The Top 10 Sports Betting Upsets of All-Time

The undermanned Portland Trail Blazers shocked the NBA world on Sunday night by taking down the Minnesota Timberwolves after being listed at the spread at +19.5 pre-game. It is officially the largest moneyline win by an ATS underdog since 1993 when the Mavericks beat the SuperSonics as 19.5-point dogs. If you are a regular Dimers visitor, you would know that our predictive analytics model picked the Blazers at +1400 to win the game on Sunday, but for those of you who missed out, all you can do now is sit and read as we take you back through some of the most improbable shocks with the top 10 sporting upsets of all-time.

NEW FEATURE: Generate your own parlays with the Dimers Parlay Picker

If you haven't already, sign up for DraftKings➡️here⬅️ as you can turn a $5 pre-game moneyline bet on any game into $150 in bonus bets if your team wins. It is by far the best promo out there to bet baseball this Spring.

The Top 10 Sporting Upsets of All-Time

10. Nigeria stun Team USA

Even though the USA men's national basketball team tasted gold for a 16th time at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, it wasn't the usual easy road to begin with.

Opening the campaign with some exhibition games in Las Vegas, almost everyone expected the US - who had held a 52-2 record in exhibitions since 1992 - to walk all over their opponents. That was until Nigeria came along. Despite the Nigerians having seven NBA-listed players on their Olympics roster, they still entered the exhibition with Gregg Popovich's men at +1700 underdog. It didn't matter. As the old saying goes, a champion team beats a team of champions, and the Nigerians took advantage of a USA team still trying to figure things out to run out 90-87 winners.

While the loss was by far the most shocking, it wasn't the only defeat the US suffered, going down to Australia two nights later and again to France in the opening game of the Olympics. Thankfully Team USA was able to rebound, smoking the competition from there on out to exact their revenge on the French in the Gold Medal Game.

MORE: Get the best NBA, MLB and MLS betting information with our Quick Picks page

9. The Nats win two on the road to win the World Series

The Washington Nationals had to do it the hard way to win their first ever World Series in 2019 against the powerhouse Houston Astros.

Entering the playoffs with a modest 93-69 record, the Nats matched up in the World Series with the dominant 107-55 Astros. While Washington raced to a 2-0 lead in the series, they dropped their next three to find themselves just one game away from a Houston title.

The Nationals rallied, though, winning their next two games on the road to beat the Astros and rename the city ‘Title Town’ after the Capitals won the Stanley Cup earlier in 2019.

8. Mississippi State ends UConn’s 111-game winning streak

Not long ago, there was no bigger powerhouse in the world of women's sport than the UConn Huskies women's basketball team Led by Head Coach Geno Auriemma for almost four decades, the Huskies have won a record 11 NCAA Division I titles.

In pursuit of their fifth Division I title in a row in 2017, the ladies from Connecticut headed into their Final Four match up against Mississippi State on a 111-game winning streak. It took a Miss St buzzer beater in overtime to end the streak and complete the biggest upset in women’s sport.

7. The Streak ends at Wrestlemania XXX

Stop. We already know what you’re going to say: “Wrestling is scripted, it’s not a real sport”.

Well, we have a motto here at Dimers: If you can bet on it, it’s a sport. And you can bet on wrestling, so there!

Also, we just wanted an excuse to post this video.

Heading into Wresltemania XXX in 2014, The Undertaker – one of the most iconic characters in WWE history – was on a 21-match winning streak at wrestling’s yearly showpiece extravaganza when he came up against former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Brock Lesnar. There was no chance they would do The Undertaker like that, right? Wrong. Brock Lesnar pulled off the biggest upset in pro wrestling, leaving 75,000 people inside the Superdome in New Orleans with their jaws to the floor.

6. Blocked by James!

As we entered the 2016 NBA Finals legacies were on the line. The Golden State Warriors, having finished the regular season with a 73-9 record - eclipsing Michael Jordan’s 1995/96 Chicago Bulls - were looking to confirm themselves as the best team in history.

