LongLiveMilesTarver
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1990- Loyola-Marymount 149, Michigan 115: Just the most entertaining basketball game you could ever watch. Jeff Fryer was amazing. LMU was playing their hearts out due to the death of Hank Gathers. If you prefer a close game- Duke 79, UCONN 78 OT- Christian Laettner I. Honorable mention can go to the Gophers-Georgia Tech in an incredibly entertaining game. Coming up short precludes me from giving it the nod.
1991- Duke 79, UNLV 77: the biggest upset I've ever witnessed. I can't even begin to describe how shocking it was that undefeated Vegas was in a close game. For me, there is not even a comparable game in any sport outside of the Miracle on Ice. Both teams were just loaded and UNLV was rolling everyone.
1992- Duke 104, Kentucky 103 OT: (note: I am not a Duke fan, but I think this is a gimme). Some have called this the greatest game in NCAA history. Laettner II. A perfect 10-10 from the field and 10-10 from the line, but heroic performances all the way around.
1993- Michigan 81, Kentucky 78 OT: Kentucky was throttling everybody and Michigan, of course, had the Fab Five. I remember Kentucky hitting a bunch of threes and pressing like the early Pitino teams did, but Michigan somehow survived and advanced to the Finals.
1994- Missouri 98, Syracuse 88 OT: Huge games from Adrian Autry and one of my personal favorites Lawrence Moten were not enough as Missouri's well-balanced starting five outlasted the Orangemen.
1995- Old Dominion 89, Villanova 81 3 OT. Villanova had shots to win at the end of regulation and the first two overtimes but could not convert despite multiple attempts. Just a thriller.
1996- Syracuse 83, Georgia 81 OT. My heart says to pick Princeton defeating UCLA since that was a contrast in basically everything in life, but John Wallace's heroics were too much to pass over. Lost in the frantic final twenty seconds of OT (in which the lead see-sawed three times) was Jason Cipolla's clutch base line shot to send the game into OT.
1997- Minnesota 90, Clemson 84 2 OT. Duh, what did you think I was going to choose. The single most exciting Gophers game I've ever watched. From our hot start, to blowing the lead, to Tom Wideman's half-time tip in that shouldn't have counted, to Greg Buckner sending the game into OT, the game still comes down to two words- Bobby Jackson.
1998- Kentucky 86, Duke 84. Kentucky gets revenge on Duke with an epic comeback punctuated by Scott Padgett's three. I really hate listing all these Duke and Kentucky games...
1999- Gonzaga 73, Florida 72. Gonzaga's Cinderella season continues as they oust the Gators on Casey Calvary's put back with 4.4 seconds remaining.
2000- Kentucky 85, St. Bonaventure 80 2 OT- I honestly remember very little about this entire tournament but I do remember Tayshaun Prince coming up big for Kentucky. One of the worst tournament's of my lifetime, in my opinion.
2001- Duke 95, Maryland 84- Another ridiculous comeback. Jason Williams hit the key three in this game to give Duke their first lead.
2002- Indiana 74, Duke 73- Leading by 4, Indiana inexplicably fouled Jason Williams as he made a three point shot with 4.2 seconds remaining. The best part of this sequence was watching Hoosier coach Mike Davis having a meltdown on the sidelines. He would make it through, however, as Williams missed the potential game tying free throw and then Carlos Boozer couldn't win it off the rebound.
2003- Arizona 96, Gonzaga 95 2 OT-A flurry of shots in the final 20 seconds fell out for Gonzaga after a loose ball that went out of bounds was initially ruled Arizona's ball and then without the aid of replay reversed to Gonzaga ball.
2004- UCONN 79, Duke 78- For all intents and purposes this semifinal game was the real championship game as Duke and UCONN were the best teams. Emeka Okafor shook off early foul trouble and a rather sub par game to just dominate the final two minutes of the game to end Duke's season.
2005- West Virginia 111, Wake Forest 105 2 OT: There were so many good games in this tournament that it was tough to pick one game. This was entertaining for so many reasons. For much of the nation it was really the coming out party of John Beilein's Mountaineer team featuring Pittsnogle and Gansey. Wake had Chris Paul and Eric Williams and it was just a ridiculous game all the way through. Like I said, I could have chosen a half dozen other games with no argument. This was one of the best tournaments, in my opinion.
