Ranking the Top 10 Sports Cinderellas of All Time

The Indiana Hoosiers entered the 2025 college football season with a level of expectation unseen across their decades of futility. But even after they finished 11-2 in their first year under head coach Curt Cignetti in 2024, a national championship run still felt out of reach. After all, they entered the season as +10000 to win the title, well behind preseason favorite Ohio State (+450).

By the time the Hoosiers wrapped up a 13-0 regular season, it was clear that college football's biggest Cinderella story in years had transformed into the nation's most dominant team. Three victories later, it was official.

However, Indiana's unforeseen rise was far from the biggest Cinderella story in sports history. Take a look at where that Hoosiers team ranks among the top Cinderellas ever.

Honorable Mentions

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1991 Minnesota Twins

College Sports

1984 BYU football
1987-88 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball
1997-98 Arkansas Razorbacks women's basketball
2005-06 George Mason Patriots men's basketball
2007 Boise State football
2017 UCF Knights football
2017-18 Loyola-Chicago Ramblers men's basketball
2017-18 UMBC Ramblers men's basketball
2022-23 Florida Atlantic Owls men's basketball

MLB

1960 Pittsburgh Pirates
1991 Minnesota Twins
2002 Anaheim Angels
2003 Florida Marlins
2008 Tampa Bay Rays
2014 Kansas City Royals

NBA

1974-75 Golden State Warriors
1977-78 Washington Bullets
1993-94 Denver Nuggets
1998-99 New York Knicks
2006-07 Golden State Warriors
2022-23 Miami Heat

NFL

1980 Oakland Raiders
2005 Pittsburgh Steelers
2007 New York Giants

NHL

2005-06 Edmonton Oilers
2011-12 Los Angeles Kings
2018-19 St. Louis Blues

OTHER NOTABLE CINDERELLAS

Greece (Euro 2004)
Emma Raducanu (2011 U.S. Open Tennis)

10. 2001 New England Patriots (NFL)

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Patriots QB Tom Brady

The Setup: In March 2001, Drew Bledsoe signed a 10-year, $103 million extension with the New England Patriots, which made him one of the NFL's highest-paid players. Despite his status as one of the league's top quarterbacks, the Patriots had still finished 5-11 in 2000, and it looked like things might hit rock bottom when Bledsoe suffered a life-threatening internal chest injury during a Week 2 loss the following season.

The Cinderella Run: With Bledsoe sidelined indefinitely, the Patriots turned to 24-year-old Tom Brady to take over at quarterback. Brady was just one year removed from being a sixth-round pick in the 2000 draft.

In hindsight, it was the start of an all-time great legacy, but the Patriots had been +7000 to win the Super Bowl even with their Pro Bowl quarterback. Now they were turning to a complete unknown.

Brady went 11-3 as a starter in Bledsoe's absence, and the Patriots capped off their improbable run as 14-point underdogs against the "Greatest Show on Turf" St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. They won 20-17 on an Adam Vinatieri field goal as time expired to cement an all-time Cinderella run.

9. 2021-22 Saint Peter's Peacocks (Men's College Basketball)

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St. Peter's guard Doug Edert

The Setup: With an enrollment of around 3,000 students and a home attendance average of 546 fans during the regular season, Saint Peter's was the classic automatic-bid afterthought heading into the 2022 NCAA tournament. In fact, they didn't even win the MAAC regular-season title. They finished second to Rick Pitino's Iona squad while going 19-11.

The Cinderella Run: The Peacocks were the talk of the opening round when they upset blue-blood Kentucky in overtime as a No. 15 seed. Mustachioed guard Doug Edert became an immediate internet sensation after pouring in 20 points off the bench.

That alone would have ranked as one of the biggest upsets in tournament history, but Saint Peter's added victories over No. 7 seed Murray State and No. 3 seed Purdue to become the first No. 15 seed to reach the Elite Eight. The Peacocks ultimately fell to North Carolina in that round, but a great Cinderella story doesn't always have to end with confetti and a shiny trophy.

The Peacocks proved that during the 2022 NCAA tournament.

