Here is my fifth installment of my COVID-19 sports reflection series.  To read the previous four articles in this anthology, you can click on the following links: the greatest college football regular season games by year, the greatest college football postseason games by year,  the greatest Wake Forest sports moments by year, and the greatest NCAA tournament games by year.  And even though it has been two and half months since this year’s March Madness was cancelled, I still haven’t gotten over it.  That is why I am going to produce another NCAA basketball tourney tribute article.

Every year when I watch the NCAA tournament  I often think about how it compares to other NCAA tournaments of years past.  Antecdotally, I felt that the 2018 tourney was one of the best thanks to the Loyola Final Four run and the UMBC upset.  Last year, I thought the tourney started off poorly but had a great final few rounds.  Never have I actually ranked each tournament by round and cumulatively ranked the annual events from first to worst.  In fact, I don’t believe anyone else has either, as I couldn’t find a list that resembles this anywhere online.  That is until now… over the past couple of weeks, I have undertaken the monumental task of creating a ranking for every round of the NCAA tournament by year and then cumulatively ranking every NCAA tournament based on the average of those round by round rankings.

Here is the general criteria and guidelines I used for  ranking each round:  for the first four rounds, every game of each tournament was assigned a point value from 0-3.   A game could earn one point if it was an “upset” which was I considered any game where the winner had at least a four line seed disadvantage over the loser or was otherwise considered a large underdog.  A second point could be earned if the game was decided by 3 points or less.  Finally, a wildcard point could also be given for any game that was decided by a buzzer beater or was particularly memorable or exhilarating.  For instance, Valpo’s first round win over Mississippi in 1998 earned 3 points because it was decided by 1 point, was a 9 seed line upset, and contained a particularly memorable buzzer beater to earn a wildcard point.  If a game contained none of these elements, then they were considered 0 point games.  The points for all the games in a particular round of a tournament were then added together to give each year a raw score for each round.  When multiple tournaments had the same raw score for a particular round, the brackets were analyzed region by region to determine which tourney should be ranked higher than the other.

For the Final Four round, I assigned each game a 1-5 rating based on the overall quality of play, the unexpectedness of the ultimate result, and the amount of excitement each game produced.  The ratings for both games were then added together to give each tournament a Final Four raw score.  Finally, for the national title game, I simply ranked the games from best to worst.   The rankings of every round for each tournament were then averaged and ordered based on the tourney’s cumulative ranking.

One other caveat that had to be considered is the fact that older NCAA tournaments had less rounds than the six that we currently see.  For the eight team tournaments that existed from 1939 to 1951, only the last 3 rounds of the tournament were used in determining each year’s cumulative average.  For the 16-team tournament of 1952, the last four rounds were used in determining that tourney’s average.  From all the tournaments that contained five rounds, which were from 1953-1978, the last four rounds and the first round were included in this analysis.  All post-1978 tourneys were analyzed by averaging all six rounds of the tournament, excluding all First Four/play-in games.

Without further ado, here is my final ranking of every NCAA tournament from first to worst.  The six numbers to the right of each year represent that tournament’s ranking for each round starting with the first round and ending with the title game.  The seventh number on the far right is that tournament’s average round ranking used for the final ordering of these events.  Also, the asteriks next to some of the title game scores indicates the game went into overtime.

	Year	First Round	Second Round	Sweet 16	Elite 8	Final Four	Title Game Result	Final	Average
1	2014	8	17	13	4	14	Uconn 60, Kentucky 54	15	11.83

The key to this tournament’s # 1 ranking is that it didn’t produce a single bad round.

Top Moments:

• The greatest NCAA tournament upset I ever attended featured 14th seeded Mercer beating 3rd seeded Duke in Raleigh (postgame celebration pictured below)
• This tournament featured a big-name Cinderella title game involving 7th seeded UConn Huskies and the 8th seeded Kentucky Wildcats.  It was the first national title game featuring two teams that had failed to make the tourney in the year prior.  UConn became the first 7 seed to win a national championship.
• Kemba Walker ended up getting the last laugh, but Kentucky’s Aaron Harrison was really the hero of this tournament based on his three different game winning three pointers to get the Wildcats of Kentucky to the national title game.