2006- UCLA 73, Gonzaga 71. Another tournament with really good games, but this one will undoubtedly be remembered for Adam Morrison's sobbing after J.P. Batista got the ball stolen from him and UCLA took the lead after an epic comeback.
2007- Georgetown 96, North Carolina 84 OT: Don't let the final score deceive you; this was a great game. UNC went ice cold during the final few minutes of regulation and overtime after an incredibly hot start.
2008- Western Kentucky 101, Drake 99 OT: This one is for all the mid-major lovers! The Hilltoppers stormed out to a first half lead, Drake came back and then WKU won it on a buzzer beating three from Ty Rogers. This was a very well played game throughout, but will probably always remain underrated due to its participants and the fact that this was a first round game.
2009- Villanova 78, Pitt 76. A very back and forth game where the winner was a buzzer beater from senior Scottie Reynolds. Pitt was led by Sam Young and DeJuan Blair's big games.
2010- Northern Iowa 69, Kansas 67: The tournament is about a good upset and that's why I picked this game over Kansas St-Xavier. You just kept waiting for Kansas to take control of the game and go on a run that would end UNI's dreams but it never happened. When it looked like it might Ali Farokhmanesh pulled up and instead of running clock launched a deep three pointer... that went down.
2011- Florida 83, BYU 74. Jimmer tried to will his team to victory but it was not happening as the deeper and more talented Gators finally prevailed in OT. The highlight of the game was Fredette pulling up and sinking transition threes late in the second half, each deeper than the last.
2012- Kentucky 102, Indiana 90: For much of the game it looked like Indiana would be able to run with Kentucky, but the Wildcats eventually pulled away in the second half.
2013- Michigan 87, Kansas 85 OT: Michigan furiously comes back late in the second half punctuated by Trey Burke's DEEP three pointer.
2014- Kentucky 78, Wichita State 76: This was one of the more intense games I've ever watched and you had the preseason number 1 going against an undefeated team and yet no one knew who the underdog was. This was just the first of Kentucky's magical games to get to the championship, but in my opinion it was the best.
Feel free to dispute my selections or add your own favorites. This was quite fun to look back and past tournaments and relive some great memories.
1991- Duke 79, UNLV 77: the biggest upset I've ever witnessed. I can't even begin to describe how shocking it was that undefeated Vegas was in a close game. For me, there is not even a comparable game in any sport outside of the Miracle on Ice. Both teams were just loaded and UNLV was rolling everyone.
1992- Duke 104, Kentucky 103 OT: (note: I am not a Duke fan, but I think this is a gimme). Some have called this the greatest game in NCAA history. Laettner II. A perfect 10-10 from the field and 10-10 from the line, but heroic performances all the way around.
1993- Michigan 81, Kentucky 78 OT: Kentucky was throttling everybody and Michigan, of course, had the Fab Five. I remember Kentucky hitting a bunch of threes and pressing like the early Pitino teams did, but Michigan somehow survived and advanced to the Finals.
1994- Missouri 98, Syracuse 88 OT: Huge games from Adrian Autry and one of my personal favorites Lawrence Moten were not enough as Missouri's well-balanced starting five outlasted the Orangemen.
1995- Old Dominion 89, Villanova 81 3 OT. Villanova had shots to win at the end of regulation and the first two overtimes but could not convert despite multiple attempts. Just a thriller.
1996- Syracuse 83, Georgia 81 OT. My heart says to pick Princeton defeating UCLA since that was a contrast in basically everything in life, but John Wallace's heroics were too much to pass over. Lost in the frantic final twenty seconds of OT (in which the lead see-sawed three times) was Jason Cipolla's clutch base line shot to send the game into OT.
1997- Minnesota 90, Clemson 84 2 OT. Duh, what did you think I was going to choose. The single most exciting Gophers game I've ever watched. From our hot start, to blowing the lead, to Tom Wideman's half-time tip in that shouldn't have counted, to Greg Buckner sending the game into OT, the game still comes down to two words- Bobby Jackson.
