The NCAA men's basketball tournament – March Madness, that is – thrives on the magic of the first-round upset, those moments when Cinderella achieves that "One Shining Moment" and busts your bracket.
The 2021 men's basketball tournament provided one of those upsets on the first day of action. No. 15 Oral Roberts knocked off No. 2 Ohio State 75-72 in overtime Friday, and that lands in the top 10 on our list.
Since the NCAA tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1984-85, there have been 60 first-round upsets where a teams seeded No. 13 or lower beat teams seeded 2-4 in the first round of the tournament. That includes 29 victories by No. 13 seeds over No. 4, 21 victories by No. 14 seeds over No. 3 and nine victories by No. 15 seeds over No. 2. UMBC made history as the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in 2018.
MORE: Top 20 shocking first-round upsets
To celebrate all those first-round upsets, Sporting News ranked all of them. So sit back, relax and check them out. And by all means, get lost in the replays. Today, we'll look at 59-41.
60. No. 13 Navy 78, No. 4 LSU 55 (1985)
It's not an upset when "The Admiral" is involved. David Robinson had 18 points and 18 boards for Navy in a blowout.
''Navy totally took us out of everything,'' LSU coach Dale Brown said afterward via the New York Times. ''It wasn't a fluke that Navy won. They just totally dominated us and waxed us. This is a moment of embarrassment. These are the moments when you wonder why you coach.''
The Midshipmen lost 64-59 to No. 5 Maryland, led by Len Bias, in the next round.
59. No. 13 Oklahoma 61, No. 4 Arizona 60 (1999)
Eduardo Najera scored 17, and Jason Terry's buzzer beater fell short. The Sooners would advance to the Sweet 16 after beating No. 5 Charlotte 85-72 in the next round. The Sooners lost to No. 1 Michigan State 54-46 in the Sweet 16.
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58. No. 13 Hawaii 77, No. 4 Cal 66 (2016)
Quincy Smith scored 19 and Roderick Bobbitt added 17 for the Warriors in a first-round upset. No. 5 Maryland beat the Warriors 73-60 in the following round.
57. No. 13 Southern 93, No. 4 Georgia 78 (1993)
Jervaughn Scales scored 27 points to help Southern knock out a Yellow Jackets team that featured Travis Best. No. 12 George Washington knocked off the Jaguars 90-80 in the next round.
56. No. 13 Penn State 74, No. 4 UCLA 69 (1991)
James Barnes scored 19, and Monroe Brown had 10 points and 10 assists. That was good enough to beat a UCLA team that featured Don MacLean and Tracy Murray. No. 12 Eastern Michigan returned the favor, however, with a 71-68 win against the Nittany Lions two days later.
55. No. 13 UNC-Wilmington 93, No. 4 USC 89 (2002)
Hot shooting from Brett Blizzard and Craig Callahan carried the Seahawks to a win against the Trojans. UNC-Wilmington needed overtime to beat USC, but Stewart Hare provided the signature two-handed slam in the final minute. No. 5 Indiana beat the Seahawks 76-67 in the second round.
54. No. 13 UC-Irvine 70, No. 4 Kansas State 64 (2019)
The Anteaters pulled the lone shocker in a chalk-filled tournament with 19 points from Max Hazzard and Evan Leonard. UC-Irvine lost to Oregon in the second round.
53. No. 13 Tulsa 84, No. 4 Dayton 71 (2003)
The Golden Hurricane won easily behind 24 points from Jason Parker and Dante Swanson. No. 5 Wisconsin escaped with a 61-60 victory against Tulsa in the next round.
52. No. 13 UL-Lafayette 87, No. 4 Oklahoma 83 (1992)
Byron Starks scored 21 points to lead the Ragin' Cajuns to a first-round upset of the Sooners. No. 12 New Mexico State beat UL-Lafayette 81-73 in the next round.
51. No. 13 Marshall 81, No. 4 Wichita State 75 (2018)
The Thundering Herd rode the hot hand of Jon Elmore, who scored 27 points, to knock off the Shockers in a first-round thriller. That set up a matchup with in-state rival West Virginia.
50. No. 13 Kent State 77, No. 4 Indiana 73 (2001)
Trevor Huffman scored 24 points to lead the Golden Flashes to a victory against the Hoosiers. These teams would meet in the Elite Eight the next season, a game in which Indiana won 81-69.
MORE: Most humiliating first-round chokes in March Madness history
49. No. 13 Middle Tennessee State 97, No. 4 Florida State 83 (1989)
MTSU stunned the Seminoles with a furious style led by 26 points each from Mike Buck and Randy Henry. The Blue Raiders lost 104-88 to Virginia in the second round.
48. No. 13 Siena 83, No. 4 Vanderbilt 62 (2008)
The Saints routed the Commodores behind 30 points from Kenny Hasbrouck. It's the second-largest blowout for a No. 13 seed. No. 12 Villanova beat Siena 84-72 in the second round.
47. No. 13 Cleveland State 84, No. 4 Wake Forest 69 (2009)
Norris Cole scored 22 and J'Nathan Bullock had 21 to lead the Vikings to a victory against Jeff Teague-led Wake Forest. No. 12 Arizona knocked off Cleveland State 71-57 in the second round.
46. No. 13 Murray State 66, No. 4 Vanderbilt 65 (2010)
The Racers entered the tournament with a 30-4 record and beat Vanderbilt on a buzzer-beater by Danero Thomas. Murray State lost 54-52 to No. 5 Butler in the second round.
45. No. 13 Manhattan 77, No. 4 Oklahoma 67 (1995)
Fran Fraschilla guided the Jaspers to an upset of Oklahoma in the first round behind 14 points from Jeronimo Bucero. Four Manhattan players scored double digits. The Jaspers were a rare at-large bid out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference after compiling a 25-4 record in the regular season.
"When we got the at-large bid I said that the selection committee was composed of nine very astute basketball people," Fraschilla said via the New York Times. "I would not have cried if we didn't get in. But I'm happy that we won and that we've vindicated the selection committee's decision."
No. 5 Arizona State knocked out the Jaspers 64-54 in the next round.
44. No. 13 La Salle 63, No. 4 Kansas State 61 (2013)
The Explorers won a play-in game before knocking off the Wildcats behind 19 points from Ramon Galloway. La Salle advanced to the Sweet 16 after beating No. 12 Ole Miss in the following round. No. 9 Wichita State ended the Explorers' run with a 72-58 victory in the Sweet 16.
43. No. 13 Indiana State 70, No. 4 Oklahoma 68 (2001)
Matt Renn led the Sycamores to their first tournament victory since the Larry Bird era with 22 points against the Sooners. No. 12 Gonzaga eliminated Indiana State 85-68 in the next round.
42. No. 13 Ohio 65, No. 4 Michigan 60 (2012)
D.J. Cooper started the Bobcats' tournament run with 21 points against a Michigan team led by Trey Burke. The Bobcats took No. 1 North Carolina to overtime in a 73-65 loss in the Sweet 16.
41. No. 13 Missouri State 65, No. 4 Clemson 60 (1987)
Winston Garland scored 24 points to help a Charlie Spoonhour-coached team knock out a Clemson team that featured Horace Grant and Elden Campbell. No. 5 Kansas eliminated the Bears 67-63 in the second round.
