An upset occurs in a competition Competition is a combat between individuals, groups, nations, animals, etc. for territory, a niche, or allocation of resources. It arises whenever two or more parties strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occurs naturally between living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. For example, animals compete over water, frequently in electoral An election is a decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office. This is the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy fills offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government. This process is also used in many other private and politics Politics is a process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behaviour within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious institutions. It consists of "social relations involving authority or power" and refers to the or sports Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determinant of the outcome , but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports (a common name for some card games and, when the party popularly expected to win (the favorite), is defeated by an underdog An underdog is a person or group in a competition, frequently in electoral politics, sports and creative works, who is popularly expected to lose. The party, team or individual expected to win is called the favourite or top dog. In the rare case where an underdog wins, the outcome is an upset. These terms are commonly used in sports betting.[ whom the majority expects to lose, defying the conventional wisdom Conventional wisdom is a term used to describe ideas or explanations that are generally accepted as true by the public or by experts in a field. The term implies that the ideas or explanations, though widely held, are unexamined and, hence, may be reevaluated upon further examination or as events unfold. The underdog then becomes a giant-killer Goliath (Hebrew: גָּלְיָת, Modern Golyat Tiberian Golyāṯ ; Arabic: جالوت , Jalut , جليات Julyat (Christian term)), known also as Goliath of Gath (one of five city states of the Philistines), is the Philistine warrior, famous for his battle with the young David, the future king of Israel, described in the Hebrew Bible/Christian.

