15 biggest NCAA Tournament upsets of all time

3. No. 11 George Mason over No. 1 UConn, 86-84 (2006, Elite Eight)

Prior to the 2006 NCAA Tournament, the George Mason Patriots had never won a game in the NCAA Tournament. In fact, there were many that could’ve argued that Jim Larranaga’s team didn’t deserve to be in the tournament that year. After all, the Patriots, who went 25-7 in the regular season as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, received a bit of a shocking at-large bid to make it into the Big Dance.

George Mason took down two blue blood programs to just make it to the Sweet 16, taking down Michigan State in the First Round, and following that up by upending the third-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels in the Second Round. While they took the slipper away from another potential Cinderella in Wichita State in the Sweet 16, it was in the Elite Eight that the Patriots showed the shoe fit them perfectly.

On paper, the Patriots appeared to have no chance against the UConn Huskies. The long, athletic No. 1 seed, a team that was 30-3 on the year entering the matchup, had an abundance of size and went up against a Patriots team that had no one on the roster to match it. However, that didn’t stop Larranaga’s team from making their run.

Despite trailing in the first half and early in the second half, George Mason used a sweet-shooting start to the final 20 minutes of play to get back in it and keep things close. Moreover, after pushing the game to overtime, they were lights-out in the extra frame to secure an unforgettable Elite Eight victory and move on to the Final Four.