Saturday, December 28, 2019

Biggest upsets of the decade


Honorable Mention:
Mavericks/Heat, 2011 NBA Finals
Vikings/Bills (2018)
Northern Iowa/Kansas (2010)
Holly Holm/Ronda Rousey (2015)
Norfolk State/Missouri (2012)

10. C.J. McCollum becomes a household name (2012)

Lehigh was the No. 15 seed, facing one of the perennial powers in the country, No. 2 Duke. The Blue Devils were led by the Plumlees and Mason scored 19 on 9-of-9 shooting. However, it was Lehigh's C.J. McCollum who stole the show. He scored 30 points to lead the Mountain Hawks to a 75-70 win. Duke shot just 41.4 percent and made just six of 26 3-point attempts. C.J. hit a big 3 with less than 2:30 left to make it 59-54 Lehigh. The Blue Devils would not threaten again in the big upset.

9. No championship for Oklahoma State (2011)

Oklahoma State came into a showdown with Iowa State at 10-0. All it had to do was defeat the Cyclones in Ames and win in Bedlam against Oklahoma and the Cowboys would face LSU in the title game. OSU was a 28-point favorite. over 5-4 ISU and jumped out to a 24-7 lead. But the Cyclones scored 17 straight to tie the game at 24. After forcing an interception, Oklahoma State's Quinn Sharp missed a 37-yard field goal and the game went into overtime. After each team scored a touchdown in the first overtime, Brandon Weeden threw a pick on OSU's second overtime possession, one of the Cowboys five turnovers. On ISU's possession, Jeff Woody ran in from four yards out and the Cowboys had to settle for a Fiesta Bowl win against Stanford. It also sent college football to its greatest nightmare: an All-SEC championship game.

8. Wofford shocks UNC (2017)

UNC had a 23-game home winning streak, but Wofford stunned UNC with a 79-75 victory. Fletcher Magee dropped 27 in the win, and made a name for himself in the process. It was the first win over a top 25 team in school history. The Terriers led by as many as 13 in the second half and held on for the four-point win.

7. A 3-1 series lead is the worst in sports (2016)

No team had come back from a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals ever. The task was daunting for Cleveland, but even more daunting when the team you need to beat three straight finished with an NBA record 73 wins during the regular season. Toward the end of game four, there was an incident involving Draymond Green, and he was suspended for game five. Cleveland went to San Francisco and defeated Golden State without Green, and then dominated game six in Cleveland. In game seven, LeBron made one of the most famous blocks in NBA history, rejecting Andre Iguodala late. Kyrie Irving buried a late triple and Cleveland finished off the improbable, beating the 73-9 Warriors in three straight to win the championship.

6. Cat nap (2019)

Kentucky was the No. 1 team in the country. The Wildcats were 39-0 when hosting an unranked non-conference opponent when No. 1. It was the third largest since 2003-04.

5. James Madison shocks Tech (2010)

Virginia Tech lost a heartbreaker to Boise State to open the season, but played an easy team in week two, right? Well, the heavy underdog Dukes fell behind 10-0, but came back to win it 21-16. Drew Dudzik scored on a run to give JMU its first lead early in the fourth and forced a Darren Evans fumble in the red zone and salted away the big upset.

4. Lightning struck (2019)

Tampa Bay was the Presidents Trophy winners. Many people thought the Lightning would win it all. Their 62 wins tied for the most all-time. Tampa Bay jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead against No. 8 Columbus. Then, the Lightning allowed four straight goals to lose game one. Columbus not only came back to win that one, but dominated the series, sweeping the top-seeded Lightning.

3. Down goes Sparty (2016)

Michigan State was one of the best teams in the country and was a popular Final Four pick as the No. 2 seed. MSU's first round opponent was Middle Tennessee State. It was one of the biggest shockers in tournament history. MSU shot really well at 55.6 percent, but the Blue Raiders shot it even better at 55.9 percent and shot 11-of-19 from deep. MTSU jumped out to a nine-point first half lead and went to the break in front by six. The Spartans fought back to cut it to 77-76, but Perrin Buford's jumper started a 6-0 run to put this one away and the Blue Raiders had the massive upset 90-81.

2. Streak ender (2019)

Just like Kentucky had the No. 1 ranking on my No. 6 on this list, Duke did as well, and the Blue Devils faced Stephen F. Austin. Even though Duke shot 50 percent, the Blue Devils could not overcome 22 turnovers. Duke had a 150-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents, but the game went into overtime. Late, Nathan Bain finished a fast break layup as time expired and SFA had the big upset.

1. Shock and awe (2018)

Never in men's college basketball tournament history has a No. 16 seed beaten a No. 1. But then UMBC happened. Not only was Virginia a No. 1 seed, but it was the top overall seed. The ACC regular season and conference champions headed into the NCAA Tournament at 31-2.  UVA was without De'Andre Hunter, who missed the rest of the season with a wrist fracture. Amazingly, the Cavaliers were blown out. When a 16 would eventually beat a 1, you'd think it would be a close game, but this was anything but. It was 21-21 at halftime, but the Retrievers dominated the second half. UMBC began the second half with a 17-3 run and the top seed had no answer. It would not be lower than 12 the rest of the game. Jarius Lyles poured in 28 points to lead the way for the Retrievers,

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