FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Quiz about Sports Flashes in the Pan
Quiz about Sports Flashes in the Pan

Sports Flashes in the Pan Trivia Quiz


The sports world has had many one-hit wonders, schools or individuals who achieved unexpected victories or short term success before receding to their normal level of performances. See how many of these teams and individuals you remember.

A multiple-choice quiz by SixShutouts66. Estimated time: 6 mins.
  1. Home
  2. »
  3. Quizzes
  4. »
  5. Sports Trivia
  6. »
  7. Wide World of Sports
  8. »
  9. Sports Upsets

Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
386,183
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
188
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. America experienced a slow and sometimes painful integration of sports after World War II. One of the landmark events in this struggle was the victory of a little-known school starting a lineup of five African American basketball players in the 1966 NCAA finals against Kentucky. What was the name of this school, which changed its name a year later? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Another small western school, nicknamed the Chieftains, played Kentucky in the 1958 NCAA championship game. The team was led by Elgin Baylor, who had been recruited out of Washington D.C. to play football and basketball at Idaho. After one year at Idaho he moved further west to this school to lead its basketball program. What is this school, which had a few more years of relative success, but eventually dropped to a lower competitive division for several years? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Many smaller schools dropped football after World War II for financial reasons. One of these schools, led by superstar Ollie Matson, went out in a blaze of glory. It finished the 1951 season with a record of 9-0 and received an invitation to play in the prestigious Orange Bowl. Even though the proceeds of this game could have kept the program alive, the team voted not to play because its black players would not be allowed to take part. What was this school (which later achieved championships in another sport)? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. American college football teams sometimes schedule their first game of the season aginst a weak lower division school to allow them to work out kinks. Every once in a while one of the supposedly weaker teams, often called cupcakes, rises up to beat the stronger squad. In 2007, perennial power Michigan lost in the last second to a southern university most people had never heard of. What was this school? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. For one day this young unknown American Oglala Sioux Indian, born Makata Taka Hela, was the best long distance runner in the world. In the 10,000 meter run at the 1964 Olympics he ran 50 seconds faster than he had ever run before to capture the gold medal over the best runners in the world. By what name do we know him as? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. This small college won the first three American women's basketball championships in 1972 through 1974. In fact it was one of the final four teams in five of the first six years of the tournament. As women's sports grew, bigger schools started to play and this school could no longer compete at this level. What was this college? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. During the late 1950s through the 1980s this southern university was a track and field powerhouse in the US. Led by coach Ed Temple, it produced over 40 Olympians who earned 13 gold medals in track and field. The women's team, known as the Tigerbelles, included champions Wilma Rudolph, Wyomia Tyus, and Chandra Cheeseborough. Long jumper Ralph Boston was the foremost athlete on the men's team. What was this school? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. This golfer won only one PGA tournament in his career that included 266 tournament entries. But what a victory it was: the U.S. Open in 1969. After this victory he labored for another 14 years without another win and finished second only five times. (In fairness he did have more success when he was old enough to play in the Senior tournaments). Who was he? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. This English football club, under the direction of Brian Clough, was one of the the most successful European teams in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It won one league championship and three European-level trophies. At the end of Clough's tenure this team was relegated from the top division and went on to struggle to gain a position in the top league, at times falling to the third highest league. What team is this? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. This American university was one of the elite college football teams in the early 1900s. It was coached by the legendary Amos Alonzo Stagg and one of its players, Jay Berwanger, won the initial Heisman Trophy in 1935. Soon afterwards the school dropped football to emphasize its academics. What school was this? Hint



(Optional) Create a Free FunTrivia ID to save the points you are about to earn:

arrow Select a User ID:
arrow Choose a Password:
arrow Your Email:




Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. America experienced a slow and sometimes painful integration of sports after World War II. One of the landmark events in this struggle was the victory of a little-known school starting a lineup of five African American basketball players in the 1966 NCAA finals against Kentucky. What was the name of this school, which changed its name a year later?

