Greatest Sports Upset in History

[Doc JS]

It was like a college team beating an NFL team.

LT,
You old enough to remember when the college football all-stars played the NFL Champ every year in an exhibition?

[hhsilver]

hhsilver,

We obviously agree that Stanford was the biggest FOOTBALL upset ever, but there are reasons I ranked in third it SPORTS upsets.

1 - When USA beat USSR in hockey, Team USA was a bunch of college kids and the USSR had just beaten some NHL teams in an exhibition tour. It was like a college team beating an NFL team.

2 - Chaminade was a mid-level Division II school when they beat Virginia, which was ranked #1 with Ralph Sampson. That is the equivalent of a team worse then Appalachian State beating LSU.

LT,
I don't disagree with your choices. I guess I am in college football mode and have been pretty much skimming over comments about other sports. I guess when I insisted on Stanford I was thinking only about college football, my favorite sport.

Of interest to history buffs might be my alma mater Carnegie Tech's (now Carnegie-Mellon) upset of an undefeated top ranked Notre Dame in the 20's. It seems Knute Rockne skipped this game because he went on to NY to scout Army, their powerful opponent the following week. I have no idea if there was a point spread.

[LT Profits]

Yes Doc,

Played annually at Soldier Field.

[MJFtheGenius]

George Mason over Uconn a few years ago is a good one not mentioned yet

[louisvillekid]

In 1934, boxer James J. Braddock (Cinderella Man) defeated heavyweight champion Max Baer as the 10-to-1 underdog in a major upset.

On July 16, 1950, during the 1950 FIFA World Cup final in Brazil, Uruguay defeated the highest ranked team in the world and seemingly certain winners, Brazil, 2-1 to win the tournament. Another upset in the tournament was the USA victory over highly ranked England, 1-0.

In the 1954 FIFA World Cup, Germany defeated Hungary 3-2 from 2-0 down to win the final. The amazing upset is called the Miracle of Bern. Hungary's Golden Team had dominated the sport for several years in the 1950, including beating the Germans 8-3 in the first round of the tournament. The final was their first and only defeat during that period.

In Super Bowl III, the New York Jets, led by quarterback Joe Namath, defeated the heavily favored Baltimore Colts 16-7 after giving a "guarantee" to do so.

In the 1964 Ali versus Liston and 1974 Rumble in the Jungle fights, boxer Muhammad Ali was expected to lose against Sonny Liston and George Foreman respectively, who were both formerly undefeated hard-punching heavyweight champions. Ali defeated them in major upsets. In 1975, underdog Chuck Wepner almost went the distance with Ali, which was later the main inspiration for the fictional character of Rocky Balboa in the films Rocky (1976) and Rocky II (1979).

In 1972, non-league football club Hereford United defeated hugely favoured top flight professional club Newcastle United in the FA Cup Third Round replay.

In 1978, Irish rugby union team, Munster Rugby, defeated the All Blacks 12 points to nil. The game was later turned into a stage play, Alone it Stands.

In 1980, the United States hockey team consisting of amateurs and college players defeated the Olympic hockey superpower, the Soviet Union. The amazing upset was called the "Miracle on Ice".

In 1985, 8th seeded Villanova defeated top-seeded and defending champion Georgetown in the championship game of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.

Boxer James "Buster" Douglas, given odds of 42-to-1 by one Las Vegas sports book, handed the previously-undefeated Mike Tyson his first ever professional defeat in Tokyo, Japan on February 11, 1990

In the 1992 European Football Championship in Sweden, Denmark, which entered as a reserve team because of the Yugoslav Wars, won the tournament.

In 1994, the Denver Nuggets (42-40; 8 seed) beat the Seattle SuperSonics (64-18; 1 seed) in the first round of the playoffs.

In 2000, wrestler Rulon Gardner defeated Alexander Karelin of Russia in the 2000 Summer Olympics. Karelin had been undefeated for thirteen years, and had not given up a point in six years, prior to his loss in the gold medal match to Gardner.

