The 5 Most Memorable Cinderella Stories in March Madness

Everyone loves a good Cinderella story in sports. In March Madness, there’s plenty of wiggle room for less favored teams to make their mark and progress through the tournament. While it’s highly uncommon for obvious reasons, there have been numerous occasions where the underdog teams defy the odds against them.

In this article, we’ll highlight five of our most memorable underdog stories in March Madness, including incredible comebacks and best runs an underdog team has made up in NCAA March Madness history.

#5 – 1985-86 LSU Tigers (#11 Seed)

Starting as far back as 1986, the LSU Tigers would pull off a jaw-dropping tournament performance as one of the best 11 seeds to ever progress in the tournament, starting with a 94-87 victory out of double overtime to move on to the second round. Here, they’d face 3rd-seeded Memphis and escape with a narrow 83-81 victory, although they were already on their way to making an impressive run.

In the Sweet 16, LSU would topple 2nd-seeded Georgia Tech in one of the greatest upsets in a 70-64 result before achieving another 59-57 victory over 1st-seeded Kentucky in the Elite 8. They fell to Louisville in the Final Four but still became the first and only 11 seed to reach the Final Four and beat a #1, #2 and #3 seed in the same tourney.

#4 – 2007-08 Davidson Wildcats (#10 Seed)

The 2008 Stephen Curry-led Davidson was a major eye-opening team with loads of underrated potential, including the man himself. Starting with a 6-point victory over 7-seed Gonzaga, #10 Davidson would make their way to the Elite 8 before falling to future champions of Kentucky. Still, Davidson would escape #2 Georgetown in a 74-70 victory just before crushing #3 Wisconsin 73-56 to make it to the Elite 8.

Curry can be largely credited with helping his team, achieving 40 points in the first round, 30 points in the second, 33 in the third and 25 in the fourth, proving that Davidson was an underdog team worth betting your money on.

#3 – 2010-11 Butler Bulldogs (#8 Seed)

Butler was the previous finalist of the 2010 tournament, but they would have one of the greatest underdog runs to the start of the March tournament. The #8 seed would narrowly escape Old Dominion 60-58 before facing the #1 seeded Pittsburgh Panthers, which would end 71-70 in favor of the Bulldogs. Their next test was #4 Wisconsin, who they dominated in a 61-54 victory to move on to the Elite 8 and take down #2 Florida State 74-71.

All was looking up for last year’s finalists, even as an 8th seed this year, as Butler would also topple #11 VCU in the Final Four round before once again tragically losing in the final to UCONN 53-41. Still, though, we give credit to the 2011 Butler Bulldogs as having one of the most solid underdog runs in March.

#2 – 2012-13 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (#15 Seed)

The 15th-seed Florida Gulf Coast would make waves with their first-round upset against 2nd-seed Georgetown in a solid 78-68 scoreline. To make matters even more interesting, FGCU would overcome #7 San Diego State in the 2nd round by another 10-point margin. At this point, Florida Gulf Coast would be the first ever 15 seed to make it to the Sweet Sixteen, although their Cinderella story would get cut short by their Florida rivals, the #3 Gators in a 62-50 loss.

Although they couldn’t make it past the Sweet 16, Florida Gulf Coast will always be remembered as Dunk City after putting on a show at the rim.

#1 – 2017-18 Loyola Chicago Ramblers (#11 Seed)

Loyola Chicago is one of the few teams in the modern NCAA with a truly impressive Cinderella story run. In 2018, the Ramblers would be the most recent 11th seed to make it to the Final Four, all while putting in an incredible performance to make it thus far.

It’d start with a close 64-62 victory over #6 Miami University before #3 Tennessee would be put to bed with a 62-63 loss to the underdog Loyola Chicago team. Just when you thought they were done, Loyola would upset #7 Nevada 69-78 and force their way through the Elite 8 against Kansas State 78-62. They seemingly looked like potential champions, until #3 Michigan would put the Cinderella candidates in their place 69-57, and rightfully so.