March Madness Betting

When the NCAA tournament rolls around, no seeding matchups are harder to predict than the No. 8 vs No. 9 games. Since 1985, when the field expanded to 64 teams, the No. 9 seeds hold a small edge – going 76-72. Below we’ll go over the history of March Madness 8 vs 9 with updated NCAA tournament odds for each of the four 8 vs 9 games.

8 vs 9

The 8 vs 9 seed matchups are set for the 2023 NCAA men’s basketball tournament. 8 vs 9 odds have been posted for each matchup.

Maryland vs West Virginia

West Virginia was a -2.5 favorite over Maryland. The Terps were able to squeak out the 67-65 win, though.

Iowa vs Auburn

Auburn opened as a narrow -1 favorite over Iowa. They took several double-digit leads and ultimately held off the Hawkeyes for the win and cover, 83-75.

8. Memphis vs. 9. FAU

Florida Atlantic opened as a +3 dog to Memphis. This game opened with a 150.5 point total.

Arkansas vs Illinois

Arkansas was favored -3 on the spread against Illinois when odds were posted early Sunday night. The Razorbacks had a decent lead most of the way and covered without much sweat, 73-63.

Bracket and odds

The 2023 NCAA Tournament bracket was posted on Selection Sunday. Below is an interactive bracket with odds, including the 8 vs 9 games.

8 vs 9 seed history

The 9 seeds had their way last going 3-1 straight up against 8 seeds in the 2022 NCAA tournament. The lone 8-seed to win in the first round was eventual tournament champion North Carolina, which won 95 to 63, easily covering the 4-point spread. Here were last year’s results:

• 9 seed — Creighton 72, 8 seed — San Diego State 69
• 9 seed — Memphis 64, 8 seed — Boise State 53
• 8 seed — North Carolina 95, 9 seed — Marquette 63
• 9 seed TCU 69, 8 seed — Seton Hall 42

Here are what the point spreads looked like ahead of last year’s 8 vs 9 seed games.

• West: (8) Boise State vs. (9) Memphis -1.5
• East: (8) North Carolina vs. (9) Marquette +4
• South: (8) Seton Hall vs. (9) TCU -1
• Midwest: (8) San Diego State vs. (9) Creighton +2

All three of the 9 seeds fell in the second round a year ago. Creighton lost in the second round to 1-seed Kansas, Memphis fell to 1-seed Gonzaga, and TCU lost to 1-seed Arizona.

The 2021 NCAA tournament was a good one for 8 seeds as they went 3-1. Eight seed Oklahoma took down 9 seed Missouri (72-68), 8 seed LSU was victorious over 9 seed St. Bonaventure (76-61) and 8 seed Loyola-Chicago toppled 9 seed Georgia Tech. The only win for a 9 came when Wisconsin pounded 8 seed UNC (85-62).

Betting an 8 or 9 seed to advance to the Sweet 16, let alone the Elite 8 or Final Four is a big risk considering the winner of the 8-9 game plays the 1 seed in each region in the second round of the tournament 99 percent of the time. Last year Oklahoma fell in the next round to Gonzaga, LSU lost to Michigan and Wisconsin dropped one to Baylor. Loyola Chicago was the one team that was able to advance to the Sweet 16 as it slammed 1 seed Illinois, 71-58.

No. 9 seeds rolled in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, going 4-0 SU/ATS. Three of the wins over No. 8 seeds were blowouts of 15 points or more with the closest contest a nine-point Baylor (+2.5) win over Syracuse 78-69. Blowouts included Oklahoma (pk) over Ole Miss 95-72, UCF (-1.5) over VCU 73-58 and Washington (+3.5) over Utah State 78-61. All four games went over the total.

No. 8 seeds are 48-40 against No. 9 seeds in the first round since 2000.

One of the biggest blowouts in 8/9 games came in 2014. One year after being knocked out by a No. 9 seed, Pitt stormed back in 2014 as a No. 9 seed itself to hand No. 8 Colorado the biggest upset between 9s and 8s, blowing out the Buffaloes, 77-48. In the 2019 tournament, Oklahoma scored 95 points and rolled to a 23-point win over Ole Miss, 95-72.

Perhaps the most memorable buzzer beater in recent memory in an 8-9 game came in 2011, when No. 8 Butler edged No. 9 Old Dominion on Matt Howard’s layup at the buzzer. Butler advanced all the way to the championship game that year, but lost to UConn 53-41 in the final.

