Hope's men moved into the No. 1 spot in the D3hoops.com Top 25 this week after Amherst and Centre each lost games this past week.

However, No. 1 isn't an enviable spot entering the tournament. Only twice has the pre-tournament men's No. 1 team finished the season hoisting Walnut and Bronze. Calvin did it first, carrying the bull's-eye through the 2000 tournament and winning the national championship, as did UW-Stevens Point in 2005. The 2004 No. 1 team, Williams, finished as national runner-up.

Because teams are not seeded or dispersed nationally, especially in the men's bracket, No. 1 teams tend to face strong competition early in the tournament. Of the remaining four pre-tournament men's No. 1 teams, one more reached the Final Four (Carthage, 2002), one the Elite Eight (Chicago, 2001) and three the Sweet 16 (UW-Stevens Point 2007, Lawrence 2006 and Randolph-Macon 2003).

So other than the two No. 1's, where has the champion come from? Catholic was the lowest-ranked men's team to win a title, coming from the No. 14 spot in 2001. The Cardinals were a buzzer-beater away from not even making the 48-team field before eventually cutting the nets down in Salem. UW-Stevens Point was No. 10 in 2005, Virginia Wesleyan was No. 7 in 2006, Amherst 2007 and Otterbein 2002 were ranked No. 6 and Williams 2003 was ranked No. 3.

The full D3hoops.com Top 25. Scroll down for links to brackets.