For just the second time ever, a 16-seed has defeated a 1-seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Move over, UMBC, Fairleigh Dickinson has joined you in the history books after their shocking 63-58 victory over Purdue in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
The ways in which this could be considered the most shocking upset of all time in the sport are pretty compelling.
First and foremost, FDU wasn’t even supposed to be here. The Knights didn’t win their conference tournament, but thanks to an NCAA rule, conference champion Merrimack wasn’t allowed to participate in the NCAA Tournament, which then gave the automatic bid to FDU. And it’s worth noting that the NEC was considered one of the worst conferences in the nation this season.
The Knights are also coming off a season in which they were 4-22 and fired their head coach. Current head coach Tobin Anderson took over the program before the season when they had a KenPom ranking of 355.
Speaking of KenPom, they came into today’s game 275 while Purdue was No. 5 overall (until they lost). That’s the same Purdue that went 29-5 this season, winning the Big Ten Conference regular season and tournament titles.
In terms of effective height on Kenpom, Purdue was No. 1 in the country while FSU was ranked No. 363 out of 363 schools. Literally the most effectively tall team in the nation vs. the shortest team in the nation in a sport in which height is one of the most critical factors.
Heading into Friday’s game, the Boilermakers were a 23.5-point favorite over the team and were considered the lowest-ranked 16-seed in the tournament. Not to mention they were 21-15, so, on paper, they weren’t even considered a “good” mid-major, unlike so many other high-seeded teams. By all accounts, this should have been a 40-point win for Purdue.
https://twitter.com/ChrisDobbertean/status/1636901415518961664
All of these factors, and more, go to show just how epic of an upset this was, and how Farleigh Dickinson’s win over Purdue could very well go down as the biggest upset in college basketball history.
[Patrick Stevens, Chris Vannini, Chris Dobbertean, Matt Norlander]
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.