8. 2025 Indiana Hoosiers (College Football)

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Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza

The Setup: The Indiana Hoosiers had the most losses of any college football program in history when Curt Cignetti took over as head coach prior to the 2024 season. They had never had a 10-win campaign. They had not won an outright Big Ten title since 1945. They had a losing record in 14 of their last 16 seasons.

Even after vaulting to an 11-2 record in Cignetti's first year on the job, they were still 100-to-1 to win the national championship heading into 2025.

The Cinderella Run: After a 5-0 start in which they outscored the opposition by a 239-48 margin, the Hoosiers were still just No. 7 in the AP poll heading into a high-profile road game against No. 3 Oregon. A 30-20 win in that game galvanized them as a legitimate title contender.

By season's end, they were the first 16-0 team since the 1894 Yale Bulldogs after beating Ohio State in the Big Ten championship and Alabama, Oregon and Miami in the College Football Playoff. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy on the strength of a 3,535-yard, 41-touchdown campaign, and Cignetti had completed one of the greatest turnarounds in sports history.

7. 1999 St. Louis Rams (NFL)

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Rams QB Kurt Warner

The Setup: The St. Louis Rams went 4-12 during the 1998 season and had not finished with a winning record since 1989. There was some optimism heading into the 1999 season when quarterback Trent Green joined the team on a four-year, $17.5 million deal in free agency, but that was quickly snuffed out when he suffered a torn ACL in the preseason.

They were +15000 to win the Super Bowl when Week 1 arrived.

The Cinderella Run: In some ways, the 1999 Rams are the NFL equivalent of the 2025 Indiana Hoosiers. They started the season as long-shot title contenders but ultimately morphed into a juggernaut once they got rolling.

Quarterback Kurt Warner, who had never started an NFL game, emerged from obscurity to win MVP while throwing for 4,353 yards and 41 touchdowns. A high-powered offense dubbed "The Greatest Show on Turf" that also included Marshall Faulk, Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce led them to a 13-3 record during the regular season.

The Rams finished the job in a 23-16 thriller over the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV.

6. 1969 New York Mets (MLB)

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Mets pitcher Jerry Koosman and catcher Jerry Grote

The Setup: The New York Mets lost 120 games in their expansion season in 1962 and averaged 108 losses over their first six years as a franchise. They took a modest step forward to a 73-89 record in 1968, but they still finished ninth out of 10 teams in the NL standings.

Young pitchers Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Nolan Ryan provided hope for the future, but they entered 1969 still viewed as being several years away from viable championship contention.

The Cinderella Run: A 62-51 record on Aug. 13 represented a massive leap forward for the Mets, but that still left them 10 games behind the Chicago Cubs in the NL East race.

They went 38-11 the rest of the way, sprinting past a collapsing Cubs team to finish 100-62 and win the NL East by eight games. The "Miracle Mets" swept the Atlanta Braves in the NLCS and needed just five games to defeat a loaded Baltimore Orioles team that would win it all the following year in the World Series.

5. 1982-83 NC State Wolfpack (Men's College Basketball)

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NC State head coach Jim Valvano

The Setup: With a 17-10 record during the regular season, NC State likely would have been on the outside looking in for a spot in the 1983 NCAA tournament had they not secured an automatic bid by running the table in the ACC tournament.

That included an overtime victory against No. 5-ranked North Carolina and Michael Jordan in the semifinals and an 81-78 win against No. 2-ranked Virginia and three-time National Player of the Year Ralph Sampson in the title game.

The Cinderella Run: Even with their impressive run through the ACC tournament, the Wolfpack still had to settle for a No. 6 seed in March Madness. The "Cardiac Pack" would trail in the final minutes of seven different games during their postseason run, including overtime in their first-round matchup with Pepperdine.

They were significant underdogs in the championship game against No. 1 Houston and the famed "Phi Slama Jama" squad led by Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, but came away with a 54-52 victory. The image of Lorenzo Charles dunking home the last-second buzzer-beater and head coach Jimmy Valvano sprinting around the court in celebration will play during every March Madness for eternity.

