NCAA Basketball: Top 25 NCAA Tournament upsets since 2000

8. #15 Hampton 58, #2 Iowa State 57 (2001 Round of 64)

In year six as a Division 1 program, the Hampton Pirates won the MEAC Tournament and were headed to their first NCAA Tournament. They had played some ball for much of the season, including a 10-game winning streak during MEAC play. For their efforts, they were given a 15-seed, a date with a potent Iowa State Cyclones squad, and a cross-country trip to Boise.

This Iowa State team was 25-5 and had swept the Kansas Jayhawks, spending the last two months ranked among the nation’s best teams.

Jamaal Tinsley led a balanced senior-laden offensive attack and this was a team that some projected could run all the way to the Final Four. The Cyclones were 4-0 against ranked opponents, but there was work to be done before they’d face any ranked teams in the NCAA Tournament.

For the most part, it looked like that work would be accomplished. Despite Hampton’s four-point halftime lead, the Cyclones fought back in the second half and took control. They held a 55-44 lead late in the game.

Fortunately for the Pirates, they still had a lot of fight left, chipping away with basket after basket, as the crowd quickly swayed in their favor. Down one point in the final seconds, Tarvis Williams put the ball in the basket, while Tinsley missed a layup on the other end and the clock ran out on Iowa State’s season.

Hampton shot just three of 20 from 3, committed 15 turnovers, were out-shot, out-rebounded and trailed by double digits late. Despite all of this adversity, they found a way to claw out a historic win.

This was just the fourth time a 15-seed had upset a 2-seed and this was clearly an unexpected result from a MEAC team. Williams’ 16 points and 13 rebounds paced the Pirates, who also got 14 from Marseilles Brown (who played all 40 minutes of the game). Tinsley only had nine points for the Cyclones and was one of many players who shot poorly. The Cyclones were a putrid 6-of-16 from the free throw line; a big reason why they lost this game.

They may have lost to the Georgetown Hoyas in the second round, but Hampton had already pulled off an incredible upset. Seeing head coach Steve Merfeld picked up and carried by one of his players, as he celebrated the upset punctuated this unbelievable game. The Cyclones should have won this game, especially up 11 late. Yet they couldn’t finish the job, falling victim in the most amazing upset of the early 2000s.