15 biggest NCAA Tournament upsets of all time

CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 16: The UMBC Retrievers celebrate their 74-54 victory over the Virginia Cavaliers during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 16, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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CHARLOTTE, NC – MARCH 16: The UMBC Retrievers celebrate a basket during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament against the Virginia Cavaliers at the Spectrum Center on March 16, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Retrievers won 74-54. Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

Upsets are what make March Madness earn its name, but what are the 15 biggest upsets in the history of the NCAA Tournament?

March Madness has certainly earned its moniker for many reasons. With the one loss and you’re out format of the NCAA Tournament, the stakes are high for every game, no matter the matchup. Throw in the buzzer-beaters, dramatic moments and so on, and you have the recipe for a ton of excitement. Of course, nothing is more exciting in college basketball than a big-time upset.

The 2018 NCAA Tournament saw a historic upset, as we all know by now, with the 16-seeded UMBC Retrievers topping the first-overall seed Virginia Cavaliers in the First Round. In doing so, the Retrievers became the first No. 16 seed to ever win against a No. 1 seed after previous teams in their position had gone 0-135.

For fans who always fill out a bracket for March Madness, picking upsets is always a point of pride. There’s something special about looking at your bracket following a lower seed overcoming a superior opponent in the tournament and knowing that you saw it coming. However, what truly makes the great upsets in the history of college basketball is the ones that you didn’t see coming at all.

While instances such as UMBC over Virginia or a 15-seed beating a No. 2 seed are the more common massive upsets that we think about, they can come at any point in the tournament. Sometimes, you get a matchup down the line that truly shakes the college basketball world with the result. It’s all about a team not expected to have a chance coming through and pulling off an improbable victory.

With that in mind, we’re going to look back at the history of the NCAA Tournament and pick out the biggest and best upsets to ever transpire. We start with one from the Final Four in 1991.

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