 

2

2017

31

14

5

7

9

UNC 71, Gonzaga 65

27

15.50

Top Moments:

• South Carolina makes shocking run to the Final Four as a 7 seed that was playing terribly leading up to the tournament. (pictured below)
• North Carolina’s Luke Maye hits epic (or heartbreaking from my point of view) game winning shot to lift UNC over Kentucky in the Elite 8, en route to a national title.

 

3

1950

NR

NR

NR

12

12

CCNY 71, Bradley 68

25

16.33

This is a surprise selection as no one really remembers this being an historically epic tourney.

Top Moments:

• This was the only national championship won by a current non-Division 1 program (City College of New York, pictured below).  Though, their title has been marred in controversy due to the revelation of a Mafia-inspired points shaving scandal.
• The seven game tournament featured five games decided by five point or less, which percentage wise is a record for close games.

 

4

2011

5

13

2

2

24

Uconn 53, Butler 41

67

18.83

Despite an ugly and disappointing national title game, this tourney featured two historic Cinderella runs by Butler and VCU.

Top Moments:

• Butler makes improbable march to their second consecutive national title game with buzzer beating wins in both the first and second rounds (pictured below).
• VCU makes shocking run from the First Four to the Final Four culminating in a stunning upset of top-seeded Kansas in the Elite Eight.
• Fourth-seeded Kentucky stuns Ohio State, the overall top seed in the tournament, in the Sweet 16.

 

5

1983

27

33

15

3

35

NC State 54, Houston 52

1

19.00

Top Moments:

• Jim Valvano’s Cardiac Pack make incredible national title run as a 6 seed, thanks to several nail-biting victories.  This team was the ultimate team of destiny.
• Houston’s Phi Slamma Jamma dominates the field en route to a heartbreaking finals loss.

 

6

1986

15

5

12

25

30

Louisville 72, Duke 69

28

19.17

Top Moments:

• This tournament featured the first two 14 over 3 upsets in NCAA tourney history with Cleveland State knocking off Indiana and Arkansas-Little Rock beating Notre Dame.  Cleveland State would win their second round game as well and become the first of only two 14 seeds to reach the Sweet 16.
• Dale Brown’s LSU squad became the first 11 seed ever to make a Final Four, and still the only 11 seed from a major conference to do so (pictured below)

 

7

1984

33

11

4

14

18

Georgetown 84, Houston 75

37

19.50

Top Moments:

• Georgetown wins its only national title in school history by beating Hakeem Olajuwon’s Houston squad.
• Kentucky has the worst shooting game in tournament history by going 3 for 33 from the field (9.1%) in the second half in their blowout loss to the aforementioned Hoyas.
• Wake Forest upsets DePaul in overtime in the Sweet 16 (pictured below) to send legendary Blue Demons coach Ray Meyer into retirement.  Delaney Ruud had to hit a 25 footer at the buzzer in regulation to even get the Deacs to the overtime period.

 

8

1978

24

NR

17

21

13

Kentucky 94, Duke 88

26

20.20

Top Moments:

• Miami of Ohio upsets defending national champion Marquette in one of the biggest first round upsets prior to the 64 team bracket.
• Kentucky gives Magic Johnson his only NCAA tournament loss (pictured below) with a 3 point upset over Michigan State in the Elite 8.  The Cats would later win the title with a victory over Duke.

 

 

9

2019

37

36

27

1

4

Virginia 85, Texas Tech 77*

19

20.67

Top Moments:

• Virginia wins first national championship in school history thanks to three miracle victories in the final three rounds of their tournament run (the first of these wins is pictured below).
• Cassius Winston leads Michigan State to stunning Elite 8 win over # 1 overall seed Duke Blue Devils.

