none of these are worse than what happened to DePaul in 1981.
didn't DePaul lose early as the #1 seed 2 years in a row? It also seems that they then went on to play in the NIT after being eliminated from the NCAA...can that possibly be correct?
The date of Saturday, March 14, 1981, resulted in three major second round tournament upsets which were decided by last-second baskets.
St. Joseph's trailed No. 1 seed
DePaul by seven at about the midway point of the second half, in an early afternoon Mideast Region game from
Dayton, Ohio. However, with 48 seconds left, the Hawks had rallied to within 48–47. Blue Demons guard Skip Dillard was fouled with 13 seconds left. Dillard was known as 'Money' for his superb free throw shooting, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, and St. Joseph's got the rebound, then quickly passed the ball to the front court without calling a timeout. Guard
Bryan Warrick got the ball to freshman Lonnie McFarlan who was wide open in the right corner. McFarlan began to shoot until forward John Smith yelled "Please!" to him. McFarlan passed to Smith, who was open underneath the basket. Smith's layup with two seconds left enabled the Hawks of coach
Jim Lynam to stun the Blue Demons of
Ray Meyer, 49–48.
Later in the afternoon in
Austin, Texas,
Arkansas coach
Eddie Sutton called timeout with 5 seconds left after falling behind
Louisville in the Midwest Region, 73–72 on a jumper by guard
Derek Smith. Sutton told his team to get the ball to
U.S. Reed. The Razorbacks' guard dribbled to near half court, then launched a 49-foot shot that beat the buzzer and swished through the net, as Arkansas dethroned the defending national champion Cardinals of
Denny Crum, 74–73. Sutton told the media, "Champions die hard."
Only moments after the Razorbacks' upset, the season ended for another #1 seed in the West Region in
Los Angeles.
Oregon State led
Kansas State by as much as 11 points in the second half. Coach
Ralph Miller and center
Steve Johnson had led the Beavers to a two-year record of 52–4. Then
Rolando Blackman led the Wildcats back with a 16-6 run to tie the game, 48–48 with 3:23 left. Johnson then fouled out, and both teams stalled with the ball until Oregon State missed the front end of a one-and-one from the foul line. K-State then held for the last shot. With two seconds left, Blackman, double-teamed, drilled a fall-away 17 footer from the right baseline for a 50–48 upset by the Wildcats of
Jack Hartman.
In another second round Mideast Region upset,
UAB defeated
Kentucky 69–62. A semifinal in the East Region saw
Danny Ainge dribble the length of the court and drive all the way in for a layup and another buzzer-beating winner, lifting
BYU over
Notre Dame 51–50.
Greg Johnson of
NCAA.com, in a March 9, 2011 article, indicated that March 14, 1981 was a date which defined March Madness
