March Madness is kicking off the week and wrapping up the second round of the NCAA tournament with more upsets.
Monday's action began with No. 7 seed Oregon advancing to the Sweet 16 over No. 2 Iowa.
It's been a tournament highlighted by big surprise victories with five double-digit seeds winning Friday in the opening round and there were four more on Saturday, leaving no remaining perfect brackets. Sunday added on another four upsets and we're not done yet.
Here is a look at all the major upsets in the tournament, with the most recent one at the top.
No. 7 seed Oregon defeats No. 2 Iowa
Another Big Ten team is out, after No. 2 Iowa lost to No. 7 Oregon in Monday's first game.
Chris Duarte scored 23 points and Oregon showed no signs of rust after a long layoff, beating No. 2 seed Iowa 95-80 on Monday to reach the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in the past five NCAA Tournaments.
The seventh-seed Ducks were put in an unprecedented spot, advancing to the West Region's second round without playing a game. Virginia Commonwealth's multiple positive COVID-19 tests took care of that, leaving Oregon with a nine-day break since losing in the Pac-12 Tournament title game.
Oregon moves on to face either Kansas or Southern Cal in the Sweet 16.
No. 4 Oregon State on to Sweet 16 with upset of No. 12 Oklahoma State
Ethan Thompson scored 26 points and No. 12 seed Oregon State neutralized Oklahoma State and star freshman Cade Cunningham, rolling to an 80-70 upset.
Oregon State (19-12) was picked to finish last in the Pac-12 and had to win the conference tournament just to make the NCAA field. The Beavers pulled that off, then cruised past No. 5 seed Tennessee in the first round. They became the third double-digit seed to reach this year’s Sweet 16, joining 15 seed Oral Roberts and Syracuse, an 11.
Sweet 16 bound: No. 15 seed Oral Roberts stuns Florida 81-78
Oral Roberts became just the second No. 15 seed to advance to the round of 16 by stunning No. 7 seed Florida 81-78. Kevin Obanor and Max Abams carried the Golden Eagles to their second straight upset of the NCAA Tournament.
Oral Roberts beat No. 2 seed Ohio State in the first round. Obanor scored 28 points and Abmas finished with 26 as the Golden Eagles overcame an 11-point deficit. Oral Roberts joins Florida Gulf Coast as the only No. 15 seeds to reach the round of 16. The Golden Eagles play No. 3 seed Arkansas next.
Syracuse tops WVU, heads to Sweet 16
Buddy Boeheim carried his father, Jim, to the Hall of Fame coach’s 20th Sweet 16 appearance, scoring 22 of his 25 points after halftime to lead 11th-seeded Syracuse past third-seeded West Virginia 75-72 in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.
Jim Boeheim’s Orange got the better of another legend, Bob Huggins, in the second March Madness meeting between coaches with at least 900 Division I victories. Huggins won No. 900 when West Virginia beat Morehead State in the first round on Friday. Boeheim got his 982nd at Huggins’ expense.
Syracuse (18-9) advanced to face second-seeded Houston or 10th-seeded Rutgers in a Midwest Regional semifinal.
Loyola Chicago stuns top-seeded Illinois
Loyola Chicago executed 101-year-old superfan Sister Jean’s plans to a T, moving to the Sweet 16 with a 71-58 win over Illinois. The Illini are the first No. 1 seed to be bounced from this year’s NCAA Tournament.
Cameron Krutwig delivered a 19-point, 12-rebound masterpiece and the quick-handed, eighth-seeded Ramblers led wire to wire in this one, befuddling a powerful Illinois offense to return to the second weekend three years after their last magical run to the Final Four. That trip was headlined by Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the venerable team chaplain, who received both COVID-19 shots and clearance to travel to Indianapolis to see what inspiration she could provide in 2021. The Ramblers will play next against either Oklahoma State or Oregon State.
Abilene Christian beats Texas for first NCAA Tournament win in school history
Abilene Christian and its frantic, havoc-causing defense sent Shaka Smart and Texas out of the NCAA Tournament in the first round yet again as the 14th-seeded Wildcats stunned the third-seeded Longhorns 53-52 on Saturday night.
Joe Pleasant, a 58.8% foul shooter on the season, made a pair of free throws with 1.2 seconds left as the Wildcats shocked their in-state rivals in the first meeting ever between the two schools.
The Wildcats caused all kinds of headaches for the bigger, more talented Longhorns all night and got just enough offense to pull off their first NCAA Tournament victory in their second appearance.
UCLA beats BYU
Johnny Juzang poured in 27 points in his second big game of the NCAA Tournament, Jules Bernard provided a big second-half lift, and No. 11 seed UCLA beat sixth-seeded BYU 73-62 on Saturday night to advance in the East Region.
Bernard finished with 16 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 13 for the Bruins, who survived a First Four scare from Michigan State and now will play No. 14 seed Abilene Christian for a spot in the Sweeet 16.
It was the first win for UCLA in regulation since handling Utah on Feb. 25.
Maryland beats UConn
Eric Ayala scored 23 points and Maryland clamped down on defense down the stretch to snag a 63-54 victory over No. 7 UConn in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night.
