No. 16 UMBC Defeats No. 1 Virginia In Biggest Upset In Men's NCAA Tournament History

For the first time in the history of the men’s NCAA tournament, a No. 16 seed has defeated a No. 1 seed. 

The University of Maryland, Baltimore County stunned the University of Virginia, 74-54, in the biggest upset in tournament history. The Retrievers were 22.5-point underdogs. Before this loss, Virginia was 31-2 on the season. But the top overall seed went into the tournament missing star freshman guard DeAndre Hunter.

For many March Madness fans, the upset also breaks their brackets. Virginia was the most popular pick to win the tournament in ESPN’s Tournament Challenge.

The Maryland school, which was relatively unknown before the tournament and lost to teams such as Colgate, Army and Towson this year, relished the attention. In the final minutes of the game, thousands of people flocked to its Twitter account, doubling its follower count.

For more on the shocking upset, head over to Yahoo Sports.

For more on UMBC retrievers, scroll down.

Clarification: Language in this story has been amended to clarify that UMBC had relatively low prominence before the tournament, but is not a small school.