Editor’s note: This list goes back to the beginning of the modern era, when the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

1) 1985: Villanova over Maryland

When these two teams met early in the ’84-’85 season, Maryland’s Len Bias dropped 30 points in a 77-74 Terrapins victory. Things went much differently in this one for the All-American and scoring champ, thanks to the emergence of Villanova’s Ed Pinckney as a defensive stopper. For the first time in 52 games, Bias was held below 10 points, scoring just eight on 4-of-13 shooting while Pinckney not only shut down Bias but also finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds in a 46-43 Wildcats win. Taking out the #5 seed Terps was the second of what would eventually be five consecutive wins over higher seeds for the #8 seed Villanova, eventually culminating in a stunning National Final victory over Georgetown.

2) 1986: Auburn over UNLV

When Auburn made a thrilling run to the 2019 Final Four, this 1986 win was finally eclipsed as the most significant in program history. Led by Chuck “Rifleman” Person, the #8 seed Tigers had already shocked top-seeded St. John’s in the second round of the West Region. That momentum didn’t really carry into this match-up, with #4 seed UNLV taking an early 14-point lead thanks to their full court press defense. But Person led a second half comeback, finishing with 25 points and 11 rebounds in a 70-63 Auburn win. The Tigers’ dream season ended in the next round, with a Regional Finals loss to #2 seed Louisville. UNLV bounced back strong the next season, reaching the 1987 Final Four, their second such appearance under Jerry Tarkanian.

3) 1986: LSU over Georgia Tech

1986 was only the second tournament of what’s considered the modern era, with the NCAA expanding to 64 teams starting in 1985. It was a transformational one in terms of upsets, with Cinderella stories coming in the form of #14 seed Cleveland State, #7 seed Navy, #12 seed DePaul, and #8 seed Auburn (as mentioned above). But those were all eclipsed by LSU becoming the first #11 seed to reach the Final Four. Deploying coach Dale Brown’s “freak” defense, an amorphous style built around undersized center Ricky Blanton, the Tigers managed to consistently catch more talented on paper opponents off guard, including #2 seed Georgia Tech in this one. Yellow Jackets stars Mark Price and John Salley were both hampered down the stretch by “freak” defensive adjustments, allowing LSU to come away with a 70-64 comeback win. Two days later, the Tigers shocked top seed Kentucky to reach the Final Four.

4) 1987: LSU over DePaul

There was just something about underdog status that propelled LSU to NCAA Tournament success in the ’80s. Following first round losses as the higher seed in 1984 and 1985, Dale Brown’s Tigers made incredible runs to the Final Four in 1986 as an #11 seed and then the Regional Finals in 1987 as a #10 seed. In the former, they became the only team in tourney history to beat the #1, #2, and #3 seeds in a single region and improbably almost pulled off the feat again in the latter. DePaul was the #3 seed victim in this one, as Nikita Wilson dropped 24 points in a 63-58 LSU win. The Tigers would fall just short of the Final Four, losing to top seed Indiana in the Regional Final due to a miraculous late comeback. This was DePaul’s third Sweet 16 appearance in a four year stretch but the Blue Demons have not been back since, making the NCAA Tournament just five times in the last 35 years and losing in the second round or earlier each time.

5) 1989: Virginia over Oklahoma

With their three best players, all now seniors, returning from the 1988 Final Four team, anything short of a national title for Oklahoma in 1989 would have been a disappointment. But few could have expected they would be eliminated this early, at the hands of #5 seed Virginia. Behind 28 points from Bryant Stith and 25 from Richard Morgan, the Cavaliers managed to exceed the high-powered Sooners offense in a 86-80 upset. Oklahoma’s All-American point guard Mookie Blaylock had arguably the worst game of his NCAA career, dealing with an eye injury and finishing with just five points and five assists on 2-of-12 shooting. Virginia was unable to venture any further in the tournament, losing in the Regional Finals to Michigan.

6) 1990: Loyola Marymount over Alabama

Deploying coach Paul Westhead’s patented run-and-gun offense (“The System”), Loyola Marymount led the NCAA with 122.4 points per game during the ’89-’90 season. They scored 100+ in 28 out of 32 games and topped 140 seven times, including in a second round upset over #3 seed Michigan. But #7 seed Alabama somehow managed to draw the Lions into a defensive battle in the Regional Semifinals and even more unlikely, Loyola Marymount came away with the 62-60 win anyway. NCAA scoring leader Bo Kimble shot just 9-of-25 from the field but led LMU with 19 points and made some clutch plays down the stretch to key the comeback victory. The Lions survived only when Alabama’s Robert Horry, now renowned as one of the great clutch shooters in history, missed a potential game tying jumper at the buzzer. It was a third straight upset for a Loyola Marymount roster playing with heavy hearts following the late season death of their teammate, Hank Gathers, but their Cinderella run would end one round later against top seeded UNLV.

