Houston, Texas - With the NCAA selection committee set to reveal the top 16 seeds on Saturday, why is the No. 1 seed important in the college basketball March Madness tournament?

When the nation's best teams leave the court with an upset, college basketball critics are always quick to say the NCAA tournament is "wide open!"

But is this true? Is the tournament really wide open for any team to just come in and take it all the way?

Between 1985 and 2021, the overall No. 1 seeds have made 59 Final Four appearances, played in 36 championship games, and won the national title 23 times.

This equates to 29 more Final Four appearances, 24 more championship game appearances, and 18 more national titles in comparison to the overall No. 2 seeds. The NCAA Championship has only been won by four teams As for teams seeded below No. 3.

While it remains true that anything can happen in college basketball and there are often surprising "Cinderella" teams that make waves during March Madness, for the bottom half of the tournament seeds, the glass slipper never seems to fit.

With that being said, in college basketball, the No. 1 overall seed may mean a championship title! Without landing the top seed, statistically speaking, making the Final Four or even the championship game is slim to none.

Alabama, Purdue, Houston, and Kansas are the current top four teams that can snag a coveted No. 1 overall seed.

Alabama, Purdue, and Houston have all shared the No. 1 ranking in the AP Poll and currently rank as the top three best teams in the nation.

Before their shocking 14-point loss to Maryland on Thursday, the Boilermakers were the projected No. 1 overall seed after compiling an impressive 23-4 season record.

However, Alabama and Houston have better conference records!

Houston and Alabama currently lead the nation in quad one wins at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, followed by Purdue at No. 5 and Kansas at No. 6. Tennessee and UCLA ranks at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.

With Kansas in a three-way tie for the Big 12 Conference regular season title, Houston and Alabama are sitting comfortably in the season's final stretch. Both teams are well on their way to claim their respective conference regular season titles.

Purdue will need to win their remaining four games in the regular season to claim the Big Ten Conference title.

The Boilermakers will be back on Sunday to take on The Ohio State at 1 PM EST, Kansas will host Baylor on Saturday at 4 PM EST, and Houston and Alabama will tip off against Memphis and Georgia on Sunday at 3 PM and 6 PM EST, respectively.