Answer: Texas Western

Texas Western was located in El Paso Texas, and eventually changed its name to the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP). It played in one of the lower-ranked basketball conferences in 1965 and was expected to lose fairly early in the NCAA tournament. It was quite fortunate to reach the final playoff game, defeating Cincinnati in overtime and Kansas in double overtime games.

Besides the racial overtones of the final game, it also was the classic battle of the underdog against the blueblood powerhouse of Kentucky.

The Kentucky coach, Adolph Rupp, also had a reputation for racial intolerance; and the defeat was especially galling to him.
2. Another small western school, nicknamed the Chieftains, played Kentucky in the 1958 NCAA championship game. The team was led by Elgin Baylor, who had been recruited out of Washington D.C. to play football and basketball at Idaho. After one year at Idaho he moved further west to this school to lead its basketball program. What is this school, which had a few more years of relative success, but eventually dropped to a lower competitive division for several years?

Answer: Seattle University

The Seattle University basketball program was a well regarded program for about 15 years. It had achieved minor notoriety by defeating the Harlem Globetrotters in an exhibition game. It became a national power with the arrival of Elgin Baylor for several years. The combination's last prominent appearance on the national stage occurred when it handed eventual 1966 national champion Texas Western its only loss. The school dropped the basketball program to a lower division in 1980 for financial reasons and returned in 2001.

Elgin Baylor left school to play for the struggling Minneapolis Lakers in the NBA. The team's owner, Bob Short, credited Baylor and his exciting play as the reason that the franchise was able to survive financially. The Lakers would soon move to Los Angeles and add other Hall of Fame stars (Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem, Shaq, Kobe, Magic Johnson) to become a longtime NBA powerhouse.
3. Many smaller schools dropped football after World War II for financial reasons. One of these schools, led by superstar Ollie Matson, went out in a blaze of glory. It finished the 1951 season with a record of 9-0 and received an invitation to play in the prestigious Orange Bowl. Even though the proceeds of this game could have kept the program alive, the team voted not to play because its black players would not be allowed to take part. What was this school (which later achieved championships in another sport)?

Answer: San Francisco

The 1951 San Francisco team had three future pro football Hall of Fame players (Matson, Gino Marchetti, and Bob St Clair). The bowl invitation would be extended only if the two black players on the team (Matson and Burl Tover) would stay home, but the players and school refused this condition. Later USF would win two NCAA basketball championships, led by Bill Russell and KC Jones.
4. American college football teams sometimes schedule their first game of the season aginst a weak lower division school to allow them to work out kinks. Every once in a while one of the supposedly weaker teams, often called cupcakes, rises up to beat the stronger squad. In 2007, perennial power Michigan lost in the last second to a southern university most people had never heard of. What was this school?

Answer: Appalachian State

Appalachian State was a Division II powerhouse, having won three national championships at that level. However, casual fans hadn't heard of them and expected Michigan to rout them. Michigan fell behind, but seemed to have pulled out a hard-earned victory when they kicked a late field goal to take a lead of 32-31. Appalachian State then raced the length of the field to retake the lead 34-32 with a field goal with only 26 seconds left.

Not to be outdone, Michigan quickly moved the ball and attempted a potential game-winning field on the final play of the game, however that kick was blocked.
5. For one day this young unknown American Oglala Sioux Indian, born Makata Taka Hela, was the best long distance runner in the world. In the 10,000 meter run at the 1964 Olympics he ran 50 seconds faster than he had ever run before to capture the gold medal over the best runners in the world. By what name do we know him as?

Answer: Billy Mills

Gerry Lindgren was the other US runner in this race and was more well-known due to his stirring duel earlier in the US-Russia track meet. Billy White Wolf was the name of a professional wrestler in the late 1970s (despite his "Indian" name, he was born in Iraq). Chief Thunderthud was a character in the old children's show Howdy Doody.

