NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship upsets

This is a list of upsets that have occurred in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.

Upsets in the field of 64, since 1985:

First Round Upsets

Excluding the play-in game, a 16-seed has never won a game in the NCAA Tournament. There have been 11 1-seed vs. 16-seed games decided by single digits, the most recent occurring in 1997 when North Carolina defeated Fairfield 82-74. Two 16-seeds have come within one point of upsetting a #1 seed, both in 1989. In the East Regional, Georgetown hung on to win 50-49 against a Princeton squad who were 30 point underdogs. Princeton had the opportunity to win the game with the last shot, but Alonzo Mourning rejected the last two attempts to secure the victory. In the Southeast Regional, Oklahoma fought back from a first-half 17-point deficit to take the lead over East Tennessee State with 1:21 remaining. ETSU also had a chance at a last-second win, but Alvin West's shot from halfcourt was deflected.^[1]

Sixteenth-seeded Murray State took top seeded Michigan State to overtime in 1990, but eventually lost 75-71. In 1996, Western Carolina missed a three-pointer to win and a two-pointer to tie in the final seconds, losing 73-71. In 2002, Holy Cross held a 5 point lead over Kansas with 12 minutes to go and was behind by only 4 points with one minute left, only to lose 70-59. In the 2009 tournament, East Tennessee State trailed Pittsburgh by just two points with four minutes to play before falling 72-62.

There have been four 15-seeds to defeat 2-seeds in the first round of the tournament:

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2001	Hampton	Iowa State	58-57
1997	Coppin State	South Carolina	78-65
1993	Santa Clara	Arizona	64-61
1991	Richmond	Syracuse	73-69

There have been sixteen 14 seeds that have beaten 3 seeds in the first round:

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2010	Ohio	Georgetown	97-83
2006	Northwestern State	Iowa	64-63
2005	Bucknell	Kansas	64-63
1999	Weber State	North Carolina	76-74
1998	Richmond	South Carolina	62-61
1997	Chattanooga	Georgia	73-70
1995	Old Dominion	Villanova	89-81 (3OT)
1995	Weber State	Michigan State	79-72
1992	East Tennessee State	Arizona	87-80
1991	Xavier	Nebraska	89-84
1990	Northern Iowa	Missouri	74-71
1989	Siena	Stanford	80-78
1988	Murray State	NC State	78-75
1987	Austin Peay	Illinois	68-67
1986	Cleveland State	Indiana	83-79
1986	Arkansas-Little Rock	Notre Dame	90-83

There have been twenty-two 13 seeds to defeat 4 seeds in the first round:

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2011	Morehead State	Louisville	62-61
2010	Murray State	Vanderbilt	66-65
2009	Cleveland State	Wake Forest	84-69
2008	Siena	Vanderbilt	83-62
2008	San Diego	Connecticut	70-69 (OT)
2006	Bradley	Kansas	77-73
2005	Vermont	Syracuse	60-57 (OT)
2003	Tulsa	Dayton	84-71
2002	UNC-Wilmington	So. California	93-89 (OT)
2001	Kent State	Indiana	77-73
2001	Indiana State	Oklahoma	70-68 (OT)
1999	Oklahoma	Arizona	61-60
1998	Valparaiso	Mississippi	70-69
1996	Princeton	UCLA	43-41
1995	Manhattan	Oklahoma	77-67
1993	Southern	Georgia Tech	93-78
1992	Southwestern Louisiana	Oklahoma	87-83
1991	Penn State	UCLA	74-69
1989	Middle Tennessee	Florida State	97-83
1988	Richmond	Indiana	72-69
1987	Xavier	Missouri	70-69
1987	Southwest Missouri State	Clemson	65-60
1985	Navy	LSU	78-55

There have been thirty-six 12 seeds to defeat 5 seeds in the first round:

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2011	Richmond	Vanderbilt	69-66
2010	Cornell	Temple	78-65
2009	Wisconsin	Florida State	61-59 (OT)
2009	Arizona	Utah	84-71
2009	Western Kentucky	Illinois	75-71
2008	Villanova	Clemson	75-69
2008	Western Kentucky	Drake	101-99 (OT)
2006	Montana	Nevada	87-79
2006	Texas A&M	Syracuse	66-58
2005	UW-Milwaukee	Alabama	83-73
2004	Manhattan	Florida	75-60
2004	Pacific	Providence	66-58
2003	Butler	Mississippi State	47-46
2002	Creighton	Florida	83-82 (OT)
2002	Tulsa	Marquette	71-69
2002	Missouri	Miami (FL)	93-80
2001	Gonzaga	Virginia	86-85
2001	Utah State	Ohio State	77-68 (OT)
1999	Southwest Missouri State	Wisconsin	43-32
1999	Detroit	UCLA	56-53
1998	Florida State	TCU	96-87
1997	College of Charleston	Maryland	75-66
1996	Drexel	Memphis	75-63
1996	Arkansas	Penn State	86-80
1995	Miami (OH)	Arizona	71-62
1994	Wisconsin-Green Bay	California	61-57
1994	Tulsa	UCLA	112-102
1993	George Washington	New Mexico	82-68
1992	New Mexico State	DePaul	81-73
1991	Eastern Michigan	Mississippi State	76-56
1990	Dayton	Illinois	88-86
1990	Ball State	Oregon State	54-53
1989	DePaul	Memphis State	66-63
1987	Wyoming	Virginia	64-60
1986	DePaul	Virginia	72-68
1985	Kentucky	Washington	66-58

There have been thirty-six 11 seeds to win their first round games against 6 seeds:

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2011	Marquette	Xavier	66-55
2011	Virginia Commonwealth	Georgetown	74-56
2011	Gonzaga	St. John's	86-71
2010	Washington	Marquette	80-78
2010	Old Dominion	Notre Dame	51-50
2009	Dayton	West Virginia	68-62
2008	Kansas State	So. California	80-67
2007	Winthrop	Notre Dame	76-64
2007	Virginia Commonwealth	Duke	79-77
2006	UW-Milwaukee	Oklahoma	82-74
2006	George Mason	Michigan State	75-65
2005	UAB	LSU	82-68
2003	Central Michigan	Creighton	79-73
2002	Wyoming	Gonzaga	73-68
2002	Southern Illinois	Texas Tech	76-68
2001	Georgia State	Wisconsin	50-49
2001	Temple	Texas	79-65
2000	Pepperdine	Indiana	77-57
1998	Washington	Xavier	69-68
1998	Western Michigan	Clemson	75-72
1996	Boston College	Indiana	64-51
1995	Texas	Oregon	90-73
1994	Pennsylvania	Nebraska	90-80
1993	Tulane	Kansas State	55-53
1991	Creighton	New Mexico State	64-56
1991	Connecticut	LSU	79-62
1990	Loyola Marymount	New Mexico State	111-92
1989	Minnesota	Kansas State	86-75
1989	Evansville	Oregon State	94-90 (OT)
1989	South Alabama	Alabama	86-84
1989	Texas	Georgia Tech	76-70
1988	Rhode Island	Missouri	87-80
1986	LSU	Purdue	94-87 (OT)
1985	Boston College	Texas Tech	55-53
1985	UTEP	Tulsa	79-75
1985	Auburn	Purdue	59-58

Second round

A 15th seed has never won a second-round game in the NCAA Tournament.

There have been two 14th seeds to win their second-round games. Both were against 6 seeds.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
1997	UT-Chattanooga	Illinois	75-63
1986	Cleveland State	St. Joseph's	75-69

There have been four 13 seeds to win their second-round games. Seeds of the losing teams are in parentheses.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2006	Bradley	(5) Pittsburgh	72-66
1999	Oklahoma	(5) Charlotte	85-72
1998	Valparaiso	(12) Florida State	83-77 (OT)
1988	Richmond	(5) Georgia Tech	59-55

There have been nineteen 12 seeds to win their second-round games. Seeds of the losing teams are in parentheses.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2011	Richmond	(13) Morehead State	65-48
2010	Cornell	(4) Wisconsin	87-69
2009	Arizona	(13) Cleveland State	71-57
2008	Western Kentucky	(13) San Diego	72-63
2008	Villanova	(13) Siena	84-72
2005	UW-Milwaukee	(4) Boston College	83-75
2003	Butler	(4) Louisville	79-71
2002	Missouri	(4) Ohio State	83-64
2001	Gonzaga	(13) Indiana State	85-68
1999	Missouri State	(4) Tennessee	81-51
1996	Arkansas	(4) Marquette	65-56
1994	Tulsa	(4) Oklahoma State	82-80
1993	George Washington	(13) Southern	90-80
1992	New Mexico State	(13) Southwestern Louisiana	81-73
1991	Eastern Michigan	(13) Penn State	71-68 (OT)
1990	Ball State	(4) Louisville	62-60
1987	Wyoming	(4) UCLA	78-68
1986	DePaul	(4) Oklahoma	74-69
1985	Kentucky	(4) UNLV	64-61

There have been fourteen 11 seeds to win their second-round games and advance to the Sweet 16. Seeds of the losing teams are in parentheses.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2011	Marquette	(3) Syracuse	66-62
2011	Virginia Commonwealth	(3) Purdue	94-76
2010	Washington	(3) New Mexico	82-64
2006	George Mason	(3) North Carolina	65-60
2002	Southern Illinois	(3) Georgia	77-75
2001	Temple	(3) Florida	75-54
1998	Washington	(14) Richmond	81-66
1991	Connecticut	(14) Xavier	66-50
1990	Loyola Marymount	(3) Michigan	149-115
1989	Minnesota	(14) Siena	80-67
1988	Rhode Island	(3) Syracuse	97-94
1986	LSU	(3) Memphis	83-81
1985	Auburn	(3) Kansas	66-64
1985	Boston College	(3) Duke	74-73

Sweet 16

There has been only one 12 seed to ever win a Sweet 16 game.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2002	Missouri	(8) UCLA	82-73

There have been five 11 seeds to win in the Sweet 16 and advance to the Elite 8.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2011	Virginia Commonwealth	(10) Florida State	72-71 (OT)
2006	George Mason	(7) Wichita State	63-55
2001	Temple	(7) Penn State	84-72
1990	Loyola Marymount	(7) Alabama	62-60
1986	LSU	(2) Georgia Tech	70-64

Elite 8

There have been three 11 seeds to win in the Elite 8 and advance to the Final Four.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2011	Virginia Commonwealth	(1) Kansas	71-61
2006	George Mason	(1) Connecticut	86-84 (OT)
1986	LSU	(1) Kentucky	59-57

References

1. ^ [1] No. 1-seeded Sooners Struggle Past East Tennessee St., 72-71