Can San Diego State break the NCAA Tournament 5-seed curse?

In the illustrious, 84-year history of the NCAA Tournament, there have been champions of all shapes and sizes.

Dominant blue-blooded favorites, such as 2012 Kentucky, 2009 North Carolina, and pretty much any UCLA team from 1967-75 have won the most championships, while the occasional Cinderella, such as 1983 NC State, 1985 Villanova, and 1988 Kansas have defied the odds to cut down the nets.

In fact, there has been at least one NCAA champion of every seed from 1 through 8, with one odd exception. No 5-seed has ever won the NCAA Tournament.

On Monday night, San Diego State Basketball will endeavor to break the 5-seed curse when it takes on UConn. Making history is nothing new to these Aztecs, though, as they became only the fifth team to win on a buzzer-beater in the Final Four, and the first team to ever do it while trailing, when Lamont Butler shocked Florida Atlantic on Saturday. This was the first buzzer-beater of this NCAA Tournament, but the second for Butler, who provided the dagger at New Mexico just over a month ago.

This is the fourth time a 5-seed has been on the precipice of glory. The previous three to reach the title game have all run up against heavily favored 1-seeds, and though San Diego State’s opponent, UConn, is only a 4-seed, the Huskies have been as dominant in the tournament as any team in recent memory.

Does San Diego State have a chance to break the curse? Let’s take a look at the previous three times a 5-seed has reached the championship game, then break down what the Aztecs can do to make history once again.