Mills grew up on a reservation in South Dakota, was orphaned at age 12, and attended Haskell Indian Institute and the University of Kansas. He was the second American Indian to win an Olympic gold medal (after Jim Thorpe), but never reached this level of greatness again.
6. This small college won the first three American women's basketball championships in 1972 through 1974. In fact it was one of the final four teams in five of the first six years of the tournament. As women's sports grew, bigger schools started to play and this school could no longer compete at this level. What was this college?

Answer: Immaculata College

The women's basketball tournament was under the aegis of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). Immaculata was a small Roman Catholic College for women in Philadelphia. The movie "The Mighty Macs" told the story of their success in the pioneering age of women's sports. The coach of this team Cathy Rush has been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Marianne Stanley and Teresa Grentz both played for the Mighty Macs and later had successful coaching careers.

The Mighty Macs played in the first televised game of women's basketball against the University of Maryland.
7. During the late 1950s through the 1980s this southern university was a track and field powerhouse in the US. Led by coach Ed Temple, it produced over 40 Olympians who earned 13 gold medals in track and field. The women's team, known as the Tigerbelles, included champions Wilma Rudolph, Wyomia Tyus, and Chandra Cheeseborough. Long jumper Ralph Boston was the foremost athlete on the men's team. What was this school?

Answer: Tennessee State

Tennessee State was established as a college for African American students during the era of segregation. Coach Temple built a national track and field power during his tenure by coaching some of the most talented sprinters of that generation. His retirement and integration at major universities weakened the track team at Tennessee State. However, the school is still regarded as a strong regional football team, producing noted pros Richard Dent, Joe Gilliam, Too Tall Jones, and Dominque Cromartie-Rogers.

The most famous alum of TSU is none of the previous-named athletes. It's one of the most influential women in America, Oprah Winfrey.
8. This golfer won only one PGA tournament in his career that included 266 tournament entries. But what a victory it was: the U.S. Open in 1969. After this victory he labored for another 14 years without another win and finished second only five times. (In fairness he did have more success when he was old enough to play in the Senior tournaments). Who was he?

Answer: Orville Moody

Moody had served in the US Army for a number of years before starting his professional golf career in 1967 at age 34. He won the US Open by one stroke at the Cypress Creek Course in Houston two years later. At age 50 he joined the senior tour and had much more success, winning several tourneys at that level. But he only had the one victory at the PGA level.
9. This English football club, under the direction of Brian Clough, was one of the the most successful European teams in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It won one league championship and three European-level trophies. At the end of Clough's tenure this team was relegated from the top division and went on to struggle to gain a position in the top league, at times falling to the third highest league. What team is this?

Answer: Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest had had some success before Clough's arrival. It had won the FA Cup twice, but was generally regarded as an underachieving, mediocre team. After Clough arrived, Forest finished third in the Second Division and was promoted to the First Division (top league at that time).

The next year it won the league championship, one of the rare times that a newly-promoted squad has achieved that feat. The squad won back-to-back European Cups in 1978 and 1979 and the European Super Cup in 1979.
10. This American university was one of the elite college football teams in the early 1900s. It was coached by the legendary Amos Alonzo Stagg and one of its players, Jay Berwanger, won the initial Heisman Trophy in 1935. Soon afterwards the school dropped football to emphasize its academics. What school was this?

Answer: University of Chicago

The Chicago Maroons were a national power from 1892-1939, when its president dropped athletics to focus on its academic mission. During its heyday Chicago claimed two national championships and seven Big-10 conference championships. It produced legendary coaches Stagg, Fritz Crisler (Michigan), Jesse Harper (Notre Dame), and Clark Shaughnessy (creation of the T formation).

The football stadium, Stagg Field, still had a role to play in U.S. history. The first nuclear reactor was created by Enrico Fermi under what had been the west viewing stands of the stadium.
Source: Author SixShutouts66

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Fifiona81 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
3/28/2024, Copyright 2024 FunTrivia, Inc. - Report an Error / Contact Us