7) 1991: St. John’s over Ohio State

For the first time in program history, Ohio State entered the 1991 NCAA Tournament as a #1 seed. With a suffocating pressure defense led by All-American guard Jim Jackson, the Buckeyes allowed just 68.5 points per game to opponents. But their Regional Semifinals opponent St. John’s was a perfect foil, with a balanced approach to ball handling and scoring. All five St. John’s starters scored in double figures, led by Malik Sealy with 22 points, in a 91-74 win. Though Ohio State did force 22 turnovers in the game, St. John’s managed to shoot 63% from the field, while also forcing 21 Buckeyes turnovers. The #4 seed Red Storm moved on to the Regional Finals, where they lost to eventual national champion Duke.

8) 1991: Temple over Oklahoma State

The ’90-’91 regular season was a disappointing one for Temple, who started off in the AP top 25 but ended with a 21-9 record and a #10 seed in the NCAA Tournament. When they managed to advance to the Sweet 16, it came with a caveat, as the Owls’ second round victory was over #15 seed Richmond, who had previously stunned Syracuse. But Temple proved themselves unequivocally with this Regional Semifinals win over #3 seed Oklahoma State. Senior guard Mark Macon was the hero for the Owls, finishing with 26 points, including eight in overtime of a 72-65 win. Temple almost followed this up with an even bigger upset of top seeded North Carolina but fell just short in that Regional Finals match-up.

9) 1992: Michigan over Oklahoma State

The Oklahoma State program was turned around immediately by the hiring of head coach Eddie Sutton in 1990. In his first five seasons at the helm, the Cowboys made it to at least the second round of the NCAA Tournament, culminating in a Final Four appearance in 1996. But along the way, they suffered major Regional Semifinals upsets in back-to-back seasons, first in 1991 to Temple as noted above and here to Michigan. In this case, at least they were a footnote to history, one of numerous victims of the “Fab Five” freshmen who led the #6 seeded Wolverines all the way to the National Final. Chris Webber struggled in this game, finishing with just four points and four rebounds before fouling out, necessitating heroics from Jalen Rose, who dropped 25 points and 11 rebounds in the 75-72 Michigan win.

10) 1994: Boston College over Indiana

With nothing to lose as a #9 seed, Boston College followed up one of the biggest second round upsets in NCAA Tournament history, over top seed North Carolina, by shocking another blue blood program in round three. Relying on their balanced scoring attack, the Eagles got double-digit points from four of their starters and shot 10-of-16 from three-point range in a 77-68 win over Indiana. For Bobby Knight’s #5 seeded Hoosiers, it was their fourth straight tournament exit at the hands of a lower seed, a troubling trend that would be temporarily bucked with a return trip to the Final Four in 1992. Boston College advanced to the Elite Eight, where their magical run ended with a loss to Florida.

11) 1996: Mississippi State over Connecticut

Led by UPI Player of the Year Ray Allen, UConn was Big East champions in ’95-’96, entered the NCAA Tournament as a #1 seed with wins in 29 of their previous 30 games, and felt primed to make the first Final Four appearance in school history. Their unlikely conqueror was #5 seed Mississippi State, a program with just two previous NCAA Tournament game wins. But the Bulldogs also entered this tournament on a roll, with wins in 11 of their last 13 games, including an SEC Tournament Final stunner over eventual national champ Kentucky. A strong defensive team built around shot blocker extraordinaire Erick Dampier at center, Mississippi State hounded Connecticut in the 60-55 upset win, holding the Huskies to just 32.4% shooting from the field. Allen especially struggled, finishing with 22 points but on only 9-of-25 shooting. Mississippi State subsequently took down #2 seed Cincinnati to advance to the Final Four, where their run finally ended in the National Semifinals against Syracuse.

12) 1997: Arizona over Kansas

It’s hard to call this Arizona team a Cinderella. They featured two All-Americans in Mike Bibby and Miles Simon, they spent almost half the season in the AP top 10, and they entered the NCAA Tournament as a #4 seed despite struggling down the stretch. But the Wildcats pulled off an upset metric that no team has matched before or since, becoming the only team to defeat three #1 seeds in the same tournament. Their later Final Four upsets of North Carolina and Kentucky to win the national title are the more notable in retrospect, but this Regional Semifinals win over Kansas was arguably the biggest stunner. With four future NBA first round picks in the lineup, including Paul Pierce, the Jayhawks were an unstoppable force for most of ’96-’97, winning 32 games, 23 of them by double digits, with just one loss coming in double overtime. They came into this game as 10.5 point favorites but got outplayed, turning it over 20 times as Bibby led the Wildcats with 21 points in an 85-82. Based on that point spread, this was technically the third biggest upset in Regional Semifinals history (the top two are coming up later in this list).

