5 of the greatest near-upsets in March Madness history
Since the NCAA tournament expanded to its modern 64-team format in 1985, there have been 2,205 tournament games played (not including the First Four).
Of those 2,205 games, 278 have fallen under our definition for an upset: the winning team is five or more seeds lower than the losing team. That's only 1.3 percent of all games, but it includes some of the most memorable.
NCAA TOURNAMENT LEADERS: Winningest schools | Schools with most 1 seeds| Teams with best winning percentage
The first national championship in the 64-team format comes to mind, when 8-seeded Villanova took down a Goliath in 1-seed Georgetown to win the Wildcats'first title.
Or, more recently, in 2017, when 16-seeded UMBC throttled 1-seed Virginia, making history in the process.
UMBC upsets Virginia, 74-54
But which NCAA tournaments saw the most upsets? On average, there are eight games every year where the winner is at least five seeds lower than the loser. The 2007 tournament, which saw 1-seed Florida beat 1-seed Ohio State for the title, holds the record for the fewest number of upsets in a tournament, with just three.
BRACKET TIPS: Here's how to pick March Madness upsets, according to the data
Only 10 tournaments have had a double-digit number of upsets. Here is each one of those, and all the upsets that happened that March:
(Data in this story is from the NCAA's official record books, which can be found here.)
T9. 2016 — 10 upsets
| Round | Seed | Winning Team | Seed | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 15 | Middle Tenn. | 2 | Michigan St. | 90-81 |
| 1st | 14 | SFA | 3 | West Virginia | 70-56 |
| 1st | 13 | Hawaii | 4 | California | 77-66 |
| 1st | 12 | Little Rock | 5 | Purdue | 85-83 (2OT) |
| 1st | 12 | Yale | 5 | Baylor | 79-75 |
| 1st | 11 | Gonzaga | 6 | Seton Hall | 68-52 |
| 1st | 11 | UNI | 6 | Texas | 75-72 |
| 1st | 11 | Wichita St. | 6 | Arizona | 65-55 |
| 2nd | 7 | Wisconsin | 2 | Xavier | 66-63 |
| RF | 10 | Syracuse | 1 | Virginia | 68-62 |
T9. 1990 — 10 upsets
| Round | Seed | Winning Team | Seed | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 14 | UNI | 3 | Missouri | 74-71 |
| 1st | 12 | Ball St. | 5 | Oregon St. | 54-53 |
| 1st | 12 | Dayton | 5 | Illinois | 88-86 |
| 1st | 11 | Loyola Marymount | 6 | New Mexico St. | 111-92 |
| 2nd | 12 | Ball St. | 4 | Louisville | 62-60 |
| 2nd | 11 | Loyola Marymount | 3 | Michigan | 149-115 |
| 2nd | 10 | Texas | 2 | Purdue | 73-72 |
| 2nd | 8 | North Carolina | 1 | Oklahoma | 79-77 |
| 2nd | 7 | Alabama | 2 | Arizona | 77-55 |
| 2nd | 7 | UCLA | 2 | Kansas | 71-70 |
T4. 2018 — 11 upsets
| Round | Seed | Winning Team | Seed | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 16 | UMBC | 1 | Virginia | 74-54 |
| 1st | 13 | Buffalo | 4 | Arizona | 89-68 |
| 1st | 13 | Marshall | 4 | Wichita St. | 81-75 |
| 1st | 11 | Loyola Chicago | 6 | Miami (FL) | 64-62 |
| 1st | 11 | Syracuse | 6 | TCU | 57-52 |
| 2nd | 11 | Loyola Chicago | 3 | Tennessee | 63-62 |
| 2nd | 11 | Syracuse | 3 | Michigan St. | 55-53 |
| 2nd | 9 | Florida St. | 1 | Xavier | 75-70 |
| 2nd | 7 | Nevada | 2 | Cincinnati | 75-73 |
| 2nd | 7 | Texas A&M | 2 | North Carolina | 86-65 |
| RSF | 9 | Florida St. | 4 | Gonzaga | 75-60 |
T4. 2013 — 11 upsets
| Round | Seed | Winning Team | Seed | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd | 15 | FGCU | 2 | Georgetown | 78-68 |
| 2nd | 14 | Harvard | 3 | New Mexico | 68-62 |
| 2nd | 13 | La Salle | 4 | Kansas St. | 63-61 |
| 2nd | 12 | California | 5 | UNLV | 64-61 |
| 2nd | 12 | Ole Miss | 5 | Wisconsin | 57-46 |
| 2nd | 12 | Oregon | 5 | Oklahoma St. | 68-55 |
| 2nd | 11 | Minnesota | 6 | UCLA | 83-63 |
| 3rd | 15 | FGCU | 7 | San Diego St. | 81-71 |
| 3rd | 12 | Oregon | 4 | Saint Louis | 74-57 |
| 3rd | 9 | Wichita St. | 1 | Gonzaga | 76-70 |
| RF | 9 | Wichita St. | 2 | Ohio St. | 70-66 |
T4. 2011 — 11 upsets
| Round | Seed | Winning Team | Seed | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd | 13 | Morehead St. | 4 | Louisville | 62-61 |
