Key Takeaways
- This list ranks the 10 biggest sports upsets of 2026 so far, spotlighting how unpredictable the year has been across major events.
- It highlights shock results like Sean Strickland reclaiming the UFC middleweight belt over Khamzat Chimaev, High Point stunning Wisconsin, and Iowa knocking out defending NCAA champion Florida.
- The piece spans the NFL, NBA, NHL, March Madness, the Winter Olympics, tennis, and more, showing how favorites from the Eagles to Jannik Sinner have already been toppled in 2026.
Sports remains king when it comes to unpredictability.
No Hollywood writer can come up with anything that compares to some of sports’ greatest upsets.
We are only halfway through the 2026 calendar, but there’s already been a year’s worth of stunning upsets in the sports world. We sifted through the NFL Playoffs, the Winter Olympics, March Madness, huge UFC events, the NBA Playoffs, the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the early stages of the World Cup, and much more to compile the 10 Biggest Sports Upsets of 2026. . . So Far.
Texas Longhorns over Gonzaga Bulldogs
Date: March 21
On paper, it looked like a mismatch. No. 11-seeded Texas, with its mediocre 20-14 record, going up against No. 3 seeded Gonzaga, with its sparkling 31-3 mark. The Longhorns, however, had great momentum heading into this game as they beat NC State, 68-66, in the First Four, and then toppled AJ Dybantsa and BYU, 79-71, in the first round. The Zags, who were a -6.5 favorite, led by eight points at one point in the first half but Texas stormed back and owned a 35-33 lead by halftime. Graham Ike’s dunk with 40 seconds left pulled Gonzaga within one, but Camden Heide’s dagger 3 with 14.7 seconds left ultimately lifed Texas to the upset victory.
Anaheim Mighty Ducks over Edmonton Oilers
Date: April 30
Few people were giving the Anaheim Ducks a chance in their first round series against the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers had the man that is regarded as the best hockey player in the world in Connor McDavid, and they were coming off of two straight appearances in the Stanley Cup Final. The Ducks, meanwhile, were playing in their first playoff series since 2018. The Oilers took Game 1 over the Ducks, 4-3, but then lost three straight games to go down, 3-1. Edmonton staved off elimination in Game 5 with a 4-1 win at home, but were then blasted, 5-2, in Anaheim in Game 6. The Ducks were a +190 underdog heading into the series.
San Francisco 49ers over Philadelphia Eagles
Date: January 11
In the words of the “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, “to be the man, you gotta beat the man.” During the 2025-26 NFL season, “The Man” was the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. While the 49ers had the better regular season record at 12-5, San Francisco was on the road against the NFC East champion Eagles. San Fran entered as a +6 underdog. San Francisco was also reeling from a brutal Week 18 loss to the Seahawks a week earlier, which dropped the Niners from a potential 1 seed all the way down to a 6 seed. In this Wild Card clash, Philly held a 16-10 lead going into the fourth quarter. But Niners WR Jauan Jennings found Christian McCaffrey for a 29-yard TD pass on a trick play right out of the gate in the fourth to put San Fran up, 17-16. McCaffrey would then score the winning touchdown with 2:54 left when he caught a 4-yard TD strike from Brock Purdy. The Niners prevailed, 23-19, ousting the defending champs.
South Carolina over UConn
Date: April 3
UConn entered this game with extreme confidence, having blown out the Gamecocks, 82-59, in the previous season’s National Title game. Oh, and the Huskies were riding an incredible 54-game winning streak into the 2026 Final Four meeting. UConn led, 26-24, at halftime but South Carolina’s smothering defense held Geno Auriemma’s squad to just 13 points in the third quarter and 9 points in the fourth quarter. South Carolina would emerge with a 62-48 victory and there were plenty of fireworks in the closing seconds as Auriemma controversially chastised South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley. Auriemma later apologized for his actions.