“How did a tiny, Jesuit school in Jersey City with a peacock mascot become everyone’s favorite basketball team in March of 2022? By becoming the first #15 seed to ever reach a Regional Final.”

13) 1999: Gonzaga over Florida

They’re now a tournament powerhouse and consistent Final Four threat, but the thought of Gonzaga winning multiple NCAA Tournament games seemed inconceivable just 25 years ago. Most fans probably couldn’t even pronounce the school’s name when the Bulldogs kicked off the 1999 tournament with an upset over #7 seed Minnesota. They really turned heads with an upset of #2 seed Stanford in the second round, leading to this battle with Florida in the Sweet 16. It was a watershed tournament for the #6 seed Gators as well, who were making their first appearance under new coach Billy Donovan. The game came down to the final seconds, when Gonzaga’s sophomore power forward Casey Calvary made the rebound of his life, leaping over two Florida defenders to grab an errant Quentin Hall jumper and tip it back in with four seconds left to give Gonzaga the 73-72 lead (a subsequent Florida buzzer beater was missed). The Bulldogs couldn’t overcome Connecticut in the subsequent Regional Finals but a new premier program announced itself on this day.

14) 2000: Florida over Duke

One year after their stunning loss at the hands of Gonzaga, Florida made their own inspiring run through the NCAA Tournament in 2000 as a #5 seed. It started with a Mike Miller buzzer beater in the first round to survive an upset bid from Butler and continued on into the Sweet 16. Waiting there was top seed Duke, led by a trio of freshman stars in Jay Williams, Mike Dunleavy, and Carlos Boozer. But all three of those neophytes struggled in this game and Duke, most notably Williams, who shot just 1-of-9 from three-point range. Florida got double digit scoring from five different players, led by sixth man Brett Nelson with 15 points, and scored the final 13 points of the game to win it, 87-79. The Gators then took out Oklahoma State and North Carolina to reach the National Final, where they lost to Michigan State. Duke came back strong in 2001, cruising to the third title of the Coach K era.

15) 2002: Kent State over Pittsburgh
16) 2002: Indiana over Duke

Over the course of one thrilling Thursday night in Lexington, Kentucky, the 2002 NCAA Tournament was completely turned on its head. It started with #5 seed Indiana making a 17-point comeback to shock top seeded Duke. Despite the difference of just four seeds between the teams, this was the second biggest upset in Regional Semifinals history, with Duke coming in favored by 12 points. In fact, this Duke team, which featured four returning starters from the ’00-’01 championship roster, goes down as the greatest team of all time to fall short of the Final Four, by our metrics. Jared Jeffries led the Hoosiers with 24 points and 15 rebounds while Blue Devils All-American Jay Williams missed a crucial free throw in the final seconds that sealed Duke’s fate. The fans who remained on hand got to witness another stunner as a nightcap, with #10 seed Kent State making its only Elite Eight appearance in school history by upsetting #3 seed Pittsburgh. Future NFL All-Pro Antonio Gates led the way for the Golden Flashes with 22 points and eight rebounds. Two nights later, the Hoosiers cruised to the Final Four, shooting 15-of-19 from three-point range in a 81-69 win over Kent State.

17) 2008: Davidson over Wisconsin

It’s included four NBA titles, two league MVPs, and will end with a Hall of Fame induction, and the Steph Curry show all started here. Lightly recruited despite out of high school despite a successful prep career and his family lineage, Curry wound up with mid major Davidson. His career was lacking much fanfare despite averaging 25.9 points per game as a sophomore but all changed come tournament time. Curry dropped 40 points for #10 seed Davidson in a first round upset of Gonzaga, then 30 in a second round stunner over #2 seed Georgetown. Conventional wisdom had this streak ending in a Regional Semifinals showdown against Wisconsin and their stingy perimeter defense. But Curry would not be stopped, shooting 6-of-11 from three and scoring 33 points, while Davidson pulled away in the second half for a 73-56 win. It was their 25th straight victory but that streak came to an end in the Regional Finals, where Curry finally struggled offensively and the Wildcats lost to top seed Kansas, 59-57.

18) 2011: Butler over Wisconsin

A defensive powerhouse, Wisconsin was never an easy out in the NCAA Tournament under coach Bo Ryan, and reached the Sweet 16 10 times between 2000 and 2017. Things seemed lined up well for a deep run in 2011 for the #4 seeded Badgers, when top seed Pittsburgh was eliminated in the second round. Instead, Wisconsin found themselves as the same victims as Pitt’s foil, #8 seed Butler. One year after making an unlikely run to the National Final, the Bulldogs somehow did it again in 2011 despite losing their top scorer, Gordon Hayward, to the NBA. Luckily, Butler still had senior Matt Howard, who propelled them to a first round win over Old Dominion with a buzzer beater, then led the way in this game with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Meanwhile, Wisconsin’s All-Big 10 back court stars Jon Leuer and Jordan Taylor shot a combined 7-of-31 from the field, as Butler prevailed 61-54. The Badgers would finally reach the Final Four under Ryan as a #2 seed in 2014 and as a #1 seed in 2015.