Examples of major upsets in politics

• 1937 - Virtually unknown 29-year old Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, served as the 36th President of the United States from 1963 to 1969 after his service as the Vice President of the United States from 1961 to 1963 wins the special election over the House Seat of Texas Tenth Congressional District in a landslide. He achieved this by heavily campaigning the country side of the district.
• 1945 Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, historian, writer, and artist. He is the only British called a snap election at the end of World War II World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all of the great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. The war involved the mobilization of over 100 million military personnel, making it the most widespread war in history to take advantage of his heroic status as a war leader and 83% approval rating in the polls. Labour had never had a majority in the House of Commons, but they took 239 seats, the Tories In the political tradition of some English-speaking countries, the term Tory may refer to a variety of political parties and creeds since it was originally used in the late 17th century to describe opponents to the Whigs lost 190 and Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Minister under Winston Churchill in the wartime coalition government, before leading the Labour Party to a landslide became prime minister A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. The position is usually held by, but need not always be held by, a politician. In many systems, the prime minister selects and can dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the Government. In with an overall majority of 145. It was one of the biggest landslides in British politics and the most unexpected.
• 1948 - Unpopular Democratic The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. Today, the party supports a center-left platform.[citation needed] United States President The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition. The President leads the executive branch of the federal government and is one of only two nationally-elected federal officers Harry Truman Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States (1945–1953). As the 34th vice president, he succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt, who died less than three months after he began his fourth term defeated the highly favored Republican The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by abolitionists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP. Today the party supports a center-right platform candidate Thomas Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey was the Governor of New York (1943–1954). In 1944 and 1948, he ran for president as the Republican candidate for the U.S. Presidency, but lost both times. He led the liberal faction of the Republican party, in which he fought conservative Ohio Senator Robert A. Taft. Dewey advocated for the professional and business community, which featured in a famous newspaper headline: "Dewey Defeats Truman". It is considered by most historians to be the greatest election upset in American history.
• 1972 - New York attorney Elizabeth Holtzman Elizabeth Holtzman is am American laywer and former Democratic politician, pioneer woman officeholder, four term U.S. Representative (youngest woman), two term District Attorney of Kings County (Brooklyn) (first woman), and New York City Comptroller (first woman.) defeated 50-year incumbent congressman Emanuel Celler Emanuel Celler was an American politician from New York who served in the United States House of Representatives for almost 50 years, from March 1923 to January 1973. For his first twenty-two years in Congress, 1923–1945, Celler's Brooklyn and Queens-based district was numbered as New York's 10th congressional district. Redistricting in 1944 put, who was also the Judiciary Committee chairman in the Democratic primary.
• 1989 - Ernesto Ruffo Appel Ernesto Ruffo Appel is an American-born Mexican politician famous for being the first state governor not belonging to the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) since its formation in 1929 is elected Governor of Baja California Baja California is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North Territory of Baja California. It has an area of 71,576 km2 (27,636 sq mi), or 3.57% of the land mass of Mexico and comprises the northern half of the Baja California peninsula, north of the 28th parallel. The defeating the Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that wielded power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), making Mexico one of the nations with two major, competing parties part of the candidate becoming the first state governor not belonging to the PRI since 1929.
• 1990 - Paul Wellstone Paul David Wellstone was a two-term U.S. Senator from the U.S. state of Minnesota and member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which is affiliated with the national Democratic Party. Before being elected to the Senate in 1990, he was a professor of political science at Carleton College. Wellstone was a liberal and a leading spokesman for the, an underfunded professor, defeated popular Senator Rudy Boschwitz Rudolph Ely "Rudy" Boschwitz is a former Independent-Republican United States Senator from Minnesota. He served in the Senate from December 1978 to January 1991, in the 96th, 97th, 98th, 99th, 100th, and 101st congresses. He was then defeated by Paul Wellstone in the United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators, regardless of population. This ensures equal race.
• 1992 - Arkansas Arkansas ( /ˈɑrkənsɔː/ ; AR-kən-saw) is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquin name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River. Its diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozarks and the Governor Bill Clinton William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president; only Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were younger when entering office. He became president at the end of the Cold War, and as he was born in the period after World War II, he is known as the overcame several damaging scandals to come in second in the New Hampshire Primary The New Hampshire primary is the first in a series of nationwide political party primary elections held in the United States every four years, as part of the process of choosing the Democratic and Republican nominees for the presidential elections to be held the subsequent November. Held in the small New England state of New Hampshire, it, famously calling himself the "comeback kid". Clinton went on to win the Democratic Primary and defeat incumbent President George H.W. Bush George Herbert Walker Bush served as the 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993. Bush held a variety of political positions prior to his presidency, including Vice President of the United States in the administration of Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) and Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) under Gerald R. Ford in a three-way race that also included Texas businessman Ross Perot Henry Ross "The Boss" Perot is an American businessman from Texas, who is best known for seeking the office of President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988. He was born in Texarkana, Texas.
