The biggest upset of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, also known as March Madness, took place when the 15th-seeded Oral Roberts Golden Eagles defeated the 2nd-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes, 75-72, in the round of 32.
This was the first time a 15-seed beat a 2-seed since 2013 and the third time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Oral Roberts, hailing from Tulsa, Oklahoma, had qualified for the tournament with a Summit League tournament championship.
After their stunning victory against Ohio State, the Golden Eagles advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. Ultimately, the Cinderella story ended with a buzzer-beating loss to Arkansas in the Sweet 16.
However, Oral Roberts’ remarkable run through the Big Dance became one of the stories of the 2021 March Madness tournament and an upset for the ages.
Has a 16 seed ever upset a 1?
No, a 16th seed has never upset a 1st seed in the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament. The closest a 16 seed has come to an upset was in 1989 when 16 seeded East Tennessee State University led by star player Jerald fields shocked favored and ACC champion University of Maryland by leading the game through most of the second half before finally losing in overtime by just two points.
Since then, each of the 16 teams to face a 1 have come close to winning, but none have ultimately been successful in pulling off the upset.
What’s the farthest a 15 seed has gone?
In the 2019 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks, a 15 seed, made it to the Second Round of the tournament before being defeated 81-69 by the Duke Blue Devils.
This furthest that a 15 seed had advance in the tournament since it began in 1979. Previous to this, the 2007 Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders had become the furthest advancing 15 seed, reaching the Round of 32.
They were defeated by Memphis, who was #2 seed that year. In 2016, the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders also made it to the Round of 32, this time as a 12 seed. In contrast, the greatest advancement by a 16 seed is only the first round.
Despite their defeats in the Second Round, both Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders and Maryland Eastern Shore have made history as the farthest advancing teams with a 15 seed.
Has a number 16 ever beaten a 1?
Yes, a number 16 has beaten number 1 in certain sports and competitions. In the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, a number 16 seed has beaten a number 1 seed multiple times throughout its history. The first instance occurred in 2018, when the UMBC Retrievers knocked off the 1 seed University of Virginia Cavaliers.
In the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, a number 16 seed has also beaten a number 1 seed, specifically in 2018, when the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) Retrievers beat the University of Virginia Cavaliers.
In Major League Baseball, when a team plays with a 16-man roster, they can beat a team with a 1-man roster. There have also been instances of number 16 drivers in auto racing beating number 1 drivers.
In 2017, NASCAR driver Ryan Blaney finished the Ford EcoBoost 400 in first place ahead of the 1 seed, Denny Hamlin.
How many times has a 1 seed lost in the first round?
As of the 2019 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, a 1 seed has lost in the first round 11 times since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. This does not include a first-round loss in the 1981 NCAA Tournament when only 32 teams were in the tournament (it was the only time a 1-seed lost in the first round in 32-team history).
Some notable 1-seed first-round losses include the 2018 UMBC Retrievers over the Virginia Cavaliers, the 2012 Norfolk State Spartans over the Missouri Tigers, the 2011 Louisville Cardinals over the Morehead State Eagles, and the 1996 Massachusetts Minutemen over the 11th seeded College of Charleston Cougars.
However, despite the occasional surprise loss, 1 seeds have gone on to win the championship 30 out of 34 times since 1985.
How many times have all 4 number 1 seeds made it to the final 4?
There have been a total of 5 times when all 4 number 1 seeds have made it to the final four. The first time was in 2008 when Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA and Memphis advanced to the Final Four. The second time was in 2009, when Louisville, North Carolina, Connecticut, and Michigan State all advanced.
The third time happened in 2011, when Kentucky, Ohio State, Connecticut, and North Carolina all advanced. The fourth and fifth times it happened were in 2015 and 2016 respectively, when Kentucky, Duke, Wisconsin and Villanova all advanced.
Has a number one seed ever lost in the NCAA tournament?
Yes, a number one seed has lost in the NCAA tournament. In fact, it has happened on multiple occasions. The first time it happened was in 1980, when the number one seeded DePaul Blue Demons lost to the ninth-seeded UCLA Bruins in the Final Four.
Since then, there have been 20 other occasions where a number one seed has lost during the NCAA tournament. Most recently, in 2019 the number one seed Virginia Cavaliers lost to the 16th seeded UMBC Retrievers in the First Round.
The biggest upset in terms of seed disparity belongs to the 2018 matchup between the UMBC Retrievers and Virginia Cavaliers when the 16th-seeded Retrievers beat the top-seeded Cavaliers. Other notable losses include the Duke Blue Devils in 2018, who lost to the seven-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks in the second round, and in 2017, the defending national champions the Villanova Wildcats lost to the eighth-seeded Wisconsin Badgers in the Round of 32.
Has a number 1 seed ever lost to a 16 seed?
Yes, a number 1 seed has lost to a 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament. In 2018, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (16 seed) defeated the University of Virginia (1 seed) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
This was the first time a 16 seed had ever beaten a 1 seed and it sent shockwaves across the NCAA Tournament. This upset is widely considered one of the most shocking moments in the history of the NCAA Tournament.
