The MAAC's Biggest Wins

Saint Peter's is in the Sweet Sixteen!  Who saw that one coming?!  I sure didn't.  But as a MAAC guy, I absolutely love it!  Those of us who know and love the MAAC know how good and competitive a league it is.  Unfortunately, the rest of the country doesn't always get to see it.  Which is why an unexpected March Madness run by a MAAC school is such a wonderful thing!

Every once in a while, there are flashes.  The Marist women's dynasty was frequently ranked in the Top 25, and Monmouth sure got the nation's attention a few years ago when it should've gotten an at-large bid but didn't.  That would've been the third at-large bid for a MAAC men's team, joining the 1993 Manhattan Jaspers and 2012 Iona Gaels.  There have also been MAAC women's teams that have gotten at-large bids, most recently Fairfield in 2001.

This isn't the first time a MAAC team has made it to the Sweet Sixteen, either.  While Saint Peter's is the first men's team to do it, it's happened three times on the women's side (twice by Marist, once by Quinnipiac).  

As someone who's been involved with the conference in one way or another for more than 20 years, I feel so much #MAACPride every time somebody goes on a run and makes everyone else take notice.  That's why I was losing my mind the other night as Saint Peter's was beating Kentucky!  Usually, just keeping it competitive with a blue blood in the NCAA Tournament is cause for celebration.  The thought of beating Kentucky is, well, I'm not even sure that is a thought that entered the minds of too many.

While it had been a while since a MAAC team won an NCAA Tournament game, it's not like it hasn't ever happened before.  In fact, including the two wins by Saint Peter's this season, MAAC men's teams now have nine NCAA Tournament victories (six in the tournament proper, three in the First Four).  Throw in nine wins by MAAC women's teams, and that's a pretty solid showing for a mid-major conference that's typically a one-bid league.

But not all wins are created equal.  So, which one would truly be considered the signature win (or moment) for the conference?  When you started reading this, you had to know I was working my way towards a Top 10 list of some sort.  So here it goes...

10. 1989: La Salle (W) over UConn-The MAAC's first-ever NCAA Tournament win came courtesy of a school that hasn't been a member of the league since 1992, hence this game being ranked so low.  Although, maybe it should be higher based simply on who La Salle beat, even if UConn wasn't UConn yet.  Don't worry, things worked out OK for them after that loss.

9. 1990: La Salle (M) over Southern Miss-La Salle was really good in the late 80s!  They had All-American Lionel Simmons and won three straight MAAC titles from 1988-90.  The 1989-90 team was by far the best.  They were ranked for most of the season and had a 22-game winning streak.  La Salle got a 4-seed, so their first round win over Southern Miss wasn't an upset.  But I'm including it because that 1989-90 La Salle team is still probably the best one in MAAC history.

8. 2012: Marist (W) over Georgia-Marist was an NCAA Tournament regular during this stretch and had beaten Iowa State in the first round a year earlier.  This one was different, though.  It wasn't just that they won.  It was how they won.  They completely dominated a Georgia team that was 22-8 and finished third in the SEC.

7. 2008: Siena (M) over Vanderbilt-You wanna talk about a dominant win by a 13th-seeded MAAC team?  I give you Siena-Vanderbilt in 2008.  This was the first of three straight tournament appearances by the Saints, who were coached at the time by current Iowa Head Coach Fran McCaffrey.  Against Vanderbilt, they never trailed.  Siena blew them out, 83-62.

6. 2004: Manhattan (M) over Florida-In 2003, Luis Flores and the Jaspers were the first victim of Carmelo Anthony, Gerry McNamara and Co. on Syracuse's march to the National Championship.  In 2004, they drew a Florida team that had been ranked No. 1 earlier in the season.  So what?  Manhattan was clearly the better team that day, knocking off Billy Donovan's Gators 75-60.

5. 2017: Quinnipiac (W) over Marquette & Miami-Quinnipiac's Sweet Sixteen run started with a really good 5-12 game against Marquette.  The Bobcats ended up winning by three, 68-65.  Two days later, they played Miami...on the Hurricanes' home court.  Their second upset might've been even more impressive.  Quinnipiac won 85-78 to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.  As a 12-seed.

4. 2009: Siena (M) over Ohio State-It might've been the best game of the entire 2009 NCAA Tournament.  Siena and Ohio State played a double overtime thriller in the 8-9 game, where the winner would go on to face No. 1 overall seed Louisville.  Ohio State actually missed a shot at the buzzer that would've sent it to a third OT.  Siena gave Louisville quite a game in the second round, too, only losing that one by seven.

3. 2007: Marist (W) over Ohio State & Middle Tennessee-Marist's era of dominance in the MAAC was still in its infancy when the Red Foxes went on a Cinderella run to the Sweet Sixteen, becoming the first team from the conference (men or women) to get that far.  First, they upset fourth-seeded Ohio State, defeating THE Buckeyes 67-63.  Then, against fifth-seeded Middle Tennessee, the result was never really in doubt.  Marist won by 14.  Their Sweet Sixteen opponent was Candace Parker and Tennessee, which would go on to win the first of back-to-back National Championships, so the run ended there.  So what?  Because that run was something else!

2. 1995: Manhattan (M) over Oklahoma-No, I don't have this one ranked No. 2 simply because of my affiliation with Manhattan!  I have it ranked this high because of what it means.  Manhattan got an at-large bid, the first in MAAC history.  It obviously surprised a lot of people, and there were, of course, the haters who said they shouldn't be in.  Well, they certainly did deserve to be there.  With a 10-point win over the No. 4 seed, they proved the committee right on that one.

1. 2022: Saint Peter's (M) over Kentucky & Murray State-I didn't want to get caught up in recency bias and put Saint Peter's No. 1 simply because it just happened.  But then I thought about it some more and two things stood out to make me change my mind.  No. 1, Saint Peter's is a 15-seed!  No. 2, Kentucky isn't just Kentucky, they were considered a legitimate favorite for the National Championship.  Then when they went wire-to-wire against Murray State to become the MAAC's first-ever Sweet Sixteen team on the men's side, it made the decision even easier.  Run Baby Run!