text: 03/25/2002 - Updated 07:49 PM ET
  Greatest 63 games in NCAA Tournament history
  Greatest games honorable mention
  NCAA Tournament dynasties
  Best teams to miss NCAAs
  Top postseason coaches
  The NCAA Tournament speaks to your sports soul, leaving you yearning for more. A total of 63 NCAA championships had come and gone before this year's event. Perhaps the most amazing stretch in NCAA playoff history was an eight-year span from 1982 through 1989 when seven finals were decided by an average of two points. All of those close title contests must be included in any celebratory ranking of the most stimulating games in tourney history.
  Since some of the most entertaining games are somewhat overshadowed because they came in earlier rounds, it's difficult to decide what were the premier outings in playoff history. There's inspiration everywhere one turns — so many entertaining contests to choose from with so many divergent opinions on a seemingly endless list of sterling candidates.
  Ranking the greatest tournament games is a no-win assignment. Still, nothing provokes disagreements among ardent hoop fans more than healthy what's-the-best-in-history dialogue. In deference to the first 63 playoffs, here is a ranking of the 63 games one remembers the most. You wouldn't wonder what all the fuss is about if you had the good fortune to witness first-hand or learn from others about the following drama:
  1. 1992 East Regional Final (Duke 104, Kentucky 103 in OT)
  Duke's Christian Laettner hit a decisive last-second shot near the head of the key against Kentucky in overtime after receiving a long inbounds pass in the East Regional final. The game is acknowledged as one of the most suspenseful in NCAA history.
  2. 1985 Championship Game (Villanova 66, Georgetown 64)
  Sophomore forward Lorenzo Charles scored only four points, but two of them came when he converted guard Dereck Whittenburg's off-line desperation shot from well beyond the top of the free-throw circle into a decisive dunk as North Carolina State upset heavily-favored Houston. The Cougars, featuring Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon, entered the final with a 26-game winning streak.
  4. 1982 Championship Game (North Carolina 63, Georgetown 62)
  North Carolina freshman guard Michael Jordan swished a 16-foot jumper from the left side with 16 seconds remaining to provide the title contest's final points before Georgetown guard Fred Brown's errant pass directly to Tar Heels forward James Worthy prevented the Hoyas from attempting a potential game-winning shot in the closing seconds.
  5. 1987 Championship Game (Indiana 74, Syracuse 73)
  Junior college recruit Keith Smart, a guard who was Indiana's fifth-leading scorer for the season, tallied 12 of the Hoosiers' last 15 points, including a 15-foot jumper from the left baseline with five seconds remaining.
  6. 1957 Championship Game (North Carolina 54, Kansas 53 in 3OT)
  Carolina center Joe Quigg sank two free throws with six seconds remaining in the third overtime to tie the score and provide the decisive point against the Wilt Chamberlain-led Jayhawks. Although Lennie Rosenbluth was the unbeaten Tar Heels' leading scorer in 27 of their 32 contests, they won the NCAA final despite him fouling out with 1:45 remaining in regulation.
  7. 1966 Championship Game (Texas Western 72, Kentucky 65)
  Texas Western, featuring an all-black starting lineup with three players 6-1 or shorter in the NCAA final, stunned top-ranked and all-white Kentucky, putting the finishing touches on dismantling the prejudiced myth that black athletes couldn't play disciplined basketball. Junior college transfer Bobby Joe Hill, one of the tiny trio, converted steals into layups on consecutive trips down the floor by flustered UK guards to give the Miners a lead they never relinquished.
  8. 1975 Mideast Regional Final (Kentucky 92, Indiana 90)
  Indiana, undefeated entering the tourney (29-0), lost against Kentucky despite center Kent Benson's 33 points and tourney-high 23 rebounds. UK prevailed despite 6-of-19 field-goal shooting by leading scorer Kevin Grevey. UK guards Jimmy Dan Conner and Mike Flynn combined to outscore Indiana counterparts Quinn Buckner and Bobby Wilkerson, 39-22.
  9. 1991 National Semifinals (Duke 79, UNLV 77)
  Duke's shocking win over defending champion UNLV was the Rebels' lone defeat. Christian Laettner scored 28 points for the Blue Devils.
