Best Upset ESPY Award
The Best Upset ESPY Award was conferred once each in 2004 and 2005 annually from 2007 until 2017 and again in 2019 to the team in a regular season or playoff game or series contested professionally under the auspices of one of the four major North American leagues or collegiately under the auspices of the National Collegiate Athletic Association adjudged to have completed the best, most significant, or most impressive upset in a given calendar year.
In 2004, award selections were made by fans voting over the Internet or at relevant sporting events from among choices determined by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters, ESPN personalities, and retired sportspersons, whilst since 2005 voting has been undertaken by fans exclusively over the Internet from among choices determined by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee. The ESPY Awards ceremony is conducted in July and awards conferred reflect performance and achievement over the twelve months previous to presentation.
There was no award presented in 2018 or 2020; however, an award was presented in 2019.
List of winners
Year of award |
Game or event | Date(s) | Competition or league | Sport | Winner | Loser | Score or result | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | 2004 NBA Finals | June 6, 2004 – June 15, 2004 | National Basketball Association | Basketball | Detroit Pistons | Los Angeles Lakers | Four games to one in best-of-seven-game series | |
2005 | 2005 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament first round | March 18, 2005 | National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I | Basketball | Bucknell Bison | Kansas Jayhawks | 64–63 | |
2006 | Not awarded | |||||||
2007 | 2007 NBA Playoffs, Western Conference first round | April 22, 2007 – May 3, 2007 | National Basketball Association | Basketball | Golden State Warriors | Dallas Mavericks | Four games to two in best-of-seven-game series | |
2008 | Super Bowl XLII | February 3, 2008 | National Football League | American football | New York Giants | New England Patriots | 17–14 | |
2009 | 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup semifinal | June 24, 2009 | Fédération internationale de football association (FIFA) | Soccer | United States men's national soccer team | Spain men's national soccer team | 2–0 | |
2010 | 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament second round | March 20, 2010 | National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I | Basketball | Northern Iowa Panthers | Kansas Jayhawks | 69–67 | |
2011 | 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Southwest Regional Final[1] | March 27, 2011 | National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I | Basketball | Virginia Commonwealth Rams | Kansas Jayhawks | 71–61 | |
2012 | 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs | June 12, 2012 | National Hockey League | Ice hockey | Los Angeles Kings | Vancouver Canucks St. Louis Blues Phoenix Coyotes |
Defeated the top 3 seeds in the Western Conference to reach the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals as a #8 seed (Los Angeles later defeated the New Jersey Devils in six games to win the Stanley Cup) | |
2013 | 2013 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament South Regional 2nd Round | March 22, 2013 | National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I | Basketball | Florida Gulf Coast Eagles | Georgetown Hoyas | 78–68 | |
2014 | 2014 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional 2nd Round | March 21, 2014 | National College Athletic Association Division I | Basketball | Mercer Bears | Duke Blue Devils | 78–71 | |
2015 | Regular season Southeastern Conference game | October 4, 2014 | National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I | College football | Ole Miss Rebels | Alabama Crimson Tide | 23–17 | |
2016 | UFC 193 | November 14, 2015 (US time) | Ultimate Fighting Championship | Mixed martial arts | Holly Holm | Ronda Rousey | Holm knocked out the previously-undefeated Rousey in the second round of their bout to win the UFC women's bantamweight championship | |
2017 | 2017 NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four | March 31, 2017 | NCAA Division I | College basketball | Mississippi State Bulldogs | Connecticut Huskies | Morgan William hit a pull-up jumper as time expired in overtime to give the Bulldogs a 66–64 win over UConn in the national semifinals, ending the Huskies' 111-game winning streak, the longest such streak by any men's or women's team in college basketball history. | |
2018 | Not awarded | |||||||
2019 | Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz Jr. | June 1, 2019 | Various organizations | Boxing | Andy Ruiz Jr. | Anthony Joshua | Ruiz knocked out the previously-undefeated Joshua in the seventh round to win the WBA, IBF, WBO, and International Boxing Organization heavyweight titles. | |
2020 | Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic |
See also
- Sports underdog
References
- "Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki win at ESPYs". ESPN.com. July 13, 2011. Retrieved July 14, 2011.
- Enumeration of past winners from HickokSports.com at the Library of Congress Web Archives (archived 2002-02-23)