 

10

1985

18

4

31

26

49

Villanova 66, Georgetown 64

3

21.83

Top Moments:

• Villanova becomes the first and only # 8 seed to win a national championship by playing a near perfect game to beat Georgetown in the final.
• David Robinson leads the Midshipmen of Navy to the first ever 13 over 4 upset in tourney history with 23 point win over LSU.

 

11

2013

12

20

26

36

6

Louisville 82, Mich 76

32

22.00

Top Moments:

• The First Final Four I ever attended personally produces three great games culminating in a three point shootout between two unsung heroes: Louisville’s Luke Hancock and Michigan’s Spike Albrecht.
• Wichita State makes Cinderella Final Four run led by future pros Cleanthony Early, Ron Baker and Fred Van Vleet.
• Florida Gulf Coast becomes first and only 15 seed ever to reach the Sweet 16. (pictured below)

 

12

1998

3

28

63

9

10

Kentucky 78, Utah 69

23

22.67

Top Moments:

• The Comeback Cats of Kentucky overcome double digit second half deficits in their final three tourney games to win a surprise national title. (comeback Elite 8 victory over Duke pictured below)
• Bryce Drew hits incredible running three pointer at the buzzer to lead 13th seeded Valpo to upset victory over 4th seeded Ole Miss.  The Crusaders followed that win with a second round victory over Florida State to reach the Sweet 16 for the only time in school history.

 

13

1987

25

10

46

5

46

Indiana 74, Syracuse 73

9

23.50

Top Moments:

• Keith Smart hits game winner in the final seconds (pictured below) to lift Indiana to national championship with victory over Syracuse.  This was the fourth of six 1980’s title games which are still considered all time classics (’82, ’83, ’85, ’87, ’88, ’89).
• The legendary Billy Donovan and Rick Pitino team up in a player/coach capacity to lead Providence to a Cinderella Final Four appearance.

 

14

2010

4

9

49

38

37

Duke 61, Butler 59

10

24.50

Top Moments:

• The basketball world is introduced to future superstars Gordon Hayward and Brad Stevens as Butler makes Cinderella run to the national title game in their hometown of Indianapolis.  Hayward’s rim out in the national championship game (pictured below) is one of the most iconic missed shots in sports history.
• Wake Forest’s Ish Smith leads Deacons to a miracle overtime victory over Texas with pull up game winner in the final seconds.  It was the school’s last NCAA tournament win.

 

15

1966

65

NR

18

18

15

Texas Western 72, KY 65

17

26.60

Top Moments:

• Texas Western wins one of the most famous basketball games of all-time as their all black starting lineup knocks off Adolph Rupp’s all-white Kentucky team in the tournament final.

 

16

1975

43

NR

33

20

8

UCLA 92, Kentucky 85

36

28.00

Top Moments:

• John Wooden wins the last of his ten national championships with a narrow victory over Kentucky.
• Kentucky upsets rival Indiana in the Elite 8 to give the Hoosiers their only loss in a two and a half year span from 1974-76.

 

17

1996

26

34

14

37

19

Kentucky 76, Syracuse 67

39

28.17

Top Moments:

• A loaded Kentucky team (pictured below) nicknamed “The Dazzling Dozen” gives the program its first national championship in 18 years.  This was arguably the greatest college basketball team in the modern era.
• 13-seeded Princeton shocks the defending national champs of UCLA with a back-door cut, game winning layup.

 

18

1971

58

NR

16

11

16

UCLA 68, Villanova 62

40

28.20

Top Moments:

• UCLA wins its fifth straight national title and 7th overall, but not without surviving a major scare from Jerry Tarkanian’s Long Beach State squad in the Elite 8 (game pictured below).
• Western Kentucky knocks off intra-state rival Kentucky as well as Ohio State to make surprise run to the Final Four.

 

19

1999

10

19

37

40

56

UConn 77, Duke 74

8

28.33

Top Moments:

• UConn pulls off the greatest title game upset of the 90’s with a thrilling upset over a nearly unbeatable Duke squad (pictured below).
• 14th seeded Weber State hands North Carolina its worst first round NCAA tournament loss in school history with a 76-74 upset.