4. 1968 New York Jets (NFL)

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Jets QB Joe Namath

The Setup: The AFL and NFL announced a planned merger on June 6, 1966, but the two leagues would continue to play separate schedules until the 1970 season when they fully unified. To bridge the gap, the Super Bowl was created to crown a champion at the end of the year.

After decisive victories by the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl I (35-10) and Super Bowl II (33-14), the AFL quickly earned a reputation as the inferior league.

The Cinderella Run: The New York Jets were multi-touchdown underdogs heading into Super Bowl III against the Baltimore Colts when quarterback Joe Namath famously declared: "We're gonna win the game. I guarantee it."

Then "Broadway Joe" delivered, with some help from a defense that recorded four interceptions, and the Jets came away with an improbable 16-7 victory. The AFL was legitimized, and the impending merger reshaped the NFL forever.

3. 1984-85 Villanova Wildcats (Men's College Basketball)

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Georgetown center Patrick Ewing attempts a dunk in the national title game.

The Setup: In the first year of the expanded 64-team NCAA tournament format, the 1984-85 Villanova Wildcats slipped into the field as a No. 8 seed. They went 19-10 during the regular season to finish fourth in a loaded Big East, but they went a combined 0-5 against conference heavyweights Georgetown and St. John's.

The Cinderella Run: The Wildcats won their first three NCAA tournament games by a combined nine points, including a 59-55 upset of No. 1 seed Michigan, before upending Brad Daugherty, Kenny Smith and North Carolina to reach the Final Four.

The upsets kept coming with a 52-45 win against No. 2 seed Memphis to set up a national championship game showdown with conference rival Georgetown and star Patrick Ewing. The Wildcats played their best game of the season on the biggest stage, shooting 22-of-28 from the floor and missing just one shot after halftime.

With its 66-64 victory, Villanova remains the lowest-seeded team ever to win the NCAA tournament.

2. 2015-16 Leicester City (Premier League)

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Jamie Vardy and Danny Drinkwater of Leiceister City

The Setup: Leicester City returned to the Premier League for the 2014-15 season after a 10-year hiatus, but they spent much of the season hovering around the relegation cut line.

A late surge helped them finish 14th in the standings, but there was little reason for future optimism. They entered the 2015-16 season as staggering 5,000-to-1 long shots to win the Premier League.

The Cinderella Run: With a 13-1-6 start to the season, Leicester City became the first team in Premier League history to be in last place on Christmas one year and first place on Christmas the following year.

Led by Jamie Vardy (24 goals, 11-match goal streak), they maintained that unexpected hot start into the new year. And on May 2, 2016, they officially completed one of the most unlikely Cinderella runs in sports history by clinching the Premier League title.

Note: Leicester City's stunning Cinderella run was also No. 1 on B/R's "Ranking the Greatest Sports Turnarounds This Century" article, which can be read in its entirety here.

1. 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey

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The 1980 U.S. men's Olympic hockey team

The Setup: With an average age of under 22 years old and a roster made up of amateur and collegiate players, the U.S. men's hockey team was largely an afterthought heading into the 1980 Olympics.

They had finished fifth at the 1976 Games, while the powerhouse Soviet Union was seeking its fifth straight gold medal. A lopsided 10-3 win for the USSR in an exhibition against the U.S. just days before the Olympics further highlighted the perceived gap.

The Cinderella Run: Playing on home ice in Lake Placid, New York, the Americans opened with a 2-2 tie against Sweden before winning four straight to advance to the final round along with Sweden, Finland and the heavily favored Soviet Union.

Playing against the backdrop of the Cold War, the U.S. team trailed 3-2 heading into the third period. Mark Johnson tied things up with his second goal of the game on a power play before Mike Eruzione completed perhaps the most unlikely upset in U.S. sports history with the game-winning goal.

A victory over Finland two days later secured the gold medal, but it's the upset of the Soviet Union that will forever be remembered as the "Miracle on Ice" thanks to Al Michaels' famous call: "Do you believe in miracles? YES!"