  10. 1989 Championship Game (Michigan 80, Seton Hall 79 in OT)
  Former street urchin Rumeal Robinson sank two pressure free throws with three seconds remaining in overtime to give the win to Michigan, which was guided by interim coach Steve Fisher.
  11. 1957 National Semifinals (North Carolina 74, Michigan State 70 in 3OT)
  The lead changed hands 31 times and the score was tied on 21 occasions. MSU's Jack Quiggle made a halfcourt shot that came just after the final buzzer in regulation. Teammate Johnny Green missed a free throw with 11 seconds remaining in the first overtime that would have sealed the verdict. Carolina's Pete Brennan grabbed Green's miss. Instead of tossing the ball out to a guard as Brennan normally would do, he dribbled downcourt and hit a game-tying jumper just to the right of the foul line at the buzzer.
  12. 1994 Championship Game (Arkansas 76, Duke 72)
  The pressure was intense on Arkansas' Scotty Thurman with the shot clock winding down and the score tied with 40 seconds remaining when he lofted a three-point attempt over Duke defender Antonio Lang that hit nothing but net.
  The final in N.C. State's home state at Greensboro was anticlimactic after the Wolfpack avenged an 18-point loss to UCLA earlier in the season on a neutral court by ending the Bruins' 38-game playoff winning streak. N.C. State erased an 11-point deficit midway through the second half and a seven-point deficit in the second extra session behind David Thompson's 28 points and 10 rebounds to halt UCLA's string of seven consecutive NCAA championships.
  14. 1990 East Regional Final (Duke 79, Connecticut 78 in OT)
  15. 1981 Mideast Regional Second Round (St. Joseph's 49, DePaul 48)
  St. Joseph's gained its only lead in the second half when an inexcusably unguarded Hawks player named John Smith sank a layup with three seconds left after DePaul's most accurate foul shooter, Skip Dillard, the guy they called "Money" because when he shot 'em, they were as good as in the bank, missed the front end of a one-and-one with 12 seconds remaining. DePaul did not score a point or take a shot in the final 6 1/2 minutes. A stunned Mark Aguirre, the national player of the year, didn't even throw the ball inbounds and finished the game with one rebound, one assist, no blocked shots, no steals and the only single-digit scoring output of his DePaul career (eight points).
  16. 1981 Midwest Regional Second Round (Arkansas 74, Louisville 73)
  Defending champion Louisville lost when Arkansas' U.S. Reed received an inbounds pass with five seconds remaining, dribbled up the sideline and heaved a mid-court shot that went through at the buzzer.
  17. 1993 Championship Game (North Carolina 77, Michigan 71)
  George Lynch, North Carolina's top rebounder and second-leading scorer, made four big plays in the closing moments of the title game. With Michigan leading, 67-66, he and Eric Montross blocked away a driving layup by Jimmy King. That led to a fastbreak basket by Derrick Phelps and put the Tar Heels ahead to stay with just over three minutes remaining. After a missed Michigan shot, Lynch hit a turnaround jumper from the middle of the lane with 2:28 remaining to increase Carolina's lead to 70-67. On an inbounds play after UNC regained possession, Lynch lofted a perfect pass to Montross for a dunk. The Wolverines rallied to trim the deficit to 73-71 before Lynch and Phelps trapped Chris Webber on the sideline with just 11 seconds remaining and Michigan's consensus first-team All-American called a fateful timeout his team did not have.
  18. 1973 Championship Game (UCLA 87, Memphis State 61)
  UCLA's Bill Walton, aided by Greg Lee's 14 assists, erupted for a title game-record 44 points. Walton, the only player to have as many as 20 field goals in an NCAA final, hit all but one of 22 shots from the floor.
  19. 1958 East Regional First Round (Manhattan 89, West Virginia 84)
  West Virginia, ranked No. 1 in the country at the end of the regular season, was upset at New York when Jack Powers, who went on to become executive director of the NIT, collected 29 points and 15 rebounds for Manhattan (16-10). Jerry West scored just 10 points in his first NCAA Tournament game for the Mountaineers, who finished the season with the best winning percentage in school history (26-2, .929).
  20. 1983 Mideast Regional final (Louisville 80, Kentucky 68 in OT)
  The first meeting between in-state rivals Kentucky and Louisville in more than 24 years was memorable as the Cardinals outscored the Wildcats 18-6 in overtime to reach the Final Four.
