Top 12 Greatest NCAA March Madness Upsets of All Time

Hampton University, a historically Black university and 15-seed from the MEAC conference, defeated Iowa State 58-57 on March 15, 2001, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament — one of the cleanest upsets in tournament history, decided by a single point. Hampton's David Johnson scored 19 points and guard Tarvis Williams hit the go-ahead shot with 23 seconds remaining. Iowa State, led by Marcus Fizer (the 4th pick in the 2000 NBA Draft), was a double-digit favorite. Hampton's run ended in the next round, but the 15-over-2 victory remains among the tournament's most celebrated moments of pure bracket chaos.

Rollie Massimino's Villanova Wildcats, a #8 seed, defeated the defending champion and #1 overall seed Georgetown Hoyas — featuring Patrick Ewing and coached by John Thompson — 66-64 in the 1985 national championship game, shooting 78.6% from the field (22-of-28), the highest field goal percentage in championship game history. Villanova needed to shoot nearly perfectly to beat Georgetown's dominant defense, and they did. Ed Pinckney led the way with 16 points and 6 rebounds. The game is universally cited as the greatest championship game ever played and stands as the last time a #8 seed won the national title.

George Mason University, a #11 seed from the CAA conference that required a play-in game just to enter the tournament, defeated Michigan State, North Carolina, Wichita State, and Connecticut — all higher seeds — to reach the 2006 Final Four, the greatest sustained upset run in tournament history. They defeated UNC, the #1 overall seed in the tournament, in the Elite Eight. Coach Jim Larranaga's team had no top-100 recruits and no NBA draft picks on its roster. George Mason's run prompted the NCAA to expand the tournament field from 64 to 68 teams, explicitly to allow more mid-major programs the bracket opportunity.

Oral Roberts University, a 15-seed from the Summit League with the most vertically integrated sports budget in college basketball, defeated Ohio State 75-72 in overtime on March 19, 2021, then defeated Florida 81-78 two days later — becoming only the second 15-seed to win two NCAA Tournament games. Max Abmas scored 29 points against Ohio State and 20 against Florida, demonstrating an offensive consistency that higher-seeded teams could not contain. ORU's Sweet 16 appearance forced every bracket holder in America to reconsider whether mid-major conferences were producing NBA-caliber talent.

Princeton University, running their deliberate backdoor-cut offense at a pace that made shot-clock officials check their watches, defeated UCLA 43-41 in a first-round game that is considered the definitive validation of slow-it-down tactical basketball against superior athletic competition. Princeton held UCLA — featuring J.R. Henderson and Cameron Dollar — to 41 points and executed the backdoor cut nine times in the final six minutes. Coach Pete Carril's final game at Princeton produced the most analytically discussed upset in tournament history and validated the "Princeton offense" as a legitimate weapon against elite recruits.

Saint Peter's University, a 15-seed Jesuit school from Jersey City with 2,500 students and a $3.5 million athletics budget, defeated Kentucky (2-seed), Murray State (7-seed), and Purdue (3-seed) to reach the Elite Eight of the 2022 NCAA Tournament — the first 15-seed to reach the Elite Eight in tournament history. Coach Shaheen Holloway's team played with a defensive intensity and late-game composure that neutralized rosters of significantly superior individual talent. Daryl Banks III averaged 16.5 PPG across three tournament victories and became the tournament's most unexpected star.

Loyola-Chicago, an 11-seed featuring 98-year-old team chaplain Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt as their most famous supporter, defeated Miami, Tennessee, Nevada, and Kansas State to reach the 2018 Final Four — the first double-digit seed in the Final Four since LSU in 1986. Clayton Custer hit the buzzer-beater against Tennessee, Marques Townes was the offensive engine, and Sister Jean's pregame prayers and postgame press conferences became the tournament's dominant human-interest story. Michigan State eliminated them in the Final Four, but Loyola's run is the most beloved sustained Cinderella story in modern tournament history.

Norfolk State, a historically Black university and 15-seed from the MEAC, defeated Missouri 86-84 on March 16, 2012, in the closest first-round upset since Hampton in 2001. Kyle O'Quinn scored 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds against Missouri's SEC-caliber frontcourt. The victory came two hours after Lehigh defeated Duke in the same day's most-discussed upset, making March 15-16, 2012 the most bracket-destroying 48 hours in tournament history. Norfolk State became only the sixth HBCU to win an NCAA Tournament game and the first since Hampton in 2001.

Fairleigh Dickinson University, a 16-seed from the NEC conference, defeated Purdue — the 1-seed and #1 ranked team in the country — 84-78 on March 17, 2023, becoming only the second 16-seed in history to defeat a 1-seed after UMBC's 2018 win. Sean Moore scored 19 points for FDU, Grant Nelson added 16, and Purdue's 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey — the national player of the year — was neutralized by FDU's physical help defense. The upset occurred five years after UMBC's historic win, suggesting that 1-vs-16 upsets, once theoretically impossible, have become an every-five-years tournament reality.