Best Upset ESPY Award

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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 sports leagues in the United States and Canada 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.

Contents

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, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 or 2024; however, an award was presented in 2019.

List of winners

Year of
award
Game or eventDate(s)Competition or leagueSportWinnerLoserScore 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 Division I men's 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 Division I men's basketball tournament second round March 20, 2010 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Basketball Northern Iowa Panthers Kansas Jayhawks 69–67
2011 2011 NCAA Division I men's 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 Division I men's 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 Division I men's basketball tournament Midwest Regional 2nd Round March 21, 2014National College Athletic Association Division IBasketball Mercer Bears Duke Blue Devils 78–71
2015 Regular season Southeastern Conference gameOctober 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, 2019Various 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
2021 Not awarded

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">ESPY Awards</span> Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards Event

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References

  1. "Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki win at ESPYs". ESPN.com . July 13, 2011. Retrieved July 14, 2011.