9. #16 seed UMBC beats #1 seed Virginia in 2018.
A sixteen seed had never beaten a one seed in March Madness. The closest any sixteen seed had come to this impressive feat was in 1996 when Western Carolina lost 73-71 to Purdue. However, on March 16th 2018, history was made when the University of Maryland-Baltimore County beat the first ranked Virginia Cavaliers 74-54.
Virginia came into the tournament with championship aspirations as the number one overall seed. They went 31-2 including a 20-1 record in the ACC, arguably the best conference in the NCAA. They had the top-ranked defense in the country and were led by one of the best young minds in college basketball in head coach Tony Bennett. The Cavaliers came into the game as 20.5-point favorites making it the 2nd biggest upset in NCAA tournament history behind Norfolk State’s upset over Missouri in 2012.
On the other hand, the Retrievers were far less talented than the Cavs and were only in the NCAA tournament due to a last second 3-pointer from senior guard Jairus Lyles in the America East Conference championship over Vermont. As one would expect, the Retrievers came in as heavy underdogs and were projected to lose by 20.5 points according to the sportsbooks in Vegas.
However, on this night it was the Retrievers who played as if they were the heavy favorites. The once vaunted UVA defense had absolutely no answer for Lyles who scored a game high 28 points. In the words of Coach Bennett at the postgame press conference, it was a “thorough butt whipping.” America was stunned as millions of brackets around the country were now busted.
While the Retrievers put on a show on the court, it was their Twitter account who stole the hearts of Americans with some of the most memorable tweets of the decade.
The Retrievers would go on to lose in the next round against Kansas State, however their victory over the Cavaliers will live in infamy. In 2019, the Cavaliers would once again be a number one seed in the NCAA tournament. This time though the outcome was far different as they would go on to win the NCAA Division One basketball championship and celebrate by cutting the nets. No college basketball fan will ever forget where they were the night the sixteen seed beat the one seed.
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