| 2nd | 12 | Richmond | 5 | Vanderbilt | 69-66 |
| 2nd | 11 | Gonzaga | 6 | St. John's (NY) | 86-71 |
| 2nd | 11 | Marquette | 6 | Xavier | 66-55 |
| 2nd | 11 | VCU | 6 | Georgetown | 74-56 |
| 3rd | 11 | Marquette | 3 | Syracuse | 66-62 |
| 3rd | 11 | VCU | 3 | Purdue | 94-76 |
| 3rd | 10 | Florida St. | 2 | Notre Dame | 71-57 |
| 3rd | 8 | Butler | 1 | Pittsburgh | 71-70 |
| RF | 11 | VCU | 1 | Kansas | 71-61 |
| RF | 8 | Butler | 2 | Florida | 74-71 (OT) |
T4. 2006 — 11 upsets
| Round | Seed | Winning Team | Seed | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 14 | Northwestern St. | 3 | Iowa | 64-63 |
| 1st | 13 | Bradley | 4 | Kansas | 77-73 |
| 1st | 12 | Montana | 5 | Nevada | 87-79 |
| 1st | 12 | Texas A&M | 5 | Syracuse | 66-58 |
| 1st | 11 | George Mason | 6 | Michigan St. | 75-65 |
| 1st | 11 | Milwaukee | 6 | Oklahoma | 82-74 |
| 2nd | 13 | Bradley | 5 | Pittsburgh | 72-66 |
| 2nd | 11 | George Mason | 3 | North Carolina | 65-60 |
| 2nd | 7 | Georgetown | 2 | Ohio St. | 70-52 |
| 2nd | 7 | Wichita St. | 2 | Tennessee | 80-73 |
| RF | 11 | George Mason | 1 | UConn | 86-84 (OT) |
T4. 2002 — 11 upsets
| Round | Seed | Winning Team | Seed | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 13 | UNCW | 4 | Southern California | 93-89 (OT) |
| 1st | 12 | Creighton | 5 | Florida | 83-82 (2OT) |
| 1st | 12 | Missouri | 5 | Miami (FL) | 93-80 |
| 1st | 12 | Tulsa | 5 | Marquette | 71-69 |
| 1st | 11 | Southern Ill. | 6 | Texas Tech | 76-68 |
| 1st | 11 | Wyoming | 6 | Gonzaga | 73-66 |
| 2nd | 12 | Missouri | 4 | Ohio St. | 83-67 |
| 2nd | 11 | Southern Ill. | 3 | Georgia | 77-75 |
| 2nd | 10 | Kent St. | 2 | Alabama | 71-58 |
| 2nd | 8 | UCLA | 1 | Cincinnati | 105-101 (OT) |
| RSF | 10 | Kent St. | 3 | Pittsburgh | 78-73 (OT) |
3. 1986 — 12 upsets
| Round | Seed | Winning Team | Seed | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 14 | Little Rock | 3 | Notre Dame | 90-83 |
| 1st | 14 | Cleveland St. | 3 | Indiana | 83-79 |
| 1st | 12 | DePaul | 5 | Virginia | 72-68 |
| 1st | 11 | LSU | 6 | Purdue | 94-87 (2OT) |
| 2nd | 14 | Cleveland St. | 6 | Saint Joseph’s | 75-69 |
| 2nd | 12 | DePaul | 4 | Oklahoma | 74-69 |
| 2nd | 11 | LSU | 3 | Memphis | 83-81 |
| 2nd | 8 | Auburn | 1 | St. John's (NY) | 81-65 |
| 2nd | 7 | Iowa St. | 2 | Michigan | 72-69 |
| 2nd | 7 | Navy | 2 | Syracuse | 97-85 |
| RSF | 11 | LSU | 2 | Georgia Tech | 70-64 |
| RF | 11 | LSU | 1 | Kentucky | 59-57 |
T1. 2014 — 13 upsets
| Round | Seed | Winning Team | Seed | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd | 14 | Mercer | 3 | Duke | 78-71 |
| 2nd | 12 | Harvard | 5 | Cincinnati | 61-57 |
| 2nd | 12 | North Dakota St. | 5 | Oklahoma | 80-75 (OT) |
| 2nd | 12 | SFA | 5 | VCU | 77-75 (OT) |
| 2nd | 11 | Dayton | 6 | Ohio St. | 60-59 |
| 2nd | 11 | Tennessee | 6 | Massachusetts | 86-67 |
| 3rd | 11 | Dayton | 3 | Syracuse | 55-53 |
| 3rd | 10 | Stanford | 2 | Kansas | 60-57 |
| 3rd | 9 | Kentucky | 1 | Wichita St. | 78-76 |
| 3rd | 7 | UConn | 2 | Villanova | 77-65 |
| RF | 8 | Kentucky | 2 | Michigan | 75-72 |
| NSF | 7 | UConn | 7 | Florida | 63-53 |
| NSF | 8 | Kentucky | 2 | Wisconsin | 74-73 |
T1. 1985 — 13 upsets
| Round | Seed | Winning Team | Seed | Losing Team | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 13 | Navy | 4 | LSU | 78-55 |
| 1st | 12 | Kentucky | 5 | Washington | 66-58 |
| 1st | 11 | Auburn | 6 | Purdue | 59-58 |
| 1st | 11 | Boston College | 6 | Texas Tech | 55-53 |
| 1st | 11 | UTEP | 6 | Tulsa | 79-75 |
| 2nd | 12 | Kentucky | 4 | UNLV | 64-61 |
| 2nd | 11 | Auburn | 3 | Kansas | 66-64 |
| 2nd | 11 | Boston College | 3 | Duke | 74-73 |
| 2nd | 8 | Villanova | 1 | Michigan | 59-55 |
| 2nd | 7 | Alabama | 2 | VCU | 63-59 |
| RF | 8 | Villanova | 2 | North Carolina | 56-44 |
| NSF | 8 | Villanova | 2 | Memphis | 52-45 |
| CH | 8 | Villanova | 1 | Georgetown | 66-64 |
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