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As the second day of the NCAA tournament progressed, it felt like it was going to be a day full of near upsets.
Xavier and Baylor, both No. 3 seeds, and UConn, had halftime deficits in their games with No. 14 seeds. So did UConn, a No. 4 seed, in a 4 vs. 13 matchup. There was also No. 2 seed Marquette that found itself up by just five points in the second half vs. No. 15 seed Vermont.
There were also No. 5 seeds like Saint Mary’s and Miami, as well as No. 6 Creighton, that were on the verge of going home early.
But all of those teams managed to avoid the dreaded first-round upset. For Purdue, the No. 1 seed in the East, it was a different story.
In one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history, Purdue was shocked by No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson. FDU, the literal last team on the selection committee’s 68-team seed list, was a 23.5-point underdog to the mighty Boilermakers but somehow managed to emerge with a stunning 63-58 win.
