Biggest sports upsets?

it wasnt in March Madness lol
Ahh, alright lol. I thought they said that it happened in the NCAA tourney

Another upset that nobody has mentioned:

Division 1AA Appalachian State upsets Division 1 and #5 ranked Michigan after they blocked a field goal that could of won Michigan the game
 
December 23, 1982: Division II Chaminade beat #1 (and eventual national champion) Virginia in basketball. That on paper is arguably the biggest sports upset in my book (I haven't taken the time to sit down and think this all through).

I agree with Jump about the 2004 ALCS. The Red Sox had everything going against them for the first 3 games, so to come back from such adversity is beyond amazing. Before game 1, Schilling runs his mouth off about how great it would be to make 55,000 yankee fans shut up... and then gives up like 6 runs in 3 innings. the Sox come back, only to have Mo fly in mid-game (after a family tragedy) and close the game out. The Sox get embarrassed in game 3, 19-8. Mo is on the mound with the Yanks one inning away from the sweep. Millar walks, Dave Roberts pinch runs. EVERYBODY who is watching, including the Yanks' players, knew he would try to steal, and he still stole the base, and eventually scored the tying run. Ortiz's heroics in game 4. Another comeback in game 5, with Ortiz being the hero again. Game 6, Schilling's bloody ankle (99.9% of pitchers would have opted for surgery), A-Rod slapping the ball out of Bronson Arroyo's glove lololololol. Game 7, Brown and Vazquez stink up the joint, Damon's grand slam, 8-1 lead in the 7th when wtf Pedro comes in the game. He promptly gives up two consecutive hits, and everyone must have thought the ghosts were coming back. I was too scared to watch; I turned off the TV at that point. Luckily Pedro was only dumb enough to give up 2 runs, and the Sox were able to finish it off.

tl;dr: given the importance and adversity of the situation, the 2004 ALCS has to be #1. the Miracle on Ice is one of the few things that could even come close. However on paper, that series probably would not even be considered an upset (at the start).
 
December 23, 1982: Division II Chaminade beat #1 (and eventual national champion) Virginia in basketball. That on paper is arguably the biggest sports upset in my book (I haven't taken the time to sit down and think this all through).

I agree with Jump about the 2004 ALCS. The Red Sox had everything going against them for the first 3 games, so to come back from such adversity is beyond amazing. Before game 1, Schilling runs his mouth off about how great it would be to make 55,000 yankee fans shut up... and then gives up like 6 runs in 3 innings. the Sox come back, only to have Mo fly in mid-game (after a family tragedy) and close the game out. The Sox get embarrassed in game 3, 19-8. Mo is on the mound with the Yanks one inning away from the sweep. Millar walks, Dave Roberts pinch runs. EVERYBODY who is watching, including the Yanks' players, knew he would try to steal, and he still stole the base, and eventually scored the tying run. Ortiz's heroics in game 4. Another comeback in game 5, with Ortiz being the hero again. Game 6, Schilling's bloody ankle (99.9% of pitchers would have opted for surgery), A-Rod slapping the ball out of Bronson Arroyo's glove lololololol. Game 7, Brown and Vazquez stink up the joint, Damon's grand slam, 8-1 lead in the 7th when wtf Pedro comes in the game. He promptly gives up two consecutive hits, and everyone must have thought the ghosts were coming back. I was too scared to watch; I turned off the TV at that point. Luckily Pedro was only dumb enough to give up 2 runs, and the Sox were able to finish it off.

tl;dr: given the importance and adversity of the situation, the 2004 ALCS has to be #1. the Miracle on Ice is one of the few things that could even come close. However on paper, that series probably would not even be considered an upset (at the start).
I can somewhat agree, but you also have to look at another thing that Jump pointed out. An "upset" generally is when a team that is not that good, has virtually no shot to beat a team that could be labeled a juggernaut. The Red Sox basically had no shot to come back down 3-0, but it isnt really an upset. That year, the Yankees finished 101-61. The Red Sox finished 98-64. They were both virtual power houses in the league. So it isnt really an upset, but its definitely one if not the greatest comeback in sports history. For upsets, I think its gotta be the miracle on ice. After that, its pretty much up for debate. You look at Appalachian State upsetting #5 Michigan at Michigan, 11th seeded George Mason full of nobodies upsetting #1 seeded UConn to advance to the Final Four (that UConn team's starting 5 all went to the NBA), etc.
 
Today, Rafael Nadal, the King of Clay, lost at his home turf at the French Open to Robert Soderling.

I was completely shocked when I found this out. I think this might be one of the biggest upsets in sports history. I suppose Giants>Patriots in 07 was pretty big though. But I think Nadal's loss is still bigger.
Hardly an upset cuz Nadal blows.
 
statistical evidence that the 2007 super bowl was the greatest upset ever (in football anyway...but read on and it makes for a pretty solid argument overall)

http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/Articles/11_2733_Happy_Hour_at_Hooters.html

happy hour at hooters
Just from scimming through it, the most interesting part had to be the passer rating part.

2007 Giants​
73.0
83.4
-10.4​


Giants were the only team on that list to have a worse passer rating then what they gave up to opposing quarter backs
 
in terms of talent level of the teams, George Mason and the NY Giants are not close to what Chaminade did... a D2 school beating the #1 team in the country... that's like a team much worse than App State beating Florida.

I don't think the Giants winning was that big of an upset. NE almost lost at Baltimore (20 point favorites iirc) and at home to Philly (22). The Giants had an outstanding pass rush, which was the one thing that could stop an offense of that caliber. It was definitely shocking to see the greatest offense in NFL history get neutralized like that, and to see Eli play such a good game, but imo it wasn't a huge upset like the media made it out to be.
 
Yeh, but the difference between the Chaminade upset and the George Mason upset: It happened on the biggesst stage in college basketball. Of course, Chaminade could never play Virginia on that stage since they are D2. However, George Mason did it in the Elite 8: against a team that was heavily favored to win. Just think about it... That UConn starting 5 all got drafted to the NBA, with most, if not all of that starting 5 going first round. I dont think anybody from that George Mason went to the NBA, probably not even as an undrafted player. Some are probably playing in Europe, but the most notable from that team was their big man trying out as a TE for the Giants
 

DM

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The fact that there have only been two posts mentioning the USA victory over Spain yesterday makes me weep inside.
 
Appalachian State beating Michigan. I'm still feeling the shock from that game. It was just unreal.
 

zorbees

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Heh, us Baltimoreans (inb4 Baltimorons) have to stick together. I'm going to support SBIII as one of the biggest (I think Miracle on Ice is the biggest.) The NFL completely dominated the first two Superbowls, and there was fear that the planned merger wouldn't work out well if the trend continued. The Jets were at least 10 point underdogs. Oh yeah, remember Namath's famous guarantee? How about the previously mentioned merger that was largely due to the result of this game? If it isn't the biggest upset, it's the most significant.

Ps. Don't know how it was in your area, but a lot of people here thought the Giants would beat the Patriots, which made it seem like less of an upset to me. I guess it was that trendy "they came close before" type of pick.

Pps. The Red Sox was more of a greatest comeback than a greatest upset as stated before.
 

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