Appreciate Saint Peter's Magical March Madness Run Even When it's Over

I didn't quite comprehend the significance of Saint Peter's 85-79 overtime victory against the Kentucky Wildcats on opening night of the NCAA men's tournament until several hours later.

Sure, the Peacocks were a 15-seed, and it's always a rare moment to see the 2-15 upset actually come into play. But while it may feel more familiar of late, 15-seeds are still only 9-135 lifetime straight up against 2-seeds, with six of those wins coming since 2012.

But later on that evening, I turned on CBS Sports Network and heard their NCAA men's tournament roundtable discussing the shocker of the night, and insider Jon Rothstein provided the historical perspective I was missing to truly understand the gravity of the win.

"They went and gave college basketball an upset that is just below what UMBC did to Virginia a couple years ago. This isn't just a 15 (seed) beating a 2 (seed), this is a historical upset."

While the 2018 UMBC upset over Virginia in the first ever 16-1 victory rightfully holds as the biggest upset in NCAA men's tournament history, I think there's merit to say that Saint Peter's original win may be the most impactful March Madness upset ever, because of who they beat along the way.

The Peacocks closed at +1400 odds at WynnBET Sportsbook to knock off No. 2 Kentucky in the first round, closing as the fourth-longest odds of any team in this year's tournament to win on the moneyline in the tournament. The Wildcats in 2019-2020, per Sportico (excluding the COVID-19 year of 2020-2021) generated $29,307,070 in revenue; second-highest in college basketball.

The Peacocks didn't even make the list amongst the top 107 teams.

From there, they knocked out two more top teams, including Murray State, a top 25 team in the country despite their 7-seed, and Purdue, the No. 1 team in college basketball for several weeks this season. If someone where to have placed a $100 wager on the Peacocks and let that bet ride through the first three games of the tournament, they would now be up almost $31,000!

As for UMBC, while they closed back in 2018 at anywhere from +2000 to +2500, their run ended to No. 9 Kansas State in the Round of 32.

Saint Peter's NCAA Tournament Run Should be Celebrated for Decades

The Peacocks are 8.5-point underdogs at WynnBET when they face the 8-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels to move onto the Final Four, and are +325 on the moneyline (bet $100 to win $325) should they advance yet again. Even if Saint Peter's remarkable run ends on Sunday, it's difficult to see a scenario where they're not celebrated for years to come.

Longtime Philadelphia talk show host Eytan Shander makes the argument that while we're in the moment, it's easy to reflect positively on teams like the Peacocks, who captivate casual fans into the NCAA tournament as the "cinderella of all cinderella teams."

His reasoning is logical, but the case for Saint Peter's is also inherently different because of who they beat, and how they beat them.

The Peacocks knocking off UK was the biggest upset of a true blue blood college program in NCAA tournament history in the first round. The Wildcats were a legitimate title contender with several pros on the roster.

Saint Peter's was only a +350 underdog vs. Murray State, but with the success of the program, as well as Ja Morant's leap to stardom in the NBA, that's also raised the profile of the school. The same can be said of Purdue, who for several weeks ranked at the top of the AP Top 25 rankings with the most efficient offense in college basketball, per KenPom. Saint Peter's took them all out with no flukiness to their success. They showed why they are one of the best defenses in the country in limiting teams' abilities to take quality shots, ranking fifth in all of college hoops in opponent's effective field goal percentage.

Every year when fans and bettors fill out their brackets or wager on NCAA tournament games, the question is always hypothetically asked, "Who is this year's UMBC?" for the next 16-seed to upset a 1. Before that, it was "Who is this year's George Mason?" as Jim Larranaiga's Patriots as an 11-seed made it all the way to the Final Four in 2006.

Don't be surprised if "Who is this year's Saint Peter's?" becomes the new vernacular for NCAA tournaments moving forward. If that's the case, it will be impossible to forget their sensational achievement for years to come.

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