  21. 1963 Championship Game (Loyola of Chicago 60, Cincinnati 58 in OT)
  Forward Vic Rouse leaped high to redirect center Les Hunter's shot from the free-throw line into the basket to climax the Ramblers' first year in the playoffs. Loyola, using its starting lineup the entire final, overcame 27.4 percent field-goal shooting by committing just three turnovers. The Ramblers trailed the defending NCAA champion by 15 points in the second half before knotting the score at 54-54 when Jerry Harkness hit a 12-foot jumper with four seconds remaining in regulation.
  22. 1988 Championship Game (Kansas 83, Oklahoma 79)
  The two Big Eight Conference members were deadlocked, 50-50, at intermission in the highest-scoring first half in title game history. The Jayhawks' Danny Manning poured in 31 points.
  23. 1979 Championship Game (Michigan State 75, Indiana State 64)
  Undefeated Indiana State lost against Michigan State when the Sycamores' Larry Bird, who hit 53.2 percent of his field-goal attempts on the season, made just one-third of his shots from the floor (7 of 21) as a sore thumb limited his shooting effectiveness. Magic Johnson scored a game-high 24 points for the Spartans. The ballyhooed matchup between Bird and Magic aroused fans and generated the largest ever TV share for an NCAA final.
  24. 1989 East Regional First Round (Georgetown 50, Princeton 49)
  No. 16 seed Princeton pushed No. 1 seed Georgetown to the limit in the East Regional before the patient and precise Tigers bowed when a last-second shot was blocked by Alonzo Mourning.
  25. 1996 Southeast Regional First Round (Princeton 43, UCLA 41)
  Princeton coach Pete Carril bowed out in style with a decisive perfectly executed back-door layup reminiscent of how many games were played several decades ago. It was UCLA's lowest-scoring output in 99 playoff outings, and the lowest score for a Bruins team in a regulation game in more than 55 years.
  26. 1977 Championship Game (Marquette 67, North Carolina 59)
  Tears of joy flowed for coach Al McGuire when Marquette won the championship in his farewell. McGuire, leaving the bench before the game was even over with tears running down his cheeks, pulled away from a hug by long-time assistant Hank Raymonds and made his way to the silence of the locker room. "I want to be alone," McGuire said. "I'm not afraid to cry. All I could think about at the end was — why me? After all the jocks and socks. All the odors in the locker room. All the fights in the gyms. Just the wildness of it all. And to have it end like this ..."
  27. 1971 Mideast Regional Semifinals (Western Kentucky 107, Kentucky 83)
  WKU, long regarded as poor country cousins by Kentucky, whipped the Wildcats in their first-ever meeting when All-America Jim McDaniels poured in 35 points for the Hilltoppers.
  28. 1975 National Semifinals (UCLA 75, Louisville 74 in OT)
  29. 1997 Championship Game (Arizona 84, Kentucky 79 in OT)
  Arizona, the only team to win an NCAA crown after finishing as low as fifth place in its league, capitalized on a 34-9 edge in free throws made to upend favored Kentucky although the Wildcats did not make a field goal in the extra session.
  30. 1995 West Regional Second Round (UCLA 75, Missouri 74)
  Playmaker Tyus Edney played the role of Wizard of Westwood II with a series of breathtaking drives and baskets in UCLA's first five playoff games, including a length-of-the-court game-winner against Missouri.
  31. 1990 East Regional Semifinals (Connecticut 71, Clemson 70)
  It was difficult for Clemson fans to fathom how UConn's Tate George had sufficient time with one second on the clock to receive a full-court pass, come down, square up and get off a winning jumper from the right baseline.
  32. 1990 West Regional Second Round (Loyola Marymount 149, Michigan 115)
  The record for most three-point field goals in a playoff game was set by Loyola Marymount senior guard Jeff Fryer with 11. Fryer (41) and Bo Kimble (37) became the only set of teammates to score more than 35 points in the same tourney game when they combined for 78 vs. Michigan in the highest-scoring game in NCAA playoff history.
  33. 1981 East Regional Semifinals (Brigham Young 51, Notre Dame 50)
  BYU's Danny Ainge drove through the heart of No. 2 seed Notre Dame's defense for a layup at the buzzer to give the Cougars the victory.
  35. 1978 Championship Game (Kentucky 94, Duke 88)
  Jack Givens sank 18 of 27 field-goal attempts against upstart Duke's zone defense and scored Kentucky's last 16 points of the first half en route to a 41-point performance.
  36. 2001 National Semifinals (Duke 95, Maryland 84)
  The Blue Devils overcame a 22-point deficit, the biggest comeback in Final Four history. Mike Dunleavy Jr. hit three consecutive three-pointers in a 45-second span of the second half after Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told his squad to quit calling plays and just go out and play the game.
  37. 1970 Mideast Regional First Round (Notre Dame 112, Ohio University 82)
  Notre Dame guard Austin Carr became the only player to score more than 60 points in a single playoff game. Carr tallied 35 of Notre Dame's 54 first-half points en route to a school-record 61 points against OU.
  38. 1952 East Regional Final (St. John's 64, Kentucky 57)
  St. John's, sparked by center Bob Zawoluk's 32 points, avenged a 41-point rout at UK earlier in the season (81-40) by ending the 23-game winning streak of the nation's No. 1 team.
  39. 1969 National Semifinals (UCLA 85, Drake 82)
  Guard John Vallely, averaging a modest 10.2 points per game entering the Final Four, erupted for 29 points and the Bruins needed all of them. They had a nine-point lead with 70 seconds remaining dwindle to one before defeating Drake after the Bulldogs missed a go-ahead basket in the waning moments. UCLA star center Lew Alcindor grabbed 21 rebounds.
  40. 1945 National Semifinals (New York University 70, Ohio State 65 in OT)
  NYU, featuring just one senior on its roster, erased a 10-point deficit in the final two minutes of regulation.
  41. 1968 Midwest Regional First Round (Houston 94, Loyola of Chicago 76)
  Houston's Elvin Hayes became the only player in tournament history to collect more than 40 points and 25 rebounds in the same game when he garnered 49 points and 27 rebounds. Hayes led the tournament in scoring and rebounding by wide margins for the fourth-place Cougars, but he wasn't named to the all-tournament team.
  42. 1998 Midwest Regional First Round (Valparaiso 70, Mississippi 69)
  Valparaiso's Jamie Sykes, an outfield prospect late for spring training with the Arizona Diamondbacks, inbounded from the opposite baseline with 2.5 seconds remaining. He hurled a baseball pass that Bill Jenkins leaped to catch. Jenkins delivered a touch pass to guard Bryce Drew on the right wing, and the son of Valpo coach Homer Drew drilled a game-winning three-pointer.
  43. 1970 Mideast Regional Final (Jacksonville 106, Kentucky 100)
  JU's Artis Gilmore collects 24 points and 20 rebounds to help eliminate the nation's top-ranked team.
  44. 1951 East Regional First Round (Illinois 79, Columbia 71)
  Columbia, undefeated entering the tourney (21-0), blew a seven-point, halftime lead and lost to eventual national third-place finisher Illinois. The Lions' John Azary was outscored by the Illini's Don Sunderlage (25-13) in a battle of All-American candidates.
  45. 1965 National Third-Place Game (Princeton 118, Wichita 82)
  Princeton's Bill Bradley set the mark for most points in a single Final Four game with a school-record 58. He scored 39 of them in the second half of the consolation contest.
  46. 1971 Mideast Regional Semifinals (Ohio State 60, Marquette 59)
  Marquette, undefeated entering the tourney (26-0), lost after the Warriors' playmaker, unanimous first-team All-America Dean "The Dream" Meminger, fouled out with five minutes remaining. Teammate Allie McGuire, the coach's son, committed a costly turnover in the closing seconds before Buckeyes guard Allan Hornyak converted a pair of crucial free throws to end Marquette's 39-game winning streak.
  47. 1956 East Regional Semifinals (Temple 65, Connecticut 59)
  Guard Hal Lear manufactured 61.5 percent of Temple's offense by scoring 40 points. The most rebounds ever in a playoff game were grabbed by teammate Fred Cohen, who retrieved a school-record 34 missed shots.
  48. 1999 West Regional First Round (Weber State 76, North Carolina 74)
  No. 3 seed North Carolina lost its playoff opener for the first time in 19 years when the Tar Heels succumbed to No. 14 Weber State. Junior college transfer Harold Arceneaux contributed five three-pointers en route to 36 points for the Wildcats. His output matched the highest ever in the playoffs against Carolina.
  49. 1965 Championship Game (UCLA 91, Michigan 80)
  UCLA's Gail Goodrich became the only guard to score more than 35 points in an NCAA final, erupting for 42 points on 12 of 22 field-goal shooting and 18 of 20 free-throw shooting. His free throws made and attempted remain championship game records.
  50. 1976 West Regional Semifinals (Arizona 114, UNLV 109 in OT)
  Each team had four players score at least 18 points when UNLV, ranked third by AP and fourth by UPI entering the tourney, was eliminated as Jim Rappis had more assists (12) than the Rebels' entire team.
  51. 1981 West Regional Second Round (Kansas State 50, Oregon State 48)
  K-State upset second-ranked Oregon State on Rolando Blackman's 17-foot buzzer beater from the right baseline.
  52. 1959 Mideast Regional Semifinals (Louisville 76, Kentucky 61)
  Second-ranked Kentucky (24-3) hit less than one-third of its field-goal attempts in blowing a 15-point lead against intra-state rival Louisville (19-12).
  53. 1976 Championship Game (Indiana 86, Michigan 68)
  Trailing by six points at intermission and playing without Bob Wilkerson after the starting guard sustained a concussion early in the game, the Hoosiers shot 60 percent from the floor in the second half to come from behind and earn recognition as the nation's last undefeated team. Scott May, Kent Benson and Quinn Buckner collaborated for 36 of IU's first 38 second-half points.
  54. 1975 Championship Game (UCLA 92, Kentucky 85)
  Coach John Wooden's farewell resulted in another NCAA title for the Bruins.
  55. 1977 West Regional Semifinals (Idaho State 76, UCLA 75)
  The visiting Bruins, ranked fourth by UPI entering the tourney, finished with a 24-5 record when guards Roy Hamilton and Brad Holland combined to hit just 8 of 24 field-goal attempts. Idaho State (25-5), prevailing despite shooting just 40.6 percent from the floor, received 27 points and 12 rebounds from center Steve Hayes.
  56. 1981 Midwest Regional Second Round (Kansas 88, Arizona State 71)
  Third-ranked Arizona State, featuring four upperclassmen who combined for a total of more than 35 seasons in the NBA (guards Fat Lever and Byron Scott, center Alton Lister and forward Sam Williams), was clobbered by Kansas when Tony Guy poured in 36 points for the Jayhawks. The Sun Devils fell behind by 16 points at intermission.
  Indiana State became the only school to reach the Final Four in its one and only NCAA Tournament appearance when the Sycamores' Bob Heaton shifted the ball from his normal right hand to his left for a short shot that bounced twice on the rim before going down.
  58. 1971 West Regional Final (UCLA 57, Long Beach State 55)
  The closest result for UCLA during the Bruins' 38-game playoff winning streak from 1967-73 came when they had to erase an 11-point deficit despite 29 percent field-goal shooting to edge Jerry Tarkanian-coached Long Beach State.
  59. 1977 National Semifinals (North Carolina 84, UNLV 83)
  Mike O'Koren became the only freshman to score more than 30 points in a national semifinal or championship game when the North Carolina forward tallied 31. O'Koren and his teammates enjoyed a 28-5 edge over the Rebels in free-throw attempts.
  60. 1978 Midwest Regional Semifinals (DePaul 90, Louisville 89)
  DePaul center Dave Corzine scored 46 points to become the only individual ever to score at least 45 points in the NCAA playoffs and never be an NCAA first- or second-team consensus All-American or Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
  61. 1978 West Regional First Round (Cal State Fullerton 90, New Mexico 85)
  Cal State Fullerton (23-9) had four players score from 18 to 23 points and made 62.1 percent of its field-goal attempts to erase a six-point, halftime deficit and upend fourth-ranked New Mexico. Future Lakers standout Michael Cooper had an off-game for the Lobos (24-4), sinking just six of 15 field-goal attempts.
  62. 1979 East Regional Second Round (Penn 72, North Carolina 71)
  No. 1 seed North Carolina lost its opener in the Tar Heels' home state (Raleigh, N.C.) when Tony Price poured in a game-high 25 points for the Quakers.