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20 most shocking NCAA Tournament upsets that put the ‘madness’ in March

By Mike Phillips

CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 16: K.J. Maura #11 and Jairus Lyles #10 of the UMBC Retrievers talk 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 *** K.J. Macura;Jairus Lyles
CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 16: K.J. Maura #11 and Jairus Lyles #10 of the UMBC Retrievers talk 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 *** K.J. Macura;Jairus Lyles /
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18. No. 14 Mercer over No. 3 Duke – 2014

  • Mercer wins 78-71

If you are a fan of the Duke Blue Devils, you may want to skip this list since it will bring back plenty of unfortunate memories. This is the first of several Duke appearances on the list, courtesy of their 2014 tournament loss to the Mercer Bears.

Duke had an underachieving regular season by their standards, going 26-8 to land a three seed, but they did feature one of the nation’s best players in forward Jabari Parker. This game came just months before Parker was the second overall pick in the NBA Draft, and Duke also featured other future pros like Rodney Hood, Amile Jefferson and Quinn Cook.

There was no such NBA pedigree with Mercer, a 14 seed out of the Atlantic Sun Conference, the league that had just produced Florida Gulf Coast’s Dunk City upset special. The one thing that Mercer had on its side was experience, featuring a senior-laden lineup to counter a much younger Duke team.

That experience was key as Mercer wiped out a five-point Duke lead with just under five minutes to play, hanging on to top the Blue Devils by seven. Duke was a trendy Final Four pick that year, and their defeat wiped out half of the potential perfect brackets still remaining at that point in the tournament.

This upset also gave rise to one of the most memorable moments of the 2014 tournament, when Mercer reserve Kevin Canevari did the Nae Nae on the sideline to celebrate his team’s shocking win.

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