By Mike Douchant
Special to CBS SportsLine
March 14, 1997
Add two more first-round shockers to the list.
Second-seeded South Carolina was taken out by 15th-seed Coppin State, 78-65 in the East Regional while 14th-seed Tennessee-Chattanooga defeated 3rd-seeded Georgia, 73-70 in the Southeast Regional to continue what has become almost an annual rite in the NCAA Tournament.
In the first six years of the seeding process from 1979 through 1984 when the playoff field ranged from 40 to 53 teams, a total of 13 No. 1 and 2 seeds lost their openers.
The NCAA Tournament hasn't been saturated with authentic upsets since the playoff field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985, but there has been an average of two first-round "shockers" annually.
Despite the dearth of full-fledged upsets, teams seeded 13th or worse defeated teams seeded among the top four in a regional a total of 24 times in the last 13 years. Sixteen of the 24 poignant surprises were decided by fewer than six points or in overtime.
Since byes were eliminated in 1985, all of the top four seeds in each regional never survived the opening round except for 1994.
Five schools lost twice in this category: Arizona (1992 and 1993), Indiana (1986 and 1988), Missouri (1987 and 1990), Oklahoma (1992 and 1995) and UCLA (1991 and 1996).
Arizona's stunning defeat by Santa Clara in 1993 materialized despite the Wildcats reeling off 25 unanswered points in a stretch bridging the last five minutes of the first half and the first five minutes of the second half.
The Ohio Valley Conference contributed early KOs of teams from elite leagues three consecutive years from 1987 through 1989.
Here is a rundown of the 24 first-round knockouts
of from 1985 to 1997:
1997--Tennessee-Chattanooga
(14) over Georgia (3), 73-70 and Coppin State
(15) over South Carolina (2), 78-65.
1996--Princeton
(13) over UCLA (4), 43-41.
1995--Manhattan
(13) over Oklahoma (4), 77-67; Weber State (14) over Michigan
State (3), 79-72, Old Dominion (14) over Villanova (3)
in triple overtime, 89-81.
1994--None.
1993--Santa Clara
(15) over Arizona (2), 64-61, and Southern (13) over Georgia
Tech (4), 93-78.
1992--East Tennessee
State (14) over Arizona (3), 87-80, and Southwestern Louisiana
(13) over Oklahoma (4), 87-83.
1991--Richmond
(15) over Syracuse (2), 73-69; Xavier (14) over Nebraska
(3), 89-84, and Penn State (13) over UCLA (4), 74-69.
1990--Northern Iowa
(14) over Missouri (3), 74-71.
1989--Middle Tennessee
State (13) over Florida State (4), 97-83, and Siena
(14) over Stanford (3), 80-78.
1988--Murray State
(14) over North Carolina State (3), 78-75, and Richmond
(13) over Indiana (4), 72-69.
1987--Xavier (13)
over Missouri (4), 70-69; Southwest Missouri State (13)
over Clemson (4), 65-60, and Austin Peay (14) over Illinois
(3), 68-67.
1986--Cleveland State
(14) over Indiana (3), 83-79, and Arkansas-Little Rock
(14) over Notre Dame (3), 90-83.
1985--Navy (13th
seed) over Louisiana State (4), 78-55.
Mike Douchant's historical columns will be appearing on CBS
SportsLine periodically throughout the NCAA Tournament. Check
out our March Mania History
section for more of Douchant's touch.