NCAA Tournament 1st Round Upsets

    Since it is the NCAA tournament time, I thought it would be a good time to look at a few of the biggest upsets in NCAA tournament history. Especially with the big upset that have occurred this year with two No. 2 seeds being ousted in the first round
     For this post I will focus on five of the biggest upset that have occurred in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament and in subsequent posts will showcase five upsets in each round of the NCAA tournament.

     The No. 5 greatest upset in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament was when the No. 14 Weber State Wildcats defeated No. 3 North Carolina (UNC) Tar Heels 73-70 in the 1999 NCAA tournament. UNC brought a strong inside game to the tournament featuring current NBA center Brendan Haywood where it was believed they would easily overpower the Wildcats. However, the Wildcats responded with a huge performance from forward Harold Arceneaux who put up 36 points against the Tar Heels.
    The No. 4 greatest upset  was when the No. 15 Coppin State Eagles defeated the No. 2 South Carolina Gamecocks in the 1997 NCAA tournament 78-65. The Gamecocks were led by guards Larry Davis and BJ McKie each averaging at least 16 points per game heading into the NCAA tournament. Being a No. 2 seed it was expected that South Carolina would run all over Coppin State. However, the Eagles were the ones who took control of the game thanks to a 20 point performance from Antoine Brockington and surprise contributor off the bench Danny Singletary who had a team high 22 points. This was Coppin State's first NCAA tournament victory and is significant due to how Coppin State reacted after the first half. South Carolina and Coppin State were tied going into halftime, but it was Coppin State that took control of the second half.
     The No. 3 greatest upset was when the No. 15 Santa Clara Broncos defeated the No. 2 Arizona Wildcats 64-61 in the 1993 NCAA tournament. The Wildcats were led by future NBA point-guard Damon Stoudamire who averaged 11 points and 6 assists and forward Chris Mills who averaged a team high 20 points per game. Santa Clara had an NBA talent of there  own in Steve Nash, while Nash played a role with his 10 points and 4 assists, it was bench contributions that helped the Broncos with the upset. Pete Elsenrich and DeWayne Lewis put up 19 points and 13 points to lead Santa Clara in scoring.

     The No. 2 greatest upset was when the No. 15 Hampton Pirates defeated the No. 2 Iowa State Cyclones 58-57 in the 2001 NCAA tournament. The Cyclones were led by former NBA point-guard Jamaal Tinsley who averaged 14 points and 6 assists per game. The Pirates did an excellent job of containing Tinsley and were led by forward Tarvis Williams who put in 16 points, including the most important bucket. With 6.9 seconds remaining, Williams flipped in a 4-footer to secure the upset over the Cyclones. Tinsley would add to the drama as he missed a layup with 1.2 seconds remaining. The only reason that this isn't the No. 1 upset is because Iowa State had stumbled getting into the tournament by losing to Baylor during in the Big 12 tournament semi-finals.

    The No. 1 greatest upset in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament was when the No. 15 Richmond Spiders defeated the No. 2 Syracuse Orange 73-69 in the 1991 NCAA tournament becoming the first No. 15 seed to defeated a No. 2 seed in NCAA tournament history.  Syracuse was led by a high-scoring front court that featured Billy Owens and Dave Johnson and finished the season ranked No. 6 in the country. Richmond led the entire game thanks to former NBA guard Curtis Blair who led the team with 18 points and 6 assists. This upset in 1991 was just as shocking as  Duke losing to Lehigh or Missouri losing to Norfolk State. This upset was also significant due to the media recognition, as this was the first 1st round game to be shown on CBS.
    There are still upsets waiting to happen, as a No. 16 has never beaten a No. 1.
    Next up will be a look at the biggest 2nd round upsets in NCAA tournament history.