Ilia Malinin Fails to Medal
Date: Feb. 13
Nicknamed the “Quad God” for his unmatched ability to execute sensational quadruple jumps, Ilia Malinin was set to have his crowning moment in the Milano Cortina Olympic games on Friday, Feb. 13. This Friday the 13th proved to be a nightmare for Malinin, however, as he fell twice during the free skate, and downgraded many of his planned moves. One of those planned moves was his patented quadruple axel, but he dropped midair to a single axel. “The nerves just were so overwhelming, and especially going into that starting post, I just felt like all the traumatic moments of my life really just started flooding my head … and I just did not handle it,” Malinin said after leaving the ice. Malinin had not lost a major competition since 2023, and was a whopping -10000 to win individual gold. He did not even medal, finishing in eighth place. Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan won gold.
Phildelphia 76ers Come Back From 3-1
Date: May 2
No teams in history have met more in the NBA Playoffs than the 76ers and Celtics, but the “rivalry” had been completely lopsided in favor of Boston over the past 44 years. The Sixers had lost six consecutive series’ and hadn’t beaten the C’s in a series since 1982, heading into this year’s matchup. The No.2-seeded Celtics jumped out to a 3-1 series lead, including a 123-91 beatdown of Philly in Game 1 and a 128-96 throttling in Game 4. Boston was a -11.5 favorite to close things out in Game 5. The Celtics had no answers for Joel Embiid (33 points) in Game 5, however, or for Tyrese Maxey (30 points) in Game 6. Embiid and Maxey then combined for 64 points in Game 7 in Boston to shock the Celtics, 109-100, and swipe the series.
Iowa over Florida
Date: March 22
Every reigning NCAA National Champion carries a certain amount of aura. Todd Golden’s crew certainly had that mystique intact heading into the 2026 Big Dance, and thoughts of back-to-back titles were in the forecast. Iowa, a 9 seed and a +10.5 underdog to the No.1-seeded Gators, was not intimidated in the least. The Hawkeyes raced out to a 33-31 halftime lead, blew a 12-point cushion in the second half, but remained steady enough to make it close in the final minutes. Alvaro Folgueiras delivered in the clutch for Iowa as his 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds remaining gave the Hawkeyes a 73-72 victory. Iowa was the first No. 9 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in eight years.
Sean Strickland over Khamzat Chimaev
Date: May 9
Sean Strickland talked plenty of trash to Khamzat Chimaev in the weeks leading up to their co-main event fight at UFC 328, but the American more than backed it up. Chimaev, a heavy +425 underdog heading into the match, took Strickland down to the canvas just 15 seconds in. Strickland did not allow the fight to get away from him, though, as he landed some strikes against Chimaev in the second round. The following three rounds were a jab-fest and the result was left in the hands of the judges, who narrowly scored a win for Strickland. Two judges scored it 48-47 in favor of Strickland, and one scored it 48-47 for Chimaev. With the split-decision victory, Strickland won the middleweight belt for the second time.
High Point over Wisconsin
Date: March 19
We can always expect to see some college basketball on this list, as March Madness is always a lock to deliver the upset goods. This game gave fans across the country some instant magic, as it tipped off at 1:50 p.m. on Thursday on the East Coast, and was one of the first games played in the Big Dance. No. 12-seeded High Point, which is located in basketball-loving North Carolina, came in as a +10.5 underdog to No. 5-seeded Wisconsin. The Purple Panthers were down just 2 to the Badgers at halftime, and the conclusion of the contest was frenzied. High Point guard Chase Johnston proved to be the hero as his fast-break layup with 11.7 seconds remaining gave the Purple Panthers the 83-82 lead and victory. Incredibly, it was Johnston’s first 2-point field goal of the entire season, as the senior was a noted 3-point specialist.
Juan Manuel Cerúndolo over Jannik Sinner
Date: May 28
Jannik Sinner entered his second round match at the French Open against Juan Manuel Cerundolo on a 30-match winning streak, having last tasted defeat in January, a five-set loss to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the Australian Open. Since then, he’d won five Masters 1000 tournaments (Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome) and reclaimed the number one ranking from Carlos Alcaraz, who was missing Roland Garros with a wrist injury. He was primed for his first French Open when he ran into his toughest opponent: Mother Nature. Sinner, a -50000 favorite, wilted in the Parisian sun against Cerundolo, the no. 56 ranked player in the world, after taking a two sets to love lead and being one game away from victory. But the Italian succumbed to the heat. Suffering from dizziness and cramps, Sinner went on to lose 15 straight points and 18-of-20 games and Cerundolo shockingly won the match in five sets (3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1).