 

19

2004

28

6

60

29

1

UConn 82, Georgia Tech 73

46

28.33

Top Moments:

• UConn pulls off historic Final Four comeback win (pictured below) with late 12-0 run to knock off Duke.
• UAB stuns the # 1 overall seed Kentucky Wildcats with second round upset victory.

 

21

2018

6

2

23

17

51

Villanova 79, Mich 62

76

29.17

An epic tournament that would have been much higher on this list if not for a disappointing Final Four and national championship game.

Top Moments:

• UMBC becomes the only 16 seed ever to beat a 1 with a shocking twenty point win over Virginia.  This was arguably the biggest upset in the history of sports.
•  Loyola-Chicago and Sister Jean (pictured below) become the greatest Cinderella story in the history of the tournament with their improbable run to the Final Four as an 11 seed.

 

22

2006

14

18

6

13

60

Florida 73, UCLA 57

65

29.33

Top Moments:

• Loyola-Chicago (mentioned/pictured above) may be the greatest Cinderella story in the history of the tournament but George Mason in 2006 is a close second (pictured below).  These guys knocked off Michigan State, North Carolina, and a loaded UConn team en route to a miracle Final Four run.
• The Bradley Braves also made a little Cinderella run by making the Sweet 16 as a 13 seed.

 

23

1997

44

7

29

65

20

Arizona 84, Kentucky 79*

14

29.83

Top Moments:

• “Simon says championship!” was the famous call by Jim Nantz as Arizona pulled off an overtime victory over the defending national champion Kentucky Wildcats to win the school’s only national title (pictured above).  This was also the only four seed to win a national championship since the tournament expanded to 64 teams and was the last national title won by the Pac-10/Pac-12.
• Chattanooga becomes only the second 14 seed to reach the Sweet 16.

 

24

1982

42

8

24

75

25

UNC 63, Georgetown 62

7

30.17

Top Moments:

• Dean Smith wins his first national championship thanks to corner jumper from a little known freshman named Michael Jordan (pictured below).
• Georgetown narrowly missed out on its first national title when point guard Fred Brown follows up Jordan’s jumper by throwing the ball directly to Tar Heel star James Worthy.

 

25

2012

7

15

25

56

40

Kentucky 67, Kansas 59

41

30.67

Top Moments:

• Two 15 seeds beat 2 seeds within a few hours of each other as Norfolk State pulled off the biggest point spread upset in tourney history (pictured below) and C.J. McCollum’s Lehigh team stunned Duke.
• Anthony Davis gives John Calipari his only national championship, as Kentucky claimed their first title since the late 90’s.

 

25

1990

16

1

1

15

70

UNLV 103, Duke 73

81

30.67

Talk about an up and down tournament.  1990’s March Madness featured my top ranked second round and Sweet 16 but my worst ranked title game!

Top Moments:

• Bo Kimble leads Loyola Marymount on Cinderella run to the Elite Eight in honor of fallen superstar Hank Gathers.  If the 11 seeded Lions had managed to win one more game and make the Final Four, it would likely have outranked Loyola Chicago for greatest Cinderella run in the modern NCAA tournament.
• Christian Laettner hits the first of his two iconic Elite 8 buzzer beaters (we all know about the one two years later) to pull off upset of UConn (pictured below).

 

27

1943

NR

NR

NR

41

5

Wyoming 46, Georgetown 34

47

31.00

Top Moments:

• Wyoming (pictured below) wins the school and region’s only national championship thanks largely due to Illinois declining a tourney bid after three of its starters were drafted into the army.
• Future basketball powerhouses: DePaul, Georgetown, and Texas all made their first final four appearances in ’43.

 

28

1989

11

41

35

61

34

Michigan 80, Seton Hall 79*

5

31.17

Top Moments:

• Wolverines win first and only national title in school history with clutch free throws by Rumeal Robinson (pictured below) in the final seconds of overtime.

