Seeding is believing

If this is the year of final-second brainlock, head-scratching officiating and Gus Johnson earplugs in the NCAA Basketball Tournament, it's also the year of the double-digit seed, as no less than four teams seeded 10th or higher have danced their way into the Sweet 16.

Marquette (above, 10th), Florida State (10th) VCU (11th) and Richmond (12th) are all still alive, marking the second-most double-digit seeds to have gone this far since the 64-team format was introduced in 1985.

This is about the time you should be asking, "When was the most?" Funny you should ask, as this is also about the time for us to tell you the record is five double-digit teams in the Sweet 16, accomplished during March Madness in 1999.

Gonzaga (10th), Miami, Ohio (10th), Purdue (10th), Southwest Missouri State (12th) and Oklahoma (13th) were among the final 16 teams that year. Unfortunately for the underdogs, only Gonzaga made it to the Elite Eight, and subsequently lost to Richard Hamilton and eventual NCAA champion UConn -- a little something for this year's upstarts to chew on this weekend.

We do know that at least one double-digit seed is guaranteed a spot in the Elite Eight, as Florida State and VCU will face each other in the Southwest Region semifinals. The other two survivors will have the cards stacked against them: Marquette has No. 2-seed North Carolina, while Richmond squares off with No. 1-seed Kansas.

There have been 12 times since 1985 that at least three double-digit teams made it to the Sweet 16. Here's a closer look:

1985 / 3 / Kentucky (12), Auburn (11), Boston College (11)

1986 / 3 / LSU (11), Cleveland State (14), DePaul (12)

1988 / 3 / Washington (11), Valparaiso (13), West Virginia (10)

1991 / 3 / Connecticut (11), Temple (10), Eastern Michigan (12)

1997 / 3 / Providence (10), Tennessee-Chattanooga (14), Texas (10)

1998 / 3 / Washington (11), West Virginia (10), Valparaiso (13)

1999 / 5 / Southwest Missouri State (12), Purdue (10), Oklahoma (13), Miami, Ohio (10), Gonzaga (10)

2001 / 3 / Gonzaga (12), Temple (11), Georgetown (10)

2002 / 3 / Kent State (10), Missouri (12), Southern Illinois (11)

2008 / 3 / Villanova (12), Davidson (10), Western Kentucky (12)

2010 / 3 / St. Mary's (10), Washington (11), Cornell (12)

2011 / 4 / Marquette (11), Florida State (10), VCU (11), Richmond (12).