Michigan State’s Loss Busts Everyone’s March Madness Brackets

As usual, sports pundits predicted that March Madness upsets would be few and far between this year. And as usual, they were wrong.

In the latest bracket-busting move, on Friday No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders beat the No. 2 seed Michigan State Spartans—a team many predicted would win it all this year. The 90-81 loss was a shock to MSU fans and haters alike: The Spartans had one of the best players of the year in Denzel Valentine and soon-to-be-hall-of-famer coach Tom Izzo as their coach. Even President Obama had them making the Final Four.

It’s one of the biggest March Madness upsets of all time. Fifteen-seeds have taken down two-seeds only eight times in tournament history. ESPN reported that only six of 13 million brackets in ESPN’s Bracket Challenge are still perfect.

Even those who were betting against the Spartans haven’t fared well in the first two days of tournament play. No. 13 Hawaii knocked out No. 4 California; No. 12 Little Rock upset No. 5 Purdue; No. 12 Yale beat No. 5 Baylor; No. 11 Gonzaga beat No. 6 Seton Hall; No. 11 Wichita Stae took down No. 6 Arizona; No. 10 Syracuse took out No. 7 Dayton; and No. 10 VCU won against No. 7 Oregon State.