Greatest Underdogs

[Bucklion]

I can't see how Chaminade would not be on every list, especially if the extremely overhyped Villanova/Georgetown game is. Chaminade beating Virginia at basketball would basically be like Capital or Malone beating USC in football.

 

[Dryden]

Ohio State beating any opponent should never be considered an upset; that's what a program like Ohio State is supposed to do. Beating the Hurricanes might have surprised some people and opened some eyes, but it wasn't a great upset.

Every upset that pops into my head involving Ohio State has the Buckeyes on the wrong side of the scoreboard. '69 Michigan. '98 Michigan State. Those were major upsets.

 

[Bucklion]

All I said above, and I agree with Dryden...we were undefeated and ranked #2...I don't consider that a huge upset under any condition.

 

[NFBuck]

I Love that 2002 team, but they really have no place on this list.

 

[High Lonesome]

was Texas western vs Kentucky on the list...if not it should have been. Oh and just my two cents but tOSU should not have been anywhere close to that list.

1) 13 points in cfb is nothing
2) tosu had a tremendous defense which automaticley gives you a chance and lowers underdog status

they got #1 right but sloopy is close with douglas over tyson

 

[Sloopy45]

I was only 5 years old in '80, so I really don't recall the hockey game at all. Here are my biggest 'dogs that I remember (approximately mid-80's) to now:

1. Tyson-Douglas: as noted previously.

2. The 1988 Dodgers: beat two supposed super-powers on the way to the World Title. The Mets & A's had tremendous star power: McGwire, Canseco, Strawberry, Cone, Gooden, Stewart, Eckersley, etc. .. but the Dodgers took them both down (A's barely got to 5 games) with a line-up of Steve Sax, Franklin Stubbs, Mickey Hatcher (as the 3 hitter!!), Mike Marshall, John Shelby, Mike Scioscia, Jeff Hamilton, & Alfredo Griffin .. remember, Kirk Gibson only had one AB in the WS. This doesn't get enough pub for being the enormous upset that it was.

3. 1991 Duke over UNLV. No one gave anyone a chance against the Rebels that year, much less Duke who was absolutely throttled in the championship game the year before.

 

[Zurp]

was Texas western vs Kentucky on the list...if not it should have been. Oh and just my two cents but tOSU should not have been anywhere close to that list.

1) 13 points in cfb is nothing
2) tosu had a tremendous defense which automaticley gives you a chance and lowers underdog status

they got #1 right but sloopy is close with douglas over tyson

Texas Western - Kentucky sounds familiar. Was that the deal where the first all-black starting line beat a heavy favorite? That's all I remember about it.

And I agree that 2002 team was great, and winning the national championship that year was not that huge an upset. My point (which I did not make clearly in my first post) is that I'd consider that game to have been a bigger upset than the Patriots in 2001 (2002 Super Bowl). The Patriots winning that super bowl was a pretty big upset, but I don't think it belongs on that list. I'd be OK with not having Ohio State on the list if the Patriots were also not on the list.

I think my biggest problem with the list is that pretty much everything was 1980+. Although it did have 1969 Mets, and maybe a couple others before 1980. Was it catering to people's memories? That's my guess. No one is going to see that #5 is some 1915 US Open and say "I remember that.. We were all so surprised."

In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have started this thread.

 

[High Lonesome]

Texas Western - Kentucky sounds familiar. Was that the deal where the first all-black starting line beat a heavy favorite? That's all I remember about it.

yes and the played against an all white adolph rupp kentucky team that many said was unbeatable. if you care texas western is now UTEP

 

[Dryden]

Texas Western - Kentucky sounds familiar. Was that the deal where the first all-black starting line beat a heavy favorite? That's all I remember about it.

I don't think Texas Western over Kentucky was so much a sports triumph of the underdog as it was a statement about civil rights. The black-team versus white-team angle had already been played before, even in the NCAA basketball tournament. Many teams in '66 could play five blacks at once, in fact some teams were doing that ten years earlier, though they weren't neccessarily all starters. What made the game compelling was that Rupp was openly racist. The Texas Western players have said that none of the Kentucky players made any mention of skin color on the court during the game, but the Texas Western players knew what the game was really about.

In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have started this thread.

WWTD (What Would Thump Do?)