NCAA Tournament: Ranking the unlikeliest Final Four runs since 2000

10. 2016 Syracuse (10-seed)

On a regular basis, we have Cinderella stories and mid-major programs showing they belong on college basketball’s biggest stage. Even those low-seeds that don’t make the Final Four prove it with their upset wins or tough performance against some of the power conference teams in the NCAA Tournament. This next run is the opposite of that, as Syracuse did not look at all like an NCAA Tournament team late in the season but saw their name called on Selection Sunday anyways. Clearly, they made the most of that opportunity.

Jim Boeheim’s squad did look fantastic early when they won the Battle 4 Atalntis but had some ugly stretches of basketball during the season. Boeheim actually missed nearly a month due to a suspension, part of the reason the Orange started 0-4 in conference play in the ACC. Syracuse was in much better shape over the next month, but lost five of their final six games in the regular season, including against Pittsburgh both at home and in the ACC Tournament. Somehow, they were still in the Tournament field and avoided the First Four in Dayton.

Led by Malachi Richardson, Michael Gbinije, and Trevor Cooney, the Orange went on quite the run over the next two weeks, starting with a 19-point first-round upset over 7-seed Dayton. Syracuse’s next two opponents were much weaker due to earlier upsets, and they made quick work against 15-seed Middle Tennessee before outlasting 11-seed Gonzaga in the Sweet Sixteen. Their most impressive work came in their Elite Eight victory over 1-seed Virginia, avenging a loss from two months earlier to the Cavaliers and advancing to the Final Four.

Many argued that Syracuse didn’t deserve to be in the Tournament field, but they proved their worth with these performances. They came out strong in the opening rounds. It didn’t matter that they didn’t play the toughest of opponents; they made the Final Four and that’s what matters, even if their 10-seed was a bit of a surprise. While an ACC team, and one that had been in the Final Four just three years earlier, is not considered a Cinderella story, the run was still quite unlikely considering where this team was in the weeks before the Big Dance began.