NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship upsets

An upset is a victory by an underdog team. In the context of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, a single-elimination tournament, this generally constitutes a higher seeded team defeating a lower-seeded (and thus higher-ranked) team; a widely recognized upset is one performed by a team ranked substantially lower than its opponent.

This is the list of victories by teams seeded 11 or higher in the tournament since it expanded to 64 teams in 1985; as these high-seeded teams were automatically paired against lower-seeded teams at the start of the tournament, their opening victories are almost always considered upsets. Most victories by these teams in later rounds were usually against better seeded opponents as well.

Round of 64

This round was called the First Round until 2011, when the introduction of the First Four caused the round to be renamed the Second Round. As of the 2016 tournament, it has returned to being called the First Round. There have been ten wins by double-digit seeds in 2016, which is the most in tournament history. In 2001 and 2012, there were nine upsets during First Round play.^[1]

16 vs. 1

Excluding the play-in games, a 16-seed has never won a game in the men's tournament. There have been fifteen 1-seed vs. 16-seed games decided by single digits, the most recent occurring in 2014 when Arizona defeated Weber State 68–59, only one year after Gonzaga narrowly defeated Southern 64-58 in 2013. Sixteenth-seeded Murray State took top seeded Michigan State to overtime in 1990, but eventually lost 75-71. Two 16-seeds have come within two points 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 23 point underdogs. Princeton had the opportunity to win the game with the last shot, but Alonzo Mourning blocked the last two attempts to secure the victory. In the Southeast Regional, Oklahoma fought back from a 17-point first-half 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 and Oklahoma defeated ETSU 72-71.^[2] In 1996, Western Carolina missed a three-pointer to win and a two-pointer to tie in the final seconds, losing 73-71 to Purdue. In 2014, Coastal Carolina was tied with Virginia with eight minutes remaining in the second half before UVA pulled away for a 70-59 win.

15 vs. 2

There have been eight (8) 15 seeds that have defeated 2 seeds (6.25%) ^[3]in the first round:^[4]

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2016	Middle Tennessee	Michigan State	90-81
2013	Florida Gulf Coast	Georgetown	78-68
2012	Lehigh	Duke	75-70
	Norfolk State	Missouri	86-84
2001	Hampton	Iowa State	58-57
1997	Coppin State	South Carolina	78-65
1993	Santa Clara	Arizona	64-61
1991	Richmond	Syracuse	73-69

14 vs. 3

There have been twenty-one (21) 14 seeds that have defeated 3 seeds in the first round:

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2016	Stephen F. Austin	West Virginia	70-56
2015	Georgia State	Baylor	57-56
	UAB	Iowa State	60-59
2014	Mercer	Duke	78-71
2013	Harvard	New Mexico	68-62
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)
	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
	Arkansas-Little Rock	Notre Dame	90-83

13 vs. 4

There have been twenty-six (26) 13 seeds to defeat 4 seeds in the first round:

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2016	Hawaii	California	77-66
2013	LaSalle	Kansas State	63-61
2012	Ohio	Michigan	65-60
2011	Morehead State	Louisville	62-61
2010	Murray State	Vanderbilt	66-65
2009	Cleveland State	Wake Forest	84-69
2008	Siena	Vanderbilt	83-62
	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
	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
	Missouri State	Clemson	65-60
1985	Navy	Louisiana State	78-55

12 vs. 5

There have been forty-six (46) 12 seeds to defeat 5 seeds in the first round:

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2016	Arkansas-Little Rock	Purdue	85-83 (2OT)
	Yale	Baylor	79-75
2014	Stephen F. Austin	Virginia Commonwealth	77-75 (OT)
	North Dakota State	Oklahoma	80-75 (OT)
	Harvard	Cincinnati	61-57
2013	Ole Miss	Wisconsin	57-46
	California	UNLV	64-61
	Oregon	Oklahoma State	68-55
2012	South Florida	Temple	58-44
2012	Virginia Commonwealth	Wichita State	62-59
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	76-72
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	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

11 vs. 6

There have been forty-six (46) 11 seeds that have defeated 6 seeds in the first round:

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2016	Northern Iowa	Texas	75-72
2016	Gonzaga	Seton Hall	68-52
2016	Wichita State	Arizona	65-55
2015	Dayton	Providence	66-53
2015	UCLA	SMU	60-59
2014	Tennessee	Massachusetts	86-67
2014	Dayton	Ohio State	60-59
2013	Minnesota	UCLA	83-63
2012	Colorado	UNLV	68-64
2012	North Carolina State	San Diego State	79-65
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	Louisiana State	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	Louisiana State	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	Louisiana State	Purdue	94-87 (OT)
1985	Boston College	Texas Tech	55-53
1985	UTEP	Tulsa	79-75
1985	Auburn	Purdue	59-58

Round of 32

This round was called the Second Round until 2011, when the introduction of the First Four caused this round to be renamed the Third Round. It will once again be known as the Second Round as of the 2016 tournament.

15 seeds

There has only been one 15 seed that won its second-round game.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2013	Florida Gulf Coast	(7) San Diego State	81-71

14 seeds

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

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
1997	Chattanooga	(6) Illinois	75-63
1986	Cleveland State	(6) St. Joseph's	75-69

13 seeds

There have been six 13 seeds to win their second-round games. Seeds of the losing teams are in parentheses. In every case, the 13 seed faced a higher seed with their victory being an upset strictly according to seeding.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2013	La Salle	(12) Mississippi	76-74
2012	Ohio	(12) South Florida	62-56
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

12 seeds

There have been twenty 12 seeds to win their second-round games. Seeds of the losing teams are in parentheses. In eight of these cases, the opponent was a 13 seed, and thus the victory would not constitute an upset according to the seeding. However, in twelve of these cases, the opponent was a 4 seed.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2013	Oregon	(4) Saint Louis	74-57
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

11 seeds

There have been nineteen 11 seeds to win their second-round games and advance to the Sweet 16. Seeds of the losing teams are in parentheses. In five of these cases, the opponent was a 14 seed, and thus the victory would not constitute an upset according to the seeding.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2016	Gonzaga	(3) Utah	82-59
2015	UCLA	(14) UAB	92-75
2014	Tennessee	(14) Mercer	83-63
2014	Dayton	(3) Syracuse	55-53
2012	North Carolina State	(3) Georgetown	66-63
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	Louisiana State	(3) Memphis	83-81
1985	Auburn	(3) Kansas	66-64
1985	Boston College	(3) Duke	74-73

Sweet Sixteen

12 seeds

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

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

11 seeds

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

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2014	Dayton	(10) Stanford	82-72
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	Louisiana State	(2) Georgia Tech	70-64

Elite Eight

11 Seeds

There have been three 11 seeds to win in the Elite 8 and advance to the Final Four. However, all of these teams did not advance any further, losing their national semifinal matchups.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2011	(11) Virginia Commonwealth	(1) Kansas	71-61
2006	(11) George Mason	(1) Connecticut	86-84 (OT)
1986	(11) Louisiana State	(1) Kentucky	59-57

10 Seeds

There has been one 10 seed to win in the Elite 8 and advance to the Final Four. However, this team did not advance any further, losing in the national semifinals.

Year	Winner	Loser	Score
2016	(10) Syracuse	(1) Virginia	68-62

References

1. "NCAA tourney upsets match first-round record". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
2. No. 1-seeded Sooners Struggle Past East Tennessee St., 72-71
3. since 1985, there have been 128 chances to win.
4. Herwitt, Josh. "Top 10 Upsets of the NCAA Tournament". Fox Sports.