15 biggest NCAA Tournament upsets of all time

1. No. 16 UMBC over No. 1 Virginia, 74-54 (2018, first round)

As if it could be any other upset coming in at No. 1.

Entering the 2018 NCAA Tournament, no 16-seed had ever earned a First Round victory over a No. 1 seed. As the UMBC Retrievers entered their matchup with the Virginia Cavaliers, the top overall seed in the tournament, 16-seeds were 0-135 in the First Round. Subsequently, it was hardly surprising that the Retrievers entered the game as 20.5-point underdogs for this matchup.

The first half of the matchup between UMBC and Virginia was anything but pretty. Both teams struggled to find the bottom of the net as the first half subsided with the score tied at 21. Everything seemed to be playing into the defensive-minded Cavaliers’ hands with the low-scoring affair underway. That all changed to start the second 20 minutes of play, though.

UMBC came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders, hitting from 3-point range and going on a 17-3 run to begin the second half. Without De’Andre Hunter for this game, the Virginia offense then struggled to find any answers, despite the efforts of Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome. Before anyone could process what was happening, the Retrievers weren’t just upsetting a No. 1 seed — they were dismantling them.

There could be an argument that Villanova over Georgetown would be a bigger upset if UMBC had just narrowed edged Virginia to become the first-ever No. 16 seed to win in the First Round. However, with the way that the Retrievers dominated, there’s no other choice for the top spot as the biggest upset of all time.