63-50.

Here are the 6 vs. 11 seed odds from last season:

The 6 seeds faired much better in 2023, going 3-1:

Here are the 6 vs. 11 seed odds from 2023:

Out of the three 6 seeds to advance, Creighton made the strongest showing when they they nearly defeated San Diego State in the Regional Final. The Bluejays lost the Elite 8 contest 57-56.

Here are the 6 vs 11 results from 2022:

2022 was another big year for 11 seeds as Michigan and Iowa State both advanced to the Sweet 16 while Notre Dame got knocked out in the round of 32.

Here are the 6 vs 11 seed odds from four years ago:

We got a split in 2021 with two 6 seed first-round winners and two 11 seed first-round victors. UCLA and Syracuse were the two 11 seeds that pulled off early tournament upsets. Here were the scores:

UCLA made its mark as one of the all-time great 11 seeds, going all the way to the Final 4. The Bruins nearly made the National Title game itself but Gonzaga beat them at the buzzer in the National semis. Syracuse also made it to the tournament's second weekend but fell to Houston in the Sweet 16.

Six-seed USC also made an impressive run as it beat No. 3 Kansas in the second round and then made it all the way to the Elite 8 before losing to Gonzaga. After beating Utah State in the first round, Texas Tech was eliminated by 3 seed Arkansas in the second round.

The coronavirus pandemic caused the shutdown of the 2020 NCAA tournament. In 2019, No. 6 seeds went 3-1 SU and 2-2 ATS against No. 11 seeds. Buffalo beat Arizona State 91-74 and Villanova got a half-point cover over St. Mary’s in a 61-57 win. Maryland used a 14-0 run out of the halftime break to overtake Belmont and hold off the Bruins, 79-77 despite 35 points from Belmont senior Dylan Windler. No. 10 seed Ohio State upset Iowa State 62-59. All four winners lost in the Round of 32 with Maryland suffering a 2-point defeat while the other three were blown out by at least 15 points.

In 2018, No. 6 and No. 11 seeds split their games for an even 2-2 record, but the underdog 11 seeds went 3-1 ATS. No. 11 Loyola-Chicago defeated Miami 64-62 on Donte Ingram’s dramatic 3-point buzzer-beater that launched the Ramblers on their improbable run to the Final Four.

Over the past eight tournaments, No. 11 has mostly been Lucky 11. Eleven seeds are surprisingly 18-14 against No. 6 seeds, and includes going 3-1 in 2022. In both 2022 and 2016, three No. 11 seeds won opening-round games over No. 6 seeds. In 1989, all four No. 11 seeds won. 

Aside from Loyola-Chicago’s thrilling victory over Miami, perhaps the most memorable 6-vs.-11 game in recent years was the Northern Iowa-Texas matchup in 2017. Paul Jesperson’s half-court-heave at the buzzer lifted the Panthers over the Longhorns, 75-72.

Xavier has been involved in the 6-vs.-11 game nine times — five times as the No. 6 and four times as the No. 11. Xavier won its first game as the No. 11 seed in 2017, and has a 3-2 record as a sixth-seed.

The sixth-seeded teams also have swept the opening round just five times since the tournament moved to the 64-team format (1987, 1992, 1997, 1999 and 2004).

Three No. 6 seeds have made the Final Four since 1985: Providence in 1987, Kansas in 1988 and Michigan in 1992.

No. 6 seeds are 1-1 in the national championship game, with Danny Manning-led Kansas defeating Oklahoma in 1988, and the Fab Five of Michigan falling to Duke in 1992.

Six No. 11 seeds have reached the Final Four: 

None of them advanced to the national title game. Those teams mark the lowest seeds ever to reach the Final Four.

Eight No. 11 seeds have made it to the Elite Eight.

6 vs 11 seed upset history

View 6 seed over 11 seed upsets below.

Year Result Score
2024Duquesne def. BYU71-67
2024NC State def. Texas Tech80-67
2024Oregon def. South Carolina 87-73
2023Pittsburgh def. Iowa State59-41
2022 Notre Dame def. Alabama 78-64
2022 Michigan def. Colorado State75-63
2022 Iowa State def. LSU59-54
2021 Syracuse def. San Diego State78-62
2021 UCLA def. BYU73-62
2019Ohio State def. Iowa State62-59
2018Loyola Chicago def. Miami FL64-62
2018Syracuse def. TCU57-52
2017 Rhode Island def. Creighton84-72
2017 USC def. SMU66-65
2017 Xavier def. Maryland76-65
2016Northern Iowa def. Texas75-72
2016 Gonzaga def. Seton Hall68-52
2016 Wichita State def. Arizona65-55
2015Dayton def. Providence66-53
2015UCLA def. SMU60-59
2014Tennessee def. UMass86-67
2014Dayton def. Ohio State60-59
2013Minnesota def. UCLA83-63
2012Colorado def. UNLV68-64
2012NC State def. San Diego State79-65
2011Marquette def. Xavier66-55
2011VCU def. Georgetown74-56
2011Gonzaga def. St. John's86-71
2010Washington def. Marquette80-78
2010Old Dominion def. Notre Dame51-50

Who usually gets placed in the 6 vs. 11 game?

The 32 Division I conferences all receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which is awarded to the winners of the postseason conference tournaments.

After that, the selection committee picks 36 teams for at-large bids. These are teams that are not automatic qualifiers but that the committee believes possess the skill and pedigree to be worthy of an invitation, according to NCAA.com.

No. 11 seeds are often winners of a lower-tier conference tournament or a bubble team from a higher-profile conference that ends up receiving a bid.

No. 6 seeds are typically at-large teams from major conferences or mid-majors who won their conference regular season and tournament titles.

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