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The most common Final Four picks and predictions

March Madness NCAA Tournament
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  • Millions of brackets have been filled out for March Madness.
  • Villanova and Virginia are the most common Final Four picks.
  • Predictions for the other regions do not have the top seeds reaching the Final Four.


As fans gets their brackets ready for the NCAA Tournament and March Madness, some trends are starting to emerge as the most popular Final Four picks this year only include two 1-seeds.

According to Yahoo Sports' "Tourney Pick'em" contest, No. 1 seeds Villanova (East regional) and Virginia (South) are the only teams to appear in the Final Four of more than half of the brackets filled out so far. The most common Final Four picks in the other regions are second-seeded North Carolina (West) and third-seeded Michigan State (Midwest). Xavier (West) is the top seed picked to reach the Final Four in the fewest brackets (19.5%).

The most common pick for a school not seeded No. 6 or higher is Alabama, a ninth seed, picked to reach the Final Four in 0.7% of the brackets. The most common double-digit seeds are Oklahoma and Texas, with each reaching the Final Four in 0.5% of brackets.

NCAA Popular Picks Final Four
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Cork was a correspondent for Insider's sports desk.Previously, he was a contributor at MLB Trade Rumors, and he has written for Yahoo Sports, Deadspin, and The Hardball Times. He has authored chapters in three books, including "The Hardball Times 2009 Season Preview." Cork's work has been featured on ESPN's "SportsCenter" and "Mike & Mike," "Any Given Wednesday with Bill Simmons," ESPN.com, BBC, Yahoo, USA Today, Sports Illustrated, Drudge Report, the Washington Post, the Kansas City Star, the Houston Chronicle, and the Dallas Morning News, among others.He is a graduate of the University of Iowa and holds a doctorate from Fordham University.Here is a selection of his work:Under Armour hit the jackpot on its Jordan Spieth betGary Woodland once took his pants off to hit a shot and learned a funny lesson about product endorsementWe tried the alcohol diet Tom Brady put Rob Gronkowski on, and it was a lot harder than we imaginedThe University of Texas spent $7 million remodeling their football locker room and the results are jaw-droppingStephen Curry has replaced LeBron James as the best basketball player in the worldEx-NBA player who made $60 million explains what really happens to your money when you sign an 8-figure contractHere's Michael Jordan's 56,000-square-foot house in Chicago, and why it's still on the market after 6 yearsMayweather beat McGregor with a TKO in the 10th round! Here are the big moments everybody will be talking aboutPerfect conditions at Cowboys-Patriots game helped create incredible picturesWe've been using Alexa in a car for 6 months and it's the best infotainment system we've ever used.
Shayanne Gal was a Senior Data Graphics Designer at Insider.