Standing in their way was the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James, who himself, was trying to maintain his own legacy as one of the greatest of all-time.

The Cavs came back from a 3-1 deficit to force a Game 7, with Kyrie Irving hitting a clutch 3 in the dying minute to give the Cavs their first NBA title. But it was the James block on Andre Iguodala in the moments before that will live on in the memories of sports fans for life.

5. Leicester City wins the Premier League

European soccer has become an arms race in the last 20 years. With teams owned by Saudi princes and oil barons, getting the chance to see your team experience success is contingent on whether or not your team is owned by someone rich.

That’s why Leicester’s Premier League win in 2016 is so special. Ranked as a 5001/1 (+500000) chance heading into the season, nobody – ABSOLUTELY NOBODY – gave Leicester City a chance of matching it with the likes of Manchester City, Man Utd and Liverpool.

Led by goal scoring machine Jamie Vardy, the Foxes continued to surprise each week, eventually claiming the title with two games to play. This was one for the true underdog!

4. The Dream Team Nightmare

In the Summer of 1992, the US National Basketball Team full of Hall-of-Fame talent dubbed The Dream Team dominated the Men’s Basketball competition at the Barcelona Olympic Games to leave their imprint as the most dominant sports team in history.

But while the record books show that The Dream Team went 8-0 in Olympic competition to claim gold, it was their one and only loss in a scrimmage to a team compiled of NCAA players that places them into this unenviable list of upsets.

Dream Team coach Chuck Daly was rumored to have intentionally thrown the match to teach his players a lesson about complacency. Obviously it worked.

3. The Pats’ imperfection

The New England Patriots are the undisputed kings of pro football. With Bill Belichick at the helm, the Patriots enjoyed 18 consecutive winnings seasons before breaking that streak in 2020, claiming an unprecedented 6 Super Bowl’s in that time.

But it was in 2007/08 that the Pats looked their most formidable. Led by the GOAT, Tom Brady, New England took all before them in the regular season and playoffs, entering SuperBowl XLII with an 18-0 record.

Not much was expected of the wild card winners New York, but the Giants rallied in the fourth to break Pats’ hearts. Eli Manning claiming the first of two Super Bowl rings.

2. Mike Tyson lost to who?!

A bad man by his own admission, Mike Tyson was SCARY in his prime. Tyson, who debuted as a pro boxer in 1985, won his first 37 professional bouts, claiming the WBA, WBC and IBF Heavyweight titles along the way.

It didn’t look like anyone could stop Iron Mike – that was until February 11, 1990 when Tyson met his match in the little-known Buster Douglas.

Douglas went into the bout as a +4000 dog with Tyson expected to make light work of the 30-year-old from Ohio. But Buster came out hard at Tyson and gained the ascendancy in the fight early, eventually stopping him in the 10th round.

1. Miracle on Ice

Whenever a game is anointed with its own name you know it’s a big moment in time, and there was no bigger moment for the USA in 1980 than the Miracle on Ice.

The Soviet Ice Hockey team of the 1960s and 70s were untouchable. Leading up to the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, the Soviets had won gold in five of the previous six Winter Games and entered as heavy favorites to continue their dominance.

The USA team headed to Lake Placid with an inexperienced team full of collegiate players, none of whom had played professionally in the NHL.

When the two teams met in their Final Round match-up, it was believed to be only a matter of time before the Soviet Union would again claim gold.

The match started to script with the Soviets claiming an early lead. The US would fall behind three times throughout the match, tying the score at 3-3 before Mike Eruzione scored the game winning goal. Cue the cheers from the raucous home crowd – U-S-A! U-S-A!

Given the ongoing political tensions between the Americans and Soviets during that time, the victory transcended sports. It wasn’t just a win for the US Ice Hockey Team – it was a win for every single American.