What is the lowest seed to win March Madness? Exploring Villanova’s historic run in 1985

College basketball fans should know this by now: March Madness absolutely deserves its name, and for good reason. Not even a high seed can guarantee a team's run to the championship, and this has been proven time and time again.

That said, the title of this post makes it clear as well. The lowest-seeded team to ever win the NCAA championship, the 1985 Villanova Wildcats, had what is probably the most stunning title run (and the most stunning upset) in the history of American sports.

Here's a look back at what happened during that magical year.

What is the lowest seed to win March Madness?

In 1985, the Villanova Wildcats entered the NCAA tournament as the 8-seed. They didn't have a "bad" season, all things considered, as the Wildcats were still well above .500 (25-10), though their 9-7 conference record does leave something to be desired.

On their way to the national championship, Villanova and head coach Rollie Massimino had to go through the eye of the needle. All of their wins in that tournament were in single digits, and it started with their slim 51-49 victory over 9-seed Dayton in the first round. Next up was the Southeast top seed Michigan Wolverines, who were also ranked second in the nation, which they beat 59-55.

Here are the rest of the games they had to go through before finally making it into the championship game:

• Win vs. Maryland, 46-43
• Win vs. UNC (ranked 2nd in the nation), 56-44
• Win vs. Memphis State (ranked 5th in the nation), 52-45

Villanova vs Georgetown for the NCAA championship

Take nothing away from the teams that Villanova beat on the way to the championship game: those squads were among the best in the nation, including the #2-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels which had sharpshooting Kenny "The Jet" Smith and eventual Cleveland Cavaliers star center Brad Daugherty.

But the team they faced in the national title was a far more different beast.

On the back of 7-foot behemoth Patrick Ewing, the Hoyas went 35-3 on the year and was ranked the best team in the nation by that year's final AP Poll. Before meeting Villanova in the finals, Georgetown had been on a 16-game winning streak including the NCAA tournament. Aside from that, they were also the defending champions, looking to be only the sixth school by that year to win back-to-back titles.

As a result, no one in their right mind picked the Wildcats to win--but people may have forgotten that they were the only team that gave the Hoyas actual problems during the year.

Villanova Wildcats head coach Rollie Massimino had a plan to deal with the dominant Ewing. Every time he gets the ball in the post, double-team him from the weak side because he never turns to expose the weak side of the ball.

So that's what they did, aside from matching Georgetown basket to basket and breaking the Hoyas' impenetrable full-court press with stellar play from guard Gary McLain. This then led the game to go down to the wire.

In the end, Villanova shot the ball a total of only 10 times in the second half. They made nine. It was a perfect second-half shooting that sent Georgetown into a frenzy, and down for the count--sealing the greatest Cinderella run in NCAA tournament history.