Chaminade Shocked Top-Ranked Virginia On Second Day Before Christmas

Two days before Christmas is the anniversary of a "David vs. Goliath" game hailed as one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history when national player of the year Ralph Sampson and Virginia got coal in their stocking by losing at Chaminade, 77-72, in Hawaii in 1982-83. The contest triggered one of the greatest achievements in small-college history as Chaminade went on to defeat an NCAA Division I school winning at least one NCAA playoff game in three consecutive campaigns. Following is a chronological list of victories by small schools over major universities going on to win at least one NCAA playoff game that season:

Small College NCAA Playoff Team (Record) Score
Georgetown College (KY) Louisville (19-12 in 1958-59) 84-78
St. Mary's (TX) Houston (25-5 in 1969-70) 76-66
Chaminade (Hawaii) Virginia (29-5 in 1982-83) 77-72
Chaminade (Hawaii) Louisville (24-11 in 1983-84) 83-72
Chaminade (Hawaii) Southern Methodist (23-10 in 1984-85) 71-70
Alaska-Anchorage Michigan (30-7 in 1988-89) 70-66
UC Riverside Iowa (23-10 in 1988-89) 110-92
Alaska-Anchorage Wake Forest (21-12 in 1993-94) 70-68
American-Puerto Rico Arkansas (24-9 in 1997-98) 64-59
Bethel (IN) Valparaiso (23-10 in 1997-98) 85-75
Elizabeth City State (NC) Norfolk State (26-10 in 2011-12) 69-57

NOTES: Michigan '89 became NCAA champion and Louisville '59 reached the Final Four. . . . UC Riverside subsequently moved up to the NCAA Division I level in 2000-01.

Oakland, which nearly upset #1 Michigan State prior to Christmas two years ago, almost joined Chaminade and Northern Iowa among the following list of seven nationally unranked non-DI or mid-major schools in the last 50 years upsetting the nation's top-ranked team from a power conference then or now (DePaul only university in this #1 category losing at home to mid-major):

Season Date Power-League Member Ranked No. 1 Score Upsetting Non-Power League Team Unranked Opponent's Coach
1980-81 1-10-81 DePaul 63-62 Old Dominion Paul Webb
1982-83 12-24-82 Virginia 77-72 at Chaminade (Hawaii) Merv Lopes
1987-88 1-2-88 Arizona 61-59 at New Mexico Gary Colson
1995-96 12-22-95 Kansas 74-66 Temple in OT at East Rutherford, NJ John Chaney
2011-12 11-26-11 North Carolina 90-80 at UNLV Dave Rice
2012-13 12-15-12 Indiana 88-86 Butler in OT at Indianapolis Brad Stevens
2015-16 11-21-15 North Carolina 71-67 at Northern Iowa Ben Jacobson

Virginia's Terry Holland was among many of the biggest names in college coaching history recovering from embarrassing defeats certainly not cited on their otherwise mostly-regal resumes. For instance, there are numerous mentors who captured NCAA championships despite losing to a small school at some point during their careers - Phog Allen (lost to Emporia State), Jim Calhoun (American International, Assumption, Brandeis, Bridgeport, Florida Southern, Merrimack, St. Anselm, Stonehill and Tufts), John Calipari (Florida Tech and Lowell), Denny Crum (Chaminade), Jim Harrick (Abilene Christian), Don Haskins (Louisiana College), Hank Iba (Abilene Christian and Westminster), George Ireland (Regis), Doggie Julian (Amherst, Colby, St. Anselm, St. Michael's, Springfield, Tampa and Williams), Mike Krzyzewski (King's, Scranton and SUNY-Buffalo), Rollie Massimino (New Orleans and Philadelphia Textile), Al McGuire (Evansville and Washington MO), Rick Pitino (Adelphi), Nolan Richardson Jr. (American-Puerto Rico), Norman Sloan (Presbyterian), John Thompson Jr. (Assumption, Gannon, Randolph-Macon and Roanoke) and Jim Valvano (Armstrong State, Bloomsburg, Gannon, Tampa and Wilkes).

Kansas' Bill Self lost 18 consecutive contests bridging the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons with Oral Roberts but at least he didn't lose a decision to a non-Division I institution. The following alphabetical list "retraces steps" of prominent coaches who lost games to non-Division I colleges during their major-college careers: