March Madness Matchups: 2 vs 15 Betting History & Trends

Incredibly, No.15 seeds have won three of the past 12 matchups against No. 2 seeds after winning just three of the previous 28 contests in the NCAA Tournament. As you’ll recall, No. 15 Princeton memorably derailed the No. 2 Arizona Wildcats hype train last year, throwing brackets across the country into disarray. The Wildcats entered the game as massive -110 favourites, and were +1600 to win the National Championship. Princeton cashed as +700 underdogs to get the frenzy of March Madness well and truly underway.

In 2022, St. Peter’s shocked the world by defeating John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats as 18.5-point underdogs. The Peacocks became everybody’s favorite Cinderella squad, cashing the +1000 moneyline and going all the way to the Elite Eight. The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles pulled off the feat in 2021, knocking off Ohio State by a score of 75-72 as 16-point underdogs.

Keep in mind when placing your wagers, a No.15 seed has defeated a No. 2 seed in each of the past three years. However, the underdogs are just 6-6 ATS in that same timeframe. As three of my favorite March Madness Final Four value bets, I'm banking on Marquette, Iowa State, and Tennessee to at the very least advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

2024 2 vs 15 Seed Matchups

Check out all the advanced stats for the 2024 March Madness No.2 vs No.15 seed matchups below.

South: No. 2 Marquette vs No. 15 Western Kentucky
East: No. 2 Iowa State vs No. 15 South Dakota State
West: No. 2 Arizona vs No. 15 Long Beach State
Midwest: No. 2 Tennessee vs No. 15 Saint Peter's

Seed vs Seed Stats: 1 vs 16 | 2 vs 15 | 3 vs 14 | 4 vs 13 | 5 vs 12 | 6 vs 11 | 7 vs 10 | 8 vs 9

Who Has The Betting Edge In The 2 vs 15 matchup?

Backing the lower seed has been the way to go in the No. 2 vs No. 15 matchup as the No. 15 seed has gone 59-48-1 ATS since 1996. Since 2008, however, spread betting in this matchup has been a virtual coin flip with No. 15 having a minuscule 31-28-1 ATS edge.