NCAA Basketball: Top 25 NCAA Tournament upsets since 2000
By Joey Loose
11. #9 Wichita State 70, #2 Ohio State 66 (2013 Elite Eight)
Expectations were high for the Ohio State Buckeyes in 2013. The team was ranked fourth in the inaugural AP poll. Ohio State won the Big Ten Tournament and all of their losses came to ranked teams, leading to a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
They dispatched of the Iona Gaels without trouble and then took care of business in close wins over the Iowa State Cyclones and the Arizona Wildcats, sending them to the Elite Eight. Having made the Final Four the previous year, a return trip looked likely, with a low-seeded mid-major team the last thing standing in their way.
But the Wichita State Shockers were no ordinary mid-major. They had spent some of the year ranked and had excelled in Missouri Valley Conference play. Despite falling to the Creighton Bluejays in the MVC Tournament, the Shockers still nabbed a 9-seed. Boy, did they take advantage.
They dispatched of the 8-seed Pittsburgh Panthers, the 1-seed Gonzaga Bulldogs and the 13-seed La Salle Explorers, with the Gonzaga win particularly impressive. The Shockers were a win away from the Final Four. They made it known that they came to win.
Wichita State built an advantage off the play of their studs like Cleanthony Early, Fred Van Vleet and Ron Baker. At halftime, the Shockers held a 13-point lead and it swelled up to 20 points at the 11 minute mark.
As tough as it was to build this large lead, tougher yet was the fight that the Buckeyes displayed to claw back into this game. Ohio State got within three, but Wichita State made enough shots down the stretch to pull out the win, sending them to the Final Four.
Just two years after the Butler Bulldogs and the VCU Rams made surprise runs to the Final Four, another mid-major had finished the job. The Buckeyes lost, despite a 23 point effort from Deshaun Thomas, as the team shot poorly from 3-point land (5 of 25).
Four Shockers were in double digits, though Malcolm Armstead scored just 14 points on 21 shots from the field. Regardless, the Shockers made enough shots late to protect their lead and booked a trip to Atlanta.
The Shockers’ run was impressive, even though it ended in a loss to the Louisville Cardinals a few days later. Their defeats of Gonzaga and Ohio State propelled this legendary run, part of the reason why the Shockers are now in the AAC. Regardless, they took an impressive Buckeyes team and nearly crushed them, holding on late to make the Final Four.