15 biggest NCAA Tournament upsets of all time

5. No. 15 Middle Tennessee over No. 2 Michigan State, 90-81 (2016, first round)

Despite the fact that they were a No. 2 seed, the Michigan State Spartans came into the 2016 NCAA Tournament as one of the heavy favorites to cut down the nets. In fact, according to a 2016 SB Nation article, 22.3 percent of the 13 million-plus brackets submitted to ESPN that year had Tom Izzo’s team being crowned as the national champions. Led by Denzel Valentine, the Spartans were ready to make a big run.

The Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders, however, had immensely different ideas about how Michigan State’s run in March Madness was going to transpire.

To the credit of the Spartans, they played on the offensive end of the floor as they should have against a team like Middle Tennessee. As a team, Michigan State hit on 55.6 percent of their shots and went 11-of-24 on their 3-point attempts for the day, even with Valentine struggling with his scoring on 5-of-13 shooting. The only blemish was the 14 turnovers they committed.

Those turnovers, however, were critical, because the Spartans needed every single possible bucket to their credit to try and keep up with the offensive performance put forth by the Blue Raiders. Every starter for Middle Tennessee scored in double digits, including 21 from Reggie Upshaw Jr. and 19 from Giddy Potts, as the team shot 55.9 percent from the field and 11-of-19 from deep.

On top of that, the Blue Raiders were clutch, thwarting every Michigan State comeback attempt with a crucial bucket or play. It was a master-class performance by a No. 15 seed and one of the most shocking 15-2 games to date.