RALEIGH — A No. 16 seed has never defeated a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
But as the head coach at Kansas in 2002, Roy Williams and the Jayhawks almost became the first No. 1 seed to fall in the opening round since the the NCAA Tournament expanded to a 64-team field in 1985.
Facing 16th-seeded Holy Cross in the 2002 NCAA Tournament, Kansas trailed the Crusaders by two points at halftime after starting guard Kirk Hinrich sprained his ankle in the first period.
“I can assure you at that moment that I wasn’t thinking, ‘God, we have to be careful or we’re going to lose to a 16 seed,’” Williams said.