It might seem strange the a team v such one illustrious background as UCLA"s could ever be considered one that the NCAA Tournament"s best Cinderella stories.
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But that"s precisely the scenario because that Mick Cronin"s 2020-21 Bruins team.
With an elite Eight victory over 1-seed Michigan in Tuesday"s East region final, 11-seed UCLA bound the march Madness record for the shortest seed to do the final Four. There, lock will face West region champion — and also top in its entirety NCAA tournament seed — Gonzaga because that the appropriate to pat in the national championship.
That"s not also the many astounding part of the Bruins" operation to the last Four; they also join the 2010-11 VCU squad as the just teams to advance all the means to the national semifinal native the very first Four. The Bruins" 2021 last Four berth come at the expense of defeating five teams: Fellow an initial Four team Michigan State (86-80 in overtime); 6-seed BYU (73-62); 14-seed Abilene Christian (67-47); 2-seed Alabama (88-78, in overtime); and also 1-seed Michigan (51-49).
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Unfortunately because that the Bruins — or fortunately, considering they had actually to success their previous five tournament gamings — background repeated against Cronin and Co. No team lower than an 8 seed has ever progressed beyond the last Four, and only one such team has ever won it all (Villanova"s 1984-85 team, which to win Georgetown 66-64 in the final).
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Several teams have tried it since 2000, yet all have actually fallen — part harder than others — in the penultimate ring of the NCAA Tournament. UCLA came close, but an tremendous buzzer-beater by Gonzaga"s Jalen Suggs broke the mind of Bruins faithful everywhere, sending out Cinderella house early.
Either way, UCLA"s final Four run was amongst the best we"ve seen, nevertheless of seed. Here"s a failure of just how it fits among every team, seeded 8 or lower, that has made it come the last Four:
HISTORY the UPSETS by SEED:15 vs. 2 | 14 vs. 3 | 13 vs. 4 | 12 vs. 5
Lowest final Four seed in NCAA Tournament
| Seed | Teams | Final results |
| 8 | Villanova (1985) | National championship success (66-64 over Georgetown) |
| North Carolina (2000) | Final 4 loss (71-59 to Florida) | |
| Wisconsin (2000) | Final 4 loss (53-41 come Michigan State) | |
| Butler (2011) | National championship lose (53-41 to UConn) | |
| Kentucky (2014) | National championship ns (60-54 to UConn) | |
| 9 | Wichita State (2013) | Final 4 loss (72-68 to Louisville) |
| 10 | Syracuse (2016) | Final 4 loss (83-66 to north Carolina) |
| 11 | LSU (1986) | Final four loss (88-77 come Louisville) |
| George Mason (2006) | Final four loss (73-58 come Florida) | |
| VCU (2011) | Final 4 loss (70-62 come Butler) | |
| Loyola Chicago (2018) | Final four loss (69-57 to Michigan) | |
| UCLA (2021) | Final four loss (93-90 to Gonzaga in overtime) |
How many times has actually UCLA to be to the last Four?
| Year | Final result |
| 1962 | Wake woodland 82, UCLA 80 (national third-place game) |
| 1964 | UCLA 98, duke 83 (national championship) |
| 1965 | UCLA 91, Michigan 80 (national championship) |
| 1967 | UCLA 79, Dayton 64 (national championship) |
| 1968 | UCLA 78, phibìc Carolina 55 (national championship) |
| 1969 | UCLA 92, Purdue 72 (national championship) |
| 1970 | UCLA 80, Jacksonville 69 (national championship) |
| 1971 | UCLA 68, Villanova 62 (national championship) |
| 1972 | UCLA 81, Florida State 76 (national championship) |
| 1973 | UCLA 87, Memphis 66 (national championship) |
| 1974 | UCLA 78, Kansas 61 (national third-place game) |
| 1975 | UCLA 82, Kentucky 85 (national championship) |
| 1976 | UCLA 106, Rutgers 92 (national third-place game) |
| 1980 | Louisville 59, UCLA 54 (national championship) |
| 1995 | UCLA 89, Arkansas 78 (national championship) |
| 2006 | Florida 73, UCLA 57 (national championship) |
| 2007 | Florida 76, UCLA 66 (Final Four) |
| 2008 | Memphis 78, UCLA 64 (Final Four) |
| 2021 | Gonzaga 93, UCLA 90 (OT) (Final Four) |