Top Five Greatest Upsets in NCAA Tournament History

The NCAA Tournament has seen many great games in its history, and some very surprising ones as well. There is nothing quite like March Madness for fans as many will flock to see the games even during working hours. It is one of the most highly anticipated sporting events each year, and attendance is very good at each venue during the tournament. Over the years, there have been many upsets that has shocked all fans watching. Every year, there are unexpected teams that prevail over heavily favored teams that mess up all of those "bracket busters" out there. Here is the top five greatest upsets in NCAA Tournament history:

5. 1986: No.14 seed Arkansas-Little Rock upsets No.3 seed Notre Dame

Notre Dame came into the game ranked tenth in the nation. Arkansas-Little Rock went into the contest as a 17-point underdog. The Irish could not find a way to stop the Trojans hot shooting in second half when they connected on 15 of 19 from the field. The Irish had played well during the game, but Arkansas-Little Rock was just too good from the field in the second half to overcome being upset. Trojans coach Mike Newell said when surrounded by reporters at the conclusion of the game, "The average grades of our players now is 2.3. When I got here, it was something like 0.8." He indicated that they outsmarted the Irish. At any rate, this is still one of the biggest upsets in tournament history.

4. 1956: Canisius beats second-ranked North Carolina State

This match-up took place long before what has become the Final Four. Strength of schedule or notoriety of a teams were not as meaningful in those days compared to now. Canisius was a team that was not given much of a chance to upset the second-ranked Wolfpack. Canisius gave the Wolfpack all they could handle, and took the game into quadruple overtime. In truly stunning fashion, Canisius beat the Wolfpack in that quadruple overtime period, 79-78. This was by far and away the biggest upset in the early years of the NCAA Tournament, and is still considered one of the top upsets ever.

3. 1966: Texas Western defeats Kentucky for the NCAA Championship

If this were a list of the top influential games of all-time, there would be no doubt this contest would be at the top. Kentucky was heavily favored against an all African-American starting five of Texas Western. Kentucky was led by legendary coach Adolph Rupp, who had two great stars in guards Pat Riley and Louie Dampier. However, this game forever changed the landscape of not only college basketball, but sports in general because of Texas Western beating what seemed to be all odds by knocking off the powerful Kentucky Wildcats, 72-65. This is considered by many to still be the greatest upset in tournament history.

2. 1983: No.8 seed North Carolina State knocks off top-ranked Houston for the NCAA Championship

Who would have ever thought a team with ten losses going into the tournament, and not be given much of a chance to advance past the Elite Eight would be able to beat the heavily favored Cougars for the NCAA Championship? After all, the Wolfpack had a difficult time even getting to the championship game after tight contests with Pepperdine, Virginia, and Georgia. Houston's Phi Slamma Jamma had dominated the college game that season, and were led by All-American center, Akeem Olajuwon. The Wolfpack was able to lead going into half-time, but Houston came out on fire to start the second half with a 17-2 run. But, North Carolina State was able to tie the game at 52 a piece with two minutes to play. The Wolfpack then was able to get the ball back after a missed free throw from Houston's Alvin Franklin. With seconds remaining, the Wolfpack nearly saw their chances of winning slip away on what seemed to be a broken play. But, Dereck Whittenburg, who tied the game with two field goals in a row, took a shot from nearly half-court that come up short. But, the Wolfpack's Lorenzo Charles went up and grabbed the short shot, and dunked it home for a 54-52 upset win. The sight of Wolfpack coach Jim Valvano's excitement after the game was priceless, and North Carolina State became the first team to win the NCAA Championship with at least ten losses on the season.

1. 1985: No.8 seed Villanova shocks top-ranked Georgetown for the NCAA Championship

Georgetown was trying to become the first team since 1973 to win back-to-back championships. It seemed very likely that they would do so with Villanova being the only team standing in their way in the final game. Villanova, who had not been ranked higher than 20th on the season, had lost convincingly to the Hoyas on two occasions in the regular season. Many thought this game would be over at half-time as Georgetown had plowed their way into the final game. Villanova surprised everyone when they were able to take a 29-28 lead at half-time. Villanova had to play as close to flawless as possible to overcome the Hoyas in the second half. Well, the Wildcats only missed one shot from the field in the second half, and shot 78 percent from the floor throughout the entire game. Villanova beat Georgetown, 66-64, and their near perfect second half was the reason. This match-up goes to show you how much of an upset this really was when one team sets an NCAA record for field goal percentage in NCAA Tournament, yet still only managed to win by two points. That is why this is considered by many to be not only the greatest upset in college basketball history, but in the entire history of sports.

Others that were considered:
2006: No.11 seed George Mason upsetting No.1 seed Connecticut
1986: No.11 seed LSU beating No.1 seed Kentucky
1993: No.15 seed Santa Clara defeating No.2 seed Arizona
1996: No.13 seed Princeton knocking off No.4 seed UCLA
1988: No.6 seed Kansas beating No.1 seed Oklahoma for the NCAA Championship

The NCAA Tournament has always seen sleeper teams overcoming what seemed to be mismatches by winning in upset fashion. Last year, George Mason shocked the college basketball world by becoming only the second No.11 seed to make the Final Four. Will there be a team that is this year's George Mason to make the Final Four? This is why the tournament is so great because you never know when a true sleeper like George Mason will sneak up on everybody in the field. This is the NCAA Tournament, and do not ever be surprised to see upsets throughout the entire March Madness event.