Thursday, March 16 marked the fifth anniversary of what used to be the only victory by a men's 16 seed in a non-play-in NCAA Tournament game.
On Friday, No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson cemented its place in March Madness lore, defeating Purdue, 63-58, to become only the second team in NCAA men's basketball tournament history to beat a top-seeded team.
Fairleigh Dickinson, the shortest team in NCAA Tournament history, was coming off a loss to Merrimack in the Northeast Conference tournament final. FDU likely only made the tournament because Merrimack was barred from playing in the tournament as it continues its four-year transition from Division II.
University of Maryland Baltimore County became the first team to achieve the feat in 2018, not only upsetting top-seeded Virginia, but disposing of the Cavs in a fashion that most of the previous 132 top seeds had eliminated 16 seeds. The game was tied 21-21 at halftime, but UMBC — behind 23 second-half points by Jairus Lyles — dominated the final 20 minutes in a 74-54 rout, Virginia's most lopsided loss of the season.
The Retrievers nearly didn't reach the tournament at all, needing a last-second 3-pointer by Lyles to defeat Vermont in the America East championship game. UMBC fell to Kansas State in the second round, 50-43.
There have been a handful of near-upsets of top seeds in the opening round, most notably in 1989, when Princeton and East Tennessee State both lost by a point in the opening round, to Georgetown and Oklahoma, respectively. A year later, Murray State pushed Michigan State to overtime, ultimately losing, 75-71.
The 15 seed has enjoyed slightly more luck in the opening round since the tournament went to a 64-team field in 1985, winning 10 times, most recently on Thursday, when Princeton shocked Arizona, 59-55.
UMBC and Fairleigh Dickison aren't the only 16 seeds to win an NCAA basketball tournament game. In 1998, the Harvard women's basketball team shocked Stanford, 71-67, in the opening round. The Crimson remain the only women's team to have pulled off the 16-1 upset.
