What are the biggest long shots to have reached the Final Four?

Las Vegas Review-Journal

9 months ago

North Carolina State's DJ Burns Jr. (30) dumps confetti on head coach Kevin Keatts following an ... — North Carolina State’s DJ Burns Jr. (30) dumps confetti on head coach Kevin Keatts following an Elite Eight college basketball game against Duke in the NCAA Tournament in Dallas, Sunday, March 31, 2024. N.C. State’s men’s basketball team is in the Final Four for the first time since 1983, while the Wolfpack women are in the Final Four for the first time since 1998. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

Butler players hold up the Southeast Regional Championship Trophy after their NCAA Southeast regional college basketball championship game against Butler Saturday, March 26, 2011, in New Orleans. Butler won 74-71 to advance to the Final Four. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall reacts during the first half of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball semifinal game against Louisville Saturday, April 6, 2013, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Loyola-Chicago guard Ben Richardson holds the net after a regional final NCAA college basketball tournament game against Kansas State, Saturday, March 24, 2018, in Atlanta. Loyola-Chicago won 78-62. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Virginia Commonwealth’s team raises the Southwest regional trophy after the finals of the NCAA college basketball game against Kansas, Sunday, March 27, 2011, in San Antonio. VCU won 71-61. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

A Caesars Sportsbook bettor turned $400 into $24,000 on Saturday after winning a wager on North Carolina State to win the NCAA Tournament’s South Regional.

The 11th-seeded Wolfpack had 60-1 odds to reach their first Final Four since 1983. N.C. State is one of the five biggest long shots since 2010 to reach the national semifinals, according to sportsoddshistory.com.

The Wolfpack had to win five games in five days to claim the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title and earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. N.C. State, led by big man DJ Burns Jr., then eliminated Texas Tech, outlasted Oakland in overtime and upset Marquette and Duke to set up a Final Four matchup against No. 1 seed Purdue.

Here are the four other biggest long shots since 2010 to reach the national semifinals:

2011 Butler, 66-1

The Bulldogs, coached by Brad Stevens, were the first team to reach back-to-back Final Fours without being a No. 1 or No. 2 seed either year. They were the third No. 8 seed to reach the national championship game and the first since Villanova in 1985.

Butler beat No. 11 seed Virginia Commonwealth, the longest shot on this list, 70-62 in the Final Four to advance to the title game. The Bulldogs lost 53-41 to Connecticut.

2013 Wichita State, 66-1

The Shockers received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after losing the championship game of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. The No. 9 seed beat No. 1 seed Gonzaga to advance to the Sweet 16 and eliminated Ohio State in the regional finals to advance to the Final Four, where it lost to No. 2 seed Louisville.

2018 Loyola Chicago, 70-1

Loyola’s run to its first Final Four since 1963 made the team’s then-98-year-old chaplain Sister Jean a national media darling. The Ramblers, a No. 11 seed, upset Miami in the first round on a last-second 3-pointer. They beat No. 3 seed Tennessee to advance to the Sweet 16, then beat UNR and Kansas State to advance to the national semifinals. Their improbable run ended with a loss to Michigan in the Final Four.

2011 Virginia Commonwealth, 125-1

Virginia Commonwealth, led by coach Shaka Smart, was the third No. 11 seed to advance to the Final Four. The Rams were also the first team that played in the First Four to make it to the Final Four. UCLA made a similar run 10 years later. Virginia Commonwealth, which received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after losing the championship game of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament, was eliminated by Butler in the national semifinals.

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Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.