The 10th-seeded Terrapins held UConn to 32% shooting to overcome the Huskies' strong physical game. Maryland was outrebounded 40-29 but its defense carried the Terps to a second round matchup against No. 2 Alabama.
Ohio beats Virginia; Defending champion loses in 1st round for second time since 2018
Virginia’s unusual title defense ended with another upset loss in the NCAA Tournament, falling 62-58 to Jason Preston and Ohio on Saturday.
Some familiar problems showed up again for the fourth-seeded Cavaliers, who struggled to score during a key stretch in the second half and shot 35% from the field for the game. Virginia became the first No. 1 seed to drop its opening game in the NCAA Tournament when it lost to UMBC in 2018, but it used the setback as motivation in its run to the championship in 2019.
Last year's NCAA Tournament was canceled because of the pandemic, delaying the Cavaliers' title defense. They just arrived in Indiana on Friday because of COVID-19 issues, and now they are heading home again.
Syracuse beats San Diego State, powered by 20-0 run
The decades-old zone defense of Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim claimed another frustrated victim Friday night.
The No. 11 seed Orange held sixth-seeded San Diego State without a field goal for nearly a quarter of the game, sweet-shooting Buddy Boeheim hit seven 3-pointers and finished with 30 points, and Syracuse cruised to a 78-62 victory inside Hinkle Fieldhouse and into the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Boeheim finished 7 of 10 from beyond the arc and 11 of 15 from the field, and Marek Dolezaj added 11 points, as Syracuse advanced.
The Orange were trailing 18-14 midway through the first half when they clamped down on defense, holding San Diego State without a field goal the rest of the half. Syracuse scored 20 straight points before the Aztecs got back on the board.
Rutgers beats Clemson for first tournament win in 38 years
Geo Baker spent part of this week using his voice to raise awareness about inequities in college sports. He’ll get to use his platform for a couple more days after helping Rutgers to its first NCAA Tournament victory in 38 years.
Baker scored 13 points, including the decisive layup with 10 seconds left, and the 10th-seeded Scarlet Knights toppled No. 7 seed Clemson 60-56 on Friday night in the Midwest Region.
Rutgers was last selected for the NCAAs in 1991, an appearance that ended with a first-round loss to Arizona State. The Scarlet Knights' last victory in the tournament came in 1983 against a school that’s since changed its name from Southwest Louisiana to just Louisiana.
North Texas beats Purdue for first-ever March Madness win
To be, or not to be? For an underdog named Javion Hamlet and his group of scrapping North Texas teammates, that was an easy question.
Hamlet scored 24 points and Thomas Bell had 16, along with some game-changing defense in overtime, to lift the 13th-seeded Mean Green to a 78-69 win over No. 4 Purdue on Friday in the NCAA Tournament.
Hamlet did most of his damage during a pair of sublime 8-0 personal runs in the second half, each of which stopped the Purdue momentum in its tracks.
This marked the first tournament win in the history of North Texas, the team once known as the Eagles, that officially adopted “Mean Green” as its nickname in 2000. The moniker first became a thing when a fired-up cheerleader got creative at a football game in the late-’60s; it was then brought more into the fold when Hayden Fry, the folksy ballcoach who went on to greater fame at Iowa, came to the campus in Denton a few years later.
Oregon State beats Tennessee
Oregon State played up the underdog role all season and is now the latest No. 12 seed to win an opening-round NCAA Tournament game.
Roman Silva scored 16 points and the Beavers took advantage of Tennessee's icy perimeter shooting to beat the fifth-seeded Vols 70-56 in the Midwest Region Friday night.
Oregon State (18-12) became the first Pac-10/12 school to win the conference tournament after being picked to finish last. The Beavers are the 51st 12th-seed to take down a fifth-seed since the NCAA Tournament bracket expanded in 1985.
The 7-foot-1 Silva bulled his way through the Vols for an 8-for-8 night after struggling in the Pac-12 Tournament. Oregon State hit seven 3s in the second half to win their first NCAA Tournament game since reaching the 1982 Elite Eight.
Oral Roberts beats Ohio State for first tournament win since '74
Oral Roberts welcomed the madness back to March.
The 15th-seeded Golden Eagles pulled off the first major upset of the first NCAA Tournament in two years, holding off second-seeded Big Ten power Ohio State 75-72 in overtime on Friday.
Oral Roberts got poised, impeccable performances from its two star players, guard Max Abmas and forward Kevin Obanor, to become the ninth 15 seed to win a first-round game and the first since Middle Tennessee shocked Michigan State in 2016. Last year's tournament was called off because of the pandemic.
Obanor scored seven of Oral Roberts' 11 points in overtime, including two free throws with 13 seconds left, and finished with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Abmas, the nation's leading scorer, had 29 points.
Ohio State could have tied it in the closing seconds of overtime, but Duane Washington Jr.'s open 3-pointer from straight away bounced off the side of the rim, and Oral Roberts celebrated its first tournament win since 1974.
In a mild upset Friday, ninth-seeded Wisconsin blew out eighth-seeded North Carolina 85-62. It was the first time in 30 appearances that Tar Heels coach Roy Williams has been ousted in the opening round.