NCAA Basketball Tournament: Biggest 1st Round Upset

With March Madness fever starting to infect the country, Robbie Maddux for BetUS has been contemplating what exactly the biggest upset in the history of the first round of the NCAA tournament was.  His choice for the number one first round upset follows, along with some interesting historical facts about the first round of the tournament.

1—(15) Richmond 73, (2) Syracuse 69, 1991—Coming into this game Syracuse was well aware of coach Dick Tarrant’s Richmond Spiders reputation as giant killers. In 1984, Richmond downed Charles Barkley and Auburn, then in 1988 the Spiders spun a web and caught Bobby Knight’s defending champion Indiana off guard for the upset. However, the 1991 upset of Syracuse was the Spider’s biggest catch. Richmond became the first No. 15-seed to beat a No. 2 and they never trailed in doing so, taking control from the opening tap. Orange’s All-American Billy Owens was powerless in stopping the Spiders bite. The win was hugely magnified as it was the first year that CBS had rights to the opening round of the tournament. Richmond’s prime time shocker on network television, solidified CBS’ to date multi-billion dollar ownership rights to the Big Dance’s every game since.

Round 1, for the most part, has generated some of the NCAA tournament’s biggest upsets, simply because the highly seeded teams are mostly ousted before the second round tips off. BetUS NCAA basketball odds annually become tighter in Round 2, and beyond, so when underdogs win in the second-round it’s less magnified due to smaller spreads. But that’s not to say there’s not major stunners past the opening round, as upsets of all sizes occur throughout the Big Dance, which is the beauty of the tournament and puts slippers on Cinderella’s.

Before filling out your brackets, or betting the NCAA basketball lines with BetUS in the opening round, here’s some Round 1 straight up trends from every NCAA tournament game to date to keep in mind.

—No. 1 seeds are a perfect 96-0 against No. 16 seeds in the first round.

—No. 2 seeds are 92-4 over No. 15 seeds in the first round.

—No. 3 seeds have gone 81-15 versus No. 14 seeds in the first round.

—No. 4 seeds are 79-17 against No. 13 seeds in the first round.

—No. 5 seeds are just 65-31 against No. 12 seeds in the first round, making them most susceptible to a first round upset.

—No. 6 seeds have fared better against No. 11 seeds than No. 5s vs. No. 12s, with a 66-30 record in the first round.

—No. 7 seeds are 60-36 against No. 10 seeds.

—No. 8 seeds have lost more than they’ve won against No. 9 seeds with a 44-52 record in the first round.

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