Biggest College Basketball Upset Ever??

[xubrew]

Okay, what I'm looking for is the biggest gap between the two teams. I realize the "most important" college basketball upset ever was UMBC over Virginia, but that's not the biggest upset as far as how far apart the two teams were. It's actually not even close.

I believe it's Evansville over Kentucky in 2019-2020. The two teams finished 286 spots apart in KenPom, and roughly 280ish points in all the other metrics.

I realize Chaminade has won some games as a D2 team, and Alaska Anchorage beat Wake Forest when they were ranked #13th up at the Great Alaska Shootout back in the 1990s, but both of those teams, even though they're D2 teams, would probably at least finish around 200ish in D1 if they were to play a D1 schedule. Not saying those weren't huge. Just saying they weren't quite as big as a virtually winless Evansville team who totally stunk talking down a legit top 15 team.

There are typically less than five games a year where it's a 200+ difference upset. It's even more rare when it's 250+, although it has happened a few times. I can't think of one that's ever been one that was bigger than 280+ other than Evansville over Kentucky, but that doesn't mean that there haven't been others. It just means that I can't remember them.

[paulxu]

Brew, we've got to get you a job somewhere :sign-wtf:

[GoMuskies]

Chaminade over Virginia. Ralph Sampson did not play for that Kentucky team.

Prior to losing to Chaminade, Virginia beat Phi Slamma Jamma.

[muskiefan82]

Villanova over Georgetown for the championship. Even though Villanova had played Gtown tough twice that year, given who Gtown was at the time and that it was the national championship, that game was epic.

[xubrew]

Brew, we've got to get you a job somewhere :sign-wtf:

Why???

[paulxu]

Good question.

[xudash]

Villanova over Georgetown for the championship. Even though Villanova had played Gtown tough twice that year, given who Gtown was at the time and that it was the national championship, that game was epic.

BREW posed the question with an emphasis on the "gap" between both teams, which I take it to mean the greatest "David v Goliath" upset ever. Having noted that, I totally agree with you. Nova's victory over Georgetown was for the National Championship - it doesn't get any bigger than that. And Nova had to play an almost perfect game in order to win it.

[sirthought]

Villanova over Georgetown for the championship. Even though Villanova had played Gtown tough twice that year, given who Gtown was at the time and that it was the national championship, that game was epic.

Nonsense. That Nova team had six future NBA players. They weren't the favorite perhaps, but in the scheme of big upsets, that wasn't it.

[xudash]

Nonsense. That Nova team had six future NBA players. They weren't the favorite perhaps, but in the scheme of big upsets, that wasn't it.

Sure. Total nonsense. And I am certainly the only one that feels that way.

https://www.si.com/longform/2015/1985/villanova/index.html

This is all “matter of opinion stuff.” In my opinion, that game qualifies as a legitimate answer to the question.

You’re free to come up with your own.

[XUBison]

Nonsense. That Nova team had six future NBA players. They weren't the favorite perhaps, but in the scheme of big upsets, that wasn't it.

This was my thought as well. Would the argument also be that OSU’s win over Miami was bigger than App State’s win at the Big House, because OSU’s win was in the CFB championship game? I don’t see it.

[bobbiemcgee]

11 seed George Mason 86, 1 seed Connecticut 84 – 2006 Regional Final, Washington, D.C., Region - beat msu, nc and wsu to get to the ff.

[X-band '01]

I remember one of GMU's players being suspended for the 1st round game for a south-of-the-border punch in their conference tournament - there was debate as to whether or not they should have been selected at all that season.

[xubrew]

11 seed George Mason 86, 1 seed Connecticut 84 – 2006 Regional Final, Washington, D.C., Region - beat msu, nc and wsu to get to the ff.


Villanova over Georgetown for the championship. Even though Villanova had played Gtown tough twice that year, given who Gtown was at the time and that it was the national championship, that game was epic.

These are absolutely on the list of most important upsets. But as far as how much better the favorite was than the underdog, I don't think they come close to cracking the top 10,000. George Mason was a legit good team. Making as far as the Final Four was a bit of a shock, but they had been in the top 25 and I think they only lost four games that season, and had won some very tough games. Villanova was an 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. That would have made them one of the 32 best teams in the country. Evansville would have been a 10 seed in the Missouri Valley Tournament because they literally lost every single conference game.

...and if anyone can come up with an upset that tops the Evansville over Kentucky game, it's X-Band. The guy is an almanac of college hoops facts and figures.

[muskiefan82]

Nonsense. That Nova team had six future NBA players. They weren't the favorite perhaps, but in the scheme of big upsets, that wasn't it.

I think that win is a little bit of WHY some of those players got a shot in the NBA.

Maybe Canisius over NC State in 1956 would qualify

[GoMuskies]

Even though everyone not picking Chaminade over UVA as the greatest upset in college basketball history is hilariously wrong, I appreciate you creating this thread 'brew. Without it, I would not have learned that if it were not for that game the Maui Invitational would not have been created. Yes, that Chaminade win was the catalyst for creating the greatest preseason tournament out there (and allowing me to have one of the best weeks of my life back in 2018....not that Travis Steele and team added much to the experience!).

And maybe I've underestimated the Silverwords of that era. After all, they beat Louisville in back to back seasons (in 1983 and 1984).

[xubrew]

Even though everyone not picking Chaminade over UVA as the greatest upset in college basketball history is hilariously wrong, I appreciate you creating this thread 'brew. Without it, I would not have learned that if it were not for that game the Maui Invitational would not have been created. Yes, that Chaminade win was the catalyst for creating the greatest preseason tournament out there (and allowing me to have one of the best weeks of my life back in 2018....not that Travis Steele and team added much to the experience!).

And maybe I've underestimated the Silverwords of that era. After all, they beat Louisville in back to back seasons (in 1983 and 1984).

Just read a little bit about this. Chaminade was ranked 4th in the nation! Granted, they were an NAIA team.

[GoMuskies]

Imagine how miserable it would have been (in season) to play for Chaminade in 1982. The travel (certainly by cheapest means possible) to the mainland would have been terrible. It makes Gonzaga to the Big East (by private jet) seem simple by comparison.

The benefit of playing for Chaminade is that when you got back from the road trip you were in Hawaii!

[drudy23]

At the time, Xavier over Georgetown sure felt like it.

[xubrew]

Imagine how miserable it would have been (in season) to play for Chaminade in 1982. The travel (certainly by cheapest means possible) to the mainland would have been terrible. It makes Gonzaga to the Big East (by private jet) seem simple by comparison.

The benefit of playing for Chaminade is that when you got back from the road trip you were in Hawaii!

Getting a little off topic here, but I looked this up and Chaminade only has ten sports. However, they have men's cross country and women's cross country, and no track. That's 12 if they want it! They're just one men's sport away from getting to 13 and being eligible for full D1 membership. I can think of one conference that would LOVE it if they moved up, and that's the Big West. If you're gonna fly all the way out to Hawaii to play them in any sport, you'd like to get at least two games out of a trip that long.

EDIT: Nevermind. They don't have football. They'd need 16 sports, not 13

[MADXSTER]

In College Park, Maryland on March 19, 1966, underdog Texas Western College defeats Kentucky, 72-65, in the NCAA men's college basketball final—the first NCAA title for an all-Black starting five.

[xubrew]

In College Park, Maryland on March 19, 1966, underdog Texas Western College defeats Kentucky, 72-65, in the NCAA men's college basketball final—the first NCAA title for an all-Black starting five.

Not saying this wasn’t an important game, but I think the story of this game gets told a little different than how it actually happened. It arguably wasn’t an upset at all. UTEP/Texas Western was ranked 3rd in the nation going into the tournament and ranked in the top 10 for the entire second half of the season.

[GoMuskies]

Yeah, Xavier has had a bunch of wins that were much bigger upsets than UTEP over Kentucky.

[chico]

Chaminade over Virginia was huge back in the day. People forget just how good Ralph Sampson was in college.

NC State over Houston was pretty big - everybody thought the real final game was Houston/Louisville and NC State was completely written off.