NCAA Basketball: Top 25 NCAA Tournament upsets since 2000

2. #11 George Mason 86, #1 Connecticut 84, OT (2006 Elite Eight)

There are two sides to every upset; two stories to focus on that make up these incredible victories. Many of these big wins are on the first few days of the NCAA Tournament, as these Cinderella teams rarely make it past the first few rounds. Back in 2006, there was our first incredible outlier, but let’s focus on the other story first.

Two years removed from their second national title, the Connecticut Huskies had built a team that was primed to contend for a third title. They won the Maui Invitational, toppling a pair of top10 teams (the Arizona Wildcats and the Gonzaga Bulldogs).

They started the year 22-1 and had a schedule full of impressive victories, including three road wins over top 25 teams. They were upset by the Syracuse Orange in the Big East Tournament, but this team was ranked in the top 5 for the entire season.

The play of Rudy Gay, Josh Boone and others earned these Huskies a 1-seed. They took care of the 16-seed Albany Great Danes, the 8-seed Kentucky Wildcats and the 5-seed Washington Huskies.

They were humming along, looking for another Final Four bid, but what awaited them in the Elite Eight was completely unexpected. They weren’t about to face a 2-seed or a 3-seed, or even a 6 or 7-seed.

What was waiting in the Elite Eight was the George Mason Patriots. After falling in the CAA Tournament, a 23-7 regular season was enough to land the Patriots an 11-seed.

While they had played solidly for most of the year in the Colonial, they hadn’t been so fortunate against high major foes. The No. 18 Wake Forest Demon Deacons had needed overtime to dispatch of the Patriots, but they couldn’t quite get the job done. In the NCAA Tournament, however, that script was completely flipped.

In the first round, they dispatched of the 6-seed Michigan State Spartns, an infrequently upset team that had made the Final Four the year before. Two days later, they knocked out the 3-seed North Carolina Tar Heels, ending their chances at repeating as champions.

In the Sweet Sixteen, they took care of another mid-major, knocking out the 7-seed Wichita State Shockers, whom they had beaten a month earlier in a Bracket Busters game. Each game, they seemed to prove their capability, but the Huskies posed their toughest challenge of the year.

Three minutes into the game, it looked like the Patriots had met their match, but their opening scoring drought didn’t last long. They were behind for most of the first half, briefly tying the game, before facing a 9-point halftime deficit.

But this George Mason team shot the ball extremely well and fought back at every turn. The second half was very back and forth until the Patriots took the lead late. Unbelievably, George Mason was up by 4 with less than 10 seconds left; could the unthinkable happen?

Unfortunately, a pair of jumpers sandwiched around a missed Tony Skinn free throw sent the game into overtime. The Huskies had the momentum and the deeper team, but they didn’t take advantage in the extra period.

The Patriots took advantage of the extra chance and hit their shots, eventually grabbing a five-point lead. It would shrivel down to two on a Marcus Williams 3-pointer, but Denham Brown missed the game winning 3 and the Huskies fell in an incredible game.

In the Elite Eight against one of the nation’s best teams, the Patriots fought back at every turn, shooting 50 percent from the field, and 9-of-18 from long distance.

All five starters hit double digits in scoring, paced by forwards Jai Lewis (20 points) and Will Thomas (19 points, 12 rebounds). Gay would get 20 points to lead the Huskies, but his team’s 47 percent shooting wasn’t enough against this seemingly powerful CAA team.

George Mason, the 11th-seeded darlings from the CAA, were going to the Final Four, while Connecticut’s dreams of another title were washed away.

There were so many incredible things to consider about the Patriots’ run, but few things beat clawing back into this game and surviving overtime against the best team left in the tournament. This was one of the greatest upsets in the history of this Tournament, and it’s even more impressive when you see Michigan State, North Carolina, and Wichita State, whom George Mason had already sent home.