The UMBC Retrievers made history on Friday night becoming the first No. 16 seed to top a No. 1 seed in March Madness. Not only did they defeat the Virginia Cavaliers, they thrashed them, 74-54 as the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 overall seed never even had a chance. UMBC covered the spread as 20.5-point underdogs easily while the game went over the total of 121.5.
To provide some context, while this is the first time that a No. 16 upset a No. 1 seed, it isn’t the biggest upset in March Madness history in terms of the betting odds. That’s because UMBC closed as a 20.5-point favorite even though they opened up as a 23-point dog. The biggest upset to date remains No. 2 Michigan State, who lost to No. 15 Norfolk State as a 21.5-point favorite back in 2012.
In terms of the moneyline, the payout on UMBC was quite impressive. They were as high as +6750 – 67.5/1 – which is quite incredible. That’ll land them very high on the list among the biggest upsets in sports history.
For Virginia, the game was a complete disaster and continues a run of disappointing NCAA Tournament appearances. While many of their other recent shortcomings were a bit further in the Tournament, this was unexpected. They went 1-1 in the Tournament last year, 3-1 in 2016 and 1-1 in 2015. However, nobody saw an outright loss in this spot.
UMBC took a 21-21 halftime tie and used a 7-1 run at the start of the second half to not only take a lead, but cause Virginia to feel the full pressure of the moment, pressure the Cavaliers – playing without sixth man and key cog DeAndre Hunter – were not prepared to endure. Jairus Lyles scored 28 points for UMBC, fearlessly shooting the ball and scoring against Virginia’s famed “pack line defense.” UMBC scored 53 points after the half and dealt the Cavaliers by far their largest loss of the season. UMBC hit 12 of 24 3-point shots, a scorching-hot number which would have kept this game close even if Virginia had Hunter available. Without Hunter, Virginia lacked the resources to keep up. The Cavaliers went just 4 of 22 from 3-point range. Devon Hall went 1 of 9 from the field, 0 of 6 from three. Ty Jerome went 2 of 9 from long range. Between this loss and the Arizona defeat, there won’t be any perfect brackets after this.
The Retrievers now advance to face Kansas State in the Round of 32. Odds for that matchup will be released soon, but it is likely that Kansas State will be a sizable favorite, probably somewhere around nine points, against UMBC.
This is the first time in the history of the men’s NCAA Tournament that a 16 seed has beaten a 1 seed. Accordingly, UMBC-Kansas State is the first 16-versus-9 seed matchup in tournament history. UMBC will have the neutrals in the crowd rooting for it, so this might have a home-game feel to the building for UMBC in Charlotte, North Carolina.
UMBC’s odds to win the NCAA Tournament were at +100000 before this game. With the win, that number should move only slightly higher before the Round of 32 begins. Kansas State’s odds heading into the first round were +30000. They might be +20000 at this point.