 

29

1980

49

16

3

52

41

Louisville 59, UCLA 54

33

32.33

Top Moments:

• Denny Crum leads Louisville to the school’s first national championship with a 59-54 victory over UCLA in the title game (pictured below).
• 4th seeded Duke beats top-seeded Kentucky in a Sweet 16 classic that was decided by a missed Kyle Macy buzzer beater.

 

29

1992

51

32

28

6

11

Duke 71, Michigan 51

66

32.33

Top Moments:

• Duke wins the greatest game ever played with 104-103 victory over Kentucky (Laetter game-winner pictured below) in overtime en route to a second consecutive national title.
• Michigan’s Fab Five makes first of two consecutive title game runs by knocking off their arch rival Ohio State in the Elite 8 and then the Bearcats of Cincinnati in the Final Four.

 

31

1991

9

38

45

57

3

Duke 72, Kansas 65

44

32.67

Top Moments:

• Richmond Spiders become the first 15 seed to beat a 2 seed with first round victory over Syracuse (pictured below).
• Duke wins their first national championship in school history by avenging their 30 point title game loss to UNLV from the previous year.

 

32

1979

62

22

47

10

39

Mich St 75, Indiana St 64

18

33.00

Top Moments:

• One of the most famous title games ever played occurs when Magic Johnson’s Michigan State squad knocks off Larry Bird and Indiana State. (pictured below)
• 9th seeded Penn makes Cinderella Final Four run thanks to a shocking 2nd Round victory over top seeded North Carolina.  The Quakers are the last Ivy League team to make a Final Four.

 

33

1988

35

21

38

71

28

Kansas 83, Oklahoma 79

12

34.17

Top Moments:

• Danny (Manning) and the Miracles give Kansas their first national championship in 36 years with a Cinderella run culminating in a title game victory over conference rival Oklahoma. (pictured below)

 

34

2002

17

24

9

74

32

Maryland 64, Indiana 52

52

34.67

Top Moments:

• Gary Williams leads Maryland to first and only national title in school history.
• Indiana makes surprise run to the title game thanks to a stunning Sweet 16 upset of top-seeded Duke in the Sweet 16 (pictured below).  Blue Devils’ Jay Williams chokes game away with key missed free throws down the stretch.

 

35

2016

2

40

68

24

74

Nova 77, UNC 74

2

35.00

Top Moments:

• In the greatest live sporting event I ever attended, Kris Jenkins wins the national title for Villanova with a buzzer beating three-pointer. (pictured below)
• Northern Iowa pulls off the most improbable NCAA tourney buzzer beater in their first round win over Texas, and then followed it up with the most improbable NCAA tourney collapse against Texas A & M two days later.

 

35

1977

55

NR

11

64

2

Marquette 67, UNC 59

43

35.00

Top Moments:

• Al McGuire leads Marquette to school’s first and only national title thanks to an incredible length of court catch and layup at the buzzer by Jerome Whitehead in the national semis. (pictured below)
• Idaho State stuns  UCLA in the regional semis marking the first time the Bruins made the tournament and failed to make the Final Four since 1963.

 

37

2003

19

27

52

27

68

Syracuse 81, Kansas 78

21

35.67

Top Moments:

• Jim Boheim finally breaks through and wins first national championship for Syracuse. (see game-sealing block in title game pictured below)
• Dwayne Wade leads Marquette on Final Four run with several dominant performances including a triple double against Kentucky in the Elite 8.

 

38

1993

30

35

61

60

17

UNC 77, Michigan 71

13

36.00

Top Moments:

• Chris Webber’s boneheaded technical foul for calling too many timeouts robs the Fab Five of a national title. (pictured below)
• Steve Nash leads Santa Clara to the second 15 over 2 upset in NCAA tournament history.

 

38

1947

NR

NR

NR

23

31

Holy Cross 58, Oklahoma 47

54

36.00

Top Moments:

• Holy Cross becomes the only member of the modern Patriot League to win a national championship.
• Oklahoma beats arch rival Texas 55-54 in a thrilling national semifinal. (Ken Pryor’s game winning jumper pictured below)

 

39

1941

NR

NR

NR

30

45

Wisky 39, Wazzu 34

35

36.67

Top Moments:

• The Badgers of Wisconsin win the school’s first and only men’s basketball national title (team pictured below).
• Washington State makes school’s only Elite 8, Final Four, and national title game thanks to a 24-5 regular season and tourney wins over Creighton and Arkansas.