• The 2014 Kentucky Wildcats advanced to the championship game as an 8 seed in 2014, but just scraped by to defeat No. 9 Kansas State 56-49 in the first round.
• Kentucky is tied with BYU for the most appearances as an 8 seed and has a 3-1 record compared with the Cougars’ 0-4 record.
• In 2015, No. 8 N.C. State took down top-seeded Villanova 71-68 in the second round, before falling to 4-seed Louisville in the Sweet 16.

Year	8 vs. 9 Results	Who Covered?
2022	9) Memphis 64, (8) Boise State 53 (9) TCU 69, (8) Seton Hall 42 (9) Creighton 72, (8) SDSU 69 (8) North Carolina 95, (9) Marquette 63	Memphis (-1.5) TCU (-1) Creighton (+2) North Carolina (-4)
2021	(8) Oklahoma 72, (9) Missouri 68 (8) LSU 76, (9) St. Bonaventure 61 9) Wisconsin 85, (8) North Carolina 62 (8) Loyola Chicago 71, Georgia Tech 60	Oklahoma (-1) LSU (-1.5) Wisconsin (+1.5) Loyola Chicago (-5.5)
2019	(9) UCF 73, (8) VCU 58 (9) Oklahoma 95, (8) Ole Miss 72 (9) Baylor 78, (8) Syracuse 69 (9) Washington 78, (8) Utah State 61	UCF (-1.5) Oklahoma (pk) Baylor (+2.5) Washington (+3.5)
2018	(8) Seton Hall 94, (9) NC State 83 (9) Alabama 86, (8) Virginia Tech 83 (9) Kansas State 69, (8) Creighton 59 (9) Florida St. 67, (8) Missouri 54	Seton Hall (-2) Alabama (+2) Kansas State (+2) Florida St. (+1.5)
2017	(8) Wisconsin 84, (9) Virginia Tech 74 (9) Michigan St. 78, (8) Miami (FL) 58 (8) Northwestern 68, (9) Vanderbilt 66 (8) Arkansas 77, (9) Seton Hall 71	Wisconsin (-5) Michigan St. (+2) Northwestern (+1) Arkansas (-1)
2016	(9) Butler 71, (8) Texas Tech 61 (8) St Joseph's 78, (9) Cincinnati 76 (9) Providence 70, (8) USC 69 (9) UConn 74, (8) Colorado 67	Butler (-3) St. Joseph's (+2) USC (+1.5) UConn (+3.5)
2015	(8) SDSU 76, (9) St. John's 64) (8) Oregon 79, (9) Oklahoma St. 73 (8) NC State 66, (9) LSU 65 (8) Cincinnati 66, (9) Purdue 65	SDSU (-2) Oregon (PK) LSU (+1.5) Cincinnati (+1)
2014	(8) Kentucky 56, (9) Kansas St. 49 (8) Memphis 71, (9) GWU 66 (8) Gonzaga 85, (9) Oklahoma St. 77 (9) Pittsburgh 77, (8) Colorado 48	Kentucky (-4) Memphis (-1.5) Gonzaga (+1.5) Pittsburgh (-5.5)
2013	(8) North Carolina 78, (9) Villanova 71 (9) Temple 76, (8) NC State 72 (8) Colorado St. 84, (9) Missouri 72 (9) Wichita St. 73, (9) Pittsburgh 55	North Carolina (-3.5) Temple (+4) Colorado St. (+4) Wichita St. (+4.5)
2012	(9) St. Louis 61, (8) Memphis 54 (8) Creighton 58, (9) Alabama 57 (8) Iowa St. 77, (9) UConn 64 (8) Kansas St. 70, (9) Southern Miss 64	St. Louis Creighton Iowa St. Kansas St.
2011	(9) Illinois 73, (8) UNLV 62 (8) George Mason 61, (9) Villanova 57 (8) Michigan 75, (9) Tennessee 45 (8) Butler 60, (9) Old Dominion 58	UNLV George Mason Michigan Butler
2010	(8) Cal 77, (9) Louisville 62 (8) Gonzaga 67, (9) Florida St. 60 (9) Wake Forest 81, (8) Texas 80 (9) No. Iowa 69, (8) UNLV 66	Cal Gonzaga Wake Forest No. Iowa
2009	(9) Siena 74, (8) Ohio St. 72 (8) Oklahoma St. 77, (9) Tennessee 75 (9) Texas A&M 79, (8) BYU 66 (8) LSU 75, (9) Butler 71	Siena Oklahoma St. Texas A&M LSU
2008	(9) Arkansas 87, (8) Indiana 72 (8) Miss State 76, (9) Oregon 69 (9) Texas A&M 67, (8) BYU 62 (8) UNLV 71, (9) Kent State 58	Arkansas Miss State Texas A&M UNLV
2007	(8) Kentucky 67, (9) Villanova 58 (9) Purdue 72, (8) Arizona 63 (9) Xavier 79, (8) BYU 77 (9) Michigan St. 61, (8) Marquette 49	Kentucky Purdue BYU Michigan St.
2006	(8) Kentucky 69, (9) UAB 64 (9) Bucknell 59, (8) Arkansas 55 (8) Arizona 94, (9) Wisconsin 75 (8) GWU 88, (9) UNCW 85	Kentucky Bucknell Arizona Push
2005	(9) Miss State 93, (8) Stanford 70 (9) Iowa St. 64, (8) Minnesota 53 (9) Nevada 61, (8) Texas 57 (8) Pacific 79, (9) Pittsburgh 71	Miss State Iowa St. Nevada Pacific
2004	(9) UAB 102, (8) Washington 100 (8) Seton Hall 80, (9) Arizona 76 (8) Alabama 65, (9) Southern Illinois 64 (8) Texas Tech 76, (9) Charlotte 73	UAB Seton Hall So. Illinois Texas Tech
2003	(9) Utah 60, (8) Oregon 58 (9) Purdue, (8) LSU 56 (8) Cal 76, (9) NC State 74 (9) Gonzaga 74, (8) Cincinnati 69	Utah Purdue Cal Gonzaga
2002	(8) UCLA 80, (9) Ole Miss 58 (8) Wisconsin 80, (9) St. John's 70 (8) Stanford 84, (9) WKU 68 (8) Notre Dame 82, (9) Charlotte 63	UCLA Wisconsin Stanford Notre Dame
2001	(9) Charlotte 70, (8) Tennessee 63 (9) Fresno St. 82, (8) Cal 70 (9) St. Joe's 66, (8) Georgia Tech 62 (8) Missouri 70, (9) Georgia 68	Charlotte Fresno St. St. Joe's Missouri
2000	(8) Kansas 81, (9) DePaul 77 (8) North Carolina, (9) Missouri 70 (8) Utah 45, (9) St. Louis 45 (8) Wisconsin 66, (9) Fresno St. 56	Kansas North Carolina St. Louis Wisconsin

