If St. Peters goes to the Final Four...

[bozophobe]

Great question - seriously - exactly because it goes across wildly different sports. And it's a nice break from statistical diarrhea, which usually has a one-track mind (ignores nuance, other factors, etc.)

The 1980 Olympic thing is tough, because U.S. hockey was still amateur, and the Russians and most other teams were grizzled 33 year old pros. Like St. Peters vs. The Phoenix Suns. But some might say Kentucky or Duke are kinda like a pro team anyway (nyuk nyuk), so take your glory whenever you can without guilt.

 

[Briancuse]

St. Peter’s getting to the Final Four would be the greatest modern college athletics run ever.

A 15 seed that has beaten a #2, #7, #3 and a blue blood that had beaten #1 and #4.

St. Peter’s would have to beat Duke.
I am rooting for St. Peter’s vs. Miami for the title.
I am expecting Kansas vs. Duke though.

Part of me would like to see UNC end coach KS. Run. Duke fans would never live it down.

 

[Frozen]

Chaminade over UVA perhaps. But for SPU to beat UK, Murray State, Purdue and UNC would be bigger.

 

[Briancuse]

Chaminade over UVA perhaps. But for SPU to beat UK, Murray State, Purdue and UNC would be bigger.

Chaminade was a game in November.

 

[Orangezoo]

Great question - seriously - exactly because it goes across wildly different sports. And it's a nice break from statistical diarrhea, which usually has a one-track mind (ignores nuance, other factors, etc.)

The 1980 Olympic thing is tough, because U.S. hockey was still amateur, and the Russians and most other teams were grizzled 33 year old pros. Like St. Peters vs. The Phoenix Suns. But some might say Kentucky or Duke are kinda like a pro team anyway (nyuk nyuk), so take your glory whenever you cam without guilt.

Maybe to add on to your point but this happening in 1996 for example vs now seems like a much bigger story as well. Given two 15 seeds have made the sweet 16 prior and a 16 seed has beaten a 1. The inability to adjust or to maintain the same level of play generally is what knocks Cinderella, especially such a low seed, out and yet now a team has been successful at least one step further. Sort of making it more reasonable given the slow but forward progression.

 

[Frozen]

Chaminade was a game in November.

It was still an historical upset at the time.

 

[bozophobe]

Maybe to add on to your point but this happening in 1996 for example vs now seems like a much bigger story as well. Given two 15 seeds have made the sweet 16 prior and a 16 seed has beaten a 1. The inability to adjust or to maintain the same level of play generally is what knocks Cinderella, especially such a low seed, out and yet now a team has been successful at least one step further. Sort of making it more reasonable given the slow but forward progression.

Yeah, and I'm glad you looked backwards, because (going back further) I recall the big ugliness in 1991 when S.U. was the first 2 to lose to a 15 (Richmond). Prior to that, the most celebrated upset I recall was one that didn't happen (Princeton vs. Georgetown, which got mentioned for decades like a moral victory).

 

[Briancuse]

It was still an historical upset at the time.

Sure it's a huge upset but this is more stunning. One could say that uva team playing in Maui in November didn't give their A effort.

 

[Deleted member 8116]

Billy Jean King beating Bobby Riggs was a pretty big upset.

That dude was retired, very out of shape and in his mid 50’s.

 

[bozophobe]

That dude was retired, very out of shape and in his mid 50’s.

There's no need to insult 80% of the people on this site.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

George Mason 2006 would be close?

1975 Syracuse

 

[Orangefan1]

Three ACC teams in final four? For only five teams would that be a record?

 

[tbonezone]

Where does that rank in terms of the most shocking sports moments of the past say 50 years?

Colgate over Syracuse.

 

[grepal]

Does not top the Miracle on Ice. You gotta understand how dominant the Soviets were along with the change in roster makeup the Americans had to make do.

Thats just my opinion

I was going to go with that too. But it is a great story

 

[jncuse]

George Mason 2006 would be close?

Maybe not as close as we think.

George Mason was an 11 seed.
St. Peter's was a 15 seed.

Tends to be a big drop-off in expectations and results once we hit the auto-bid lines which are 13-16 (and a bit of 12)

 

[jncuse]

Leicester were gigantic underdogs.

March Madness odds 2022: Updated odds for every team to win the NCAA Tournament | Sporting News

Gonzaga and Duke are among the favorites to win the NCAA's March Madness Tournament in 2022.

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I saw that St. Peters was 500-1 to win the National Title (per the link above anyway)
.
I read that that some places offered odds of up to 5000-1 for Leicester to win the Soccer Title.

Books wise Leicester was the bigger upset. But perhaps American based oddsmaker aren't as stupid to leave themselves exposed so largely.