• 1994 - Texas Texas ( /ˈtɛksəs/ ) is a state in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. It is bordered by Mexico to the south, New Mexico to the west, Oklahoma to the north, Arkansas to the northeast, and Louisiana to the east. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, with an area of 268,820 square miles (696 Republican The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by abolitionists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP. Today the party supports a center-right platform George W. Bush George Walker Bush ( /ˈdʒɔrdʒ ˈwɔːkər ˈbʊʃ/ ; born July 6, 1946) served as the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being sworn in as President on January 20, 2001. Bush is the eldest son of the 41st U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush. After defeated highly favored and popular Democratic The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. Today, the party supports a center-left platform.[citation needed] incumbent Ann Richards Dorothy Ann Willis Richards was an American politician from Texas. She first came to national attention as the state treasurer of Texas, when she delivered the keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Richards served as Governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995 and was defeated for re-election in 1994 by George W. Bush. Ann Richards in the race for Texas governor.
• The 1994 U.S. House of Representatives elections, during which Republicans gained 54 seats, featured a number of notable upsets:
  • Republican George Nethercutt defeated Democratic Speaker of the House Categories: Positions of authority | Chairs of lower houses | Legislatures and 30-year incumbent Tom Foley. It was only the second defeat of a sitting Speaker of the House in U.S. History and the first since 1860.
  • Plastic Surgeon Greg Ganske John Greg Ganske is a politician from Iowa. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003 a Republican defeats 36 year incumbent Iowa Iowa ( /ˈaɪəwə/ ) is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland." It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of Congressman Neal Edward Smith.
  • Steve Stockman Steve Stockman is a Republican politician who represented Texas's 9th Congressional District between 1994 and 1997 a Republican defeats 41 year incumbent Texas Texas ( /ˈtɛksəs/ ) is a state in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. It is bordered by Mexico to the south, New Mexico to the west, Oklahoma to the north, Arkansas to the northeast, and Louisiana to the east. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, with an area of 268,820 square miles (696 Congressman and Chairman of Judiciary Committee Jack Brooks (politician) Jack Bascom Brooks is a retired Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Texas, who served for more than 40 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was defeated for reelection in the 1994 election. He is the most senior Representative to have ever lost a general election.
  • Republican attorney Michael Patrick Flanagan defeats 36 year incumbent Illinois Congressman and Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee Dan Rostenkowski Daniel David "Dan" Rostenkowski is a former United States Representative from Illinois, serving from 1959 to 1995. He was a member of the Democratic Party.
• 1998 - Retired dairy farmer Fred Tuttle Fred H. Tuttle was an American dairy farmer, film actor and one-time candidate for the U.S. Senate from the state of Vermont. He was born in Tunbridge, Vermont, and lived there all his life, except for his service in the United States Army during World War II, who had starred in a independent mockumentary about a retired farmer who ran for Congress, wins the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. Tuttle defeated Jack McMullen, a multimillionaire businessman who had spent most of his life living in Massachusetts, by ten points. Tuttle ran a tongue-in-cheek campaign that highlighted McMullen's perceived lack of knowledge about the state. After winning the primary, he endorsed his general election opponent Democrat Pat Leahy but received 22% of the votes nonetheless.
• 2000 - Vicente Fox Fox was elected President of Mexico in the 2000 presidential election, a historically significant election that made him the first president elected from an opposition party since Francisco I. Madero in 1910 and the first one in 71 years to defeat, with 42 percent of the vote, the then-dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party of the National Action Party (Mexico) The National Action Party , PAN), is a rigth and Christian democratic party and one of the three main political parties in Mexico. Since 2007, the party is led by Germán Martínez Cázares. Since 2000, the President of Mexico has been a member of this party; both houses have PAN pluralities, but the party does not have a majority in either the was elected President of Mexico The Constitutional Citizen President of the United Mexican States is the head of state of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the head of government and the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces. The current President is Felipe Calderón in the 2000 presidential election Mexico held a general election on Sunday, July 2, 2000. At stake were the Presidency of the Republic, all 500 members of the Chamber of Deputies, and all 128 members of the Senate. Several local elections were also held on the same day defeating the Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party is a Mexican political party that wielded power in the country—under a succession of names—for more than 70 years. The PRI is a member of the Socialist International, as is the rival Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), making Mexico one of the nations with two major, competing parties part of the candidate Francisco Labastida. It was the first time that the PRI lost a presidential election.
• 2006 - Dave Loebsack, a Democrat The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. Today, the party supports a center-left platform.[citation needed] and a political science professor at Cornell College, defeated 30-year incumbent Iowa congressman Jim Leach.
  • Dawn Marie Sass, a parole officer and store clerk at Boston Store, defeated incumbent Wisconsin Treasurer Jack Voight a Republican. She had run for the office twice previously, in 1998 and 2002. In her 2006 campaign, Sass won in a narrow upset (8,648 votes, or 0.42%), with little party support. She had spent almost $4000 on the race, most of it coming from her own pocket.
  • Jim Webb, a Democrat who had served as Secretary of the Navy under Reagan, upset incumbent Republican senator and former Governor of Virginia George Allen, after Allen had made a series of mistakes, starting with the Macaca Controversy during the 2006 Midterm Elections in Virginia.
• 2007 - Greg Ballard defeated incumbent Indianapolis mayor Bart Peterson, despite being outspent by a huge margin.
• 2008 - New Orleans lawyer Joseph Cao a (Republican) defeated scandal-plagued nine-term Democratic U.S. Representative William Jefferson in a district that usually voted 75 to 80 percent Democratic.
  • Charlottesville attorney Tom Perriello a Democrat defeats incumbent Virginia Congressman Virgil Goode by 727 votes.