1998- Kentucky 86, Duke 84. Kentucky gets revenge on Duke with an epic comeback punctuated by Scott Padgett's three. I really hate listing all these Duke and Kentucky games...
1999- Gonzaga 73, Florida 72. Gonzaga's Cinderella season continues as they oust the Gators on Casey Calvary's put back with 4.4 seconds remaining.
2000- Kentucky 85, St. Bonaventure 80 2 OT- I honestly remember very little about this entire tournament but I do remember Tayshaun Prince coming up big for Kentucky. One of the worst tournament's of my lifetime, in my opinion.
2001- Duke 95, Maryland 84- Another ridiculous comeback. Jason Williams hit the key three in this game to give Duke their first lead.
2002- Indiana 74, Duke 73- Leading by 4, Indiana inexplicably fouled Jason Williams as he made a three point shot with 4.2 seconds remaining. The best part of this sequence was watching Hoosier coach Mike Davis having a meltdown on the sidelines. He would make it through, however, as Williams missed the potential game tying free throw and then Carlos Boozer couldn't win it off the rebound.
2003- Arizona 96, Gonzaga 95 2 OT-A flurry of shots in the final 20 seconds fell out for Gonzaga after a loose ball that went out of bounds was initially ruled Arizona's ball and then without the aid of replay reversed to Gonzaga ball.
2004- UCONN 79, Duke 78- For all intents and purposes this semifinal game was the real championship game as Duke and UCONN were the best teams. Emeka Okafor shook off early foul trouble and a rather sub par game to just dominate the final two minutes of the game to end Duke's season.
2005- West Virginia 111, Wake Forest 105 2 OT: There were so many good games in this tournament that it was tough to pick one game. This was entertaining for so many reasons. For much of the nation it was really the coming out party of John Beilein's Mountaineer team featuring Pittsnogle and Gansey. Wake had Chris Paul and Eric Williams and it was just a ridiculous game all the way through. Like I said, I could have chosen a half dozen other games with no argument. This was one of the best tournaments, in my opinion.
2006- UCLA 73, Gonzaga 71. Another tournament with really good games, but this one will undoubtedly be remembered for Adam Morrison's sobbing after J.P. Batista got the ball stolen from him and UCLA took the lead after an epic comeback.
2007- Georgetown 96, North Carolina 84 OT: Don't let the final score deceive you; this was a great game. UNC went ice cold during the final few minutes of regulation and overtime after an incredibly hot start.
2008- Western Kentucky 101, Drake 99 OT: This one is for all the mid-major lovers! The Hilltoppers stormed out to a first half lead, Drake came back and then WKU won it on a buzzer beating three from Ty Rogers. This was a very well played game throughout, but will probably always remain underrated due to its participants and the fact that this was a first round game.
2009- Villanova 78, Pitt 76. A very back and forth game where the winner was a buzzer beater from senior Scottie Reynolds. Pitt was led by Sam Young and DeJuan Blair's big games.
2010- Northern Iowa 69, Kansas 67: The tournament is about a good upset and that's why I picked this game over Kansas St-Xavier. You just kept waiting for Kansas to take control of the game and go on a run that would end UNI's dreams but it never happened. When it looked like it might Ali Farokhmanesh pulled up and instead of running clock launched a deep three pointer... that went down.
2011- Florida 83, BYU 74. Jimmer tried to will his team to victory but it was not happening as the deeper and more talented Gators finally prevailed in OT. The highlight of the game was Fredette pulling up and sinking transition threes late in the second half, each deeper than the last.
2012- Kentucky 102, Indiana 90: For much of the game it looked like Indiana would be able to run with Kentucky, but the Wildcats eventually pulled away in the second half.
2013- Michigan 87, Kansas 85 OT: Michigan furiously comes back late in the second half punctuated by Trey Burke's DEEP three pointer.
2014- Kentucky 78, Wichita State 76: This was one of the more intense games I've ever watched and you had the preseason number 1 going against an undefeated team and yet no one knew who the underdog was. This was just the first of Kentucky's magical games to get to the championship, but in my opinion it was the best.
Feel free to dispute my selections or add your own favorites. This was quite fun to look back and past tournaments and relive some great memories.
