Biggest Upsets in March Madness History

Biggest Upsets in March Madness History

It is almost that time! Some argue that it is the greatest tournament in sports. Upsets, buzzer beaters, cinderella stories, and players pushing to the NBA draft make this tournament must-see television every year.

Every tournament, we see big upsets, which makes this tournament so unique. The big upset, the No.16 seed over the No.1 seed, has only happened twice, and we saw it just two years ago with Fairleigh Dickinson beating Purdue in a SHOCKER!

So, yes, the 16th seed beating the 1st is rare; however, throughout the tournament, we see upsets at every stage.

Since the expansion of 64 teams (1985)

No.15 beating No. 2

*11 times

No. 14 beating No.3

*23 times

No.13 beating No.4

*33 times

No. 12 beating No. 5 

*55 times

Highest seed to make the Sweet Sixteen

*No. 13 seed has made it six different times

Highest seed to make the Final Four

*No. 11 seed has made it six different times

(NC State did it as recently as last year, upsetting Duke)

Highest seed to win a championship

*Villanova, as the No. 8 seed, defeated the one-seeded Georgetown Hoyas.

The one thing you can expect is upsets along the way, which makes the tournament so challenging to predict. You need to identify the upsets and bracket breakers if you have any shot of winning a big bracket challenge.

Let’s look at the Top-5 biggest upsets in March Madness history:

#5

No. 15 Florida Gulf Coast upsetting No.2 Georgetown Hoyas (2013)

This was Florida Gulf Coast’s debut in the tournament, and they were matched up with the three-way champion in the Big East Georgetown Hoyas.

Georgetown was a 13-point favourite heading into the game and lost by 10, getting outscored in both halves. Florida Gulf Coast scored 54 points in the second half to pull away with the MASSIVE upset.

Florida Gulf Coast ended up winning again in the round of 32, upsetting No.7 seed San Diego St. However, the story ended in the next round, losing to Florida.

#4

Villanova Defeats Georgetown in the National Championship: The Perfect Game (1985)

Sorry, Georgetown fans, you have made the top 5 twice. This Georgetown team, led by Patrick Ewing, was regarded as one of the best college basketball teams in history. They entered the tournament with a 35-2 record, five NBA future players and defeated Villanova twice in the regular season.

The head coach for Villanova famously said his squad would need a perfect game to win, and that’s what he got out of them.

Villanova shot 78.6 percent from the field, which is almost unheard of. You would think Villanova won this game by a large margin. However, you would be wrong, as they won by 2, 66-64

This was such a perfect game from Villanova; they made a book about it.

#3

George Mason’s 2006 Final Four Run

This Cinderella run by George Mason got me watching the tournament. This school had never won a tournament game before this and went on to defeat Michigan State, North Carolina, Wichita St and UConn in the elite eight. UConn led by 12 points in the first half, but George Mason shot 50% from three to complete the comeback and head to the Final Four.

The wildest part of this historic run was that many people were upset that George Mason had made the tournament that year and that they had left out Hofstra.

#2

No.16 Fairleigh Dickinson Upsets No.1 Purdue (2023)

The only reason I couldn’t put this first is that this was the second time it had happened, even though this was the more significant point spread upset of 23.5-point underdogs. 

FDU coach was caught on tape saying this: “The more I watch Purdue, the more I think we can beat them’’ He was right, winning 63-58 and eliminating one of the favourites to have a shot at winning the Championship.

FDU lost in the next round. It was a short-lived story, but it will be in the historical books forever for the small school.

#1

UMBC Defeats Virginia (2018): The First No.16 Seed to Beat a No.1 Seed

The University of Maryland Baltimore County was the first to knock off the No.1 seed. They didn’t just beat them by a bucket or two; they blew them out by 20 points. The Virginia roster featured five feature NBA players but couldn’t keep up with the 50% shooting from beyond the arc.

Virginia had the second-best odds of winning the national championship. Virginia shot 41% from the field and 18% from beyond the arc.

It took 33 years to see an upset of this magnitude, but they proved it can be done!

Bracket Challenge

When filling out your bracket this year, don’t just take the favourites in the matchups; this article proved that upsets could happen in every matchup.

Will we see another No. 16 seed pull off an upset? History says probably not. However, I could see multiple higher-seeded teams pulling off the upset; good luck identifying them.

Enjoy the Madness, and make sure to sign up for the bracket challenge, which is available on Sunday!