March Madness: UMBC, shocked college basketball world celebrate Fairleigh Dickinson's win over Purdue

Fairleigh Dickinson v Purdue COLUMBUS, OHIO - MARCH 17: Joe Munden Jr. #1 of the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights celebrates after beating the Purdue Boilermakers 63-58 in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 17, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

By Jason Owens, Yahoo Sports

Fairleigh Dickinson, welcome to your place in college basketball history.

For the second time ever on Friday, a No. 16 seed beat a No. 1 seed in the NCAA men's tournament when Fairleigh Dickinson shocked Purdue, 63-58. With the win, the Knights became the biggest underdogs in NCAA tournament history to win and joined 2018 UMBC as the only No. 16 seeds to win a men's tournament game.

And they weren't even supposed to be here. FDU earned its spot in the field via a technicality after losing to Merrimack in the Northeast Conference Tournament championship. But Merrimack wasn't eligible for the NCAA tournament because it's in just its fourth Division I season. So here we are with Fairleigh Dickinson advancing to the second round.

Unreal.

UMBC welcomed Fairleigh Dickinson to the club on Friday while a stunned college basketball world reacted on social media.

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