 

41

2005

34

26

36

8

77

UNC 75, Illinois 70

42

37.17

Top Moments:

• Bucknell shocks Kansas in arguably the biggest 14 over 3 upset in tourney history.
• Illinois makes shocking elite 8 comeback to knock off Arizona 90-89 in overtime.  The Illini trailed by 14 points with 3:30 to go but then end the second half on a 17-3 run to force overtime.
• Michigan State wins an epic two overtime Elite 8 thriller over Kentucky in a game featuring a stunning buzzer beater in regulation by Patrick Sparks to force the extra periods (pictured below).

 

41

2015

13

31

67

28

50

Duke 68, Wisky 63

34

37.17

Top Moments:

• Georgia State pulls off miraculous 14 over 3 upset of Baylor thanks to R.J. Hunter’s deep three in the final seconds (pictured below).  His dad’s (Head Coach Ron Hunter) subsequent broken leg celebration is an all-time great moment in tournament history.
• Of the sixteen games played on March 19 (the first day of the tourney), five were decided by one point, a single-day record.
• Kentucky’s run at becoming the first unbeaten national champion since 1976 ends with a dramatic loss to Wisconsin in the second national semifinal.

 

43

2008

21

29

48

44

78

Kansas 75, Memphis 68*

4

37.33

Top Moments:

• Mario Chalmers hits one of the tournament’s most iconic shots (pictured below) to send Kansas to overtime in the national title game against Memphis.  The Jayhawks took over from there to win their first national championship in twenty years.
• Steph Curry leads Davidson on a Cinderella run to the Elite 8 with wins over 7th seeded Gonzaga, 2nd seeded Georgetown, and 3rd seeded Wisconsin.

 

44

1974

59

NR

30

34

7

NC State 76, Marquette 64

58

37.60

Top Moments:

• NC State ends UCLA’s seven year reign of terror with double overtime upset of the Bruins in the in Final Four.
• Al McGuire leads Marquette to school’s first final four, setting the framework for their national title run three years later.

 

45

1994

36

25

51

72

27

Arkansas 76, Duke 72

16

37.83

Top Moments:

• The Razorbacks of Arkansas wins school’s first national championship with President and alumnus Bill Clinton in attendance.
• The defending champion and tournament favorite Tar Heels get sent home in the second round by Bill Curley’s Boston College squad (pictured below).

 

46

1954

47

NR

8

31

44

La Salle 92, Bradley 76

64

38.80

Top Moments:

• Tom Gola leads La Salle to school’s only national championship (team pictured below).  Fran O’Malley is the early round hero when he hit a first round buzzer beater against Fordham to ignite the tourney run.
• Penn State makes only Final Four run in school history.

 

47

1957

66

NR

41

63

23

UNC 54, Kansas 53***

6

39.80

Top Moments:

• UNC unbelievably wins back-to-back TRIPLE overtime games, the latter of which was against Wilt Chamberlain’s (pictured below) Jayhawks squad, to clinch the school’s first national title.
• Michigan State made their first of ten Final Four runs with wins over Notre Dame and Kentucky.

 

47

1962

38

NR

20

51

33

Cincy 71, Ohio State 59

57

39.80

Top Moments:

• Coach Bones McKinney leads Billy Packer’s Wake Forest squad to school’s only Final Four in school history.
• Cincinnati wins second consecutive national title with a narrow victory over UCLA in the Final Four followed by a dominating victory over intrastate rival Ohio State in the title game. (team pictured below)

 

49

1958

57

NR

22

50

21

Kentucky 84, Seattle 72

50

40.00

Top Moments:

• Kentucky survives Final Four scare against Temple and then defeat Elgin Baylor’s Seattle squad in the title game to win fourth national title.