Examples of major upsets in sports

American Football

• 1969 - Super Bowl III - In arguably the biggest Super Bowl upset to date, the New York Jets, 18½-point underdogs and champions of the lightly-regarded American Football League, shocked the National Football League's Baltimore Colts 16-7.
• 1976 - Rose Bowl Game - The UCLA Bruins, a 15 1/2 point underdog, upset the #1 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, 23-10. Ohio State had beaten UCLA in Los Angeles early in the season by a score of 41-20.
• 1985 - College football - Oregon State beat Washington 21-20. What is most notable is that the Huskies were 37-point favorites, and this game was considered the largest reversal ever in spread betting until 2007 (see below).
• 1986 - 1985 AFC Championship Game - The wild card New England Patriots, who had lost 18 straight games in Miami, won their first-ever AFC title by shocking the defending AFC Champion Miami Dolphins 31-14 at the Orange Bowl.
• 1995 - 1994 AFC Championship Game - The San Diego Chargers clinched their first AFC Championship by stunning the top-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers 17-13 at Three Rivers Stadium. The Chargers spotted the Steelers a 13-3 advantage before battling back.
• 1998 - Super Bowl XXXII - The Denver Broncos shocked the heavily-favored defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, 31-24, on a 1-yard touchdown run by game MVP Terrell Davis with 1:45 to play. The win was the first by an AFC team in 14 years and the first for Denver in five Super Bowl appearances.
• 1999 - 1998 NFC Championship Game - The Atlanta Falcons clinched their first NFC Championship by rallying to shock the 16-1 Minnesota Vikings 30-27 in overtime at the Metrodome. The Falcons trailed 27-20 late in the 4th quarter, and rallied to tie the game and force overtime after Vikings kicker Gary Anderson missed a potential Championship-clinching field goal attempt, his first miss of an attempted field goal all season.
• 2002 - Super Bowl XXXVI - The New England Patriots, 14-point underdogs, shocked the St. Louis Rams to win 20-17 on an Adam Vinatieri field goal as time expired.
• 2006 - 2005 AFC Divisional Playoff - The sixth-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers shocked the top-seeded Indianapolis Colts 21-18, becoming the first sixth seed ever to advance to a conference championship game. The Steelers would set further precedent, going on to win the AFC Championship and Super Bowl XL.
• 2006 - The unranked UCLA Bruins defeated the #2 ranked USC Trojans 13-9, knocking USC out of the BCS National Championship Game in Glendale, Arizona and ending UCLA's seven year losing streak to the Trojans.
• 2007 - College football
  • In the opening week of the 2007 season, Appalachian State beat #5-ranked Michigan 34-32 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This is the first time a Division I FCS (formerly known as I-AA) team beats a Division I FBS Associated Press ranked team.
  • Later in that season, USC was upset by Stanford 24-23 in Los Angeles. USC was ranked #1 in the Coaches Poll and #2 in the AP Poll and was a 40 point favorite to win the game. Stanford's backup quarterback, Tavita Pritchard, started the game and Stanford converted on two 4th downs in the final drive, scoring the tying touchdown and subsequent go-ahead PAT to go up by one point with 49 seconds left. A Stanford interception sealed the victory. The Cardinal's win was the greatest point spread ever overcome in college football history, surpassing the aforementioned 1985 Oregon State-Washington game.
  • On December 1, the Pitt Panthers toppled the 28½-point favorites West Virginia Mountaineers 13-9 at Morgantown, West Virginia. The shocking defeat cost West Virginia a berth in the BCS Championship Game (They would settle for a berth in the Fiesta Bowl). The loss to Pitt would mark the final game of head football coach Rich Rodriguez's seven year tenure at West Virginia University, as he resigned later on in the month to take the same job at the University of Michigan.
• 2008 - Super Bowl XLII - The wild card New York Giants defeated the 18-0 New England Patriots 17-14 with a touchdown pass from Eli Manning to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left, denying New England's bid for the NFL's first undefeated season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins. The 2007 Giants were the first NFC wild card team to win a Super Bowl and just the second one to win a conference title, after the 1975 Dallas Cowboys.

Baseball

• 1906 - Major League Baseball - World Series - Despite winning a major league record 116 games, the Chicago Cubs lost in six games to the Chicago White Sox (nicknamed the "hitless wonders") in the World Series.
• 1914 - Major League Baseball - World Series - Boston's "Miracle Braves", who were in last place on July 4, rally to win the N.L. pennant and shock Connie Mack's powerful, Hall of Fame laden Philadelphia Athletics team in 4 straight games in the World Series. Mack was so infuratied by the loss that he traded or sold many of his star players and the Athletics would not be a contender again until the late 1920s.
• 1954 - Major League Baseball - World Series - Facing the 111 win Cleveland Indians, the New York Giants swept them in the World Series, with the help of Willie Mays' famous behind the back catch in Game 1 at the Polo Grounds.
• 1969 - Major League Baseball - World Series - The New York Mets, an expansion team that never previously finished higher than ninth place, reached the World Series and upset the favored Baltimore Orioles in five games.
• 1988 - Major League Baseball - The Los Angeles Dodgers won the pennant in seven games over a New York Mets team that had beaten them ten of eleven times during the regular season. Then in the World Series, pulled off an even bigger surprise... a five game domination of the powerful Oakland Athletics.
• 1990 - Major League Baseball - World Series - The Cincinnati Reds, fresh off their first pennant since 1976, took out the defending world champion Oakland Athletics in four straight.
• 2006 - Major League Baseball - NLCS - The St. Louis Cardinals, champions of the N.L. Central Division despite a record of only 83-78, won in seven games over the New York Mets, a strong team that was tied for the best record in baseball.
• 2008 - NCAA - World Series - Fresno State University (a #4-regional seed and the 89th-ranked team in the nation) became the lowest seeded team ever to win a College World Series title, as they defeated the University of Georgia 2 games to 1 in the championship series.

