Virginia Basketball's 2018 Humiliation and 2019 Title Redemption Named Two Of CBB's Biggest Stories Of The Century

For years, college basketball fans had been waiting to see a 16-seed upset a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately for Virginia fans, the first ever upset of that magnitude had to happen against their school. Entering the 2018 NCAA Tournament as one of the favorites to win it all, the Cavaliers were beaten and beaten soundly by UMBC, who was coached by current Cavaliers head coach Ryan Odom. It seemed like Tony Bennett's program would never quite recover from the first ever defeat of its kind.

But what happened next is almost the plot of a sports movie. UVA bounced back to get another No. 1 seed, but this time, they finished the job in a thrilling title runs. For a program that was not always talked about fondly due to its style of play under Bennett, they had one of the most memorable runs in college basketball history, with wins over Purdue (elite eight), Auburn (final four), and Texas Tech (national championship game) all being instant classics. While the Cavaliers never quite rediscovered that magic under Bennett, the 2019 title run is one that fans will remember for a lifetime.

In a recent story from CBS college basketball analyst Matt Norlander, he listed the top 25 storylines of the 21st century and coming in at No. 6 was the 2018 loss turning into the 2019 national championship run:

"College basketball waited eons to see a 16-seed finally beat a No. 1. On March 16, 2018, the UMBC Terriers became immortal when they not only beat No. 1 overall seed Virginia, they blew their doors off, 74-54. Virginia looked and played like a team stricken by a voodoo curse in the second half.

Fortunately for the program, the one coach in the sport who was wired to handle such a humiliating loss was Tony Bennett.

And so, a year later, Virginia entered the tournament again as a No. 1 seed and reeled off one of the more thrilling title springs in NCAA history. In the Sweet 16, UVa beat Oregon 53-49, which put the Wahoos against Purdue in the Elite Eight. All that transpired was one of the five best games I've ever covered in person — an 80-75 OT win that was made possible after Mamadi Diakete took a pass from Kihei Clark right before time expired and sank the game-tying shot. Carsen Edwards went for 42, including 10 3-pointers, in one of the most heroic losing efforts in NCAA Tournament history.

Virginia escaped death vs. Auburn in the Final Four after Kyle Guy hit a corner 3-pointer with 6.5 seconds to go, and then a controversial foul call against Auburn gave UVa an escape hatch. In the title game against Texas Tech, the circle was made complete when De'Andre Hunter hit a corner trey with 12.5 to go to get Virginia to overtime. Then finished off the one-year script flip in OT.

This short capsule really doesn't do justice how unlikely Virginia's year-long journey was. As time goes on, its unique arc will become more appreciated."