The 25 Greatest Males’s NCAA Event Non-Championship Games of the Previous 25 Years

Sports Illustrated appears to be like again on the previous 25 seasons from 2000 to ’25 in males’s school basketball, rating the highest 25 NCAA event non-championship video games. No video games within the 2026 event have been thought of for this mission, however Sunday’s UConn-Duke Elite Eight recreation could be proper at residence amongst these video games.

1. No. 8 North Carolina vs. No. 2 Duke, 2022 Final Four

After 102 years of sport-defining enmity, the No. 2 Blue Devils and No. 8 Tar Heels lastly met within the NCAA males’s event for the primary time—and the sport lived as much as the appreciable hype round it. With 24.8 seconds exhibiting on the clock, North Carolina guard Caleb Love drained probably the most well-known shot within the historical past of the rivalry—a straight-on three-pointer that staked the Tar Heels to a four-point lead. Duke had no reply, and coach Mike Krzyzewski’s profession got here to an abrupt, unsatisfying finish as North Carolina left with an 81–77 win.

2. No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 11 UCLA, 2021 Final Four

Facing a No. 1 Bulldogs staff with credible aspirations of turning into the game’s first unbeaten since 1976, the No. 11 Bruins wanted to play a near-perfect recreation—they usually did. UCLA shot 57.6% from the sector, solely to hold their heads as Gonzaga made 58.7% of its photographs—none greater than Bulldogs guard Jalen Suggs’s half-court buzzer beater to win, 93–90 in time beyond regulation. After Baylor trounced a spent Gonzaga squad in an anticlimactic nationwide championship, this recreation took its rightful place as the most effective second of the game’s melancholy pandemic period.

3. No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 1 Wisconsin, 2015 Final Four

A variety of groups have taken stabs at perfection within the males’s recreation since 1976, however none captivated the nation fairly just like the Wildcats. Kentucky arrived on the Final Four in Indianapolis with a 38–0 document and 9 future NBA gamers—solely to run into one Frank Kaminsky. The Badgers heart vexed Kentucky to the tune of 20 factors and 11 rebounds, serving to Wisconsin pull a surprising 71–64 upset and advance to its first nationwide championship since 1941.

4. No. 1 Virginia vs. No. 3 Purdue, 2019 Elite Eight

Has there ever been a greater particular person NCAA event efficiency in a dropping effort than Boilermakers guard Carsen Edwards’s in Louisville? The All-American from Houston blitzed the Cavaliers for 42 factors on 10 three-pointers—and but he didn’t have probably the most memorable shot of the night. That’d be Virginia ahead Mamadi Diakite’s desperation shot to tie the sport, made potential by Cavaliers guard Kihei Clark’s once-in-a-lifetime cross that saved Virginia’s championship season. The Cavs would win in time beyond regulation, 80–75.

5. No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 2 Kentucky, 2017 Elite Eight

This was the platonic splendid of an Elite Eight recreation—the ACC and SEC’s flagship applications going through off within the last of, appropriately, the South Regional. With 54 seconds left, the Tar Heels led 71–64, however the Wildcats crept again into the competition because of threes from future NBA guards De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk. It was North Carolina ahead Luke Maye, nevertheless, who performed hero—hitting a brief go-ahead jumper with 0.3 seconds left to ship the eventual nationwide champion Tar Heels to the Final Four with a 75–73 win.

6. No. 2 UConn vs. No. 1 Duke, 2004 Final Four

Huskies heart Emeka Okafor was an All-American in 2004, however you wouldn’t have identified it by watching his scoreless first half towards the Blue Devils in San Antonio. He greater than made up for it within the second half, making 7 of 9 discipline purpose makes an attempt to attain 18 factors and carry UConn to a 79–78 comeback victory. The Huskies constructed a 15-point halftime lead on Georgia Tech two days later and went on to win the nationwide title.

7. No. 16 UMBC vs. No. 1 Virginia, 2018 first spherical

Since the lads’s event’s growth to 64 groups in 1985, 33 Marches had come and gone and not using a No. 16 seed beating a No. 1. With no warning in 2018, the Retrievers embarrassed the Cavaliers 74–54 in probably the most well-known sports activities upsets of the twenty first century. UMBC shook off a halftime tie to outscore Virginia—on the peak of its defensive powers below coach Tony Bennett—53–33 within the second half, inadvertently beginning Virginia on its street to the 2019 nationwide title.

8. No. 1 Duke vs. No. 1 Houston, 2025 Final Four

The Blue Devils led the Cougars by 9 with a bit over two minutes to go, and smelled a nationwide championship date with Florida. It wasn’t to be—Houston outscored Duke 15–3 going away, beating the Blue Devils 70–67 in regulation in one of many sport’s best comebacks. The Cougars could have the doubtful distinction of probably the most Final Four appearances and not using a nationwide championship, however their followers will always remember this conquer males’s school hoops’ favourite villain.

9. No. 3 Gonzaga vs. No. 2 UCLA, 2006 Sweet 16

Known by three phrases: “The Crying Game.” A lifetime in sports activities media has but to yield a extra iconic name for announcer Gus Johnson than ”heartbreak city,” a becoming descriptor after the Bulldogs gagged a 17-point result in the Bruins to lose 73–71 in entrance of a wired crowd in Oakland. Superstar Gonzaga ahead Adam Morrison mendacity inclined at midcourt and shaking stays probably the most enduring pictures of March agony.

10. No. 5 Indiana vs. No. 1 Duke, 2002 Sweet 16

The Hoosiers entered this Sweet 16 showdown an unheralded No. 5 seed, whereas the Blue Devils have been an imposing No. 1 seed at 31–3. Duke jumped out to a 13-point halftime lead, however Indiana rallied and sweated out a missed potential game-tying free throw from Blue Devils guard Jay Williams—the AP Player of the Year—to carry on for the 74–73 win. The Hoosiers rode the momentum from their win all the best way to the nationwide championship recreation, the place they misplaced to future convention foe Maryland.

11. No. 11 George Mason vs. No. 1 UConn, 2006 Elite Eight

During this recreation, Patriots coach Jim Larrañaga made hay of the truth that gamers on the Huskies allegedly could not establish George Mason’s convention affiliation. Those gamers have been no totally different from many Americans within the spring of 2006, who watched the unheralded Fairfax, Va., college choose off Michigan State, North Carolina and Wichita State en path to the Elite Eight. The run culminated with an 86–84 time beyond regulation upset of No. 1 UConn, a staff that featured 5 future NBA gamers (together with All-American ahead Rudy Gay).

12. No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 4 Michigan, 2013 Sweet 16

Coach John Beilein’s Wolverines appeared destined for greatness in his sixth season—they reached No. 1 within the AP ballot for the primary time in 20 years—however slumped a bit to a No. 4 seed within the NCAA event. Trailing No. 1 Kansas by 5 factors with simply 21 seconds to play, it regarded as if Michigan could be headed residence within the Sweet 16—however Wolverines guard Trey Burke had different concepts. After the Jayhawks missed the entrance finish of a one-and-one, Burke acquired the ball in his palms, introduced it up courtroom, fired from round 30 ft with a collision in entrance of him and despatched the sport to time beyond regulation tied at 76; the Wolverines gained 87–85 and superior all the best way to the nationwide championship recreation. 

13. No. 3 Arizona vs. No. 1 Illinois, 2005 Elite Eight

For maybe males’s school basketball’s most interesting program and not using a nationwide title, this was the head. The Fighting Illini trailed Arizona 75–60 late within the second half—solely to reel off a wild 20–5 run to tie the sport with 39 seconds left on a clutch three from future NBA All-Star guard Deron Williams. Thanks to a double-double from Williams (22 factors, 10 assists), Illinois pulled out a 90–89 win in time beyond regulation that they’re nonetheless speaking about in Champaign and Urbana, Ill.

14. No. 5 Michigan State vs. No. 2 Kentucky, 2005 Elite Eight

While the Fighting Illini have been pulling rabbits out of hats in Chicago, Kentucky was cooking up a equally bonkers ending in Austin towards the Spartans. With his staff trailing 75–72, Kentucky guard Patrick Sparks hit a three-pointer (by centimeters) on the buzzer to tie the sport. It took two overtimes for Michigan State to place coach Tubby Smith’s squad away 94–88 and advance to its fourth Final Four below coach Tom Izzo.

15. No. 15 Saint Peter’s vs. No. 3 Purdue, 2022 Sweet 16

“I got guys that just play basketball,” soft-spoken Peacocks coach Shaheen Holloway mentioned afterward in school basketball’s understatement of the century. Saint Peter’s had already made historical past by knocking off Kentucky and Murray State on the 2022 event’s first weekend, however certainly it might wilt towards No. 2 Purdue and star guard Jaden Ivey. Nope—simply down the street from their Jersey City, N.J., campus in Philadelphia, the Peacocks took care of the basketball, made their free throws and took the 67–64 win to grow to be the primary No. 15 seed to succeed in the Elite Eight.

16. No. 14 Oakland vs. No. 3 Kentucky, 2024 first spherical

There has by no means been a efficiency within the event fairly like Golden Grizzlies guard Jack Gohlke’s towards Kentucky. Coming off the bench, the switch from Division II Hillsdale tried 20 three-pointers and made 10—with no different discipline purpose makes an attempt—to tempo March Madness’ most up-to-date true first-round shocker, delivering Oakland the win, 80–76. Gohlke’s explosion gave revered coach Greg Kampe the primary spherical of 64 win of his profession—and hastened Kentucky coach John Calipari’s flight to Arkansas.

17. No. 2 Florida vs. No. 8 Butler, 2011 Elite Eight

Both coaches—the Gators’ Billy Donovan and Butler’s Brad Stevens—would finally discover success within the NBA. They by no means battled fairly like they did in 2011, nevertheless—with Stevens’s Butler squad finishing the unlikeliest two-year run in school basketball historical past. Guard Shelvin Mack—a participant who was named all-tournament (twice) as many instances he made All-Horizon League—was the hero with 27 factors on a foul ankle, together with a go-ahead three-pointer with 1:21 left in time beyond regulation. Butler held on to win, 74–71.

18. No. 8 Kentucky vs. No. 2 Wisconsin, 2014 Final Four

For all of the expertise that handed by means of Rupp Arena within the mid-2010s, the Kentucky participant that opponents feared most in March was guard Aaron Harrison—a sharpshooter who wound up going undrafted. In 2014, Harrison hit a go-ahead three-pointer towards Michigan within the Elite Eight, and adopted it up with a game-winning three-pointer towards Wisconsin within the Final Four to safe a 74–73 win. The shot capped a surprising in-season turnaround for a Calipari staff seeded seventh, which beat 4 straight AP Top 15 groups to arrange a nationwide championship loss to the Huskies.

19. No. 3 Texas A&M vs. No. 11 Northern Iowa, 2016 second spherical

Then-Cavaliers ahead LeBron James, on what he would do if he have been a member of the Panthers after this recreation: “I would quit basketball.” Northern Iowa, a recreation faraway from beating Texas on a half-court buzzer beater, led the Aggies 69–57 with simply over 44 seconds exhibiting on the clock and smelled the Sweet 16. A sequence of lucky occasions allowed Texas A&M to rattle off a 14–2 run, and guard Alex Caruso and the Aggies put away the Panthers 92–88 in two overtimes.

20. No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson vs. No. 1 Purdue, 2023 first spherical

College basketball’s most well-known known as shot: “The more I watch Purdue, the more I think we can beat them.” Knights coach Tobin Anderson backed up his audacious phrases by crafting probably the most ingenious basketball recreation plans ever devised, holding the Boilermakers to 35.8% taking pictures en path to a 63–58 win, and turning into the second No. 16 seed to knock off a No. 1. As was the case with Virginia, Fairleigh Dickinson motivated Purdue right into a deep run in 2024, whereas additionally paving the best way for the unlikeliest Final Four run of the 2020s (see No. 23).

21. No. 14 Georgia State vs. No. 3 Baylor, 2015 first spherical

The story of this recreation begins 4 days earlier than it was performed, when Georgia State coach Ron Hunter tore his Achilles celebrating his staff’s Sun Belt championship win over Georgia Southern. The damage relegated Hunter to a rolling chair throughout his staff’s first-round matchup with the Bears, which he used for your entire recreation—till the final two seconds. When Georgia State guard R.J. Hunter hit a go-ahead three to offer his staff a 57–56 lead it wouldn’t relinquish, Ron—R.J.’s father—fell to the bottom, making a hilarious visible of March euphoria.

22. No. 9 Northern Iowa vs. No. 1 Kansas, 2010 second spherical

When Northern Iowa broke the Jayhawks’ press late within the two groups’ second-round matchup, Panthers guard Ali Farokhmanesh discovered himself on their own and needing to kill time whereas his staff clung to a one-point lead. He did no such thing. Farokhmanesh’s dagger three-pointer sealed the destiny of an exceptional Kansas staff—the event’s No. 1 total seed—and gave ex-Virginia ahead and longtime analyst Dan Bonner a quote for his tombstone: “You can’t be serious with that shot!” UNI 69, Kansas 67.

23. No. 9 FAU vs. No. 5 San Diego State, 2023 Final Four

Fairleigh Dickinson’s upset of the Boilermakers opened the door for the Owls—a staff making simply their second-ever NCAA event look—to succeed in the Final Four. Up 71–70 with time operating brief, Florida Atlantic regarded poised to grow to be the bottom seed within the nationwide championship—after which, to the delight of San Diegans scarred from generations of Padres and Chargers heartbreak, Aztecs guard Lamont Butler occurred. His brief jumper beat the buzzer and the Owls, sending San Diego State—a No. 5 seed scarcely extra heralded than Florida Atlantic—to play for all of the marbles with a 72–71 victory.

24. No. 15 Florida Gulf Coast vs. No. 2 Georgetown, 2013 first spherical

Forget the NCAA event—the Eagles have been nonetheless pretty new to Division I after they gained the Atlantic Sun event in 2013. Florida Gulf Coast drew the Hoyas in its first NCAA event recreation, and proceeded to placed on a present of aerial acrobatics so dazzling the staff was rapidly rechristened “Dunk City.” The Eagles, dunking all the best way, beat Georgetown 78–68 after which took down San Diego State to grow to be the primary No. 15 seed to succeed in the Sweet 16.

25. No. 7 West Virginia vs. No. 4 Louisville, 2005 Elite Eight

Oh, did you overlook concerning the 2005 Elite Eight’s third basic? In Albuquerque, N.M., the Mountaineers—coached by Beilein—constructed a 20-point lead within the first half and eyed their first Final Four since 1959. The Cardinals roared again and gained 93–85 in time beyond regulation behind large outings from guard Taquan Dean and ahead Larry O’Bannon, sending coach Rick Pitino to his first Final Four since 1997.

Sports Illustrated writers Pat Forde, Kevin Sweeney and Bryan Fischer contributed to the choice and rating of this checklist.

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