Basketball

• 1954 - Tiny Milan High School in Milan, Indiana, enrollment then 161, beat Muncie Central High School, enrollment then over 1,600, in the Indiana High School State Basketball Championships by a score of 32-30. The 1986 movie classic Hoosiers is loosely based on the story of the Milan team.
• 1966 - NCAA Championship - Facing the top-ranked University of Kentucky in the championship game, Texas Western's coach, Don Haskins, made history by starting five African American players for the first time in a championship game against Kentucky's all-white squad, coached by Adolph Rupp. The Miners took the lead midway in the first half and never relinquished it — though Kentucky closed to within a point early in the second half. The Miners won 72-65, winning the tournament and finishing the year with a 28-1 record.
• 1969 NBA Finals - The aging Boston Celtics, who barely made the playoffs by finishing 4th in the Eastern Division, upset the Western Division Champion Los Angeles Lakers in 7 games in the NBA finals, winning game 7 in Los Angeles 108-106.
• 1972 Summer Olympics Basketball - The Soviet team, in a highly controversial finish, defeated the USA team 51-50 in the gold medal game after 2 extra seconds were added to the gameclock, giving the Soviet team enough time to score the winning basket. This marked the first time in Olympic Basketball history that the USA team failed to earn the gold medal, and was their first loss in 62 games. The USA team boycotted the medal ceremony and their silver medals remain unclaimed and unwanted to this day, in a vault in Switzerland.
• 1974 - Notre Dame defeated the UCLA Bruins 71-70 as UCLA was held scoreless over the final 3 minutes of the game, ending UCLA's record 88 game winning streak.
• 1975 - NBA Finals - The Golden State Warriors, who had a regular season record of 48-34, shock the Washing Bullets, who were 60-22, by winning the NBA title in a 4 game sweep.
• 1982 - 800 student Chaminade University upset the number one team in the country, the Virginia Cavaliers, 77-72, in what is considered the biggest upset in college basketball history.
• 1983 - 1983 NCAA Men's Tournament - The North Carolina State Wolfpack, a No. 6 seed, defeated the Houston Cougars in the title game, 54-52. The top-ranked Cougars, nicknamed Phi Slama Jama and featuring Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon, carried a 26-game winning streak into the title game. NC State, on the other contrary, had to upset North Carolina and Virginia in the ACC Tournament in order to make the postseason. From there, the Wolfpack would make the Final Four by beating Pepperdine, UNLV and Virginia after those opponents missed free throws down the stretch.
• 1985 NCAA Men's Tournament - Villanova, a No. 8 seed, upset Georgetown, the defending champion and consensus No. 1 team in America, to win the championship. Villanova had lost two close games to the Hoyas that season, but, in the title game, Villanova would make 22 of 27 shots (78.6%) from the field, to pull off the 66-64 upset.
• 1991 NCAA Tournament - The Richmond Spiders became the first #15 seed ever to upset a #2 seed when they defeated the Syracuse Orangemen, 73-69.
  • The Duke Blue Devils upset the unbeaten defending champion UNLV 79-77, in the Final Four. UNLV had humiliated Duke the year before in the 1990 title game 103-73, which was the largest victory margin in an NCAA championship game.
• 1993 NCAA Tournament - The #15-seeded Santa Clara Broncos, led by Steve Nash, upset the #2-seeded Arizona Wildcats 64-61.
• 1994 NBA Playoffs - The eighth-seeded Denver Nuggets (42-40) stunned the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics (63-19) in the first round of the 1994 NBA Western Conference Playoffs, falling behind 2-0 in the best-of-five series, and then winning the next three games to become the first eighth-seeded team in NBA history to ever defeat a top-seed.
• 1997 - College basketball - NCAA Tournament - #15-seeded Coppin State upset #2-seeded South Carolina 78-65.
• 1998 — In the West Regional of the NCAA Women's Tournament, Harvard became the first (and, as of 2009, the only) #16 seed in either the men's or women's Division I tournament to defeat a #1 seed, stunning Stanford 71-67 on the Cardinal's home court.
• 1999 - The eighth-seeded New York Knicks (27-23) defeated the #1 seed Miami Heat in the first round of the 1999 NBA playoffs, and advanced all the way to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the San Antonio Spurs^[1]
• 2001 NCAA Tournament - The Hampton Pirates, a 15th seed, shock the 2nd seeded Iowa State Cyclones and pull off a great NCAA Tournament upset.
• 2004 Olympic Basketball - Puerto Rico defeated the USA in the first game of the Olympics by 17 points in a game that was dominated from the beginning from the Puerto Rican national team. Several weeks before, the USA won a friendly match prior to the Olympics by over 40 points.
• 2006 NCAA Tournament — The George Mason Patriots upset four teams consecutively in the Washington, D.C. Regional to make it to the Final Four. The 11th-seeded Patriots beat #6 seed Michigan State, a participant in the previous year's Final Four; defending national champions and #3 seed North Carolina; #7 seed Wichita State; and top seed UConn before finally losing to eventual champions #3 Florida in the Final Four. The Patriots were given 400-1 odds to win the NCAA Tournament and were within two games of doing so.
• 2007 - Basketball In the 2007 NBA Playoffs, the Golden State Warriors, who barely got into the playoffs on the last game of the regular season and entering the playoffs as the #8 seed, knocked off the Dallas Mavericks, who entered the playoffs as the #1 seed in the Western Conference with an NBA-best 67 wins during the regular season. The Warriors won in 6 games. This was the first ever #8 seed to defeat the #1 seed since the NBA started using a best-of-7 format in its first round.

