NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen Upsets

   While the upsets in the 1st and 2nd rounds of the NCAA tournament are exciting, it is the upsets that occur in the Sweet Sixteen that cement a team's Cinderella status. Teams like Davidson and George Mason have used the Sweet Sixteen to capture the attention of fans nation-wide.
   
    The No. 5 biggest upset in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament was when No. 12 Missouri Tigers defeated No. 8 UCLA Bruins 82-73 in the 2002 NCAA tournament. For a matchup between eight and 12 seeds there was a lot of NBA talent on the court. The  Bruins featured Dan Gadzuric, Matt Barnes and Jason Kopono. Jason Kopono was the Bruins leading scorer averaging 16 points per game and provided strong outside scoring, while Barnes provided athleticism and defensive tenacity and Gadzuric provided the strong post presence on both ends of the court. The Tigers also featured future NBA talent in forward Kareem Rush who was the leading scorer for the Tigers averaging 20 points per game. Missouri utilized a smart game plan that focused on running Kopono off the three-point line, while on offense Clarence Gilbert led the way with 23 points. The Tigers win over the Bruins was the first time a 12 seed had ever advanced to the Elite Eight.
   
    The No. 4 biggest upset was when No. 5 Arizona Wildcats defeated No.1 Duke Blue Devils 93-77 in the 2011 NCAA tournament. Duke came into the 2010 NCAA Tournament as the defending champions and looked ready to make another run behind point-guard Kyrie Irving, instead the Wildcats blew out the Blue Devils in about four minutes of game time. Kyle Singler and Irving did their part for Duke accounting for 46 of Duke's 77 points, but not another Duke player scored in double digits. The second pick in the 2011 NBA Draft forward Derrick Williams dominated the game with 32 points and 13 rebounds.

   The No. 3 biggest upset was when No. 10 Davidson Wildcats  defeated No. 3 Wisconsin Badgers 73-56 in the 2008 NCAA tournament. Wisconsin like most Big Ten teams liked to slow down the pace and play solid defense. Davidson was coming off a huge victory in the second round when they defeated No. 1 Georgtown, thanks to up and coming guard Stephen Curry who was averaging almost 26 points per game. Wisconsin possessed one of the best defensive guards in the country in Michael Flowers and believed that if they could stop Curry, Davidson would go down. Flowers was not able to stop Curry as he scored 33 points. Wisconsin was unable to match the scoring output as there highest scorer Flowers only managed 12 points.

    The No.2 biggest upset was when No. 11 Temple Owls defeated No. 7 Penn State Nittany Lions 84-72 in the 2001 NCAA tournament. Penn State was led by guard Joe Crispin who led the team with an average of 20 points per game. However, the brotherly duo of Joe and John Crispin only managed to go 6-21 from the field, and the team overall struggled to score as they only managed to shoot 39 percent from the field, thanks to a stifling defense from Temple. Temple was led by guard Lynn Greer who had 21 points.
   
    The No. 1 biggest upset in the history of the Sweet Sixteen was when No.11 Loyola Marymount Lions defeated No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide 62-60 in the 1990 NCAA tournament. Alabama was a front court heavy team led by  future NBA player Robert Horry and David Benoit. Horry played well against the Lions putting up 21 points. However, the Lions featured one of the most offensively potent teams in the country leading the nation in scoring that year with an average of 122 points per game. Guard Bo Kimble led the Lions offense by being the nation's leading scorer averaging 35 points per game. Kimble put up 19 points to lead the Lions to the Elite Eight. The most memorable part of this run happened before the NCAA tournament. All-American Hank Gathers died suddenly during the West Coast Conference tournament championship game, while shooting a free throw. Despite the tragedy the Lions were able to make it to the Elite Eight.