Top March Madness Upsets and Underdog Wins of All-Time
The appeal of March Madness is undeniably multi-faceted – from a pure basketball perspective, there’s certainly no shortage of heart-stopping action and spirited play that’s always inherent in a single-elimination, high-stakes format. Those same characteristics also make it a betting favorite, especially since unexpected results that can net those who put some faith and financial stakes in underdogs handsome rewards.
With Selection Sunday nearly upon us, here’s a our look at seven of the biggest upsets in Men’s NCAA Tournament history.
No. 7 – Hampton (+17.5) defeats Iowa State (2001)
The 21st century was just two months-plus young – and its first March Madness had barely gotten started – when the first big tournament upset unfolded. Facing a No. 2-seeded Iowa State Cyclones team that had come within a win of the Final Four the previous year, the No. 15-seeded Hampton Pirates delivered a 58-57 shocker that saw them overcome an 11-point second-half deficit.
The Cyclones entered with a 25-5 record, while the Pirates were making their first March Madness appearance. Undaunted, Hampton clawed back from their double-digit disadvantage to get to within a point with 1:44 to go on a driving layup by Marseilles Brown.
After missed opportunities for both clubs, Tarvis Brown would eventually deliver the game-winning bucket with 6.9 seconds remaining via a four-footer in the lane. A missed layup on the other end by Jamaal Tinsley with 1.2 seconds remaining then sealed the shocking 58-57 victory and set off a wild celebration.
The victory at the time marked just the fourth time in tournament history that a No. 15 seed defeated a No. 2 seed.
No. 6 – Coppin State (+18.5) defeats South Carolina (1997)
Four years before Hampton’s momentous win, Coppin State pulled off an improbable victory as a slightly larger underdog. As was the case with the Pirates’ upending of the Cyclones, this was also a first-round shocker. Coppin State barely put itself in position to even pull off what was the third instance of a No. 15 toppling a No. 2 – the Eagles needed a pair of overtime victories in their conference tournament just to qualify.
South Carolina was the reigning Southeastern Conference champion and had defeated a talented Kentucky Wildcats team twice. Coppin State had struggled against the Division-I teams it had played, including a 36-point loss to Illinois in its most recent such encounter.
However, by the time the final buzzer sounded on the seemingly lopsided first-round clash, the Eagles had defeated the Gamecocks by a 78-65 margin in a game where they won the rebounding battle, 41-30, and held First-Team All-SEC guard Larry Davis of the Gamecocks scoreless until the final minute.
The game also marked the first time a member of Coppin State’s Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference had recorded a postseason victory.
No. 5 – Saint Peter’s (+18) defeats Kentucky (2022)
While the Hampton and Coppin State would go on to exit in the Round of 32 following their historic upsets, Saint Peter’s put together a much more impressive run and ultimately went deeper into March Madness than any No. 15 seed prior. The Peacocks managed to get all the way to the Elite 8 before succumbing to North Carolina by 20 points, and that ball began rolling downhill with a memorable 85-79 overtime win against Kentucky in the first round.
It was likely clear to Wildcats players and fans alike that matters might not unfold as expected for heavily favored Kentucky when Saint Peter’s managed to play to a 37-37 draw in the first half. John Calipiri’s squad, which had never lost a first-round game under the legendary head coach, then couldn’t prove the tougher-than-expected start was an outlier in the second half. The Peacocks refused to go away, with perhaps the most critical example being their ability to respond with seven unanswered points after going down by six with just over four minutes remaining in regulation.
Ultimately, after falling behind again by four over the first minute-plus of overtime, Saint Peter’s would outscore Kentucky, 14-4, in the final 3:05 to become the 10th No. 15 seed to win a first-round game since the expansion of the tournament in 1985.
No. 4- Santa Clara (+20) defeats Arizona (1993)
While the first three upsets discussed may have gotten more widespread attention due to the media landscapes they were accomplished in, Santa Clara’s massive shocker over Arizona came at the dawn of the internet age, where television and newspaper coverage still served as primary sources.