Cricket

• 1882 - Australia had never won a test in England, where they had to face the cream of amateur players rather than professionals seeking winter employment, but at the Oval in August 1882 they beat the finest team England could put on the field. Dismissed for 63 in the first innings they made 122 in the second and England's 101 and 77 gave Australia a 7 runs victory. "The Demon" fast bowler Fred Spofforth taking 14-90 in the match. As a result the Sporting Times published a fake obituary to "English Cricket which died at the Oval on 29th August, 1882...the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia" - the origin of the Ashes^[2].
• 1983 - In the 1983 Cricket World Cup, newcomers Zimbabwe shocked Australia in England in their first ever ODI game, winning by 13 runs. Duncan Fletcher, the Zimbabwe captain, was man of the match.
• 1983 - Later in the 1983 World Cup, underdogs India shocked favourites and two-time defending champions West Indies in England, winning by 43 runs; the upset was deemed as the greatest upset in cricketing history.
• 1996 - 1996 Cricket World Cup: Kenya, playing in their first World Cup, comprehensively defeated the West Indies in the group stages, establishing Kenya's then-presence as a leading Associate nation.
• 1999 - 1999 Cricket World Cup: Bangladesh beat tournament favourites Pakistan. This result was influential in Bangladesh achieving test status.
• 2003 - In the 2003 Cricket World Cup, the minnow team Kenya defeated one of the top teams in the world, Sri Lanka, and, with that victory, advanced to the Semi-Finals of the tournament, becoming the first non-Test-playing nation to advance to a semi-final. Kenya beat Sri Lanka by 53 runs. This was one of the greatest cricketing upsets because of the comprehensive way in which Kenya won, with bowler Collins Obuya taking record figures 5-24 and Kennedy Obuya scoring a patient 80.
• 2005 - Bangladesh beat Australia at Cardiff. Mohammad Ashraful, the Bangladeshi captain, scored his first international century to put Bangladesh on-course to defeat the reigning world champions.
• 2007 - Cricket World Cup 2007: Ireland, playing in their first World Cup, beat top seed and world number 4 Pakistan, to advance to the Super 8 stage of the tournament. The Pakistan coach, Bob Woolmer, died after the match.
• 2009 - World Twenty20 Championship 2009: In the opening match of the tournament, the Netherlands, playing in their first Twenty20 international tournament, defeated hosts England, by four wickets off the last ball of the match.

Football (soccer)

• 1924 - At the Olympic games in Paris, Sweden defeated Belgium, a higher ranked team, 8-1. This is still ranked as the biggest international soccer upset ever, according to Elo ratings [1].
• 1950 - In the World Cup, the United States shocked England in a match considered one of the biggest surprises in World Cup history.
• 1950 - In the same competition, Uruguay registered an upset of Brazil in the World Cup final, with the latter nation needing only a draw to win the World Cup; this game is known as the Maracanazo (or Maracanaço).
• 1954 - In the World Cup final, underdogs West Germany came back from two goals down to defeat the heavily favoured Hungary team (who had remained unbeaten in their past 32 games, and had previously defeated the Germans 8-3 in the group stage), 3-2, in a game now known as The Miracle of Bern.
• 1966 - North Korea upset Italy 1-0 in the 1966 FIFA World Cup.
• 1982 - In the World Cup, newcomers Algeria registered the second victory in the tournament by an African side, when they defeated two-time world champions West Germany 2-1.
• 1988 - 1988 FA Cup Final, arguably the greatest upset in the history of the FA cup, with unfancied Wimbledon defeating league champions Liverpool 1-0 thanks to a Lawrie Sanchez header.
• 1990 - In the World Cup, Cameroon defeated the holding champions Argentina in the opening match 1-0, and became the first African team to reach the quarter-finals. They then lost to England 2-3 due to an extra-time penalty kick.
• 1992 - In Euro 92, Denmark, a last-minute replacement for the Yugoslavia team banned due to sanctions resulting from the Yugoslav wars, won the title.
• 1992 - In the FA Cup third round, defending champions Arsenal were beaten 2-1 by Wrexham, who had finished bottom of the league the previous season.
• 2000 - In the 1999-2000 French Cup semi final, Calais RUFC, a team playing in the fourth division of the French football league (CFA), knocked out reigning French champions Girondins Bordeaux 3-1, after extra time. Calais later put in an admirable performance in the final, unluckily losing 2-1 to Nantes.
• 2001 - In the Copa America 2001, the last minute replacement team, Honduras, defeated Brazil 2-0, in the quarter-finals.
• 2002 - In the World Cup opening match, Senegal defeated defending champions France 1-0. The French subsequently left the competition in the first round, winless and goaless.
• 2004 - Greece, a 150-1 long shot according to some bookmakers, won Euro 2004 by defeating hosts Portugal, twice, as well as giants France and the Czech Republic.
• 2009 - United States beats #1 ranked Spain in the semifinals of the Confederations Cup. Prior to that, the Spaniards had not only 15-game winning streak, but a streak of 35 games without a loss.

