There’s something about an NCAA tournament underdog story that makes you think that anything is possible. The sheer unpredictability mixed with the excitement of watching — pardon my phrasing — a bunch of nobodies knock off a top-ranked, star-studded squad of future NBA players will leave any fan reeling, but wanting more.
In the past few years we, as viewers, have seen some of the most spectacularly unexpected upsets in NCAA tournament history. In 2023, number one seed Purdue University was stunned by the 16 seed, Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) in a matchup where they were 23.5 point favorites. That Purdue team included two-time national player of the year Zach Edey as well as Braden Smith, who would be the Big Ten Conference’s player of the year in 2025. Nobody expected FDU to put up a fight against the number one team in the country, but they shattered all expectations, becoming the second 16 seed to ever defeat a one seed. Basketball is unpredictable, by nature. On any given day a five-foot-nine junior college transfer, and future used-car salesman, can hit seven threes against your favorite team and scar you for life. But, that’s just what makes basketball so fun to watch, especially at the collegiate level.
Even though that upset was a great one, that year’s tournament itself was not full of unexpected defeats. For that, we need to go back five years to 2018.
March Madness 2018 was a tournament rife with upsets. On average, the NCAA tournament will feature roughly eight upsets; during this tournament, there were eight instances of a lower-seeded team winning in the first round alone. Some of the best upsets of the year included when the 16-seed University of Maryland, Baltimore County, beat the number one-seed University of Virginia to become the first 16-seed to ever beat a one-seed. In that same tournament, one-seed Xavier University and two-seed University of North Carolina both lost in the second round. Yet, with all these upsets, there was one that left fans in awe.
Alongside chaplain and basketball icon Sister Jean, the 11-seed Loyola University Chicago Ramblers (LUC) made an improbable Final Four run, defeating higher-seeded teams in every matchup. In the first round, they defeated six-seed Miami University 64-62. In the Round of 32, they ousted the three-seed University of Tennessee 63-62. In the Sweet Sixteen, they bested the seven-seed University of Nevada 69-68. Through three games, their total margin of victory was a mere four points. In the Elite Eight, they quadrupled that margin of victory as they routed the number nine-seed Kansas State University 78-62. However, their Cinderella story came to an end in the Final Four as they lost to the University of Michigan 69-57. They may have been eliminated, but not before putting on one of the best shows in NCAA tournament history.
The other day I asked myself why the 2025 NCAA tournament felt bland compared to previous years, and then it dawned on me: there has not been a single underdog story worth telling this year. As I am writing this, the Elite Eight portion of the tournament has yet to be played, but looking at who remains it is clear that this has been a year for the favorites. With eight teams left, the lowest-seeded team still alive is Texas Tech University, a three-seed. How boring.
Nobody cries for the favored team when they trample over a team they should beat anyway, but watching a small school overcome the odds will make any person with a beating heart emotional. Why?
It’s simple, people are drawn to underdog stories. They are inspiring, exciting and they represent a chance for the seemingly impossible to occur. You watch a squad of never-weres showcase their resilience and determination and it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy.
In all, this year’s tournament has been short of the number of remarkable moments you expect to see when March Madness rolls around. In 2023 and 2018 (among other years) there have been results, scores and moments that were so incredible that I will remember them for the rest of my life. However, aside from the unbelievable three-point shooting performance of the University of Alabama in their Sweet Sixteen game against Brigham Young University there has, so far, been nothing from this tournament that I will look back on and say to myself: wow, how the hell did they do that?
