March Madness 2021: Top 10 moments from NCAA Tournament
By Adam Childs
4. Oral Roberts upsets Ohio State
The Big Ten was supposed to be the best conference in the country. They had two number one seeds and two more two seeds. They had a couple of the hottest teams in the country and one of them was Ohio State.
The Buckeyes made it to the Big Ten championship game and took Illinois to overtime before coming up just short of the championship. They were supposed to make a big-time run in the tournament.
All they had to do to get started was get through 15th seeded Oral Roberts. The Golden Eagles and the nations leading scorer Max Abmas had other plans. Abmas would drop 29 on the Buckeyes while his teammate Kevin Obanor added 30 of his own to pull off the upset.
Oral Roberts was a good 15 seed, but not one that should have knocked off the Buckeyes. Even as well as the Golden Eagles played they still needed some missed free throws and a missed three by Duane Washington Jr at the buzzer to finish them off.
It was the biggest upset in the first round but the Golden Eagles weren’t done. They upset Florida in the second round to become just the second 15th seed to make the Sweet 16. They almost pulled off another upset as they had Arkansas down late, but couldn’t quite finish them off.
It was a Cinderella run for sure but one that didn’t look flukey. Abmas and Obanor put their names on the national radar and in turn, gave Oral Roberts a great ride.