 

50

1995

20

12

50

55

61

UCLA 89, Arkansas 78

53

41.83

Top Moments:

• UCLA’s Tyus Edney goes coast-to-coast for buzzer-beating layup (pictured below) in second round win over Missouri.  Bruins go on to win their only national title in the post-John Wooden era.
• Defending champion Arkansas makes an improbable run to the title game thanks to a miraculous second round victory over Syracuse that featured a Chris Webber-style technical foul for taking too many timeouts in the final five seconds of regulation.

 

51

2001

1

37

62

54

53

Duke 82, Zona 72

51

43.00

I ranked the first round of this tourney # 1 all-time thanks to a slew of upsets and tight games.

Top Moments:

• Hampton becomes the fourth 15 seed to beat a 2 when they upset Iowa State with a layup in the game’s final seconds. (see celebration below)
• Duke overcomes 22 point deficit to stun Gary Williams’ Maryland squad en route to school’s third national title.

 

52

1970

67

NR

19

22

64

UCLA 80, Jacksonville 69

45

43.40

In direct contrast to the tournament above, I ranked this first round dead last due to the dearth of upsets and close games (no game decided by fewer than seven points).

Top Moments:

• Artis Gilmore (pictured below) leads Jacksonville on stunning run to the national title game featuring wins over Iowa and Kentucky.
• New Mexico State and St. Bonaventure join the Dolphins of Jacksonville as other Cinderella, first-time Final Four participants.

 

53

1945

NR

NR

NR

45

55

OK A & M 49, NYU 45

31

43.67

Top Moments:

• Coach Henry Iba leads Cowboys of Oklahoma A & M (now Oklahoma State) to their first national title in school history. (team pictured below)
• National runner-up NYU erases a 10 point Final Four deficit in the final two minutes of regulation to knock off Ohio State in overtime.

 

54

1942

NR

NR

NR

16

54

Stanford 53, Dartmouth 38

63

44.33

Top Moments:

• The Stanford Indians, as they were called at at the time, won their first and only national title by knocking off Rice, Colorado, and then Dartmouth.  Interestingly enough, Stanford’s coach Everett Dean is the only coach in college basketball history to be unbeaten for his career in the NCAA tournament, as this was his only appearance in the Big Dance. (starting five pictured below)
• The Kentucky Wildcats make their first of seventeen Final Four appearances thanks to a nail-biting victory over Illinois in the elite eight.

 

55

1959

52

NR

57

32

62

Cal 71, West Virginia 70

20

44.60

Interestingly, we’re following up the tournament where Stanford won its only national title with the tourney that arch rival Cal won its only national title.

Top Moments:

• West Virginia, Cincinnati, and Louisville all made their first final four appearances in school history during this tournament.
• The Cal Golden Bears win their first and only national championship with a game-winning tip-in with 17 seconds left to go. (celebration pictured below)

 

56

1946

NR

NR

NR

69

36

OK A & M 43, UNC 40

29

44.67

Top Moments:

• Oklahoma A & M (not OK State) center Bob Kurland executed the first two dunks in NCAA tourney history en route to a second consecutive national title. (team pictured below)
• The Tar Heels of North Carolina make their first of a recond twenty final four appearances and the first of eleven title game appearances with victories over NYU and Ohio State.

 

57

1963

54

NR

42

48

69

Loyola 60, Cincy 58

11

44.80

Top Moments:

• Loyola of Chicago makes the first of their two legendary NCAA tournament runs (2016 being the other) en route to a surprise national title.  The Ramblers win their final game over Cincinnati by overcoming a 15 point second half deficit and winning the game with a tip-in during game’s final seconds. (see team picture below)
• The Duke Blue Devils make their first of sixteen final four appearances with wins over NYU and St. Joseph’s.

 

58

1955

61

NR

21

46

29

San Francisco 77, La Salle 63

68

45.00

Top Moments:

• Bill Russell wins the first of his many championships by leading San Francisco to the school’s first national title. (team pictured below)
• The first NCAA tournament games to be played in the state of Kentucky took place when Marquette matched up with Miami of Ohio and Penn State played Memphis State.

