bballnut90
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I'll keep this to within the last 20 years and only include NCAA tournament games, but thought it'd be fun to start a thread looking at some of the upsets that almost happened. I ranked these in order of what would've been the biggest upset had the underdog prevailed. So games won in the final seconds with big underdogs get higher rankings:
1. 2010 Xavier almost beats Stanford...Stanford was a darn good team that year, going 35-0 against anyone not named UCONN and having very few competitive games. They nearly lost to an Xavier team led by Tashia Phillips and Amber Harris. Xavier blew two wide open layups in the final 30 seconds that would've given them a 2 point lead...instead, Stanford hit a game winner at the end to go to their 3rd straight Final Four.
2. 2006 Purdue almost beats North Carolina...North Carolina was hands down the team to beat in 2006, and they nearly lost to an unheralded Purdue team in the Sweet 16. 2 point game and I believe UNC needed Latta's late game heroics to make the difference.
3. 2011 Georgetown scares UCONN...UCONN took over late, but imagine how shocking it would've been to see overall #1 UCONN lose in the Sweet 16 to Georgetown in Maya's senior year. Georgetown gave them a great game. Game was a 5 point margin, but had it been just a single possession game I'd probably rank it higher.
3. 2008 Texas A&M scares Tennessee....I don't have the play by play, but the game was neck and neck most of the 2nd half with Tennessee trailing for big stretches. Parker dislocated her shoulder and was out most of the 2nd half....had Tennessee lost, they would've missed out on a 2nd title for Parker and the 5 senior starters.
4. 2001 Purdue almost beating Notre Dame in the championship game.....Purdue was a pretty massive underdog and managed to lead the entire game before Ruth Riley and ND took over late. Game was tied in the last minute before Riley's FTs made the difference. Douglas missed a shot at the buzzer which would've tied the game. Great game to watch.
5. 2017 Arizona State nearly upsets South Carolina...no name ASU had a 1 point lead with under a minute to go against SC in the 2nd round. They had 2 chances to take the lead in the last minute and missed a potential game tying three at the end. Imagine how different the NCAA tournament would've panned out if Arizona State had help on.
6. 2005 USC nearly beats Michigan State...didn't see this one either, but Michigan State was a #1 seed and the eventual runner up. They only beat USC (no idea who was on that team) by just 2 points in the 2nd round on a neutral court.
7. 2003 Georgia nearly beats Duke...didn't see this game, but Duke was a 1 loss team entering the 2003 post season and only beat 5 seed Georgia by 3 points in the Sweet 16.
8. 2017 Purdue nearly upsets Notre Dame...ND lost Turner, but if Purdue knocked off #2 overall seed ND in South Bend, that would've been a colossal upset.
9. 2004 Baylor almost beats Tennessee....another massive scare during Tennessee's run of last second wins in the 2004 tournament. Tennessee was not as strong as it had been in years prior, but Baylor was a no name in 2004 and knocking off Tennessee would've been a huge upset that year.
10. 2015 Gonzaga nearly beats Tennessee....I'm not sure anyone would've been that shocked if Tennessee went out early that year, but they were getting crushed by a pretty mediocre Gonzaga team and needed a late meltdown by the Zags to gut out the win in the Sweet 16. Crushing loss for the Zags. This was Tennessee's last "good" team under Holly too.
HM:
2017 Texas A&M nearly beats Notre Dame...I don't think this would've been a massive upset considering people weren't that high on ND entering the tournament, but this would've completely changed the trajectory of the tournament had they lost to Texas A&M, who led entering the 2nd half and also was within 3 in the last 2 minutes.
1. 2010 Xavier almost beats Stanford...Stanford was a darn good team that year, going 35-0 against anyone not named UCONN and having very few competitive games. They nearly lost to an Xavier team led by Tashia Phillips and Amber Harris. Xavier blew two wide open layups in the final 30 seconds that would've given them a 2 point lead...instead, Stanford hit a game winner at the end to go to their 3rd straight Final Four.
2. 2006 Purdue almost beats North Carolina...North Carolina was hands down the team to beat in 2006, and they nearly lost to an unheralded Purdue team in the Sweet 16. 2 point game and I believe UNC needed Latta's late game heroics to make the difference.
3. 2011 Georgetown scares UCONN...UCONN took over late, but imagine how shocking it would've been to see overall #1 UCONN lose in the Sweet 16 to Georgetown in Maya's senior year. Georgetown gave them a great game. Game was a 5 point margin, but had it been just a single possession game I'd probably rank it higher.
3. 2008 Texas A&M scares Tennessee....I don't have the play by play, but the game was neck and neck most of the 2nd half with Tennessee trailing for big stretches. Parker dislocated her shoulder and was out most of the 2nd half....had Tennessee lost, they would've missed out on a 2nd title for Parker and the 5 senior starters.
4. 2001 Purdue almost beating Notre Dame in the championship game.....Purdue was a pretty massive underdog and managed to lead the entire game before Ruth Riley and ND took over late. Game was tied in the last minute before Riley's FTs made the difference. Douglas missed a shot at the buzzer which would've tied the game. Great game to watch.
5. 2017 Arizona State nearly upsets South Carolina...no name ASU had a 1 point lead with under a minute to go against SC in the 2nd round. They had 2 chances to take the lead in the last minute and missed a potential game tying three at the end. Imagine how different the NCAA tournament would've panned out if Arizona State had help on.
6. 2005 USC nearly beats Michigan State...didn't see this one either, but Michigan State was a #1 seed and the eventual runner up. They only beat USC (no idea who was on that team) by just 2 points in the 2nd round on a neutral court.
7. 2003 Georgia nearly beats Duke...didn't see this game, but Duke was a 1 loss team entering the 2003 post season and only beat 5 seed Georgia by 3 points in the Sweet 16.
8. 2017 Purdue nearly upsets Notre Dame...ND lost Turner, but if Purdue knocked off #2 overall seed ND in South Bend, that would've been a colossal upset.
9. 2004 Baylor almost beats Tennessee....another massive scare during Tennessee's run of last second wins in the 2004 tournament. Tennessee was not as strong as it had been in years prior, but Baylor was a no name in 2004 and knocking off Tennessee would've been a huge upset that year.
10. 2015 Gonzaga nearly beats Tennessee....I'm not sure anyone would've been that shocked if Tennessee went out early that year, but they were getting crushed by a pretty mediocre Gonzaga team and needed a late meltdown by the Zags to gut out the win in the Sweet 16. Crushing loss for the Zags. This was Tennessee's last "good" team under Holly too.
HM:
2017 Texas A&M nearly beats Notre Dame...I don't think this would've been a massive upset considering people weren't that high on ND entering the tournament, but this would've completely changed the trajectory of the tournament had they lost to Texas A&M, who led entering the 2nd half and also was within 3 in the last 2 minutes.