NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament upsets

An upset is a victory by an underdog team. In the context of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, a single-elimination tournament, this generally constitutes a team defeating an opponent with a substantially higher seed. The NCAA defines a tournament upset as a victory by a team seeded five or more lines below the opponent that it defeats.

This is a list of victories since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Teams with victories listed won games seeded No. 11 or lower in the Round of 64, seeded No. 7 or lower in the Round of 32 or the Sweet Sixteen, or seeded No. 6 or lower in the Elite Eight, Final Four, or national championship. All teams are listed by athletic brand names they used at the time of their wins, which do not always match those in use today.

Most successful low seeds The table below lists the best outcomes for low-seeded teams since the tournament's expansion in 1985, sorted by the round in which that team was eliminated. Seed Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship Game National Champion No. 16 UMBC (2018) Fairleigh Dickinson (2023) – – – – – No. 15 Richmond (1991) Santa Clara (1993) Coppin State (1997) Hampton (2001) Lehigh (2012) Norfolk State (2012) Middle Tennessee (2016)Florida Gulf Coast (2013) Oral Roberts (2021) Princeton (2023) Saint Peter's (2022) – – – No. 14 numerous (21 teams) – – – – No. 13 numerous (27 teams) – – – – No. 12 numerous (36 teams) numerous (20 teams) – – – No. 11 numerous (36 teams)numerous (18 teams) – – No. 10numerous (16 teams) – – No. 9 – – No. 8 No. 7numerous (19 teams) –No. 6

Lowest-seeded pairings by round The lowest-seeded combination in the national championship game is the 2014 pairing of No. 7 seed UConn and No. 8 seed Kentucky. UConn won and became the second-lowest-seeded team to win the tournament. The pairing of No. 8 seed Butler and No. 11 seed VCU in the 2011 National semifinals game was the lowest seeded combination to play in a National semifinals game. The pairing of No. 8 seed North Carolina and No. 15 seed Saint Peter's in the 2022 East Regional final was the lowest-seeded combination to play in a regional final. The pairing of No. 10 seed Providence and No. 14 seed Chattanooga in the 1997 Southeast Regional semifinal was the lowest-seeded combination to play in a regional semifinal. There have been twenty-five Round of 32 matchups between two seeds who had won as the underdogs in the Round of 64: twelve 12-13 matchups, six 11-14 matchups, five 10-15 matchups, and two 9-16 matchups. The seeds add to 25 in each case, which is the lowest possible total for the Second Round.

Additional low-seed stats Villanova in 1985, a No. 8 seed, was the lowest seeded team to win the tournament. Penn's 1979 Final Four appearance as a No. 9 seed—out of 10 teams in their region—made them the lowest seed to make the Final Four in the pre-64-team era. Butler is the only team to make consecutive Final Fours (let alone Championship Games) while not being a No. 1 or No. 2 seed either time (No. 5 in 2010, No. 8 in 2011). In 1989, the four 11-seeds swept the First Round against their 6-seed opponents. As of 2023 this is the only time that 11-seeds have achieved this feat, and no lower seed ever has. Three out of four 12-seeds have advanced five times, in 2002, 2009, 2013, 2014, and 2019. The 10-seeds also swept the 7-seeds once, in 1999. Richmond is the only team to win first-round games ranked as a No. 15, No. 14, No. 13, and No. 12 seed. The most Round of 64 upsets over top-3 seeds occurring in a single tournament has been two, which has occurred ten times: 1986, 1995, 2015: Two No. 14 seeds over No. 3 seeds 1991, 1997, 2013, 2016, 2021: One No. 15 seed over a No. 2 seed and one No. 14 seed over a No. 3 seed In 1991, 2013, 2016, and 2021, at least one team of every seed between No. 1 and No. 15 advanced to the Round of 32. 2012: Two No. 15 seeds over No. 2 seeds 2023: One No. 16 seed over a No. 1 seed and one No. 15 seed over a No. 2 seed 2014 produced the highest total seed differential in an NCAA Tournament, with 128 across all the rounds of play. That is, the sum of seed differences among the 19 games won by lower-seeded teams was 128. This surpassed the previous mark of 111 in 2014, in which 22 games were won by lower seeded teams. 2013 was the only tournament to have three teams seeded No. 12 or lower in the Sweet Sixteen: No. 12 Oregon, No. 13 La Salle, and No. 15 Florida Gulf Coast. The 2018 South Region was the first region since seeding began in 1979 in which no top-4 seed advanced to the Sweet Sixteen (No. 5 Kentucky, No. 7 Nevada, No. 9 Kansas State, No. 11 Loyola–Chicago). Georgetown is the only team to lose in five consecutive tournament appearances against a team seeded at least five spots lower: 2008 (Round of 32): No. 10 Davidson 74, No. 2 Georgetown 70. 2010 (Round of 64): No. 14 Ohio 97, No. 3 Georgetown 83. 2011 (Round of 64): No. 11 VCU 74, No. 6 Georgetown 56. 2012 (Round of 32): No. 11 NC State 66, No. 3 Georgetown 63. 2013 (Round of 64): No. 15 Florida Gulf Coast 78, No. 2 Georgetown 68. In 2021, Houston, a 2 seed, was the first team ever to reach the Final Four by defeating only double-digit seeds—in order, Cleveland State (15), Rutgers (10), Syracuse (11), and Oregon State (12). 2021 featured 14 upsets, the most upsets in a single tournament. NCAA defines an upset as 5 seed lines or more between teams.

