This NCAA tournament has been one of the wildest in memory, with plenty of thrilling upsets and games decided at the gun. The biggest beneficiary of all that craziness was probably No. 1 seed Kansas -- until the regional finals. Based on the seeds of their opponents, the Jayhawks would have enjoyed one of the easiest roads to the Final Four since the tourney expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Kansas knocked off Boston University (16), Illinois (9) and Richmond (12) with relative ease. All that was left to reach the Final Four was beating VCU (11).
Oops.
Here are the five teams, all No. 1 seeds, who sweated the least en route to the Final Four. Degree of difficulty is determined by adding up the seeds of the defeated teams. A higher number indicates a less strenuous the path to the Final Four. The Jayhawks would've tied for the easiest road ever with 48 seed points.
1993 Michigan
44 seed points
Round of 64: Beat No. 16 Coastal Carolina
Round of 32: Beat No. 9 UCLA
Sweet 16: Beat No. 12 George Washington
Elite 8: Beat No. 7 Temple
Result: Lost to North Carolina in championship game
2008 Kansas
46 seed points
Round of 64: Beat No. 16 Portland State
Round of 32: Beat No. 8 UNLV
Sweet 16: Beat No. 12 Villanova
Elite 8: Beat No. 10 Davidson
Result: Beat Memphis in championship game
1991 North Carolina
47 seed points
Round of 64: Beat No. 16 Northeastern
Round of 32: Beat No. 9 Villanova
Sweet 16: Beat No. 12 Eastern Michigan
Elite 8: Beat No. 10 Temple
Result: Lost to Kansas in Final Four
1990 UNLV
47 seed points
Round of 64: Beat No. 16 Arkansas-Little Rock
Round of 32: Beat No. 8 Ohio State
Sweet 16: Beat No. 12 Ball State
Elite 8: Beat No. 11 Loyola Marymount
Result: Beat Duke in championship game
2001 Michigan State
48 seed points
Round of 64: Beat No. 16 Alabama State
Round of 32: Beat No. 9 Fresno State
Sweet 16: Beat No. 12 Gonzaga
Elite 8: Beat No. 11 Temple
Result: Lost to Arizona in Final Four
