The 1980 USA Men's Ice Hockey Team

10 Biggest Upsets in Sports History

Also known as "Miracle on Ice," the 1980 USA Men's Olympic ice hockey team was the overwhelming underdog going into a medal-round game against the dominant USSR. The Soviets were a team of tradition and experience, while Herb Brooks put together a team of college players and no-names. Entering the third period down 3-2, the Americans scored two unanswered goals to stun the Soviets, 5-3. The U.S. went on to defeat Finland for the gold medal. (AP Photo)

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Underdogs Get Th... By Cassidy Taylor, XFINITY Sports

American sports history is full of heartbreak, triumph, and surprises. Some of the best moments occur when absolutely no one expects them.

These have proven that it’s not always talent that wins, that sometimes it's the size of the fight in the dog that produces the biggest upsets in sports history. (AP Photos)
New York Jets, S... The Baltimore Colts were the overwhelming favorite for Super Bowl III in 1969, but Jets quarterback Joe Namath had a different opinion. Going into the game, Namath announced that his team would win the matchup. Nobody believed him. The Jets were from the inferior AFL. The Colts were from the big, bad NFL. Namath made good on his promise as the Jets took the game, 16-7, and expedited the AFL/NFL merger. (AP Photo)

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The '69 New York... In 1969, the New York Mets, a franchise that had never experienced a winning season, faced the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. With one of the sturdiest pitching rotations in MLB, the Orioles believed they’d be able to easily take out the lesser-equipped Mets. Going down in history as the “Miracle Mets,” New York ended up taking the series, 4-1. (AP Photo)

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The 1980 USA Men... Also known as "Miracle on Ice," the 1980 USA Men's Olympic ice hockey team was the overwhelming underdog going into a medal-round game against the dominant USSR. The Soviets were a team of tradition and experience, while Herb Brooks put together a team of college players and no-names. Entering the third period down 3-2, the Americans scored two unanswered goals to stun the Soviets, 5-3. The U.S. went on to defeat Finland for the gold medal. (AP Photo)

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Villanova Wildca... The Wildcats were a No. 8 seed in the 1985 NCAA Tournament. They made the championship game against the No. 1-seeded Georgetown Hoyas and star center Patrick Ewing. Villanova was believed to have no chance, but the Wildcats shot 79 percent and beat the Hoyas, 66-64, to upset the best team in the country. (AP Photo/Gary Landers)

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Eighth-Seeded '9... No. 8 seed Denver faced the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics in the 1994 NBA playoffs. Down 2-0 in the series, Dikembe Mutombo came up huge for the Nuggets to upset Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp and the Sonics. Denver took the final three games of the best-of-five series to advance to the second round. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

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Patriots Win Sup... Due to injury, the Patriots replaced starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe in Week 2 with a kid by the name of Tom Brady. That season, Brady took the team into the NFL playoffs and all the way to the Super Bowl, where they faced Kurt Warner and the St. Louis Rams. The Patriots, led by Brady and a stingy defense, defeated the very heavily-favored Rams, 20-17. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

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Red Sox Rally fr... The Boston Red Sox had not won a World Series since 1918 - until 2004. They swept the Anaheim Angels after entering the postseason as the AL Wild Card, setting themselves up for a rematch with their AL East rivals New York Yankees. Down 3-0 in the series, the Red Sox fought back and ended up taking the series 4-3 from the Bombers. Boston crushed the Yankees in Game 7, in Yankee Stadium, to close out the series. The Red Sox finished their run by winning the World Series over the St. Louis Cardinals. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

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Cardinals Come O... The 2011 St. Louis Cardinals were 10 games out of first place in late August, yet managed to make the playoffs. They stunned the Phillies in the wild-card round, beat the Brewers in the divisional series and faced the Texas Rangers in the World Series. The series is remembered most for two things: Albert Pujols’ historic three home runs in Game 3 and the Cardinals’ relentless fight to stay alive in Game 6. Erasing two two-run deficits in the both the bottom of the ninth and 10th innings, St. Louis outlasted the Rangers. A walk-off home run by David Freese in the 11th sent the series to a Game 7, where the Cardinals won the game and the world championship. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

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No. 8 Seed Los A... The L.A. Kings were a dominant force in the 2012 quest for Lord Stanley. Given the No. 8 seed in the West, the Kings proceeded to defeat No. 1 seed and President’s Trophy recipient Vancouver. From there the Kings took off, defeating the Blues, Coyotes, and finally the Devils to win the Stanley Cup. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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USA Men's Soccer... The United States had not won on Mexico’s turf in 75 years, and they had a putrid 0-23-1 record during that time. That was until the Americans brough a young, fiesty squad to the Azteca and Michael Orozco Fiscal scored in the 80th minute for a 1-0 win on August 15, 2012. The U.S. was outplayed, but Orozco Fiscal’s unanswered goal gave the American’s their first ever win in Mexico over the rival El Tri. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

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