2010 Sweet 16 features highest seed total in a decade

If this seems like the most exciting tournament in recent memory, the data backs it up. This year's Sweet 16 has a seed total of 80. The seed total is the sum of all seeds in the Sweet 16. The minimum possible is seed total is 40 (if the top 4 seeds in each region make it). The Sweet 16 seed total of 80 has only been eclipsed 4 times since seeding began in 1979:

89 in 1986: Notable for 14-seed Cleveland State, one of only two times a 14-seed crashed the Sweet 16. Also the year 11-seed LSU became the lowest seed to make the Final Four (matched in 2006 by George Mason).

88 in 1990: Three double-digit seeds made the Sweet 16, and two of them went onto the Elite 8, including 10-seed Texas and the Bo Kimble-led Loyola Marymount squad (11 seed)

88 in 1999: A very ordinary Final Four (three 1-seeds and a 4-seed) belies a crazy Sweet 16, which featured 5 double-digit seeds in the Sweet 16. The lowest was 13-seed Oklahoma. This year marked the beginning of Gonzaga's tourney streak (they made the Elite 8 as a 10-seed)

85 in 2000: In a first round that featured only 3 upsets (one 11-6 and two 10-7), the tourney got crazy in the 2nd round. Eight of the twelve top three seeds lost, including two 8-1 upsets. This was the highest Final Four seed total ever, with one 1-seed (Michigan State), a 5-seed (Florida) and two 8-seeds (Wisconsin and North Carolina)