Furthermore, this upset sparked a trend of lower-seeded teams pulling off huge upsets in the tournament as since 2018, many more double-digit seeds have pulled off similar upsets. It is safe to say that the 2018 upset of Virginia by Maryland Eastern Shore is a moment that will live on in NCAA Tournament history.
How many 8 seeds have beaten a 1 seed?
Since the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, there have been 11 occasions when a 8 seed has beaten a 1 seed. This is often referred to as “pulling off an upset” or “a major upset” in March Madness.
The most recent 8 seed to beat a 1 seed was Wisconsin, who beat the top-ranked Villanova Wildcats in the 2018 tournament. Before that, in 2017, Northwestern toppled Gonzaga to complete the upset. Other 8 seed teams who have upset their 1 seed counterparts in the tournament include Kentucky (1997), North Carolina State (1983), Alabama (1991), Arkansas-Little Rock (1986), Davidson (2008), Butler (2011), Mississippi (2013), and Syracuse (2016).
In total, out of the 78 matchups between 8 seeds and 1 seeds since 1985, 8 seeds have won 11 times and 1 seeds have won the remaining 67 matchups.
How many times has a 16 seeded team beaten a 1 seeded team?
Sixteen seeded teams have broken through and beaten the number one seed teams a total of nine times since 1985 when the NCAA tournament bracket format was expanded from 53 to 64 teams. The first instance of a 16 seed team beating a number one seed team was in the 2018 tournament when the UMBC Retrievers upset the Virginia Cavaliers.
Both 8 and 9 seed teams have been successful against number one seeds twelve and eleven times, respectively. Other 16 seed teams include the Lehigh Mountain Hawks who defeated Duke in 2012, the Hampton Pirates who took down Iowa State in 2001, and the East Tennessee State Buccaneers who defeated the Arizona Wildcats in 1993.
Out of the nine times that a 16 seed team has beaten a one seed in the tournament, not all of those wins were upsets. For example, the Richmond Spiders already had impressive wins leading up to their stunning final victory over the rival Syracuse Orange in 1991.
Even though the odds for a 16 seed team to defeat the champions of their respective conferences is still steep, it is a reminder that even underdogs can step up and pull off the impossible to achieve greatness.
Who was the first #16 seed to upset a #1 seed?
The first #16 seed to ever upset a #1 seed was the University of Maryland Eastern Shore men’s basketball team in a 2018 NCAA Division I tournament game against the University of Virginia Cavaliers. The UMES Hawks, a historically black college in Maryland, won the game 73–69, becoming the first-ever #16 seed to win against a #1 seed in the tournament’s history.
It was a monumental victory that was made even more remarkable due to the fact that Virginia had been heavily favored to win, as they had a 31–2 record and had won the ACC regular-season championship.
The upset is considered one of the greatest upsets of all time in college basketball.
Has there ever been a 16 seed upset?
Yes, there has been a 16 seed upset in the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament. On March 16, 2018, the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) became the first No. 16 seed to defeat a top-ranked No.
1 seed, when the Retrievers toppled the Virginia Cavaliers 74-54 in the South Region of the 2018 tournament. Prior to the victory by UMBC, no team from the bottom-ranked seed had ever defeated the No.
1 seed in the tournament’s history, leading to the popularization of the term “Cinderella story” for any unexpected triumph in the tournament’s history. In the decades since its founding in 1939, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament has frequently seen teams from lower-seeded brackets advance to the Sweet Sixteen or even Final Four after winning multiple games, but only UMBC’s victory over Virginia has seen a No.
16 seed emerge victorious in the history of the tournament.
How many times has a 16 beat a 1 in March Madness?
As of the 2021 March Madness tournament, a 16 seed has never beaten a 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. In 34 years since the opening round of the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, there have been 128 potential meetings between a 16 and a 1 seed, with all 128 ending in the 1 seed coming out on top.
This isn’t to say that a 16 seed never comes close; several times over this 34-year stretch, a 16 seed has nearly pulled off the monumental upset. In 1989, 16-seed East Tennessee State University lost to Michigan State University by just two points, 78-76, in the opening round.
In 1997, 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson University was defeated by the University of Arizona by a score of 81-77. The closest a 16 seed has ever come to toppling a 1 seed was in 2018, when the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Retrievers came within one point of defeating perennial powerhouse for Virginia Cavaliers before eventually falling in overtime, 74-54.
To date, a 16 seed has never managed to upset a 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Has anyone had a perfect Sweet 16 bracket?
No, no one has ever had a perfect Sweet 16 bracket. The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is incredibly unpredictable and the odds of selecting a perfect Sweet 16 bracket are incredibly slim. For example, in 2019, the odds of picking a perfect bracket were estimated to be roughly 1 in 9.
2 quintillion, according to FiveThirtyEight. With millions of brackets filled out each year and only 64 teams in the tournament, it’s nearly impossible to get them all right. Add to that the fact that each year, upsets tend to occur and the already slim chances become slimmer still.
Given that a perfect Sweet 16 bracket has never been achieved, it is highly unlikely anyone will ever achieve this feat.