Top 10 NCAA Tournament First Round Upsets

March Madness

(13) Princeton 43, (4) UCLA 41, 1996

Tom Russo / AP
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I was a member of this Princeton team that shocked UCLA—actually, member is too kind; I warmed the bench. So call me biased if you'd like, but Princeton's upset is a legit number one. Princeton's Hall of Fame coach, Pete Carril, had announced his retirement less than a week before the game, giving him one more shot at an upset after his Tigers lost by an average of 4 points in the opening round from 1989 to 1992 (Princeton's 50-49 loss to Georgetown in 1989 is still the closest a 16th seeded team has come to beating a top seed). Thanks to the final play, Carril avoided another tragic near-win. Princeton's Gabe Lewullis cut backdoor once, but the opportunity wasn't there. He cut again: Steve Goodrich bounced a perfect pass, Lewullis made a tricky lay-up, and the Tigers toppled the defending champs.

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