In 2001, Goran Ivanišević won the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard. He is the first and only person having done so.

In 2002, the New England Patriots defeated the St. Louis Rams 20-17 in Super Bowl XXXVI. In retrospect this seems less an underdog story because the Patriots went on to dominate the NFL for 3 more years, but at the time the Rams were favored by 14 points, making it the second largest upset in Super Bowl history.

In the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, Belarus won, 4-3, over the favourite team from Sweden in the men's ice hockey competition.

In the Euro 2004 football competition, Greece, which some sports books gave 150-1 odds to win at the start of the tournament, defeated the hosts Portugal in their opening match, the cup holders France, the favourites Czech Republic in the semifinals, and Portugal again in the final to win the Euro cup in the most unexpected victory in football history.

In 2004, the Boston Red Sox were down three games to none against the heavily favored New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series, and the Red Sox won four games in a row to defeat the Yankees four games to three, en route winning their first World Series title in eighty-six years.

In the 2004 Copa Libertadores, Once Caldas won the title against all the odds, beating Santos, São Paulo and finally the defending champions Boca Juniors in the penalty shootout.

In the 2004 French Open, Gastón Gaudio was two sets down against pre-tournament favourite Guillermo Coria, but the entire match suddenly turned on its head and Gaudio struggled to the title, saving two match points in the fifth set. Sadly, Coria has not refound his form.

In the 2004 Summer Olympics tennis competition, Tomas Berdych beat no. 1 seed Roger Federer, and Nicolas Massú won the gold medal, hours after the doubles final.

In 2005, world cricket champions Australia were beaten by underdogs Bangladesh in a one day cricket match at Cardiff, Wales, thanks to an even 100 by 20 year old Mohammad Ashraful. Of Bangladesh's previous 108 games, it was only their tenth win.

In 2006, George Mason Patriots made it to the Final Four in the NCAA Men's Tournament by defeating Michigan State Spartans, the defending champs North Carolina Tar Heels, the Wichita State and the top-seeded Connecticut Huskies (UConn).

In 2007 Fiesta Bowl the underdog from the WAC division, Boise State upset one of the the Big 12 powerhouses, University of Oklahoma, on hook and lateral to tie the game at the end of regulation, an 4th down coversion to bring them within one point in overtime, and a two point conversion on a Statue of Liberty play.

In 2007, the 8th seeded Golden State Warriors upset the 1st seeded Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs.

In the 2007 Cricket World Cup, the unseed and rank outsiders Ireland upset the 4th seeded Pakistan in the first round of the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

In the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Bangladesh beat 2003 World Cup finalists India in another major upset, leading to India being eliminated and Bangladesh making it through to the Super 8 for the first time. Bangladesh caused another major upset at the 2007 World Cup by beating the world's highest ranked team, South Africa.

In 2007, 1-AA Appalachian State Mountaineers beat #5 Michigan Wolverines 34 to 32 in Michigan's season opener which is seen as the biggest upset in college football history. Michigan is the first AP Top 25 team from the FBS to lose to a team in the FCS. (Michigan dropped out of the top 25 after the loss).

In week 5 of the 2007 college football season 5 top 10 ranked teams lost in the same weekend. #5 West Virginia Mountaineers lost to #18 South Florida Bulls 13-21, #3 Oklahoma Sooners lost to unranked Colorado Buffalos 24-27, #4 Florida Gators lost to unranked Auburn Tigers 17-20, #7 Texas Longhorns lost to unranked Kansas State Wildcats 21-41, and #10 Rutgers Scarlet Knights lost to unranked Maryland Terripins 24-34, also #11 Oregon Ducks lost to #6 California Golden Bears 24-31, #13 Clemson Tigers lost to unranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 3-13, #22 Alabama Crimson Tide lost to unranked Florida State Seminols 14-21, and #21 Penn State Nittany Lions lost to unranked Illinois Illini 20-27. #9 Wisconsin Badgers survived a scare against unranked Michigan State Spartans 37-34. This is the first time since 2003 that 5 top five teams lost in the same weekend.