As Your March Madness Bracket Went Up in Smoke, You Missed One of the Biggest Upsets in NCAA History
What is it about the ides of March that make heavy NCAA favorites and Roman rulers so susceptible to catastrophic losses?
If you’re a college basketball fan, your busted bracket (seriously, what in the world is a “Fairleigh Dickinson”?) is a harsh reminder of that reality.
If you’re a fan of Julius Caesar, sorry for your loss.
But if you are a college basketball fan, you were likely watching those Fairleigh Dickinson Knights become just the second 16-seed to beat a 1-seed in NCAA tournament history on Friday night, at the expense of the Purdue Boilermakers and star Zach Edey.
Obviously, it was an immensely painful loss for Purdue. Just look at the whiteboard in the team’s locker room:
The whiteboard in #Purdue’s locker room#MarchMadness @WISH_TV #BoilerUp pic.twitter.com/J0h7ojvY5P
— Angela Moryan (@SidelineStormer) March 18, 2023
But Purdue fans can take some solace in knowing that they were on the opposite end of a massive upset in a different NCAA sport — wrestling.
Purdue’s Matt Ramos stunned the amateur wrestling world when he upset Iowa’s Spencer Lee in a semifinal match on Friday night. Ramos won via pinfall with just one second left in the third period.
🚨 UPSET ALERT 🚨
(4) Matt Ramos pins (1) Spencer Lee! @Matt_Ramos2 is headed to the finals!
📺 ESPN#NCAAWrestling x @PurdueWrestling pic.twitter.com/Jalh7tD9Il
— NCAA Wrestling (@NCAAWrestling) March 18, 2023
The gravity of this upset can’t be understated.
Lee wasn’t just chasing a fourth Division I national title (a feat only accomplished by four wrestlers in history, according to The Associated Press). The Iowa grappler was also in the midst of a 58-match winning streak — the longest win streak in the country.
It’s the equivalent of a dynastic college basketball program winning three national championships in a row, only to lose before even making the NCAA tournament finals in its bid for a four-peat.
And if you still have any doubts as to how huge this upset was, look no further than Lee’s mother, who went viral for treating her glasses worse than Purdue treats whiteboards:
Mom CRUSHED glasses after son, Spencer Lee, lost NCAA Wrestling Championships semifinals in historic upset 😳
It would’ve been his fourth straight title pic.twitter.com/3SdhWA2pr3
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 18, 2023
That reaction was as pure a distillation of “the agony of defeat” as has ever been caught on camera.
Ramos will next be wrestling Princeton’s Pat Glory on Saturday in the finals of the 125-pound weight class.
Ironically, Princeton knows a thing or two about massive NCAA upsets itself. Just ask President Joe Biden, whose bracket (probably like yours) is in shambles thanks to the Tigers.
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