Ranking the eight No. 15 vs No. 2 upsets in March Madness history

Ranking the eight No. 15 vs. No. 2 upsets in the history of March Madness

On Friday for the second slate of First Round games in 2016 March Madness, college basketball fans were perhaps treated to one of the craziest days in the history of college hoops and surely one of the wildest and most dramatic days ever in the NCAA Tournament. However, there was no upset more shocking than one of the first big ones of the day as the No. 15 seed in the Midwest region in the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders took down the No. 2 seed and a national championship contender in the Michigan State Spartans.

It was one of those surreal March Madness moments where the feelings of excitement escalate throughout the game. There was a buzz when Middle Tennessee went ahead early and a bit more when they took the lead into halftime. However, there was still the feeling that they wouldn’t be able to hold on. As the Blue Raiders kept holding on, though, it became clearer and clearer that this was a reality.

Ultimately, Middle Tennessee was ready for a huge matchup in March Madness and a veteran team was unafraid of the moment, even against top-tier players like Denzel Valentine for the Spartans. After the final buzzer, many people were calling it the greatest upset of all time.

Whether or not that’s the case, Middle Tennessee’s victory on Friday is the eighth time in the history of the tournament that a No. 15 seed has beaten a No. 2 seed. However, even at the same seeds, not all upsets are created equal and, to process things, it sometimes helps to put them in the context of history.

So that’s what we’ll do here; these are the rankings for the eight No. 15 vs. No. 2 upsets in the history of March Madness after Middle Tennessee’s victory over Michigan State.

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