Best NCAA Tournament Cinderellas of all time

Penn has been a dominant team in the Ivy League over its history, but Ivy League teams aren't known for NCAA Tournament success. That's what makes the 1979 Quakers so impressive. As a nine seed, Penn defeated No. 1 North Carolina, No. 4 Syracuse and No. 10 St. John’s en route to the Final Four, where the Quakers were ousted by some guy named Earvin Johnson and his Michigan State Spartans.

The Wolfpack needed a miraculous run at the end of the regular season just to make the tournament, and once there, Jim Valvano’s squad just kept “surviving and advancing.” After narrowly escaping an upset in the first round to Pepperdine, the Wolfpack edged Utah and No. 1 seed Virginia, led by the great Ralph Sampson. But this squad is forever famous for Lorenzo Charles’ buzzer-beater off an airball put-back to defeat Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and the heavily favored Houston squad that came in as a No. 1 seed, which was followed by Valvano running around the court looking for someone to hug.

A full 30 years before Dayton’s 2014 run to the Elite Eight as an 11 seed, the Flyers did the same as a 10 seed. The 1984 squad, led by a scoring barrage from Roosevelt Chapman, defeated LSU, Oklahoma and Washington to advance to the Elite Eight. There, the Flyers lost to Patrick Ewing and Georgetown.

Villanova may be a national power nowadays with Jay Wright at the helm, but as the lowest seed in NCAA Tournament history to win it all, this one was a no-brainer. The eighth-seeded Wildcats, coached by the irreverent Rollie Massimino, topped legendary coach John Thompson's Georgetown Hoyas, led by star Patrick Ewing, in what's considered the greatest upset in championship game history. The Wildcats famously missed just one shot in the second half and shot a record 78.6 percent from the field, slowing the game down in the pre-shot clock era. Nova defeated Dayton, Michigan, Maryland, North Carolina and Memphis State to reach the title game.

With alumni like Shaquille O’Neal, Pete Maravich and Bob Pettit, it may be surprising to see an LSU squad on this list. But when you consider the ’86 team entered the tournament as an 11 seed only to make the Final Four, it makes much more sense. The Tigers defeated Purdue, Memphis State, Georgia Tech and No. 1 Kentucky before losing to Louisville at the Final Four.

Until recently, it was considered a minor miracle for any 14, 15 or 16 seed to win one game, let alone two. That’s why it was so shocking to see Cleveland State make the Sweet 16 in ’86. In their NCAA Tournament debut, the Vikings became the first 14 seed to reach the Sweet 16 by beating Bob Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers and sixth-seeded St. John’s. They then lost to David Robinson and Navy by a single point to bring the magical run to an end.

Providence faced tragedy in 1987 when Rick Pitino’s infant son passed away. As a six seed, the young coach’s squad, led by a college-aged Billy Donovan, upset two-seed Alabama and one-seed Georgetown, making it all the way to the Final Four before losing to Syracuse. The emotional run helped propel Pitino to national prominence, and the coach won national titles at Kentucky and Louisville. He is one of only two coaches to take three different schools to the Final Four.

As a 13 seed, the 1988 Richmond Spiders followed a Colonial championship by defeating Bob Knight’s fourth-seeded Indiana Hoosiers and Bobby Cremins’ five-seeded Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets before losing to John Chaney’s top-seeded Temple Owls, putting the Spiders on the map.

Few teams faced as much adversity as the 1990 Loyola Marymount Lions. Paul Westhead’s fast-paced offense was led by a pair of Philadelphia high school teammates, Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble, both of whom projected as NBA players. Behind that pair, Loyola racked up points, but tragedy struck when Gathers passed away from heart complications during the season. In an emotional run during which the right-handed Kimble shot his first free throw of every game left-handed in honor of his fallen teammate and friend, Loyola rattled off emphatic victories against New Mexico State and Michigan. The 11-seeded Lions then beat Alabama before getting ousted by No. 1 UNVL in the Elite Eight in what is still one of the most tear-jerking runs in NCAA Tournament history.

While Loyola Marymount was making its own Cinderella run, Ball State had a respectable showing as a 12 seed in 1990 in its own right. David Letterman’s alma mater defeated Oregon State and Louisville to get to the Sweet 16 and fell just short of reaching the Elite Eight, losing to top-seeded UNLV 69-67 to end the run.

Jim O’Brien had a long, successful career as an NBA coach, and his success began in the college ranks at Boston College. In ’94, the Eagles ended a 10-year tournament drought, upsetting No. 1 North Carolina and fifth-seeded Indiana en route to the Elite Eight, where Florida knocked out O’Brien’s squad.

Following in the footsteps of Cleveland State 11 years prior, the Mocs became just the second 14 seed ever to advance to the Sweet 16. After winning the Southern Conference, Tennessee-Chattanooga then topped Georgia and Illinois before being ousted by Providence.

No one will ever forget the image of Bryce Drew hitting a game-winner and diving across the floor in celebration, and why should anyone? Drew’s buzzer-beater toppled Ole Miss, and Valpo followed that up with a victory over Florida State to make it to the second weekend as a 13 seed.