19) 2011: Arizona over Duke

Though they’re two of the most storied programs of the modern era, Arizona and Duke have met just twice in the NCAA Tournament. The first time was in the 2001 National Final, won by Duke for Coach K’s third title. In between that match-up and this 2011 reunion, the schools took divergent paths, with Arizona struggling in the wake of Lute Olson’s surprising retirement while Duke carried its dominance into the 21st century, including winning a fourth title in 2010. The Blue Devils had their repeat hopes dashed in definitive fashion by the Wildcats, who used a 19-2 run early in the second half to pull away for a 94-77 win. In a battle of players who would wind up as the top two picks in the ensuing NBA Draft, Derrick Williams led Arizona with a career high 32 points while Duke’s Kyrie Irving finished with 28 off the bench. Arizona, who was the #5 seed in the region, subsequently lost a heartbreaker in the Regional Finals to #3 seed and eventual national champion Connecticut.

20) 2014: Kentucky over Louisville

The ’13-’14 regular season was an undeniable disappointment for Kentucky, which featured one of the most renowned freshman classes in NCAA history and started off as the #1 team in the AP pre-season poll. They stumbled into the NCAA Tournament as a #8 seed but embarked on an incredible run all the way to the National Final, spurred by their now much more mature freshman stars. That included a stunning upset over their bitter in-state rivals and defending national champions Louisville, who stood in their way as the #4 seed in the Midwest region. The Cardinals took a commanding 13-point lead early in the game and held it all the way up until the final minute, when an Aaron Harrison three-pointer put Kentucky ahead for good. The 74-69 loss was the first ever in a Regional Semifinals game for Louisville coach Rick Pitino, who was previously 11-0 in the round.

21) 2017: Xavier over Arizona

A mainstay of the Sweet 16 in the modern era, with seven appearances in the last 20 years (though never through to the Final Four), Xavier’s most memorable of those runs came in 2017 as a #11 seed. Not only was this win over #2 seed Arizona noteworthy as a major upset from a team shorthanded due to injuries, it was also notable as coming over Xavier’s former head coach, Archie Miller. In fact, when Miller defected for Arizona in 2009, his replacement was longtime assistant Chris Mack, who was still coaching Xavier in ’16-’17. The student became the master here, with the Musketeers using a punishing defense to finish the game on a 9-0 run to win, 73-71. Xavier’s injuries and fatigue finally caught up to them in the next round, losing to Gonzaga in a Regional Finals blowout.

22) 2019: Auburn over North Carolina

When Auburn made its first ever Final Four appearance in 2019, the traditional football school did so in dramatic fashion as a #5 seed, pulling off three consecutive upsets over powerhouse basketball programs. It started in the second round with a win over #4 seed Kansas and ended in the Regional Finals with a stunner over #2 seed Kentucky. Nestled in between was this jolt over #1 seed North Carolina. It was assumed that the Tar Heels, who were averaging 85.8 points per game, would run the Tigers off the court but instead, Auburn beat the blue blood program at its own game in a 97-80 shocker. Befitting the modern game, the big difference was three-point shooting, with Auburn hitting 17-of-37 from long range while North Carolina shot a pitiful 7-of-28. Despite losing one of their best players, Chuma Okeke, to a torn ACL in this game, Auburn managed to upend Kentucky and advance to the National Semifinals, where they lost to Virginia.

23) 2022: Saint Peter’s over Purdue

How did a tiny, Jesuit school in Jersey City with a peacock mascot become everyone’s favorite basketball team in March of 2022? By becoming the first #15 seed to ever reach a Regional Final. In fact, Saint Peter’s was the first team seeded lower than #12 to make it that far in an NCAA Tournament, an incredible feat especially for a program with no previous tournament wins. When Saint Peter’s took down #2 seed Kentucky in the first round, it was exciting, yes, but also easy to write off as an anomaly, a team that played the game of its life, caught a few breaks, and were now going to fall back to earth. But Saint Peter’s just kept winning, first over Murray State in the second round, and then in this game against #3 seed Purdue. By this point, the Peacocks just looked like they belonged, neutralizing Purdue’s notable size advantage with a high pressure defense, forcing 15 turnovers and grinding out a 67-63 win. Their miracle run ended in the next round against North Carolina but Saint Peter’s etched their names in the history books with this one as did Purdue, which now holds the record for most Sweet 16 appearance without reaching the Final Four.

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