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The lowest NCAA tournament seeds to reach the women's Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four

Prince J. Grimes   For The Win

As the 2025 women's March Madness tournament gets underway, it's important to know how each seed historically performs. There's no reason to push a 14-seed all the way to the Sweet 16 when a 14 hasn't even won in the first round. And there's no reason to make a 6-seed your champion when every other champion has been at least a 3-seed. Or, if you have a strong enough conviction, you should at least know how bold the pick is.

With that said, these are the lowest seeds to ever make the Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four, via NCAA.com:

Sweet 16: 13-seed (three times)

Elite Eight: 11-seed (2011 Gonzaga)

Final Four: 9-seed (1998 Arkansas)

Here's a full picture of how far each seed has made it in tournament history:

  • No. 1: Champion
  • No. 2: Champion
  • No. 3: Champion
  • No. 4: National runner-up
  • No. 5: National runner-up
  • No. 6: Final Four
  • No. 7: Final Four
  • No. 8: Sweet 16
  • No. 9: Final Four
  • No. 10: Elite Eight
  • No. 11: Elite Eight
  • No. 12: Sweet 16
  • No. 13: Sweet 16
  • No. 14: First Round
  • No. 15: First Round
  • No. 16: Second Round
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