Selection Sunday has come and gone, and the NCAA tournament brackets are set for both the men's and women's tourneys. And the return of March Madness means that college basketball fans are officially on upset watch as they await the next beloved underdog that will shock the world and ruin brackets. In tournament history, the most stunning bracket busters have been No. 16 and 15 seeds toppling No. 1 and 2 seeds. But a No. 14 seed defeating a No. 3 seed, more common but no less impressive, has also ruined many brackets over the years.
This article will take a look at every time a 14-seed has upset a 3-seed in the men's and women's NCAA tournaments. It will dive into the thrilling games in which these upsets occurred, as well as what led to the stunning end results.
So, without further ado, let's take a trip down memory lane March Madness-style.
No. 14 Cleveland State's 1986 Upset of No. 3 Indiana, the first in men's NCAA tournament history
The men's tournament expanded from 53 teams to 64 in 1985, beckoning forth what has become the more recognizable field of 16 seeds in the four regions. And it didn't take long for a No. 14 seed to spoil a No. 3 seed's party. Just a year later, the Cleveland State Vikings became the first 14 seed to win a game, when they defeated legendary coach Bob Knight's Indiana Hoosiers 83–79.
Knight's Hoosiers drew a tough first-round opponent in the Vikings, who had won 12 games in a row entering the NCAA tournament in 1986. And Cleveland State, the nation's second-highest scoring team that season, certainly didn't make things easy for Knight's Hoosiers. It was the Vikings' defense that made the difference in the game, however. Led by then-upstart coach Kevin Mackey, Cleveland State blitzed and harassed the Hoosiers with a relentless full-court press all game long, forcing 10 turnovers in the first half—and 15 in the game. "Controlled chaos" was how Mackey described the strategy to The Chicago Tribune.
And it worked. Knight's Hoosiers had no answers for the taxing pressure defense. And they especially had no answer for junior forward Clinton Ransey, who scored a game-high 27 points. Cleveland State led for most of the first half and held Indiana scoreless for the first 2:46 seconds of the second half, one of the big turning points in the game.
And Mackey, after the victory, perfectly summed up his team's unconventional strategy.
"Most of today's coaches are 40- and 50-year-old men who learned from 60- and 70-year-old men," Mackey said, via The Chicago Tribune. "We play a different game. The idea of pressing 40 minutes a game is foreign to most coaches. It's kind of hard to know what to do against us."
And Cleveland State wasn't finished. The Vikings proceeded to rattle off another upset win over the sixth-seeded Saint Joseph's, becoming the first 14 seed to reach the Sweet Sixteen. The Vikings' magical ride only just ended at the hands of David Robinson's Navy Midshipmen, who were victorious by one point.
Unfortunately, Cleveland State's basketball program was thrown into disarray over the next couple of decades. But the school's magical ride cemented the program as one of the first Cinderella runs in The Big Dance.
Has a 14 Seed Ever Beaten a 3 Seed in Women's NCAA Tournament?
The women's NCAA Tournament began in 1982 with 32 teams and expanded to 64 in 1994. Since the expansion that year, no 14-seed has ever beaten a 3-seed in the history of the women's NCAA Tournament. In 120 games, No. 3 seeds are a perfect 120-0 against No. 14 seeds, according to the NCAA's website.
But there have been several close calls over the years.
Eight matchups between 14 and 3 seeds in the women's tourney have been decided by five points or fewer. Three of those games came down to the final moments.
As recently as 2012, No. 14 Creighton took No. 3 St John's to the bitter end, tying the game at 67 with two clutch free throws, leaving a little over five seconds remaining in the game. But St. John's guard Nadirah McKenith saved the day for the Red Storm, dribbling the length of the court and sinking a layup to give St. John's a narrow victory. Eight years earlier in '04, No. 14 Eastern Michigan, down by two points to No. 3 Boston College, had a shot at the win from three-point range with 12 seconds left, but the field-goal attempt was unsuccessful. In No. 14 Austin Peay's loss to North Carolina in '03, the Tar Heels won on a go-ahead basket with a little over 20 seconds left.
No. 14 seeds have had their chances against No. 3 seeds but haven't been able to punch their ticket into the second round. Will it finally happen in 2025? Here are the 14-seed vs. 3-seed matchups for the women's tourney this year.
14 seed vs. 3 seed matchups in women's NCAA Tournament
Another 14-over-3 Men’s Upset: Oakland's Big Win
Returning to the men's tourney, just last year a 14-seed upset a 3-seed when the Oakland Golden Grizzlies stunned the Kentucky Wildcats 80–76 in the first round. Led by national championship-winning coach John Calipari, the Wildcats boasted the second-highest scoring team in the nation in terms of points per game in '24. During Calipari's tenure, the Wildcats had made four runs to the Final Four. As for the Golden Grizzlies? Including '24, the program has made four total appearances in the NCAA tournament.
But Calipari's talent-laden roster, with four future NBA players, was felled by sharpshooting Golden Grizzlies Division-II graduate transfer Jack Gohlke, who drained 10 three-pointers and scored a career-high 32 points to down the mighty Wildcats in the first bracket buster of '24. To put Gohlke's performance in perspective, he fell just one made three-pointer shy of the NCAA tournament record of 11, set by Loyola Marymount's Jeff Fryer in 1990.
Beyond lighting up the scoreboard, Gohlke's career-night had multiple ripple effects on the game's outcome. His teammates seemed to feed off of his confidence, while Kentucky, in a last-ditch effort to slow down the Golden Grizzlies' deadeye shooter, utilized a box-and-one defense. That opened things up for Oakland forward Trey Townsend and guard DQ Cole, who scored 17 and 12 points, respectively.
And after the final buzzer sounded on Oakland's stunning upset, Gohlke still had the confidence that saw him light up the Wildcats' defense.
"We’re definitely not done yet," he said, via The Associated Press.
Gohlke and company nearly made good on that promise in the next round, as they pushed No. 11 NC State to the brink in a 79–73 overtime loss. While the Golden Grizzlies didn't have a long run in the tourney, the program's stunning upset victory over Kentucky served as yet another reminder that just about anything can happen in March.
Every No. 14 Seed to Beat a No. 3 Seed in Men's NCAA Tournament History
More College Basketball on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Every No. 14 Seed to Beat a No. 3 Seed in March Madness History (Men's and Women's).
