Mar 18, 2023 - Sports
Charted: March Madness' biggest first-round upsets
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Fairleigh Dickinson's stunning win against Purdue on Friday makes it the second No. 16 team to ever beat a No. 1 seed — after UMBC's 2018 victory over Virginia (charted above).
Zoom in: An Axios analysis of men's March Madness first-round matchups shows which seeds have pulled off the most upsets since 1985, when the tournament expanded to 64 teams.
- A No. 12-seed pulls off an upset almost 50% more often than a No. 13-seed in the round of 64.
- No. 10 and No. 11-seeded teams have about the same winning percentage as No. 12 seeds. All three won between 35 to 40% of first-round games.
Between the lines: Princeton's win on Thursday over No. 2 seed Arizona marks the third straight year a No. 15 seed has won a first-round game.
