Ranking the Best Cinderella Runs in March Madness History

We are a few days away from the start of the best sporting event of the year…March Madness. One of, if not the best things about March Madness is the Cinderella runs we fans get to watch and cheer for. Below is a list of the top Cinderella runs since 2000. 

*Seed numbers highlighted green*

1. 15 St. Peter’s Peacocks (2022)

Led by Doug Edert, the Peacocks made a name for themselves early on after taking down Blue Blood Kentucky in the first round. A couple of days later they took down a 30-win Murray State team to move on to the Sweet 16. In a tight game against the Boilermakers, St. Peters completed another upset as they took down Purdue 67-64. The Cinderella run would end in the Elite 8 as UNC coasted by with a 20-point win. St. Peter’s became the highest seed to ever make the Elite 8 and had almost the entirety of fans rooting for them to keep the run alive. 

2. 8 Butler Bulldogs (2011)

The Bulldogs suffered a heartbreaker the year before after losing to Duke in the championship game by two points. Butler returned to the big stage the following year in a tournament that saw an incredible amount of upsets (No 1 or 2 seeds in the Final Four). They had a tough path to the Final Four having to take down the 9 seed, 1 seed, 4 seed, and 2 seed in their region before facing off against another Cinderella run in 11 seed VCU. Butler took down VCU, but once again could not get the job done in the championship against UConn. 

3. 11 UCLA Bruins (2021)

The Bruins started their run in the play-in game after taking down Michigan State 86-80. After that, they beat their next three opponents by 10+ points each round (6 seed, 14 seed, 2 seed). They had their toughest game yet in the Elite 8 against number 1 Michigan but were able to squeak out a 51-49 win in a defensive showdown. The undefeated Gonzaga Bulldogs awaited them in the Final Four for an all-time classic. Gonzaga’s Drew Timme took a charge in the dying seconds of regulation to keep the game tied to send it to OT. Later on in overtime and down by two, UCLA’s tournament hero Johnny Juzang put back his own miss to tie the game up with only a few seconds remaining. Just when everyone thought the game was heading to double OT Jalen Suggs nailed a half-court game-winner to send UCLA packing. 

4. 8 North Carolina (2022)

UNC was an 8 seed in 2021 but got sent home early after getting blown out in the first round by Wisconsin. The following year would be much different. North Carolina handled Marquette convincingly in the first round and then had a dance with the defending champions in the second round. UNC was in control the entire game and it looked like they would cruise past Bayor, but the Bears mounted a huge second-half comeback to take the game into OT. However, the comeback attempt would fall just short as the Tar Heels escaped with a win. They went on to beat a dangerous UCLA team in the Sweet 16 and St. Peters in the Elite 8 before squaring off with their rivals in the Final Four, Duke. In another Blue Devils/Tar Heels classic, the game came down to the last minute where UNC’s Caleb Love drilled a dagger three to send North Carolina back to the Natty. The Cinderella run would fall just short after UNC choked a 16-point lead to Kansas in the finals. 

5. 11 VCU (2011)

As I mentioned before 2011 was a hell of a year for college basketball. VCU, like UCLA, started their tournament by winning a play-in game. They then rattled off two straight dominant 18-point wins over 6-seed Georgetown and 3-seed Purdue. After barely beating 10-seed Florida State, they upset 1-seed Kansas before facing off against another Cinderella run, Butler. 

Honorable Mentions 

2018 Loyola Chicago

2013 Florida Gulf Coast

2008 Davidson

2014 Kentucky

2006 George Mason

2016 Syracuse 

2023 Princeton 

2021 Oral Roberts

2023 FAU