Until Lehigh found a way to defeat Duke University in Friday night’s first round of the NCAA tournament, the last three teams to knock off a 2 seed during the first round all hailed from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). Coppin State, Hampton, and Norfolk State. Who would have ever guessed?
Lehigh, though, pulled off what is easily the greatest upset in all of college basketball when it comes to the NCAA Tournament.
Yeah, yeah, I know. You are probably going to remind me that Gardner-Webb, a member of the Big South defeated my Kentucky Wildcats during the 2008-09 season. However, I’ll tell that that game was during the regular season and due to the pathetic coaching of one Billy Gillispie.
Lehigh, a member of the Patriot League, joins Bucknell in pulling of some shocking first round upsets. Bucknell, if you recall, upset Kansas in the first round of the 2005 tournament. Bradley, in 2006, did the same but they are a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. Another MVC team did so in 2010 but that was in the second round.
The story here is not just the mere fact that Lehigh pulled off an upset against Duke in the first round. It’s that they pulled it off in the state of North Carolina. Greensboro, no less?
As I have said time and time again, you cannot script March. But seeing Duke go down in the first or second round is something that brings joy to my heart. I’ve been hating that university since March 28, 1992, and nothing will ever change the way I feel about Duke.
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