NCAA Basketball: Top 25 NCAA Tournament upsets since 2000

9. #15 Lehigh 75, #2 Duke 70 (2012 Round of 64)

As is expected each season, the 2012 iteration of the Duke Blue Devils was a very solid team. They won the Maui Invitational, with wins over ranked the Michigan Wolverines and the Kansas Jayhawks, and had a roster full of future NBA players and other talent.

The way they knocked off their bitter rivals at the North Carolina Tar Heels made it feel like this season was special. Despite losing in the ACC Tournament semifinals, the Blue Devils were given a 2-seed. This great program was just four wins away from another Final Four.

To get things started, they were matched up with the Lehigh Mountain Hawks in the first round. The Mountain Hawks had won the Patriot League, but didn’t possess any impressive victories on their résumé.

That being said, this wasn’t your average 15-seed, as this team had a real star on the roster. Future NBA stud CJ McCollum was a junior averaging more than 20 points a game, leading his team to the NCAA Tournament. Going this far was already an accomplishment, but McCollum was about to shine on the biggest stage.

Before the night was over, McCollum had scored 30 points in leading his Mountain Hawks. Nobody gave them a chance before the game, but by the end, everyone was a believer. McCollum fired shot after shot, making just nine of his 24 attempts from the field, but he never lost his confidence.

Despite trailing by two, Lehigh rallied in the second half and did just enough to win. They took advantage of Duke’s crumbling confidence and attacked the Blue Devils defense, getting 37 free throw attempts in the game.

They held the Blue Devils to just 23 percent from 3, and mostly contained Austin Rivers (17 points) and Mason Plumlee (17 points, 12 rebounds), while also allowing very little from the other role players.

They got their own 17-point outing from forward Gabe Knutson, who didn’t miss a shot and had 8 rebounds. They shocked the world, ending the Blue Devils’ season and busting brackets everywhere.

McCollum’s stock rose greatly and he’s established himself as a standout in the NBA. His team didn’t have enough left in their next game, losing to the 10-seed Xavier Musketeers, but they had already done the unthinkable.

McCollum really shined and his underrated Mountain Hawks pulled off one incredible upset, handing Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski one of the most stunning losses of his career.