Chess team no longer the most famous program at UMBC after NCAA tournament stunner

Thomas O'Toole | USA TODAY Sports

Show Caption Hide Caption UMBC pulls off upset for the ages, takes down No. 1 Virginia SportsPulse: In a history making stunner, No. 16 seed Maryland Baltimore County upsets No. 1 seed UVA in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

So you are waking up this morning and wondering what in the name of James Naismith just happened in the NCAA tournament?

A No. 16 men’s seed finally beat a No. 1, the University of Maryland-Baltimore County of the America East Conference, 74-54 over Virginia of the ACC.

More: UMBC stuns Virginia to make NCAA tournament history as first No. 16 seed beat No. 1 seed

More: NCAA's top March Madness moments

So now you are wondering what exactly is a UMBC. Well, let’s start with chess. The school is known for its chess legacy.

The chess program has won a record 10 Pan-American Intercollegiate championships and six National Collegiate team chess championships. Although, according to The Washington Post, it ended a streak of 16 consecutive years in the collegiate final four in December 2015.

Other fun facts about UMBC:

• The school sponsors seven men’s and eight women’s NCAA programs (chess is not an NCAA sport). It does not sponsor football.

• The basketball team had played in the Retriever Activities Center (RAC) Arena, which opened in 1973 as the UMBC Fieldhouse. Now, the team plays in the new, 5,000 seat on-campus UMBC Event Center, which hosted its first game on Feb. 3.

• According to the America East website, UMBC has three former basketball players in professional leagues: one each in England, Germany and the Czech Republic.

• UMBC is located outside the Baltimore beltway with a fall 2017 enrollment of 13,662 (undergraduate 11,234, graduate 2,428, full-time 10,669, part-time 2,993, male 7,446, female 6,216), according to its website. The 2017-18 tuition, room and board and fees: Resident Tuition $11,264, Non-Resident Tuition $24,492, Room & Board $11,836.

• The athletic teams’ mascot is not just Retrievers but Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, and the colors are black and gold.

• The school president is Freeman A. Hrabowski, III. His research and publications focus on science and math education, with special emphasis on minority participation and performance.

• UMBC is part of the University of Maryland system and, in fact, lost to the Maryland Terps, 66-45, in December. Maryland did not make the NCAA tournament.

• Famous alumni include actress Kathleen Turner and Dan Patrick — not that Dan Patrick but the Dan Patrick who is Lt. Gov. of Texas.

• Want to watch their next men’s basketball game: It is Sunday against ninth-seeded Kansas State on truTV, after the conclusion of the 5:15 p.m. North Carolina-Texas A&M game.