NCAA Tournament Elite Eight Upsets

   The Elite Eight has featured some truly memorable performances from underdogs. Teams that win in the Elite Eight vault themselves from cinderella to true title contenders.

    The No. 5 greatest upset NCAA tournament Elite Eight history was when No. 3 Marquette Golden Eagles defeated No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats 83-69 in the 2003 NCAA tournament. Kentucky was led by future NBA player Keith Bogans who averaged 16 points per game, while Marquette was led by future NBA all-star Dwyane Wade and current NBA forward Steve Novak. Bogans did his part putting in 15 points, but the this Elite Eight game became a showcase for Wade. Wade put up a triple-double with 29 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists and Novak also chipped in with 15 points.

   The No. 4 greatest upset was when No. 5 Butler Bulldogs defeated No. 2 Kansas State Wildcats 63-56 in the 2010 NCAA tournament. The Wildcats were led by guard Jacob Pullen who averaged 19 points per game. However, Butler featured two future NBA players in Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack who had 22 and 16 points respectively to key the offensive effort. Butler used tough defense to force Pullen off his game, while Pullen did put up 14 points he did so shooting 4-13 from the field. The victory put Butler into the Final Four for the first time in school history. The Final Four was played five miles away from campus, giving the cinderella team basically home court advantage.
 
   The No. 3 greatest upset was when No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) defeated No. 1 Kansas 71-61 in the 2011 NCAA tournament. Kansas featured one of the strongest front court in the country  Markieff Morris and Marcus Morris. While VCU represented one of the best offensive teams in the country with a furious up tempo offense. Jamie Skeen led the way for VCU with 26 point and placed the game at their pace. The Morris duo also performed well for Kansas as they both had a double-double, but it was not enough. VCU also had the disadvantage of playing an additional game to get to the Final Four, as 2011 was first year that the tournament field had increased from 64 to 68.
    The No. 2 greatest upset was when No. 11 Louisiana State University (LSU ) Tigers defeated No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats 59-57 in the 1986 NCAA tournament. The highlight of this game was the defense designed by LSU coach Dale Brown called "The Freak" to become the lowest seed to ever advance to the Final Four. The start of the season did not start well as LSU lost three players: one who quit, one got injured and another failed out, then to make things tougher the team was struck with chicken pox. Yet, Brown overcame it all and got his team to the Final Four. John Williams led the way for the Tigers with 16 points.
   The No. 1 greatest upset was when No. 11 George Mason defeated No.1 Connecticut 86-84 in overtime during the 2006 NCAA tournament. Connecticut featured two future NBA players Hilton Armstrong and Rudy Gay, but were unable to overcome George Mason who had already gone through North Carolina earlier on in the tournament. Gay led the way with 20 points. However, coach Jim Larranaga kept his team focused throughout the game and the tournament as all five starters scored in doubles digit with Jai Lewis putting up 19 points. He also made a gutsy decision to keep his starters on the floor for almost the entirety of the game. Gabe Norwood played 19 minutes off the bench, but the rest of the bench played a combined six minutes in a game that went into overtime. The gamble paid off as the George Mason advanced to the Final Four for the first time in school history.