Golf

• 1913 - U.S. Open - Francis Ouimet, a 20-year-old American amateur, defeated golf superstars Ted Ray and Harry Vardon.
• 2008 - Ryder Cup - The United States Golf team, without their best player, Tiger Woods, defeated the heavily favored European Golf team

Ice hockey

• 1967 - In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the favored Montreal Canadiens, a game that saw the pinnacle of the Habs-Leafs rivalry.
• 1980 - In the Miracle on Ice, the United States beat the Soviet Union in the semi-finals at the 1980 Winter Olympics, considered by some to be one of the greatest upsets in American sports history.^[3]
• 1982 Stanley Cup Playoffs - The Los Angeles Kings, who finished a whopping 48 points behind the Edmonton Oilers in the regular season, upset the Oilers in the first round of the playoff, 3 games to 2. In game 3 of the series, known as the Miracle on Manchester, the Kings trailed 5-0 after 2 periods, tied the game with 5 seonds left, and won in overtime, 6-5.
• 1993 - In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the New York Islanders staged one of the greatest upsets in NHL playoff history when David Volek won Game 7 of the Patrick Division Finals against the two-time defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the Presidents' Trophy during the regular season, with an overtime goal.
• 1994 - Stanley Cup Playoffs - The 7th seeded Vancouver Canucks upset the #2 seeded Calgary Flames, the #4 Dallas Stars, and the #3 Maple Leafs, en route to a Game 7 loss in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Presidents' Trophy champion New York Rangers.
• 1996 - In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Colorado Avalanche (47-25-10) beat the Detroit Red Wings (62-13-7) in the Western Conference Finals, The Red Wings won 62 games that season and were heavily favored to win the series. The Avalanche went on to win the Stanley Cup in a four game sweep of the Florida Panthers.
• 2000 - In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the #8 seed San Jose Sharks (35-30-10-7) stunned the #1 seed St. Louis Blues (51-19-11-1) in the Western Conference quarter-finals. The Blues won a franchise record 51 games that season, which clinched the President's Trophy and were heavily favored to win the series.
• 2006 - In the semi-finals of the women's tournament at the Winter Olympics, Sweden defeated the USA 3-2 in a shootout. This marked the first time that either the USA, or eventual gold medalist Canada, lost in an international women's hockey competition to any third nation.
• 2006 - Stanley Cup Playoffs - The 8th seeded Edmonton Oilers shocked the #1 seeded Detroit Red Wings, the #5 San Jose Sharks, and the #6 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim en route to a Game 7 loss in the Stanley Cup finals to the Carolina Hurricanes.
• 2009 - Stanley Cup Playoffs - The #8th seeded Anaheim Ducks, having barely qualified for the playoffs, upset the President's Trophy winning San Jose Sharks. The Sharks had set a franchise-record 53 wins and 117 points that season and were the heavily favored to win the Stanley Cup since the beginning of the season.

