lower seed
Tournament's lesser favorite
In tournament brackets, a lower seed is a competitor ranked further from the top—the sixth seed is lower than the second.
Despite the counterintuitive numbering, lower seeds are considered weaker or less favored: The lower seed pulled off a stunning upset.
The term comes from seeding, the practice of ranking and distributing competitors to prevent top contenders from meeting early.
- underdogPresumed loser beforehand
- upsetDisturb, topple, or shock
- bracketSupport or category
- tournamentMulti-round competitive event
- sweet sixteenCelebratory sixteenth birthday milestone
first round exit · ranking · Cinderella · March Madness · play-in game · wildcard · playoff · contender · longshot · germinate · sprout · plant · husk · kernel · sow · root · root system · fertile
- tournament bracketsbracket, seedings, unseeded, bye, matchup
- playoffsbracket, brackets, elimination, playoff bracket, playoff game