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Someone should really go check on the Ohio State Buckeyes. The year-to-year juggernaut and number two seeded Buckeyes became just the ninth two seed to fall in the first round of the March Madness. Their conquerors? the 15th-seeded Oral Roberts Golden Eagles, whose only national claim to fame thus far is the self-proclaimed “largest prayer hands sculpture in the world” that adorns the school's campus.
This is the beauty of March Madness. The whole concept of a tournament is to ensure that the best teams really come out on top, and in almost every other popular sport, that remains true. Not with NCAA basketball, especially in the first round. The season is long, the field is huge, and teams are mostly going up against opponents that they have literally never played against before. That is a recipe for absolute chaos, and this year is no exception.
ORU, which was an underdog in its own conference tournament, has given this year's March Madness its first signature moment and calls to mind the memory of David and Goliath matchups past.
So, in honor of scrappy underdogs everywhere, we're taking a walk down memory lane. These are the 5 biggest upsets in March Madness history.
5. (11) George Mason University vs. (1) University of Connecticut March Madness upset
In the minds of plenty of millennials, this was the first upset that really echoed in the minds of viewers.
For context, George Mason simply didn't deserve to be in this year's Elite Eight. Prior to 2006, the Patriots had not even won an NCAA Tournament game, and their path to even get to the mighty UConn Huskies was not easy. The Michigan State Spartans and the North Carolina Tar Heels were already left in their wake as they prepared to become the lowest seed since the 1986 LSU Tigers to reach the Final Four.
UConn, led by a young Rudy Gay, was heavily favored to win the tournament outright and was given plenty of chances to ice GMU. But it wouldn't be. In proper upset fashion, George Mason Capped off a magical Cinderella run to win by two in overtime before falling to eventual champion Florida Gators in the Final Four.
4. (15) Richmond University vs. (2) Syracuse University
The first second seed to get smacked in the first round of March Madness is actually a fairly recent memory for older fans of college basketball. In 1991, the Syracuse Orangemen were led by several NBA-level talents, highlighted by All-American Billy Owens, who would go on to play for a decade in the league. They were the second seed for a reason and were considered to be a dark horse to meet and knock off blue bloods UNC, Kansas Jayhawks, and Duke Blue Devils.
That is until a little Spider came along.
Richmond finished second to CAA rival James Madison University and had to win its conference tournament to even earn a ticket to that year'sBig Dance. Against all odds, they danced better than expected and led by floor general Curtis Blair, narrowly knocked out Syracuse 73-69 before losing to Temple by double digits immediately after.
3. (15) Florida Gulf Coast University vs. (2) Georgetown University
Raise your hand if you remember the phrase ‘Dunk City'. Now, keep your hand up if that phrase makes you smile. Every single hand should still be in the air.
As the most fun underdog in recent memory, FGCU was only two years old as a Division I men's basketball team when they shocked the Georgetown Hoyas in 2013. The team was young, fast, and played with utmost joy. They definitely deserved the Dunk City moniker on the court.
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Georgetown was one of the stronger 2-seeds in recent memory and was led by future lottery pick Otto Porter, Jr. So much for that.
FGCU overwhelmed the Hoyas with its undeniable athleticism and pace, beating them by double digits, before going on to do the same to the San Diego State Aztecs in the next round. To this day, FGCU's 2013 Cinderella run is memorialized as the first time a 15-seed made the Sweet Sixteen in March Madness history.
2. (6) NC State University vs. (1) University of Houston
Younger fans won't remember this Houston squad, but similarly to Dunk City fans above: three words define Houston's teams from 1982-1984: Phi Slama Jama.
The seeds aren't necessarily the draw here, as there are upsets with larger gaps in the annals of March Madness history. But the talent gap between these two teams is wider than any other in history. Why? Because of Phi Slamma Jama's leaders in 1983: Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon.
If those names don't sound familiar they should: Drexler was nothing less than Michael Jordan's primary Western Conference rival throughout the 1980s, and Olajuwon would go on to become one of the greatest big men in NBA history, with two titles to his name.
The seeding becomes more appropriate with context: this game was for the 1983 National Championship, and the 6th seeded Wolfpack are still one of the lowest-seeded teams to ever go to the NCAA Finals, let alone win. The score was knotted at 52 before forward Lorenzo Charles won the game for NC State on a buzzer-beating putback dunk over Olajuwon.
You couldn't write a movie script like this and be taken seriously in the pitch meeting.
The game is mostly remembered for NC State's coach, the late Jim Valvano, sprinting onto the court to hug his players in an emotional scrum. “Jimmy V”, as he was affectionately named, would be immortalized at this moment before losing a battle to cancer just ten years later. Wolfpack hero Lorenzo Charles also tragically passed in 2011 in a bus crash in Raleigh, North Carolina at the age of 47.
1. (16) University of Maryland, Baltimore County vs. (1) University of Virginia March Madness upset
It should be noted that there are multiple instances of all types of upsets in NCAA Tournament history. As mentioned above, there are even nine examples of 15 seeds taking down 2 seeds, which just shouldn't happen.
There is only one time in recorded history that a 16 seed took down a 1 seed.
In fact, not only was UVA a 1 seed in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, they were the top-ranked overall team that year. Granted, for this upset to even happen, it is important to note that UVA was without the services of its De'Andre Hunter, who would end up becoming a lottery pick in the NBA draft that year. But Hunter was not a typical ball-stopping star, but the best cog in an efficient, stifling, defensive machine. This team was one of the most well-rounded contenders in recent memory, and even without that distinction, they were at least expected to make it to the Sweet Sixteen without De'Andre Hunter.
Instead, they lost to the lowly UMBC Retrievers, which had only made only one appearance in the dance prior to 2018. In fact, they didn't just lose: they got blown out 74-54 and got torched by the star of the game Jairus Lyles, who, along with the rest of the 2018 UMBC Retrievers, were immortalized in NCAA men's basketball lore.
In short, relax Ohio State. It's not all bad, and you are in historic company. Not for the right reasons, but here's hoping that this trip down memory lane eases your pain a little bit.
