10 worst fights in college basketball history ft. Ohio State/Minnesota, and more
College basketball can get violent in a hurry. While the sport requires a certain competitive edge, sometimes competition turns into outright fighting.
The last week provided a quick reminder of that, as Texas A&M-Commerce and Incarnate Word players got into a post-game brawl, but that wasn't the first college hoops throwdown, and it won't be the last. Here are some of the biggest:
Ten worst fights in college basketball history
#10 John Chaney/John Calipari, 1994
It didn't involve the full teams or happen on the floor, but after a 1994 Temple/UMass game, things got wild.
Temple coach John Chaney took exception with UMass Coach John Calipari's criticism of referees. Chaney busted into Calipari's press conference, got steadily angrier and eventually thretened to kill Calipari but was held back from assaulting him.
#9 Juwan Howard/Wisconsin, 2022
Michigan coach Juwan Howard took exception to Wisconsin in a 2022 game. The Badgers apparently defended a safe lead a little too strenuously for Howard.
In the post game handshake line, Howard did something between hit, smacked and tapped a UW assistant coach, and it got wilder from there.
#8 Georgetown/Bayi Rockets, 2011
Fights don't even have to arise from serious competition. In an exhibition trip to China, Georgetown and a Chinese team got into a chair-throwing brawl. Suffice it to say that Georgetown didn't earn a gold star for diplomacy after this one.
#7 Mississippi State, 2010
Yes, that's only one team. That's not a mistake. Sometimes the tension turns inward.
Mississipi State fought, well, itself in the stands during a 2010 holiday tournament. Two Bulldogs watching another game suddenly got more than a little animated. Punches were thrown, leaving fans horrified.
#6 Utah Valley vs. New Mexico State, 2014
Sometimes the fights are after the game. That's the case in this one, when an angry New Mexico State player threw the ball at an opponent at the end of the game, sparking an outright brawl.
#5. Wyoming vs. New Mexico, 2007
It's one thing when players get hurt in a fight. But in this one, the biggest victim was a referee, who just got trucked by fighting players. Three players got ejected, but the poor official must have felt like he got a little too close to the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona.
#4 Kansas/Kansas State, 2020
Take a rivalry game. Add a one-sided score. Have a losing player steal the ball in the final seconds and get swatted and then add taunting. And you've got utter chaos.
#3 Baylor/Texas Tech (Women), 2010
Who says that the ladies can't join the party? Baylor Brittney Griner took a hard chuck in the post, gathered herself and threw a right hand punch to the defender's face.
This one was less a brawl: give the ladies credit that once Griner went Mike Tyson, they cleared out. But it's an ugly fight and a reminder that rage knows no gender limitation.
#2 Cincinnati/Xavier, 2011
Take what you know about basketball fights and multiply it. A push becomes a shove, and a shove turns into a punch. And you end up with a floor full of guys throwing haymakers at each other. This one was so bad they just called the game at this point.
#1 Ohio State/Minnesota, 1972
There's always a myth that misbehavior is some sort of modern consequence. In the old days, people respected authority and similar tropes, but it's not true.
Back in 1972, Minnesota tackled an Ohio State scorer. The fouling player then helped him up and kneed the injured Buckeye in the groin. It only got worse from there.
Any other fights you would single out? Let us hear about it in the comment section below.