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 40-21:
40. No. 13 Vermont 60, No. 4 Syracuse 57 (2005)
Germain Mopa Njila scored 20 and Taylor Coppenrath added 16 to lead the Catamounts to an upset win against the Orange. T.J. Sorrentine hit the game-clinching three-pointer in overtime for the victory. No. 5 Michigan State beat Vermont 72-61 in the second round.
39. No. 14 Xavier 89, No. 3 Nebraska 84 (1991)
Jamie Gladden scored 20, and Brian Grant added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Musketeers in their second first-round upset in three years. No. 11 UConn beat Xavier 65-50 in the second round.
38. No. 13 Xavier 70, No. 4 Missouri 69 (1987)
Byron Larkin took over for the Musketeers in a first-round upset with 29 points and 10 rebounds in a dominant performance that put the program on the map. No. 5 Duke beat Xavier 65-60 in the second round.
MORE: Idiot's guide to filling out your bracket
37. No. 14 Stephen F. Austin 70, No. 3 West Virginia 56 (2016)
Thomas Walkup scored 33 to lead the Lumberjacks to a convincing first-round win against the Mountaineers. No. 6 Notre Dame edged the Stephen F. Austin 76-75 in the second round.
36. No. 14 Murray State 78, No. 3 N.C. State 75 (1988)
Jeff Martin scored 23 points to help the Racers beat a Wolfpack team that featured the “Fire and Ice” combination of Rodney Monroe and Chris Corchiani. No. 6 Kansas beat the Racers 61-58 in the second round.
35. No. 14 Richmond 62, No. 3 South Carolina 61 (1998)
The Spiders will have a few more appearances on this list, but in this tournament Jarrod Stevenson matched South Carolina's B.J. McKie with 24 points to propel the victory. No. 11 Washington beat the Spiders 81-68 in the following round.
34. No. 14 Northern Iowa 74, No. 3 Missouri 71 (1990)
Jason Reese scored 18 and was one of four in Northern Iowa players in double figures, and that was good enough to knock out a Missouri team that featured Doug Smith and Anthony Peeler. No. 6 Minnesota edged NIU 81-78 in the second round.
33. No. 14 Arkansas-Little Rock 90, No. 3 Notre Dame 83 (1986)
Pete Myers scored 29 points, and Michael Clarke and Myron Jackson dumped in 27 and 22, respectively, against the stunned Fighting Irish. The Trojans lost 80-66 to No. 6 N.C. State in the second round.
32. No. 13 Morehead State 62, No. 4 Louisville 61 (2011)
Demonte Harper hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 4.2 seconds left to help the Eagles score a win over the in-state powerhouse. No. 12 Richmond beat Morehead State 65-48 in the second round.
31. No. 13 San Diego 70, No. 4 UConn 69 (2008)
De'Jon Jackson hit a jumper with 1.2 seconds left to give the Toreros a victory against a Huskies team led by Hasheem Thabeet. No. 12 Western Kentucky, which won in the first round on a buzzer beater, knocked off San Diego 72-63.
30. No. 14 Weber State 79, No. 3 Michigan State 72
Ruben Nembhard scored 27 to lead Weber State to a victory against the Spartans despite 28 points from Shawn Respert. No. 6 Georgetown edged the Wildcats 53-51 in the second round.
29. No. 14 Weber State 76, No. 3 North Carolina 74 (1999)
Harold "The Show" Arceneaux etched his name in March Madness lore by dumping 36 points on the Tar Heels. No. 6 Florida beat the Wildcats 82-74 in the second round.
28. No. 13 Bradley 77, No. 4 Kansas 73 (2006)
Marcellus Sommerville scored 21 points on five 3-pointers to help the Braves shock the Jayhawks. Bradley also beat No. 5 Pitt 72-66 before losing 80-64 to No. 1 Memphis in the Sweet 16.
27. No. 14 Ohio 97, No. 3 Georgetown 83 (2010)
Armon Bassett scored 32 for Ohio, which hit 13 3-pointers in a convincing victory against the Hoyas, the largest by a No. 14 seed until Stephen F. Austin matched that margin in 2016. Tennessee beat the Bobcats 83-68 in the second round.
26. No. 14 East Tennessee State 87, No. 3 Arizona 80 (1992)
Rodney English scored 21 points for the Buccaneers to beat the Wildcats. ETSU was knocked out in the second round by Michigan's "Fab Five."
25. No. 14 Old Dominion 89, No. 3 Villanova 81 (1995)
Petey Sessoms scored 35 points to knock out Villanova despite 22 points from Kerry Kittles. No. 6 Tulsa knocked off Old Dominion 64-52 in the next round.
24. No. 14 Tennessee-Chattanooga 73, No. 3 Georgia 70 (1997)
Willie Young scored 24 and Johnny Taylor added 19 to beat the Bulldogs. The Mocs beat No. 6 Illinois 75-63 to advance to the Sweet 16 before losing 71-65 to No. 10 Providence.
23. No. 14 Bucknell 64, No. 3 Kansas 63 (2005)
Kevin Bettencourt scored 19 points and hit 5 3-pointers to beat Kansas. Wayne Simien scored 24 in the loss and just missed a shot at the buzzer. No. 6 Wisconsin knocked the Bison out 71-62 in the next round.
22. No. 14 Siena 80, No.3 Stanford 78 (1989)
Marc Brown scored 32 points, including the game-winning free throws with two seconds left, to lead Siena past a Stanford team that featured Adam Keefe. No. 11 Minnesota ended the Saints' run with an 80-67 win in the next round.
21. No. 14 UAB 60, No. 3 Iowa State 59 (2015)
The Blazers entered the tournament with 15 losses, but Brown led the upset of the Cyclones with 21 points. No. 11 UCLA beat UAB 92-75 in the second round.
