5 First-Round Upsets That Have Destroyed NCAA Brackets

It is no secret that while the NCAA tournament as a whole is riddled with excitement, this year's first round has shown some light on why it is the best round in the entire tournament.

With all the focus on the bigger schools and the rounds occurring after the first weekend, first-round games this year have destroyed brackets in a grander fashion than ever before. 

Friday alone showed exactly how much fun college basketball is come tournament time.  It also showed why now more than ever, predicting the perfect bracket has become impossible unless you fill out one bracket for every single possibility of results.

Here are the top five upsets that have caused fans to throw out their brackets because their chances of winning are all but over.

(8) Iowa State over (9) Connecticut 77-64

Now, this one is not a mathematical upset, but given how many fans were confident in UCONN's ability to pull of the miracle run that they did last year, it can be considered an upset for those who have filled out brackets.

Iowa State came in with the eighth seed, but they were, in reality, the underdog of their own game. 

Throughout the year, Iowa State somewhat shocked the country by becoming one of the most consistently talented teams in the entire country.  With a roster full of transfers that other teams no longer wanted, head coach Fred Hoiberg has taken the roster he was given and focused on winning now, not in the near future.

UCONN came into the tournament having earned a ninth seed even though their spot in the tournament wasn't officially sealed until they pulled off two victories and a close loss to Syracuse in the Big East tournament. With this semi-run, fans and experts alike were giving UCONN the benefit of the doubt by saying, "they made the run last year, why can't they do it again this year?"

Instead, the Cyclones took those predictions to heart and dominated the Huskies for much of the game—at one point holding a 22-point lead. 

Mr. Do Everything Royce White added another double-double for the game, scoring 15 points and hauling in 13 rebounds, giving the UCONN interior fits all game long.

While Shabazz Napier (22 points) and Jeremy Lamb (19 points) did all they could to fight back, the Huskies could not keep up with the rough and tough Cyclones to avoid elimination.

While the game itself should not be considered an upset—since fans like UCONN's odds of winning better than Iowa State's—fans across the country might have been surprised to see their pick go down in the opening round.

(15) Norfolk State over (2) Missouri 86-84

Consider this Kyle O'Quinn's coming out party onto the national stage.

In what turned out to be the first 15th seed over second seed upset of the day, Norfolk State shocked the world by knocking off Big 12 conference champions Missouri. 

Entering the tournament with all the momentum in the world and having confidence in themselves from a great regular season, the Tigers may have come into this game a little big for their britches. 

The Spartans were more than happy to bring them back down to earth, opening the game on a 15-7 run and never losing focus on their way to—what was at the time—the first time a No. 15 upset a No. 2 in over 11 years. 

O'Quinn, for those of you who don't know, only played one full year of high school basketball, which is why this highly talented recruit was completely overlooked by all Division-I teams before Norfolk State managed to pick him up. 

O'Quinn helped give his team the lead for good by grabbing a ball out of the air, going up for two, knocking it down and getting fouled for a three-point play, taking the lead 84-81. He then hit one more free throw a few seconds later to go up four.

Missouri's Phil Pressey hit a three late to go down by one.  Pressey finished the game with 20 points and eight assists, but Tigers senior leader and deep threat Kim English only had two points while being held to 1-7 shooting. 

Another free throw by Spartans' Rodney McCauley hit one more to go up two.  After a Missouri timeout, Pressey threw up a last second three that would have won the game, but it rattled off the rim, giving Norfolk State a huge upset.

Missouri was a sexy pick to make it to the Final Four with all the talent they possess, but O'Quinn's emergence onto the national scene out shined Missouri's great season, which he ended for the Tigers. 

(9) St. Louis over (8) Memphis 61-54

In another case of "the seeds don't determine this upset," Saint Louis took out heavily favored Memphis in order to advance to the third round.

Being the ninth seed, Saint Louis was never given much of a chance to take out NCAA tournament and C-USA powerhouse Memphis, 61-54.

Defense led the way for Saint Louis in their upset, holding the Tigers to only 54 points—a full 20 points lower than their season average of 74 per game. 

Memphis' star player Will Barton was able to manage 16 points, but none of his teammates could muster up more than eight after his output. 

Saint Louis got 22 points from Kwamain Mitchell as well as 19 from Brian Conklin, who also hit five timely free throws to helps seal the game. 

A nine-over-an-eight result is not usually a case for upset territory, but considering all the hype surrounding Memphis and how they could possibly take out Michigan State in the third round, the Billikens made sure the Tigers never got the shot. 

(10) Purdue over (7) Saint Mary's 72-69

Don't call it a comeback.

Robbie Hummel, who has missed most all of the last two seasons due to multiple ACL tears, is proving, once again, why he was one of the best players in the country before those injuries.  This was his first chance to show another high-profile team exactly what we knew a few years ago: The Boilermakers are for real.

Unfortunately, he had to do it against one of the nation's favorite bracket darlings, Saint Mary's. 

All year, the Gaels have been one of those teams that were not only fun to watch, but worked so well as a team they they could take out even the mightiest of schools. 

Saint Mary's came into the game fresh off of a West Coast Conference championship, but had over a full week-and-a-half off before this game, which led to their sloppy and inconsistent play. 

Purdue built up an 11-point lead with over four minutes to go, but almost let it go completely. 

Slowly chipping away at the lead, Jordan Page capped off the Gaels comeback with a three-pointer with 44 seconds to play, getting the deficit down to 66-65. 

Page could not hit a go-ahead three one possession later, and Hummel nailed two free throws to go back up three.  Hummel finished with only 10 points, but the victory alone was enough for him. 

Saint Mary's had a look at a game tying three at the buzzer but couldn't connect, sending the Gaels home earlier than they had hoped in the process.

Saint Mary's could not accomplish all that bracket nuts had hoped.  Many believed they could even knock off the powerful Kansas team in the third round, but never got the chance to prove they could. 

Purdue is far from a slouch team, but few people were willing to go against the grain on a Gaels' tournament run. 

(15) Lehigh over (2) Duke 75-70

The second 15th seed over second seed upset of Friday's action saw the mighty Duke Blue Devils go down in dramatic fashion to the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. 

Lehigh showed great confidence throughout the game, driving into the lane full of Plumlees at will.  Mountain Hawks leading playmaker CJ McCollum, fifth leading scorer in the nation, dropped 30 points on the Blue Devil defense, who had no answers for the quick, effective guard. 

Duke Freshman Austin Rivers was able to get 19 points, but the bursts to the rim we have become so accustomed to seeing throughout the regular season were non-existent against Lehigh, often coming up short of the rim or fading away from the rim on his layup attempts.

Mason Plumlee also got 19 points, but also hauled in 12 rebounds.  Duke was missing Ryan Kelly to a foot injury again for this game. Some believe that he would have made a major difference for Duke had he been healthy enough to play. 

Take nothing away from Lehigh, who battled their way through this game and took all their chances in order to come out victorious. 

Mental lapses by the Duke defense during their comeback attempt, using a full-court press, saw open dunks for the Mountain Hawks, which eventually led to the demise of the talent-laden Blue Devils.

This game alone could stand to be the biggest upset of the entire tournament. 

Much like Norfolk State, Lehigh used their star player to help overcome the odds and knock off the higher seed.  McCollum, for those who have followed him this year, is no stranger to filling up the scoring column and proved so against Duke. 

Lehigh will now go on to face Xavier in the third round.

Predicting the perfect bracket is impossible enough.  But with games such as Lehigh vs. Duke or Norfolk State vs. Missouri, even trying to predict makes the task seem more daunting than fun. 

It's been a great tournament thus far, and the action is just starting to pick up.