Before Gonzaga became the Gonzaga we know today, Mark Few was a little-known assistant coach at a little-known school. The Bulldogs started their run to national prominence in the 1999 NCAA Tournament, making it all the way to the Elite Eight by defeating Minnesota, Stanford and Florida. It took eventual champ UConn to stop the Zags, and the next season, Few took over as head coach, where he’s built upon that run to form a power out west.

Not many 10 seeds have made the Elite Eight, but the 2002 Kent State Golden Flashes made a memorable march in the tourney. Led by San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates, Kent State upset Oklahoma State, Alabama and Pitt before falling to Indiana.

Behind future NBAer Kareem Rush, Missouri entered the 2002 NCAA Tournament as a 12 seed and found itself in the Elite Eight. How? By toppling Miami, Ohio State and UCLA, before losing to Hollis Price and Oklahoma, thwarting a trip to the Final Four.

Who can forget Jim Larranaga’s 2006 George Mason team? The Patriots captured the hearts of fans everywhere with their Final Four run that saw them top a murderers' row of Michigan State, North Carolina and UConn before falling to eventual champion Florida. It was a Cinderella run for the ages.

Nowadays, it's preposterous to think a team with Stephen Curry could be considered a Cinderella, but that was exactly the case with his Davidson Wildcats in 2008. As a sophomore, Dell’s skinny son burst on the national scene with his barrage of long-range jumpers, propelling the 10th-seeded Wildcats to the Elite Eight by defeating Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin. It took top seed and eventual national champion Kansas to take down Steph and Co. but not before Curry showcased why he’d become a future lottery pick, NBA MVP and NBA champion.

The 2010 Bulldogs were a few inches away from becoming the greatest Cinderella of all, as current Boston Celtics star Gordon Hayward's last-second, half-court shot nearly gave Butler an improbable upset over Duke. It would have gone down as the greatest shot in NCAA Tournament history, but instead it left the Bulldogs heartbroken and the Blue Devils as champs in the 61-59 thriller. Still, as a 10 seed, it was a remarkable run to the title game that included victories over No. 1 Syracuse, No. 2 Kansas State and No. 5 Michigan State. It's truly one of the most impressive runs ever.

The Panthers proved they deserved better than a nine seed, bouncing UNLV and then upsetting one-seed Kansas 69-67 to advance to the second weekend. It was a coming-out party for guard Ali Farokhmanesh and center Jordan Eglseder, along with the rest of Northern Iowa.

Current Texas coach Shaka Smart built his reputation at VCU, turning the Rams into a true national player. His 2011 squad was the one that put Smart and VCU on the map, going from an 11 seed that needed to win a play-in game just to make the field of 64 to a Final Four Cinderella. The Rams topped Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State and Kansas to make the school's first-ever Final Four before falling to fellow mid-major Butler.

One year after falling inches short of becoming champs, Butler improbably made it back to the Final behind the coaching acumen of current Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens. Again, Butler lost in the championship game, this time to Connecticut, and while it was slightly less shocking to see the eighth-seeded Bulldogs in the title game given the success the year prior, the back-to-back runner-up seasons were quite impressive. It may have been an even better coaching job by Stevens than the year before given he was without Gordon Hayward, who was on to the NBA. Butler beat Pitt, Wisconsin, Florida and VCU to get to the championship game.

Another surprise Final Four team, the Wichita State Shockers in 2013 helped coach Gregg Marshall cement his status as one of the nation’s best coaches. Cleanthony Early, Fred VanVleet, Ron Baker and Co., for lack of a better word, shocked Gonzaga, Ohio State, along with victories over Wisconsin and La Salle, to make the Final Four, where they lost to eventual national champion Louisville.

You know you deserve a spot on the list when you become the first 15 seed to ever make the Sweet 16, but Florida Gulf Coast gave us so much more than just that. In stunning upsets over Georgetown and San Diego State, the Eagles dunked all over everyone, filling the highlight reels with alley-oops and off-the-charts athleticism. While they lost to Florida in the Sweet 16, they also became the talk of the tournament.

As an 11 seed, few expected the Flyers to defeat in-state foe Ohio State, yet that’s exactly what they did. Then Dayton defeated Syracuse and Stanford to get to the Elite Eight before Billy Donovan’s Florida Gators sent the Flyers packing.

One could be forgiven for not expecting much from 2018's Final Four darling. After all, the Ramblers hadn't even made it to the big dance since 1985 and entered as an 11 seed. Led by a starting five that all averaged in double digits during the season — Clayton Custer, Marques Townes, Donte Ingram, Aundre Jackson and Cameron Krutwig — Loyola-Chicago kept advancing by the skin of its teeth. Perhaps it was tournament darling Sister Jean playing the role of good luck charm, but the Ramblers edged Miami by two, upset third-seeded Tennessee by a point and again advanced by the thinnest of margins, defeating seventh-seeded Nevada by one to reach the regional final. There, Loyola-Chicago finally had an easy go of it, defeating Kansas State by 16 to reach the school's second Final Four ever. That's where the magic ran out, as Michigan dispatched the Ramblers by a dozen points before losing to Villanova in the title game.

It may be surprising to see a team that won just one game in the NCAA Tournament on this list, but when that team was the first 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in history, it's more than worthy. That was the UMBC Retrievers in 2018, a squad that not only shocked the top-seeded (and undermanned) Virginia Cavaliers in a 20-point blowout victory, but also did it in entertaining fashion thanks in no small part to UMBC's active Twitter account.