The deep run of success of 8 and 9 seeds

In the history of the NCAA Tournament, seven No. 8 seeds have advanced to the Final Four, including a record two in 2000 (North Carolina and Wisconsin). Neither of those teams advanced to the title game. Three No. 8 seeds have reached the national championship game, including Villanova in 1985, Butler in 2011, and Kentucky in 2014.

Villanova is the only No. 8 seed to ever win a national title, upsetting Georgetown 69-64 in 1985. The Wildcats won the first tournament that expanded to 64 teams, and they remain the lowest seed to ever claim the national championship. Villanova barely beat No. 9 Dayton in the first round that year, 51-49.

Only two No. 9 seeds have ever reached the Final Four — Pennsylvania in 1979 and Wichita State in 2013 – and none have advanced to the championship game. The Shockers beat No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 2 Ohio State in their 2013 run before falling to Louisville, the eventual national champion, in the Final Four.

Who usually gets placed in the 8 vs. 9 game?

The 32 Division I conferences all receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which are 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.

The committee selects teams based on a number of criteria using the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET). The NET relies on the following in determining the NCAA Tournament teams and seeding:

• Game results
• Strength of schedule
• Scoring margin
• Net offensive and defensive efficiency
• Game location
• Quality of wins and losses

Because most of the higher seeds go to automatic qualifiers of major conferences, and many of the lower seeds go to automatic qualifiers of lower-tier conferences, the middle-of-the-road 8-9 seeds often go to at-large teams from major conferences and quality teams from stronger mid-major conferences.

How to pick 8 vs. 9 in March Madness brackets

The 8 vs. 9 NCAA tournament match-ups are expected to be close contests as the betting lines are often around -4, with many less than a basket. You’ll hear plenty of opinions on these games but pay less attention to the seed and focus on the betting lines and market moves.

Study team’s strength of schedule and more recent form including against better teams. Note the site location, key injuries and coaching strength, as preparation and coaching ability is not considered enough by the public or the more casual bettor. The historical SU results favoring the No. 9 seeds tells us that the No. 8 seeds are not necessarily the better teams. In fact, in the 2016 tournament, all four No. 8 seeds closed as underdogs of 3.5 points or less.