12 seeds to beat a 5: James Madison upsets Wisconsin, Grand Canyon downs Saint Mary's in March Madness

Kyle Irving

12 seeds to beat a 5: James Madison upsets Wisconsin, Grand Canyon downs Saint Mary's in March Madness image

The No. 12 over No. 5 upset has become a popular pick in March Madness brackets. James Madison upheld that notion with a win over Wisconsin, and then Grand Canyon followed suit by taking down Saint Mary's.

The Dukes and Lopes both came in as the lower seeds and underdogs, but there wasn't a moment they weren't in control over their higher-seeded opponents.

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James Madison upsets Wisconsin

James Madison held the edge wire-to-wire, leading by as much as 17 points. Wisconsin cut the deficit to as close as six points in the second half, but the Dukes always had an answer.

JMU's defense held the Badgers to 37.3% shooting from the field while forcing 19 turnovers. While the Dukes didn't have any breakout performances — junior guard Terrence Edwards Jr. was the leading scorer with 14 points — the team effort on the defensive end led them to victory.

Wisconsin's AJ Storr, who averaged almost 17 points per game this season, was held to an inefficient 13 points on 14 shots. Chucky Hepburn was carrying the momentum of back-to-back 20-point games in the Big Ten Tournament, but he was bottled for eight points on eight shots.

James Madison continuously put pressure on the rim, attacking Wisconsin's frontcourt to shoot 46.2% from 2-point range with 30 free throw attempts.

Even though the seeding says the Dukes' pulled off an upset, James Madison has owned one of the best records in the NCAA all season. After starting the year 14-0, JMU was ranked as high as 19th in the country. The team finished with a 31-3 overall record and won the Sun Belt Tournament before pulling off the first-round win over Wisconsin.

Grand Canyon upsets Saint Mary's

Grand Canyon's upset win wasn't all that different from James Madison's. Even though it was a tight one-point game going into halftime, the Lopes wasted no time in pulling away in the second half.

Grand Canyon led by as much as 17 points, completely shutting down the Gaels' offense. Saint Mary's shot 38.1% from the field and 28.6% from 3. Grand Canyon came up with nine blocks and eight steals, led by four blocks from Lok Wur and three steals and three blocks from Gabe McGlothan. On offense, Tyron Grant-Foster finished with a game-high 22 points.

Saint Mary's had a top-50 offense and the 14th-best defense in the country, but Grand Canyon's length and athleticism proved to be too much for the Gaels.

Take a look at the complete history of No. 12 over No. 5 seeds below.

How many 12 seeds beat a 5 seed in March Madness?

Year Result Score
1985 Kentucky def. Washington 66-58
1986 DePaul def. Virginia 72-68
1987 Wyoming def. Virginia 64-60
1989 DePaul def. Memphis State 66-63
1990 Dayton def. Illinois 88-86
1990 Ball State def. Oregon State 54-53
1991 Eastern Michigan def. Mississippi State 76-56
1992 New Mexico State def. DePaul 81-73
1993 George Washington def. New Mexico 82-68
1994 UW-Green Bay def. California 61-57
1994 Tulsa def. UCLA 112-102
1995 Miami (Ohio) def. Arizona 71-62
1996 Drexel def. Memphis 75-63
1996 Arkansas def. Penn State 86-80
1997 College of Charleston def. Maryland 75-66
1998 Florida State def. TCU 96-87
1999 Detroit def. UCLA 56-53
1999 Missouri State def. TCU 96-87
2001 Utah State def. Ohio State 77-68 (OT)
2001 Gonzaga def. Virginia 86-85
2002 Tulsa def. Marquette 71-69
2002 Missouri def. Miami (Fla.) 93-80
2002 Creighton def. Florida 83-82 (2OT)
2003 Butler def. Mississippi State 47-46
2004 Pacific def. Providence 66-58
2005 Milwaukee def. Alabama 83-73
2006 Montana def. Nevada 87-79
2006 Texas A&M def. Syracuse 66-58
2008 Villanova def. Clemson 75-69
2008 Western Kentucky def. Drake 101-99 (OT)
2009 Wisconsin def. Florida State 61-59 (OT)
2009 Arizona def. Utah 84-71
2009 Western Kentucky def. Illinois 76-72
2010 Cornell def. Temple 78-65
2011 Richmond def. Vanderbilt 69-66
2012 South Florida def. Temple 58-44
2012 VCU def. Wichita State 62-59
2013 Ole Miss def. Wisconsin 57-46
2013 California def. UNLV 64-61
2013 Oregon def. Oklahoma State 68-55
2014 Harvard def. Cincinnati 61-57
2014 North Dakota State def. Oklahoma 80-75 (OT)
2014 Stephen F. Austin def. VCU 77-75 (OT)
2016 Little Rock def. Purdue 85-83 (2OT)
2016 Yale def. Baylor 79-75
2017 Middle Tennessee def. Minnesota 81-72
2019 Oregon def. Wisconsin 72-54
2019 Liberty def. Mississippi State 80-76
2019 Murray State def. Marquette 83-64
2021 Oregon State def. Tennessee 70-56
2022 New Mexico State def. Connecticut 70-63
2022 Richmond def. Iowa 67-63
2024 James Madison def. Wisconsin 72-61
2024 Grand Canyon def. Saint Mary's 75-66

MORE: Yale joins list of No. 13 seeds with first-round win after stunning Auburn

Outside of the closely seeded No. 8 vs. No. 9 first-round matchups, the No. 12 over No. 5 upset has historically been the most common in March Madness.

There have only been six years in the history of the NCAA Tournament that there was not a No. 12 over No. 5 upset — 1988, 2000, 2007, 2015, 2018 and 2023. There have been multiple No. 12 over No. 5 upsets in 16 (!) NCAA Tournaments, including this one.

James Madison's win over Wisconsin and Grand Canyon's win over Saint Mary's were the only two of their kind in 2024 March Madness. No. 5 seed San Diego State narrowly edged UAB, 69-65, in its first-round contest, while No. 5 seed Gonzaga routed McNeese State, 86-65.

Kyle Irving

Kyle Irving Photo

You read that wrong – not Kyrie Irving. From Boston, graduated from the University of New Hampshire. Sixth season as a content producer for NBA.com's Global editions. Covering the NBA Draft has become his annual "dream come true" moment on the job. Irving has a soft spot for pass-first point guards, with Rajon Rondo and Steve Nash being two of his favorite players of all time.