Saint Peter's danced its way into the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday after stunning the college basketball world with an upset over No. 2 seed Kentucky in first-round action. It was the first NCAA Tournament win in program history for the No. 15 seed Peacocks, which became just the tenth team in March Madness history to pull off the rare 15-over-2 in Round 1.
Oral Roberts pulled off the feat in 2021 by upsetting Ohio State, which ended a four-year drought of 15 seeds having tourney success. But since the 1985 tournament expansion, success for them has come few and far between.
Vegas odds said Saint Peter's would not be joining this exclusive list -- it closed as 18.5-point dogs -- but Daryl Banks III's 27 points and Doug Edert's 20 points keyed the Peacocks to an 85-79 overtime win over UK.
It's not quite the exclusive 16-over-1 territory for Saint Peter's, a club that remains a party of one for UMBC. But joining a list of only nine other teams to pull off such an upset is remarkable company to keep.
Here are the nine other prior instances.
2021: Oral Roberts 75, Ohio State 72 (OT): Oral Roberts became one of the darlings of the dance a year ago when it upended Ohio State as a 15 seed in overtime. The Golden Eagles were led by the nation's leading scorer, Max Abmas, who scored 29 points in the win, as well as sidekick Kevin Obanor, who led the way with 30 points. The Buckeyes shot 5-of-23 from 3-point range in the loss.
2016: Middle Tennessee 90, Michigan State 81: One of the best Tom Izzo-coached Spartans teams fizzled in 2016 when Middle Tennessee stunned them in Round 1. This game was similar to the Oral Roberts vs. Ohio State game in that Middle Tennessee was the aggressor early. MTSU led 15-2 five minutes into the game and never looked back. They fell to 10th-seeded Syracuse -- which later advanced to the Final Four -- in Round 2.
2013: Florida Gulf Coast 78, Georgetown 68 -- In Florida Gulf Coast's second full year of Division I postseason eligibility, the Eagles introduced themselves to the world as the high-flying bunch we all came to know as "Dunk City." Led by coach Andy Enfield, FGCU made it to the Sweet 16 before falling to eventual national runner-up North Carolina. Senior guard Sherwood Brown had a team-high 24 points and sophomore Bernard Thompson had 23 of his own.
2012: Norfolk State 86, Missouri 84 -- Against one of the most fun Missouri teams in program history, Norfolk State upended the Tigers 86-84. Missouri guard Phil Pressey had a decent look at a game-winning 3-pointer, but it bounced off the back iron and missed.
2012: Lehigh 75, Duke 70 -- The legend of C.J. McCollum was officially born on March 16, 2012, when he led Lehigh to a 75-70 win over Duke. McCollum dropped 30 points and played 39 minutes.
2001: Hampton 58, Iowa State 57 -- A layup from Iowa State's Jamaal Tinsley at the buzzer missed, giving Hampton its first NCAA Tournament win in program history. Pirates star Travis Williams was the hero of the day, as his jumper in the lane in the closing seconds put Hampton on top for good.
1997: Coppin State 78, South Carolina 65 -- Coppin State needed two overtime wins in its conference tournament just to get to March Madness. But it became the third-ever No. 15 seed to oust a No. 2 seed by beating South Carolina 78-65 by outscoring the SEC regular-season champs by 20 in the game's final 13 minutes.
1993: Santa Clara 64, Arizona 61 -- Young guard Steve Nash scored 10 points and had 7 rebounds and 4 assists in Santa Clara's stunning victory over Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson and Arizona. Nash missed a pair of free throws in the final 10 seconds, as did teammate Kevin Dunne, but the Wildcats' potential game-tying 3-pointer just before the buzzer rimmed out.
1991: Richmond 73, Syracuse 69 -- Richmond advanced to its third-ever Round of 32 after defeating Jim Boeheim and Syracuse 73-69. Syracuse was the regular-season Big East champion that year, led by three future first-rounders in Dave Johnson, Billy Owens and LeRon Ellis. Owens missed a 3-pointer as time expired.