 

[texascpa]

That dude was retired, very out of shape and in his mid 50’s.

And a publicity stunt.

 

[Red Holzman]

The Miracle on Ice was truly amazing -and a great story.
Not sure of answer -ask again after St. Peters wins the National Championship!

 

[Eric15]

Normally I have to admit I think you're a little quick to say something is the "greatest thing ever."

I think you’re the greatest poster in the history of Syracusefan.com

 

[Deleted member 8116]

And a publicity stunt.

Some people also believe that he threw the match to pay off betting debts.

 

[Deleted member 8116]

There's no need to insult 80% of the people on this site.

I can't tell if this is sarcasm, but the guy was "I am playing the worlds #1 female tennis player" out of shape. I am not making fun of any of my elders.

 

[jncuse]

Does not top the Miracle on Ice. You gotta understand how dominant the Soviets were along with the change in roster makeup the Americans had to make do.

Thats just my opinion

I'll take away all the Geo-Politics, the Geo Politics which rightly made the game the most historical major upset of all time (or one of them). But purely on paper I think the likelihood of that 1 game result was higher than some other big events.

Yes the Russians were dominant and had much. much better talent. But the US still had a fair amount of talent on their team, albeit early 20's talent. Morrow, Ramsey, Christian, Broten, Pavelich, Johnson, Christoff.

In the game of hockey that is low scoring, strange things do happen in 1 game settings. Just related to things I know and follow, the 1998 Switzerland team winning the bronze medal at the World Junior Championships would be much more unlikely on paper than the US winning that single 1980 game against Russia. Now no one cares about that event - nor should anyone care. I am just bringing it up as what can happen over a few games.

The Russians Red Army team would also be challenged when they faced the Montreal Canadiens for example including the classic game in 1975. I believe the Red Army team was not the same as the National Team, but most of them played on Red Army.

I just randomly went and checked the 1977 Canadiens Schedule to see who they lost to.
The 1977 Montreal Canadiens had 9 Hall of Famers, 4 Other Players who were all stars within a few years or in 1977, and 1 player who became a Selke winner. They were 60-8-12 and considered by some as the Greatest Team Ever. One of their losses was to the Kansas City Scouts. The Kansas City Scouts won 12 games that year and were one of the worst teams of all time. Looking at the names on that team they had no more talent than the US team, but of course they were better because of experience. (As an aside that was a crazy era in the NHL where expansion teams were slaughtered)

This is just an example of what can happen in one game. Now to be fair its quite possible most of the Canadiens team were hungover and were not up for the match at all.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Does not top the Miracle on Ice. You gotta understand how dominant the Soviets were along with the change in roster makeup the Americans had to make do.

Thats just my opinion

Except that a blowout in hockey is 3 goals to none.

 

[AlaskaSU]

Great question - seriously - exactly because it goes across wildly different sports. And it's a nice break from statistical diarrhea, which usually has a one-track mind (ignores nuance, other factors, etc.)

The 1980 Olympic thing is tough, because U.S. hockey was still amateur, and the Russians and most other teams were grizzled 33 year old pros. Like St. Peters vs. The Phoenix Suns. But some might say Kentucky or Duke are kinda like a pro team anyway (nyuk nyuk), so take your glory wheneer you can without guilt.

Perspective: Phoenix would absolutely destroy Duke. It would be a laughfer. The worlds best pros, a star at every position, and two deep at most positions. Johnson and Paige, ,except for injuries, cannot crack the starting !ine-up. For St Peters to be comparable to the Miracle on Ice they would have to beat Phoenix. The Russians were Phoenix. Amateurs beating other amateurs does not compare to amateurs beating the best pros in the world.

Years ago our amateur basketball players could beat Euro pros, but those Euro pros were not the best pros.

Decades ago the all star amateur football players played the NFL champs. Amateurs won 9 out of 42 games.

 

[Orangezoo]

March Madness odds 2022: Updated odds for every team to win the NCAA Tournament | Sporting News

Gonzaga and Duke are among the favorites to win the NCAA's March Madness Tournament in 2022.

www.sportingnews.com

I saw that St. Peters was 500-1 to win the National Title (per the link above anyway)
.
I read that that some places offered odds of up to 5000-1 for Leicester to win the Soccer Title.

Books wise Leicester was the bigger upset. But perhaps American based oddsmaker aren't as stupid to leave themselves exposed so largely.

Yeah- in fairness who would have figured Vardy and Mahrez go off like that. 11 man sport vs 5 man sport- another factor. Plus how far down the EPL was that year in general. Overall very weak. Perfect storm. Had LC's talent level been accurately assessed up front just no way those odds don't change.