Two teams pulled off stunning upsets in the NCAA men’s basketball national title game as 8-point underdogs: Texas Western in 1966 (beat Kentucky, 72-65) and Kansas in 1988 (beat Oklahoma, 83-79).
But those surprising wins aren’t even among the four biggest Final Four upsets. Here are the biggest point-spread upsets in the national semifinal and championship games, according to Sportsoddshistory.com:
4. Utah (+8½) over North Carolina, 1998 semifinals
The Utes blew out No. 1 seed and defending national champion Arizona by 25 points in the Elite Eight before knocking off No. 1 North Carolina by six in the Final Four. Utah point guard Andre Miller had 16 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists to lead the Utes to a 65-59 victory over a Tar Heels team that featured Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison. Utah, coached by Rick Majerus, led 35-22 at halftime and held North Carolina to 3-for-23 shooting on 3-pointers. The Utes lost to Kentucky in the national title game.
3. Duke (+9) over UNLV, 1991 semifinals
The Blue Devils dealt the Rebels a shocking 79-77 loss a year after losing to UNLV 103-73 in the most lopsided national championship game in NCAA Tournament history. The 1991 game, which was tied 17 times with 25 lead changes, is considered one of the greatest games and upsets in college basketball history.
Rebels point guard Greg Anthony fouled out with 3:51 left and UNLV up three. The game was tied when Duke forward Christian Laettner was fouled after grabbing a rebound with 12 seconds left. He made both free throws for what would be the final margin of victory. Rebels forward Larry Johnson brought the ball up and passed up an open look at a 3-pointer before giving the ball to guard Anderson Hunt, who missed a 3 with one second left.
The game ended UNLV’s 45-game winning streak, and the Rebels have yet to make it back to the Final Four. They’ve only reached the Sweet 16 once since, in 2007. Duke went on to beat Kansas for the first of its five national titles under coach Mike Krzyzewski.
T-1. UConn (+9½) over Duke, 1999 championship
UConn kicked off its dynasty by defeating Duke 77-74, ending the Blue Devils’ 32-game winning streak. Duke guard Trajan Langdon traveled with 5.4 seconds left and his team trailing by one. Huskies point guard Khalid El-Amin was fouled and made both free throws to put his team up three. The Blue Devils had a final chance to tie the game and send it to overtime, but Langdon, who scored a team-high 25 points, couldn’t get off a shot as time expired. UConn guard Richard Hamilton led all scorers with 27 points as the Huskies won the first of their six national titles, tied for the third-most with North Carolina.
T-1. Villanova (+9½) over Georgetown, 1985 championship
No. 8 seed Villanova played an almost perfect game to knock off No. 1 Georgetown, the defending national champion led by star center Patrick Ewing and legendary coach John Thompson. The Wildcats made 22 of 28 shots from the field (78.6 percent), including nine of 10 in the second half, to hold off the Hoyas en route to a 66-64 victory. In a game that had no shot clock, Villanova, coached by Rollie Massimino, held the ball for more than 45 seconds on four different possessions.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at [email protected]. Follow @tdewey33 on X.