Point-spread upsets Biggest point-spread upsets since 1985 Fairleigh Dickinson +23.5 over Purdue 63–58 in 2023 Norfolk State +21.5 over Missouri 86–84 in 2012 UMBC +20.5 over Virginia 74–54 in 2018 Santa Clara +20 over Arizona 64–61 in 1993 Coppin State +18.5 over South Carolina 78–65 in 1997 Saint Peter's +18 over Kentucky 85–79 in 2022 Arkansas–Little Rock +17.5 over Notre Dame 90–83 in 1986 Hampton +17.5 over Iowa State 58–57 in 2001

Biggest championship game point-spread upsets Connecticut +9.5 over Duke, 77–74, in 1999 Villanova +9 over Georgetown, 66–64, in 1985 Kansas +8 over Oklahoma, 83–79, in 1988 North Carolina State +7.5 over Houston, 54–52 in 1983 Texas Western +6.5 over Kentucky, 72–65 in 1966

Most upset wins

Team Wins Years NC State72005, 2012(2), 2015, 2024(3)Xavier71987, 1991, 2004(2), 2017(3)Gonzaga61999, 2000, 2001, 2011, 2016(2)Richmond61988(2), 1991, 1998, 2011, 2022VCU62007, 2011(3), 2012, 2026UCLA61990, 2002, 2015, 2021(3)LSU61986(4), 1987(2)Dayton51990, 2009, 2014(2), 2015Oregon52013(2), 2019, 2021, 2024Syracuse52016, 2018(2), 2021(2)Kentucky51985(2), 2014(3)

Most upset losses

Team Losses Year(s)Kansas111985, 1990, 1992, 1998, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2023Wisconsin111999, 2001, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2022, 2024, 2026Arizona101990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2023Duke91985, 1997, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2022, 2024Purdue91985, 1986, 1990, 1996, 2011, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2023Oklahoma81986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2001, 2006, 2014Virginia81986, 1987, 2001, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2023Georgetown71985, 1987, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013North Carolina71985, 1994, 1999, 2001, 2006, 2018, 2026Syracuse71986, 1988, 1991, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2014Marquette61996, 2002, 2010, 2019, 2023, 2024Missouri61987, 1988, 1990, 2012, 2023, 2025UCLA61987, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2013Alabama51989, 2002, 2005, 2021, 2022Indiana51986, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2001Kansas State51989, 1993, 2013, 2019, 2023Villanova51995, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2017

Round of 64 This round was called the First Round until 2011, when the introduction of the First Four caused it to be renamed the Second Round. Starting with the 2016 tournament, it returned to being called the First Round. There were eight official First Round upsets in 2016, which was the most in tournament history.

Detail between each pair of seeds in this section has been updated as of completion of the 2026 Round of 64, representing 164 games played between each pair.

