After updating the scoring model I decided to looking into why the shifts that occurred had occurred. I was really focused on the seeds in the twenties and thirties as there was some expected smoothing out in that area.
And sure enough, the #22, #23, #25, and #29 seeds all had their best ever performance. Though the #27, #31, and #32 had their worst performance ever.
But what really jumped out was the #4, #5, and #6 seeds had their worst performance in the 16+ seed era.
And it wasn't even close for the #5 seed.
This year the 5 seed produced only 3 All-Americans.
And sure enough, the #22, #23, #25, and #29 seeds all had their best ever performance. Though the #27, #31, and #32 had their worst performance ever.
But what really jumped out was the #4, #5, and #6 seeds had their worst performance in the 16+ seed era.
And it wasn't even close for the #5 seed.
This year the 5 seed produced only 3 All-Americans.
- That is tied for the lowest total ever in the 8 AA era (1979 - 2025).
- In 1980, when there were also only 3 AA's from the #5 seed they finished second, fourth, and eighth.
- This year they finished fifth, fifth, and eighth. No #5 seed beat his seed.
- This year the #12 seed had more AA's (5) than the #5 seed (3). That had never happened before.
