Biggest upset ever?

[triaddukefan]

Most of the big upsets since 1990 are probably little remembered now, but here's a general rundown, with most involving #1 seeds. The biggest upset ever would have to involve at least a #1 seed, but there have been early exits by #2 seeds that were at least a bit of a shock. One not listed is the aforementioned loss by undefeated UConn team to UTenn in the 4th round in 1997. That team had won the BET at home by only 9 over an Irish team they had earlier beaten by 23, and the Huskies' 5-point margin over Illinois in the Sweet 16 game was the smallest of all the winners. Writing may have been on the wall there for the Huskies.

2001 - Xavier over #1 seed UTenn by 15 in 3rd round. SW Mizzoo over #1 seed Duke in 3rd round sets up a 5-seed vs. 6-seed battle in regional final.
2004 - #7 seed Minnesota over #2 seed KSU in round of 32 sets up meeting and victory over #1 seed Duke in regional final.
2006 - BC over #1 OSU in 2nd round.
2007 - UMiss beats #2 seed and reigning champ MD in 2nd round, Rutgers beats # 1 Duke in 3rd round.
2009 - MSU beats #1 seed Duke in 2nd round, Louisville wins by 17 over #1 seed MD in 4th round.
2010 - Baylor beats #1 seed UTenn by 15 in 3rd round, KY beats #1 seed Nebraska in 3rd round.
2011 - #11 seed Gonzaga uses home court advantage to knock off #3 UCLA in 2nd round and advances to play Stanford in regional final.

Louisville over Baylor in 2013 still seems much bigger than all the games where #1 seeds were eliminated in the 2nd round. Harvard of course still has the magic game, though injuries set it up.

Whole lotta Duke games you listed.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Whole lotta Duke games you listed.

Well. you gotta have been high ranked (usually #1) to be on the losing side of that list, and Duke has earned a lot of #1 seeds over the years. At least the Devils are also in for beating someone. Can't say that for OSU. But no one can beat old SW Mizzoo (now Missouri St) for being underdog troublemakers.

 

[DobbsRover2]

Only if it was a 16 seed beating a 1 seed in the first round. Looking at the up

Meaning that say a #15 seed knocking off a #2 seed in the first round would be a bigger upset than say a #8 over a #1 seed in the second round? Technically by the numbers that is true, but to be the biggest upset ever to me would mean that the top team or maybe one of the top 4 went down before the Elite 8, as happened to Baylor. And if Baylor had lost in the Elite 8 it might well still qualify for me as the biggest upset. The fact is, Stanford was not really a #1 seed in 1998 after losing its top two players just prior to the tourney, so the seeds in a sense do lie there. Nothing lies about Griner and Sims and company going down. They just lost in a big way, in the third round, as reigning champ, and as the big favorite.

When the Bears lost by 12 in 2011 to Texas A&M it was in the 4th round as is not included on the list above. The big surprise there was that the Bears had beaten the Aggies three times already, but we have since learned how tough it is to beat a team 4 times in a season. Not looking too far ahead, but hopefully that trend of the previous winner losing game 4 will continue if it by any chance crops up (cross fingers).

And maybe it was an earth shaker when #1 seed Iowa lost in the 1992 without winning a game, I just can't remember that now, and when BC knocked off OSU in 2006, I don't recall it being that huge a surprise.

 

[Icebear]

It is, also, highly significant that Baylor was not just a #1 seed but THE #1 seed overall with only 1 loss.

 

[cardfan]

Meaning that say a #15 seed knocking off a #2 seed in the first round would be a bigger upset than say a #8 over a #1 seed in the second round? Technically by the numbers that is true, but to be the biggest upset ever to me would mean that the top team or maybe one of the top 4 went down before the Elite 8, as happened to Baylor. And if Baylor had lost in the Elite 8 it might well still qualify for me as the biggest upset. The fact is, Stanford was not really a #1 seed in 1998 after losing its top two players just prior to the tourney, so the seeds in a sense do lie there. Nothing lies about Griner and Sims and company going down. They just lost in a big way, in the third round, as reigning champ, and as the big favorite.

When the Bears lost by 12 in 2011 to Texas A&M it was in the 4th round as is not included on the list above. The big surprise there was that the Bears had beaten the Aggies three times already, but we have since learned how tough it is to beat a team 4 times in a season. Not looking too far ahead, but hopefully that trend of the previous winner losing game 4 will continue if it by any chance crops up (cross fingers).

And maybe it was an earth shaker when #1 seed Iowa lost in the 1992 without winning a game, I just can't remember that now, and when BC knocked off OSU in 2006, I don't recall it being that huge a surprise.

Exactly. And Harvard was not a 16 with the number 1 scorer in the country that year.