On This Day: Two ACC powers go fall in historic March Madness upsets
With the NBA, MLB, NHL and other major sports leagues and sporting events suspended or canceled, on a daily basis, we will revisit some of the most unforgettable games and sports moments in history. Welcome to On This Day.
This year’s NCAA tournament is canceled, but March Madness memories live on.
There have been an unlimited amount of iconic moments in the NCAA tournament history, and March 16 represents a date where two of the greatest upsets in March Madness history occurred.
If you’re a fan of Duke or Virginia, this is a day you probably wish you could forget.
If you are a Lehigh or University of Maryland, Baltimore County alum, then enjoy your eternal bragging rights.
March 16, 2012: 15-seed Lehigh University upsets 2-seed Duke University
In retrospect, Lehigh boasted an NBA star than we didn’t know would be an NBA star in CJ McCollum.
— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) March 16, 2020
In the history of the NCAA tournament, 2-seeds are 132-8 all-time, further proof of how large this upset actually was.
Here’s a mini-movie, courtesy Lehigh:
March 16, 2018: 16-seed UMBC upsets 1-seed University of Virginia
“Sit back and watch history folks.”
On this day two years ago, No. 16 UMBC beat No. 1 Virginia. We’d never seen it before ?pic.twitter.com/HvKU9uCOIP
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 16, 2020
This is the biggest upset in the history of college basketball, simply because UMBC did what nobody thought would ever be possible: a 16-seed beating a 1-seed in the tournament.
Here are highlights:
And here is a full replay of the game if you have some extra time on your hands:
