2025 March Madness bracket upsets: Tracking the toughest losses of the NCAA tournament as Colorado State tops Memphis, McNeese beats Clemson
Big upsets are arguably one of the most exciting parts of March Madness, despite the pain it might bring your already-busted bracket. And we technically got one to kick things off on Thursday, as No. 9 Creighton dominated No. 8 Louisville. Thirteen-seed High Point put up a fight against No. 4 Purdue, but the Boilermakers were able to pull out a 75-63 win.
Catch up on all the upsets of the men's 2025 NCAA tournament below:
No. 12 Colorado State 78, No. 5 Memphis 70: Is Colorado State's 78-70 win over Memphis officially an upset? It depends.
The No. 12 Rams overcame a five-point halftime deficit to take down the No. 5 Tigers on Friday in the first round of the NCAA tournament. But if you looked at the betting line before the game, the outcome was hardly a surprise. Colorado State closed as a 1.5-point favorite after opening as a 2.5-point favorite.
CSU was favored because Memphis entered the game without point guard and third-leading scorer Tyrese Hunter because of a foot injury. His backup, Dante Harris, also missed the game.
Colorado State trailed 36-31 at halftime but a barrage of 3-pointers in the second half helped them pull away. The Rams pulled within one less than five minutes into the second half and took the lead with 13:48 to go. They never trailed from there.
No. 9 Baylor 75, No. 8 Mississippi State 72: The Bears fought off a late rally from the Bulldogs to advance to the second round.
Baylor led by eight points with 5:10 remaining only to watch Mississippi State make the game tense in the closing minutes. The Bulldogs had a chance to tie the game with less than 10 seconds left but Claudell Harris Jr. missed a 3-pointer.
Baylor overcame a game-high 26 points from Mississippi State's Josh Hubbard. Robert Wright III led the Bears with 19 points.
No. 11 Drake 67, No. 6 Missouri 57: Drake delivered the West region its second upset of the evening by taking down Missouri for its first NCAA tournament victory since 1971.
Bennett Stirtz, the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, led the Bulldogs with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
Drake owned the country's top scoring defense and successfully slowed the pace against the Tigers, who entered the tournament averaging 84 points a game.
Like McNeese coach Will Wade, who is leaving to take the North Carolina State job after the season, Drake's Ben McCollum also could be coaching his final games with the Bulldogs. He's a candidate for a number of openings.
No. 10 Arkansas 79, No. 7 Kansas 72: Once ranked No. 1 in the country early in the season, Kansas continued its slide by getting bounced in the first round of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006.
The Razorbacks were the second double-digit seed of the day to advance to the second round. It was also the first time John Calipari — in his first season at Arkansas — coached a double-digit seed in the tournament. With St. John's taking care of Omaha, Calipari and the Razorbacks will face Rick Pitino in a second-round meeting of two of the sport's greatest coaches.
The Jayhawks led late in a game that was close throughout but were ultimately doomed by turnovers. A 7-0 run by Arkansas put the game away. Jonas Aidoo led Arkansas with 22 points.
Kansas senior KJ Adams Jr. left the game in the final minutes with what is feared to be an Achilles tendon injury, Jayhawks coach Bill Self said.
No. 12 McNeese 69, No. 5 Clemson 67: We have our first Cinderella candidate of the NCAA tournament.
McNeese State dominated Clemson for a 69-67 win in the first round of tournament play on Thursday. With the win, McNeese State becomes the first double-digit seed to advance to the second round.
Clemson attempted to mount a late second-half rally, but its first-half deficit proved too much to overcome. McNeese State reeled off an early 19-2 run to take a 23-8 lead that remained at double digits until late in the second half. By halftime, McNeese State held a 31-13 advantage as the Tigers narrowly missed setting a tournament record for first-half futility. Things didn't get much better after the break for Clemson, which failed to put significant pressure on the Cowboys.
The win also means we'll see more of student manager Amir Khan, who's become a fan favorite for walking the team out of the locker room with a boom box and singing along to rap songs.
