U Must Be Cinderella!: Inside College Basketball's Greatest Upset Ever and the Audacious School That Pulled It Off

by Kevin Cowherd

Many call it the biggest upset in sports history. Bigger than the Jets over the Colts in Super Bowl III. Bigger than the U.S. hockey team's "Miracle on Ice" win over the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics. Bigger than Buster Douglas's stunning KO of Mike Tyson 10 years later. When little-known UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) takes the floor against mighty Virginia in the first round of the 2018 NCAA men's basketball tournament, the whole world knows the Retrievers will lose. They're 20 1/2-point underdogs. ESPN's Power Basketball Index gives them a 1.5 per cent chance of winning. They're a lowly 16-seed going against the overall no. 1-seed. And a 16 has never beaten a 1. Never, ever. Yet on a magical weekend in Charlotte, N.C., the odds go up in flames. March Madness hits a whole new level. This is the dramatic story of the singular team that made bracket-busting history and thrilled a nation, and the school that headline writers and social media pundits were now calling - devoid of irony - "U MUST BE CINDERELLA!"

256 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2021

About the author

Kevin Cowherd has been a writer for the Baltimore Sun since 1987, is nationally syndicated by the Los Angeles Time - Washington Post news service, and is the author of Last Call at the 7-Eleven, a book of selected writings published by Bancroft Press.

In 1990 he was honored by the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors for excellence in feature writing. He currently writes a sports column and blog for the Baltimore Sun.

He is also a humorist, and an experienced Little League coach. He lives with his wife and three children near Baltimore.