Basketball is a hugely popular sport in India, and every year, thousands tune in to watch March Madness. The USA NCAA college-level tournament, it always arrives with its star teams and favourites. The joy of the tournament lies in the underdogs, the weaker squads who rise to the occasion for their David and Goliath moments. Below, we pick out our three favourite incidents where underdogs have outperformed expectations at March Madness.
Villanova Wildcats
Many of these upsets take place in the early rounds, just as the teams are starting to find their feet. CyberGhostVPN’s handy March madness guide shows the full breakdown of when and where all the games take place. The tournament begins with the first four on the weekend of 14-15 March. This then heads into the first and second rounds which start on March the 16th. You can also find a breakdown of all places to stream the games including the costs of each service.
Villanova Wildcats’ infamous win took place in 1985, against the number one seed of Georgetown. The much-fancied team went into the game with a record of 35 games won against two losses. They also had a fantastic centre Patrick Ewing playing for them, before his NBA hall of fame days. However, even this could not bring down the Wildcats.
Many describe their play as almost perfect. They closed down Ewing, cutting him down to just 14 points. 79% were shot from the field, allowing them a narrow victory of 66-64. Tactical and full of bravado, it was one of the biggest upsets to date in the tournament.
Kansas Jayhawks
1988 was the year many remember as the dawn of Danny Manning. Throughout the whole of the tournament, he shone and was later named NCAA Player of the Year. His crowning glory came in a particularly ferocious game against Oklahoma in which he managed to get 31 points and 18 rebounds.
The tournament itself didn’t start so well for them, with a close 12 – 8 results. Yet in the second half, they found form. The head coach at the time, Larry Brown, would later go on to be the only coach to win an NCAA Championship and an NBA title, though with the Detroit Pistons. In recent years, the Jayhawks have not managed to go as far despite high expectations.
California Bears
This game took place back in 1959. The California Bears were arriving from a lacklustre season, that was neither bad nor particularly good or exciting. Yet they hit the tournament with a huge victory over San Jose, followed by Utah, St Mary’s, and Cincinnati who were all top seeds.
The final game was between them and West Virginia, a tenth-place pick. It was a nail-biter, with the team propped up by the respondent Darrall Imhoff. He would later go on to win Olympic Gold with the US team. The team just managed to get in a 71 – 70 win.
There have been many others, such as Syracuse Orange in 2003 and the 2014 UConn Huskies. This year, there will undoubtedly be new teams rising to the top. Stay tuned and they may just be your favourite US squad taking home the trophy!