No. 9 Creighton 89, No. 8 Louisville 75: No. 9 Creighton ran away from No. 8 Louisville in the first half on the way to win their first-round game in the South region.
The Blue Jays led 49-34 at the break and had a double-digit lead for the entirety of the second half. Louisville got the lead cut to 12 with less than five minutes to go, but any hope of a last-ditch comeback were extinguished when Cardinals coach Pat Kelsey got a technical foul with 4:41 to go.
And the upsets of the women's 2025 NCAA tournament:
No. 10 Oregon 77, No. 7 Vanderbilt 73 (OT): The Commodores forced overtime with a late second-half push, after the Ducks led by as many as 19 points earlier in the half.
Oregon held a slim two-point lead in the final 30 seconds of regulation. But after a few missed free throws, Vanderbilt guard Leilani Kapinus — who was playing off the Commodores' bench — hit a perfectly-timed game-tying layup.
Things remained tight in the extra period, but the tide turned in the final minute, when star Commodores freshman Mikayla Blakes and Kapinus fouled out. Khamil Pierre, who was the team's second-leading scorer with 17 points, fouled out near the end of the fourth quarter, leaving three key Vanderbilt players on the bench.
With the score at 75-73, Oregon guard Peyton Scott had a chance for four free throws after being fouled twice in a row; while Scott missed the first two throws, she nailed the next two to make it a two-score game with five seconds left. Although the Commodores had one more possession left, they fell just short of the win.
No. 9 Indiana 76, No. 8 Utah 68: The Hoosiers and Utes played an incredibly tight first half, matching each other score-for-score through the first two quarters. But Indiana was able to start to pull away during the third quarter, and while Utah kept it close, the Hoosiers pulled off the win.
It was a team effort for Indiana, who shot 58 percent from the field, with guard Yarden Garzon leading the team with 17 points. Utah's Gianna Kneepkens led all scorers with 14.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
an hour ago
- Fox News
Female athletes contest new NCAA ruling, claiming violations of federal anti-discrimination law
Eight women's college soccer, volleyball and track and field athletes have filed an appeal challenging the House v. NCAA antitrust settlement. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken approved the settlement last week, clearing the way for direct payments from universities to athletes. The eight women argue female athletes won't receive their fair share of $2.7 billion in back pay for athletes barred from making money off their name, image and likeness (NIL). Kacie Breeding of Vanderbilt; Lexi Drumm, Emma Appleman, Emmie Wannemacher, Riley Haas, Savannah Baron and Elizabeth Arnold of the College of Charleston; and Kate Johnson of Virginia lead the appeal. They all previously filed objections to the proposed settlement. Ashlyn Hare, one of the attorneys representing the athletes, said in a statement the settlement violates Title IX, the federal law that bans sex-based discrimination in education. "We support a settlement of the case, but not an inaccurate one that violates federal law. The calculation of past damages is based on an error that ignores Title IX and deprives female athletes of $1.1 billion," Hare said. "Paying out the money as proposed would be a massive error that would cause irreparable harm to women's sports." The House settlement figures to financially benefit football and basketball stars at the biggest schools, who are likely to receive a big chunk of the $20.5 million per year that colleges are permitted to share with athletes over the next year. Some athletes in other sports that don't make money for their schools could lose their partial scholarships or see their roster spots cut. "This is a football and basketball damages settlement with no real benefit to female athletes," Hare said. "Congress has expressly rejected efforts to exempt revenue-generating sports like football and basketball from Title IX's antidiscrimination mandate. The NCAA agreed with us. Our argument on appeal is the exact same argument the conferences and NCAA made prior to settling the case." The appeal, filed by the law firm Hutchinson Black and Cook of Boulder, Colorado, was first reported by Front Office Sports. It will be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Business Wire
3 hours ago
- Business Wire
Hagens Berman Responds to Appeals to NCAA College Athlete Name, Image and Likeness Settlement
OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Following the federal court's final approval to a historic $20 billion plus settlement with the NCAA allowing payments and benefits to college athletes for the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL), Hagens Berman responded to the first appeal. 'If these lawyers believe that a Title IX case will succeed, they should bring it and not hijack payments to college athletes that could be lifechanging.' To address questions from NCAA athletes about the impact of the appeal, Hagens Berman issued the following statement: 'Attorneys John Clune and Ashlyn Hare of Hutchinson Black and Cook LLC and Rebecca Peterson-Fisher of Katz Banks Kumin LLP have filed a notice of their intent to appeal the historic NCAA settlement approved June 6, 2025, by Judge Claudia Wilken. 'This appeal will block payments to hundreds of thousands of athletes, delaying payments by a minimum of several months to potentially a year or more. These attorneys are pursuing an appeal based on a Title IX issue that Judge Wilken already disposed of correctly, quickly and multiple times. 'Judge Wilken noted that these attorneys cited 'no authority that Title IX applies to damages awards distributions or that damages distributions made by a claims administrator are subject to Title IX.'' 'This is an antitrust case about competition, it is not a Title IX case, and now hundreds of thousands of athletes will have to wait to recover for past wrongs that were addressed in this lawsuit in order for these attorneys to take on this unrelated issue,' added Hagens Berman co-founder and managing partner, Steve Berman, who serves as court-appointed co-lead counsel. 'If these lawyers believe that a Title IX case will succeed, they should bring it and not hijack payments to college athletes that could be lifechanging.' Straight from the Bench In Judge Wilken's June 6, 2025, opinion on the order granting final approval to the settlement, the court clearly states that it overrules objections, noting, 'There is nothing in the SA [settlement agreement] that would prevent or prohibit schools from distributing benefits and compensation pursuant to the Injunctive Relief Settlement in a manner that complies with Title IX.' Berman added, 'Judge Wilken had made that same ruling earlier in the case, theoretically allowing objectors ample time to find authority to back up their objection, and they failed. It's a shame given this utter failure they will be holding up payments to athletes. I say shame on them.' Hagens Berman represents a class of nearly 400,000 college athletes in the lawsuit in which the total value under the new revenue-sharing model is expected to exceed $20 billion over the next 10 years. The settlement resolves three pending antitrust lawsuits, House v. NCAA, Hubbard v. NCAA, and Carter v. NCAA. Class members in the three affected cases may find out more about the claim process by visiting the settlement website at . Hagens Berman is a global plaintiffs' rights complex litigation law firm with a tenacious drive for achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and fraud. Since its founding in 1993, the firm's determination has earned it numerous national accolades, awards and titles of 'Most Feared Plaintiff's Firm,' MVPs and Trailblazers of class-action law. More about the law firm and its successes can be found at Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.
Boston Globe
3 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Female athletes appeal landmark NCAA settlement, saying it violates federal antidiscrimination law
Ashlyn Hare, one of the attorneys representing the athletes, said in a statement that the settlement violates Title IX, the federal law that bans sex-based discrimination in education. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'We support a settlement of the case, but not an inaccurate one that violates federal law. The calculation of past damages is based on an error that ignores Title IX and deprives female athletes of $1.1 billion,' Hare said. 'Paying out the money as proposed would be a massive error that would cause irreparable harm to women's sports.' Advertisement The House settlement figures to financially benefit football and basketball stars at the biggest schools, who are likely to receive a big chunk of the $20.5 million per year that colleges are permitted to share with athletes over the next year. Some athletes in other sports that don't make money for their schools could lose their partial scholarships or see their roster spots cut. Advertisement 'This is a football and basketball damages settlement with no real benefit to female athletes,' Hare said. 'Congress has expressly rejected efforts to exempt revenue-generating sports like football and basketball from Title IX's antidiscrimination mandate. The NCAA agreed with us. Our argument on appeal is the exact same argument the conferences and NCAA made prior to settling the case.' The appeal was filed by the law firm Hutchinson Black and Cook of Boulder, Colorado, and was first reported by Front Office Sports. It would be heard by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
