OT: The Greatest Upsets in Sports
We just witnessed sports history.
UMBC, a 16 seed, just beat Virginia, a 1 seed. We've all seen the stats since then: this is the first 16 seed to win in 136 tries. The remarkable 135-0 streak was one of the great streaks in sports.
And it makes this one of the great upsets of all time. This is a delight for every sports fan in the country tonight. I believe this is, easily, the upset of the century, in any sport.
What are others that rank with this? I can think of two that even rate, one of which is higher. What are upsets that approach this internationally, or in unusual sports?
We've seen history. Where does it rank?
A story based upon the real-life underdog story of Milan High winning the Indiana state title. (Just learned that one of the teams they beat in the playoffs featured Oscar Robertson, btw).
March 17th, 2018 at 10:19 AM ^
March 17th, 2018 at 11:39 AM ^
App State was much flukier than this. Not that they didn't deserve to win, but the game was basically a tossup, going down to the wire. We had two field goals blocked in the fourth quarter and lost by 2.
UVa just plain got run off the court tonight.
"Plus blocking two kicks is no fluke, that almost never happens."
That's how flukes work. They almost never happen.
I mean that game sucked, but App State was legit that year and had actual NFL talent. Personally, I tend to focus on the end of that year and remind everyone that such a horrible Michigan team went on to beat Florida with Heisman Winner Tim Tebow and former coach/current douche Urban Meyer.
that ran a similar offense that Appy State and Oregon ran against us that year...it was a bad matchup, supposedly
March 17th, 2018 at 10:49 AM ^
I similarly do not understand why some of the same fans truly believe Michigan was one ill-advised hit (Crable on Smith) from playing for (and, of course, winning, because we "matched up" with Florida better than OSU) the national championship in '06. They apparently didn't watch the Rose Bowl.
whatever one considers the 5-10 biggest upsets in sports history are, this is the only one that comes in the social media era.
Twitter technically existed for the 2007 college and pro football seasons (each of those seasons had candidates for the biggest upset list), but it was just at the nascent of its explosive growth.
That dynamic added to tonight --- people learned about it and tuned in and the experience BUILT.
The 0-3 come backs have happend a few times over the last 20 years. Its no longer that big of a deal.
What I remember most about it was the crowd being stunned silent. I remember saying to my father, "If this had been in Vegas, the fans would have been going nuts." I'm not sure if it was cultural or what, but the general atmosphere seemed to be one of confusion. :)
March 17th, 2018 at 11:01 AM ^
I'm normally the last person on the blog to mention soccer, but I'm led to understand that the 1950 US victory over England in the World Cup is often considered the most unlikely upset in sports history.
March 17th, 2018 at 12:49 PM ^
But that was before people realized that it was just England doing its thing.
...but I think there's a lot of truth to it. The English in 1950 were sure that, as the originators of the game, they were superior to everyone else...but in reality they'd been left behind technically and tactically, something they didn't even begin to understand until the Hungarians took them apart three years later.
It was still a huge upset, but 500:1 was probably more a matter of English overestimation of their own strength. Those were the odds at London houses, after all.
1969 Michigan vs ohio state and Miracle on Ice.
Period. End of story.
Yes, you're alone in this. Penn over Kansas wouldn't have been unexpected. "A 16" beats "a 1," sure. But not this 1. Virginia plays like the small school you're describing. They played consistent, suffocating team basketball all year.
And they didn't just get upset -- they got run out of the gym in a way that nobody had done all year. UMBC put up the best offensive efficiency that UVa allowed all season. It's not just the fact that they lost, it's how they lost.
Not this 1 and also not this 16. Like you said, Penn was a popular pick to be the one to make it happen against a less dominant 1 seed. UMBC lost a game this year 83-39 (!) in late January to Albany.
While I agree with you that there seems to be instances of the David beating Goliath every year in the NCAA Tournament, the next level to that analysis is "which David" and "which Goliath". As mentioned above, Virginia was the #1 overall and had the #1 rated defense which it had used to suffocate teams - good teams - all year and that same defense was utterly dominated by a school few people had probably even heard of until Selection Sunday. Penn / Kansas - if it was going to happen at all this year - was probably the 1/16 upset that would have been at least sort of predictable - sort of. Last night's game? Not so much.
As this was a total beat down of an ass kicking.
But your scenario of the one and dones vs. mature men didnt happen in this case.
That was the beginning of one hell of an upset.
March 17th, 2018 at 11:17 AM ^
The very event that introduced a brand new definition for the word upset. As an aside, Man O War's jock, Johhny Loftus is widely believed to have been "got to" on this ride, an issue with horse racing at the time. Likely still if anybody cared about horse racing anymore.
No one thought Johnny could ever lose - thus making Daniel's crane kick a key part of the biggest upset in sports.
Interestingly, Bobby might have been able to beat Daniel in earlier rounds, but instead tried to take him out with an illegal kick.
March 17th, 2018 at 11:06 AM ^
....Erica (Lea Thompson) and Danny (Brad Savage) were able to make it to US-controlled territory and survived to see the end of WW3.
Erica delivers the final monologue in voiceover at the end of the film at the memorial erected to honor the "Wolverines".
March 17th, 2018 at 11:57 AM ^
I'd say Jesse Owens over Hitler in the 1936 Olympics was probably a pretty big upset.
The Miracle on Ice captured the entire world and made Lake Placid an instant recall location. Even today, you hear 'Lake Placid' and you immediately think Miracle on Ice. There is no question...
University of Maryland Baltimore County Retrievers. The mascot is a Chesapeak Bay Retriever. And they bit the ass off that Cavalier that tried to put them in the dog pound... Which makes sense, because the Chessie has a rather combative personality.
stepped on their throat with hognailed boot