Nevertheless, the Broncos’ 64-61 victory over the heavily favored Wildcats was arguably deserving of perhaps the biggest headlines in our list thus far, considering both the point spread and the fact Santa Clara overcame a 25-point run.
That furious comeback on the part of the favorites had been necessitated by the surprising 33-21 lead forged by the Broncos in the first half. Lute Olsen’s Wildcats seemingly woke up at that point, roaring to a 46-33 advantage with just seven minutes remaining in regulation. However, a Pete Eisenrich jumper with 2:45 to play completed the underdog’s own determined run, putting Santa Clara up for good. Future NBA Hall of Famer Steve Nash, then a freshman, drained six free throws in the final 31 seconds to lock in the seismic win.
It would be accurate to state the Broncos’ perseverance was pioneering in large part – at the time, they were only the second No. 15 seed to record a tournament win.
No. 3 – UMBC (+20) defeats Virginia (2018)
A full quarter-century later, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) Retrievers set about to carve out their own unique place in March Madness lore. The Retrievers had put together an impressive regular season and finished second in their America East conference while also claiming the conference title.
However, they’d seemingly drawn the proverbial short straw for their first-round matchup – Tony Bennett’s 31-3 Virginia squad 31-3 was the tournament’s top overall seed.
However, the Retrievers would go on to shatter any and all preconceived notions – not to mention historical trends – in a laugher of a 74-54 win. The fact No. 16 seeds had previously gone 0-135 in the tournament? Irrelevant. Virginia allowing an NCAA-low 54.0 points per game during the regular season?
No problem – UMBC would hang 53 on them in the second half alone. The final box score would show a 54% – 41% shooting edge for the underdogs, along with a 33-22 rebounding advantage.
Perhaps the most impressive big-picture aspect of the feat was the unprecedented nature of the win – unsurprisingly, no No. 16 team had ever recorded a victory over the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed prior to the Retriever’s borderline-miraculous rout.
No. 2 – Norfolk State (+21.5) defeats Missouri (2012)
Norfolk State is the first 20-point-plus underdog on this list (spoiler alert: not the last), with the Spartans yet another No. 15 seed that proved, at least for one game, that tournament slotting, like age, is really sometimes is just a number. The thrilling 86-84 win over a 23-11 Missouri team that entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed in the West Region made Norfolk State the first No. 15 to dispatch of that high a seed since Hampton’s aforementioned victory over Iowa State.
As the final score implied, the underdog Spartans, which came in 26-10, earned the rousing victory from the opening tip. The outcome was literally in doubt until the final buzzer, as Missouri’s Phil Pressey put up a desperate three-point attempt that couldn’t find the net as time expired. Norfolk State ultimately shot 54% and won the rebounding battle, 35-23, completing a highly impressive follow-up to what had been just their third winning campaign in the previous 15 years.
No. 1 – Fairleigh Dickinson (+23.5) defeats Purdue (2023)
As noteworthy as the previous six wins we’ve covered have been, the 2023 Fairleigh Dickinson Knights hold the distinction of having pulled the biggest shocker of them all. The seemingly impossible 63-58 victory over a 29-win Purdue Boilermakers team became the tournament’s largest upset in 38 years and served as the second instance of a No. 16 seed recording a Round of 64 victory, as well as the first No. 16 seed from the First Four to defeat a No. 1 seed.
What’s more, going into the first-round clash, teams that had been favored by 23 points or more since the start of the 2022-23 college season had gone a whopping 176-1 straight up.
The Knights entered with a scrappy 20-15 record, and they technically wouldn’t have even been in position to make history if Northeast Conference Tournament winner Merrimack wouldn’t have been barred from entry due to still being within its four-year transition window from the Division II ranks.
Against Purdue, Fairleigh Dickinson wouldn’t go away despite blowing an early 5-2 lead, taking a 32-31 advantage into intermission before out-slugging its superior opponent in the second half. The win made betting and school history, and it serves as the most recent reminder that anything is truly possible in The Big Dance.