Other

• 1919 - 2 year old Phenomenon Man o' War loses his first race to the coincidentally named Upset. In theory, this coined the term "Pulled an Upset".
• 1967 - Foinavon became an unlikely winner of the Grand National horse race when a pile-up at the smallest fence on the course allowed it to come from the back of the field and pass 17 other horses on the way to winning the race.
• 1975 - In the open section of the World Open chess tournament, expert Alan Trefler (Elo rating 2075, 125 points below the lowest master rating), and ranked 115th in the tournament, scores 8-1 to tie for first with International Grandmaster Pal Benko, rated 2504, ahead of Grandmasters Nicholas Rossolimo and Walter Browne.^[4]
• 1978 - Rugby union — Munster beat the All Blacks 12-0. Munster are the only Irish side ever to have beaten New Zealand, including the Irish national side. More than 100,000 people claim to have been there on the day it happened, despite Limerick's ground holding only around 12,000 at that time. The game is immortalized by the stage play Alone it Stands, and the book Stand Up.
• 1986 - Snooker - Joe Johnson, who began that year's World Snooker Championship as a 150-1 underdog, reached the final and defeated World number 1 Steve Davis 18 frames to 12, to win the title.
• 1990 - Boxing - James "Buster" Douglas knocked out then-undefeated Mike Tyson in 10 rounds.
• 2000 - Olympic wrestling - American Rulon Gardner defeated Russian Alexander Karelin at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Prior to the match, Karelin was undefeated in 13 years without having given up a single point in six years, and had previously defeated Gardner in 1997.
• 2004 - Tennis - Unseeded Gastón Gaudio recovered from two sets down to defeat #3 seed Guillermo Coria in the final of the French Open, saving two match points in the process.
• 2005 - Formula One - Fernando Alonso and his team Renault F1 unexpectedly defeated seven time champion Michael Schumacher and his team Scuderia Ferrari, for both drivers and constructor's championship, while Ferrari struggled all year with a poor car and crippling tyre rule changes.
• 2007 - Mixed martial arts - UFC - At UFC 69: Shootout, Matt Serra defeated heavily favored Georges St. Pierre via TKO at 3:25 in the 1st round.
• 2007 - ICC World Twenty20 Zimababwe beat Champions Australia in their first match ever in the World Twenty20. Brendan Taylor mastered the upset with a patient half century.
• 2008 - In the 2008 Summer Olympics, Japan defeated the United States in the final of women's softball, who seemed unbeatable. It was their first loss since 2000.
• 2009 - Formula One - Brawn GP With Drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barichello score a 1-2 finish in their first ever race the 2009 Australian Grand Prix with Button winning again the next week in Malaysia to put himself and Barichello 1-2 in Drivers Standings and Brawn GP on top of the Constructors standings. Button then won the Bahrain Grand Prix.
• 2009 - Tennis - Robin Söderling upset Rafael Nadal in the fourth round of Roland Garros. This ended Nadal's amazing streak of 31 matches at this tournament dating back to 2005, when he made his debut. Therefore, it was Nadal's first ever loss in this tournament, and notably, being knocked out so early in the tournament.

Other major upsets

Although upsets usually occur in both politics and sports, there was one particular upset that caused an outcry on a monumental scale. On December 15, 2007, in the finale of the British television series, The X Factor (UK series 4), Scottish singer Leon Jackson won the series, with the heavily favoured Welsh tenor, Rhydian Roberts as runner-up. One interesting aspect was while Leon had the most votes in the series, he had the least betting odds before the finale.

Although there have been similar upsets in shows like American Idol, when Ruben Studdard beat Clay Aiken in season 2, and when David Cook beat David Archuleta in season 7, the runner-ups were expected to win because they were more popular, while Studdard and Cook won because they had the more acclaimed voices. This result, on the other hand, defied all of that. Not only did many people think that Rhydian was the best contestant in the series, but they also thought that he was one of the most valuable contestants, if not the most valuable, in all the four seasons, making it a historic event if he had won.

In 2005, Crash was chosen over Brokeback Mountain for Best Picture at the Oscars, after most experts believed Brokeback Mountain would win.

Origin

In 2002, George Thompson, a lexicographic researcher, used the full-text online search capabilities of the New York Times databases to trace the usage of the verb to upset and the noun upset. The latter was seen in usage as early as 1877. [2] The actual origin of the term is unknown, but one theory states that it came from when the racehorse Upset, became the only thoroughbred horse to defeat legendary racehorse Man o' War.

References

1. ^ Spurs Tower Over NBA.
2. ^ Ashley Brown, The Pictorial History of Cricket, Bison Books Ltd, 1988
3. ^ Fitzpatrick, Jamie. "Miracle on Ice: American Hockey's Defining Moment". About.com. http://proicehockey.about.com/cs/history/a/miracle_on_ice.htm. Retrieved on 2009-02-09.
4. ^ Chess Life & Review, September 1975 (available on DVD), pp. 586-87.

See also

• Cinderella (sports)
• NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Upsets

Categories: Competition | Sports terminology

See Also:

• Upset
• Upsets
• Upsetting
• Upset the Applecart
• File:en-us-upset-noun.ogg

What Links Here:

Recently Viewed Pages:

• Urllist.txt
• Pittsburgh Panthers Football: Toc
• Pittsburgh Panthers Football: Images
• Upsetting: Images
• Kentucky Wildcats Men's Basketball: Blogs

Most Popular Pages:

• Urllist.txt
• Pittsburgh Panthers Football: Images
• Kentucky Wildcats Men's Basketball: Blogs
• Upsetting: Images
• Encyclopedia

Related 'Upset' Searches: