The first weekend of March Madness is in the books, and the NCAA tournament has absolutely lived up to its beloved nickname. We witnessed huge upsets, crazy comebacks, and at least one insane backdoor cover. Let’s take a look at the early March Madness 2023 upsets.
The best part of the early rounds of the college basketball tourney is seeing which lower seeds knock off which big dawgs. So far, there has been plenty of upsets to go around. Let’s look at the 5 biggest upsets from the first two rounds of March Madness 2023.
5 Biggest Early Round March Madness 2023 Upsets
#5) No. 8 Arkansas Beats No. 1 Kansas
This one came in the second round of the tournament, but whenever a no. 1 seed goes down before the Sweet Sixteen, we count that as a big upset. Kansas came into the tournament as one of the favorites to win the whole thing. For much of their matchup with Arkansas, it like that was not in doubt.
Kansas was up for nearly all of the first half. They led by as many as 12 in the second half and even had a 10-point lead with 12:37 remaining. After that, however, it was nearly all Arkansas. The Razorbacks’ Davonte Davis scored 21 of his 25 points in the second half leading Arkansas’s comeback.
Arkansas went on an 11-0 run sparked by a Jordan Walsh three-pointer to put the Razorbacks up 1. The two teams went toe-to-toe for much of the rest of the game. That’s is until Arkansas guard Ricky Council went to the free-throw line with 24 seconds left. He made his first, missed the second, but secured his own offensive rebound before getting fouled again. Sending him to the line for two more, which he made making it a three-point game.
The teams exchanged fouls and made free throws. Eventually, Arkansas was able to secure an inbound pass and get away from Kansas defenders and run the clock out. Arkansas advances to the Sweet 16 to face UConn.
#4) No. 11 Pittsburgh Upsets No. 6 Iowa State
Despite being one of the bigger upsets of the tournament so far, this one was anti-climactic—it was over before it even started. The Panthers shot out to a 22-2 lead after Iowa State missed its first 11 shots. For the game, Pitt held the Cyclones to 23% shooting. There were three separate stretches in which ISU missed at least eight consecutive shots.
ISU fought back to get within seven going into halftime. However, they came out in the second half missing 17 of their first 19 shots. In the end, it was an old-school ass-whooping. Were it not for the huge ranking upset, this ended up being rather uninteresting. Unfortunately, the upset ride abruptly stopped as they were routed by Iowa State during the next round of 32.
#3) No. 13 Furman Upsets No. 4 Virginia
An all-time first-round nail-biter. This was the first upset of this year’s tournament and one that many predictors had circled going into the first round. Teams that use a slower style of play are usually high risk for first-round knockoffs. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, that is exactly what came back to bite them this year.
Virginia got off to a hot start, going up 8-0 early. Furman shot well from three-point land keeping this game super tight. Trailing 66-63 with 27.0 seconds left in the second half, Furman guard Marcus Foster missed from three, and Cavalier Kihei Clark was fouled after grabbing the rebound.
Clark made a free throw, increasing the lead to four, but Furman responded with two free throws of their own on the other hand, making it a two-point game. Following the inbound pass to Clark, two Furman players trapped well in the backcourt, forcing Clark to heave an ill-advised pass upcourt, which was intercepted by Furman’s Hien. Hien found JP Pegues who buried a three-pointer to win the game 68-67. As I said, an all-timer.
#2) No. 15 Princeton Upsets No. 2 Arizona
In most years, this would have been the biggest upset of the first round. Arizona was in control for much of this game, but Princeton kept lingering around. The Tigers took advantage of their size, doing most of their damage in the paint and capitalizing on second-chance points after offensive rebounds.
The Wildcats went into the second half with a one-point lead, but Princeton continued to hang around. They finally broke through with nearly two minutes left in the second half when Princeton guard Ryan Langborg went to the rack, making a contested layup to give the Tigers their first lead of the game.
Arizona had chances to answer back, but they missed some crucial three-pointers down the stretch that could have tied or given them the lead. In the end, a free throw from Princeton guard Tosan Evbuomwan sealed the win over the Wildcats, keeping the Ivy League representative in the tournament.
#1) No. 16 FDU Upsets No. 1 Purdue
We witnessed March Madness history on Friday night. Farleigh Dickinson University (FDU) became only the second no. 16 seed to win a game in the Men’s NCAA tournament after beating no. 1 Purdue 63-58. Despite the ranking discrepancy, FDU never seemed like they were just happy to be there. They came out of the gate ready to go toe-to-toe with one of the nation’s best teams.
FDU actually led for most of the first half, and the first frame on a mini 8-4 run to go into halftime up 32-31. The Boilermakers came roaring back half, however, going on an 11-0 run to start the second half. Unfortunately for Purdue, however, FDU did not back down, and played lockdown defense down the stretch, even holding Purdue scoreless for five minutes, reclaiming a 58-53 lead.
FDU never looked back, continuing their strong defensive play to seal the win. This one lacked the down-to-the-wire drama of other first-round games. Nevertheless, provided us with one of the biggest upsets in the history of the tournament.
March Madness 2023 Upsets So Far…
Bottom line — It’s been a great start to March Madness so far. If you’ve somehow navigated these March Madness 2023 upsets so far and your bracket is still alive, let us know in the comments below.