Looking at the dramatic upsets that have been experienced so far in the 2014 NCAA tournament, one is left wondering, is 2014 the year with the most upsets in the NCAA tournament history? This might not yet be the case but tournament always feels like the upsets are that much more… upsetting, and that every year feels like tournament upset record is being set.
Most Upsets: Party like 1999 (or 2006?)
The current record for most upsets in the tournament were experienced in the 1999 NCAA tournament. That March Madness 15 years ago had 23 upsets in total.
Of course, it all depends on what you consider to be an upset. In this case, technically, it meant that 23 lower seeded teams beat the higher seeded teams to record the highest upsets in the NCAA tournament history. This number includes matches that might be considered as such as the 7-seed beating the 6-seed or the 5-seed beating the 4-seed.
However looking at the year with the most upsets excluding those matchups between teams with a difference of one seed, then it would have to be 2006 which had 17 upsets. If the one-ranking difference is taken out and we only consider the upset value, then the most ‘big upsets’ occurred in 1986.
How Many Upsets in 2014 NCAA Tournament?
Including all technical upsets, going into the Sweet Sixteen, there have been 17 upsets in the 56 games played so far in the 2014 tournament. These are 17 upsets are as follows:
- No. 8 Kentucky defeats No. 4 Louisville
- No. 11 Dayton downs No. 10 Stanford
- No. 4 Michigan State upset No. 1 Virginia
- No. 7 Connecticut beats No. 3 Iowa St.
- No. 9 Pittsburgh beating No. 8 Colorado.
- No. 11 Tennessee beating No. 6 Massachusetts
- No. 6 Baylor beating No. 3 Creighton
- No.12 Harvard beating No. 5 Cincinnati
- No. 12 North Dakota State beating No. 5 Oklahoma
- No. 10 Stanford beating No. 7 New Mexico
- No. 7 Connecticut beating No, 2 Villanova
- No. 8 Kentucky beating No. 1 Wichita State
- No. 12 Stephen F. Austin over No. 5 VCU
- No. 10 Stanford beating No. 2 Kansas
- No. 11 Dayton beating No. 6 Ohio State
- No. 11 Dayton beating No. 3 Syracuse
- No. 14 Mercer beating No. 3 Duke
With the Elite eight, the Final Four, and championship game still to be played, there is still a lot of chances that the 2014 NCAA tournament might go on record with most upsets in the NCAA tournament history.
Upsetting Future for Larger College Programs
The fact is no team is unbeatable. Every team eventually loses because there’s only one winner each year. So it doesn’t matter how prestigious or small a college program is, all will play their parts in the Madness of March. We always hear about the Dukes, Kentuckys, and North Carolinas this time of year, but it’s the Cinderallas like the Princetons, George Masons, and Daytons that make the NCAA tournament must-see TV.
And with the growing parity among college teams, big and small, it sounds as if an “upset” will no longer be as much an “upset” as it was just a few years ago.
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