16 defeats 1 There have been two games in which a No. 16 seed has defeated a No. 1 seed () since 1985:

Year Winner Loser Score2018UMBCVirginia74–542023Fairleigh DickinsonPurdue63–58

15 defeats 2 There have been 11 games in which a No. 15 seed has defeated a No. 2 seed () since 1985:

Year Winner Loser Score1991RichmondSyracuse73–691993Santa ClaraArizona64–611997Coppin StateSouth Carolina78–652001HamptonIowa State58–572012LehighDuke75–70Norfolk StateMissouri86–842013Florida Gulf CoastGeorgetown78–682016Middle TennesseeMichigan State90–812021Oral RobertsOhio State75–72OT2022Saint Peter'sKentucky85–79OT2023PrincetonArizona59–55

14 defeats 3 There have been 23 games in which a No. 14 seed has defeated a No. 3 seed () since 1985:

Year Winner Loser Score1986Cleveland StateIndiana83–79Arkansas–Little RockNotre Dame90–831987Austin PeayIllinois68–671988Murray StateNC State78–751989SienaStanford80–781990Northern IowaMissouri74–711991XavierNebraska89–841992East Tennessee StateArizona87–801995Old DominionVillanova89–813 OTWeber StateMichigan State79–721997ChattanoogaGeorgia73–701998RichmondSouth Carolina62–611999Weber StateNorth Carolina76–742005BucknellKansas64–632006Northwestern StateIowa64–632010OhioGeorgetown97–832013HarvardNew Mexico68–622014MercerDuke78–712015Georgia StateBaylor57–56UABIowa State60–592016Stephen F. AustinWest Virginia70–562021Abilene ChristianTexas53–522024OaklandKentucky80–76

13 defeats 4 There have been 33 games in which a No. 13 seed has defeated a No. 4 seed () since 1985:

Year Winner Loser Score1985NavyLSU78–551987XavierMissouri70–69SW Missouri StateClemson65–601988RichmondIndiana72–691989Middle TennesseeFlorida State97–831991Penn StateUCLA74–691992Southwestern LouisianaOklahoma87–831993SouthernGeorgia Tech93–781995ManhattanOklahoma77–671996PrincetonUCLA43–411998ValparaisoOle Miss70–691999OklahomaArizona61–602001Kent StateIndiana77–73Indiana StateOklahoma70–68OT2002UNC WilmingtonUSC93–89OT2003TulsaDayton84–712005VermontSyracuse60–57OT2006BradleyKansas77–732008SienaVanderbilt83–62San DiegoConnecticut70–69OT2009Cleveland StateWake Forest84–692010Murray StateVanderbilt66–652011Morehead StateLouisville62–612012OhioMichigan65–602013La SalleKansas State63–612016HawaiiCalifornia77–662018MarshallWichita State81–75BuffaloArizona89–682019UC IrvineKansas State70–642021OhioVirginia62–58North TexasPurdue78–69OT2023FurmanVirginia68–672024YaleAuburn78–76

12 defeats 5 There have been 58 games in which a No. 12 seed has defeated a No. 5 seed () since 1985:

Year Winner Loser Score1985KentuckyWashington66–581986DePaulVirginia72–681987WyomingVirginia64–601989DePaulMemphis State66–631990DaytonIllinois88–86Ball StateOregon State54–531991Eastern MichiganMississippi State76–561992New Mexico StateDePaul81–731993George WashingtonNew Mexico82–681994Wisconsin–Green BayCalifornia61–57TulsaUCLA112–1021995Miami (OH)Arizona71–621996DrexelMemphis State75–63Arkansas86–801997College of CharlestonMaryland75–661998Florida StateTCU96–871999SW Missouri StateWisconsin43–32DetroitUCLA56–532001GonzagaVirginia86–85Utah StateOhio State77–68OT2002CreightonFlorida83–822 OTTulsaMarquette71–69MissouriMiami (FL)93–802003ButlerMississippi State47–462004ManhattanFlorida75–60PacificProvidence66–582005MilwaukeeAlabama83–732006MontanaNevada87–79Texas A&MSyracuse66–582008VillanovaClemson75–69Western KentuckyDrake101–99OT2009WisconsinFlorida State61–59OTArizonaUtah84–71Western KentuckyIllinois76–722010CornellTemple78–652011RichmondVanderbilt69–662012South FloridaTemple58–44VCUWichita State62–592013Ole MissWisconsin57–46CaliforniaUNLV64–61OregonOklahoma State68–552014Stephen F. AustinVCU77–75OTNorth Dakota StateOklahoma80–75OTHarvardCincinnati61–572016Little RockPurdue85–832 OTYaleBaylor79–752017Middle TennesseeMinnesota81–722019Murray StateMarquette83–64OregonWisconsin72–54LibertyMississippi State80–762021Oregon StateTennessee70–562022RichmondIowa67–63New Mexico StateUConn70–632024James MadisonWisconsin72–61Grand CanyonSaint Mary's75–662025McNeeseClemson69–67Colorado StateMemphis78–702026High PointWisconsin83–82