March Madness 2023: UMBC, college basketball planet react to Fairleigh Dickinson’s amazing upset more than Purdue

Getty Photos

March Madness undoubtedly lived up to its name on Friday evening. No. 16 seed FDU pulled off a amazing upset of No. 1 seed Purdue, generating the Knights only the second group in NCAA Tournament history to win a 16-1 matchup. 

The win was practically not possible to predict on several fronts: No. 16 seeds had been 1-150 in 1st-round matchups getting into Friday FDU is the nation’s shortest average team, according to KenPom, whilst Purdue is the tallest as 23.five-point underdogs, the Knights had been in line to make the greatest upset in tournament history with a win and if the point necessary any far more exemplifying, FDU’s victory eliminated all the remaining great men’s brackets at CBS Sports. 

FDU, in reality, was fortunate to even get to the Large Dance. The Knights lost the NEC title game to Merrimack, but because Merrimack is transitioning to Division I, it was ineligible for the NCAA Tournament, therefore awarding the conference’s automatic to FDU. The Knights had been listed as the No. 68 all round seed — the final group in the field. 

The Knights’ historic win comes 5 years soon after UMBC became the 1st group to win a 16-vs.-1 matchup. UMBC beat Virginia as a 20.five-point underdog in that game.

Alternatively of getting bitter about FDU stealing its spotlight, UMBC celebrated the fellow underdog’s win whilst issuing a friendly reminder for fans to be civil toward Purdue: 

The March Madness account was all for the FDU-UMBC connection, as was FDU … 

Chris Extended, a former NFL defensive finish and Virginia alum, deemed FDU’s win a purpose for fans to cease trash speaking his Cavaliers — Purdue fans, in unique … 

CBS Sports pointed out that FDU coach Tobin Anderson had an thought this win was probable days ago …  

Right here are some other reactions from the Twitterverse …