March Madness: Best mid-major NCAA Tournament moments of the past decade

UMBC (2018)

The team that made the history some thought would never happen.

Let’s be real, prior to UMBC, every year when the bracket first released college basketball junkies inspected each opening matchup to observe which 16th seed had the best chance to be the first to do it. Surely a 16 topples a 1 eventually, right? Everyone knew it had to happen one day, but for the 2018 tournament absolutely nobody circled THIS one as an upset in the making.

Tony Bennett had constructed an absolute giant in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers finished the 2018 season with a startling 31-3 record, and defensive tenacity became the foundation behind the program’s newfound success.

And do you know how some years college basketball is down at the top, creating a weaker pot of 1-seeds than usual? On paper, this Virginia squad was anything but a weak 1-seed. Virginia was the unanimous first-overall seed entering the Big Dance, so their first-round matchup with the UMBC Retrievers was the easiest matchup to pick on the bracket, right?

Well, Virginia didn’t just lose. The Cavaliers straight up got run out of the gym.

The game was tied 21-21 at the break. While that scoreline certainly got the attention of March Madness connoisseurs, most still assumed the Cavaliers would wake up from their first-half slumber and eventually pull away. But the exact opposite happened.

Ryan Odom’s Retrievers cracked the code to Bennett’s defensive puzzle in the second half, exploding for 53 second-half points. UMBC placed its foot on the gas and never let up, finishing with a shocking 74-54 victory over the tournament favorites. Guard Jairus Lyles led the Retrievers with 28 points.

UMBC’s run ended two days later following a narrow 50-43 loss to Kansas State. Virginia quickly found redemption after going on a thrilling run 12 months later to cut down the nets and win the 2019 National Championship.