 

59

1981

50

3

10

81

66

Indiana 63, UNC 50

62

45.33

The 2nd and 3rd rounds of this tournament were epic, but the Elite Eight was the worst in tourney history in my judgment, as all games were won by favorites with no contest being decided by less than 11 points.

Top Moments:

• Isiah Thomas leads Indiana to its second national title under coach Bobby Knight.
• March Madness sees one of its first iconic days as three second round upsets were all decided by last-second baskets on March 14.  St. Joe’s beat # 1 seeded DePaul with a layup, Arkansas dethrones defending national champion Louisville with a U.S. Reed half court heave (pictured below), and Kansas State beats Oregon State with a fade away 17 footer.
• Danny Ainge pulls off the most famous coast to coast buzzer beater in  tourney history to give BYU a 51-50 victory over Notre Dame in the Sweet 16.

 

60

2000

22

23

34

53

76

Michigan St. 89, Florida 76

69

46.17

This tournament ranks the third worst in the 64 team era (post-1984) thanks to a first round that didn’t see a 12 seed or higher win and three snoozefest games in the Final Four.

Top Moments:

• Two eight seeds made it to the final four for the first time in tournament history as North Carolina and Wisconsin made surprise runs to Indianapolis.
• Florida makes run to first-ever national title game thanks to Mike Miller’s buzzer beating runner in their first round overtime victory over Butler. (see celebration below)

 

61

1967

60

NR

7

42

52

UCLA 79, Dayton 64

70

46.20

Top Moments:

• UCLA (team pictured below) wins the first of their record seven straight national championships thanks largely to the play of sophomore center Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabar)
• Dayton and Houston became first-time final four participants by winning the Mideast and Midwest regions respectively.  Dayton fans stormed the court in Evanson’s McGaw Memorial Hall after team’s Elite Eight come from behind overtime win over Virginia Tech.

 

61

1969

40

NR

32

43

38

UCLA 92, Purdue 72

78

46.20

Top Moments:

• Drake and Purdue both made their inaugural final four appearances, and the Bulldogs of Drake gave UCLA all they could handle in their national semifinal meeting (pictured below).  Unfortunately, Purdue, who lost their starting center in their Elite Eight game against Miami of Ohio, did not fare as well against the Bruins the lopsided national title game.

 

63

1944

NR

NR

NR

76

42

Utah 42, Dartmouth 40

22

46.67

Top Moments:

• The Utes of Utah (pictured below) win their only national title in school history by pulling off major upset in title game victory over Dartmouth.  The Utes were an eight point underdog going into the game and were able to take home the crown thanks to Herb Wilkinson’s game winner.  The only reason Utah even got to play in that year’s tourney was that Arkansas had to withdraw its invitation because two  players were seriously injured in a car accident just before the tourney was set to begin.

 

64

1956

23

NR

64

33

57

San Francisco 83, Iowa 71

60

47.40

Top Moments:

• Hal Lear (pictured below) sends the Owls of Temple to their first Final Four in school history by sinking two free throws with two second left in their Elite Eight win over Canisius.  Interestingly, Lear became the first of only four players to win the tournament’s most outstanding player award without playing in the title game.

 

65

2007

45

30

39

59

59

Florida 84, Ohio State 75

55

47.83

The second worst NCAA tournament in the 64-team era (post 1984) thanks to a lack of upsets/cinderella stories, a dearth of buzzer beaters/iconic moments, and a predictable final outcome,

Top Moments:

• Georgetown beats Vandy in the Sweet 16 with controversial drop step layup by Jeff Green that could have been called a travel.
•  Duke loses its first round game for the first time since 1996 thanks to Eric Maynor’s game winner with 1.8 seconds left. (see celebration below)

 

66

1948

NR

NR

NR

47

43

Kentucky 58, Baylor 42

59

49.67

Top Moments:

• Kentucky wins the first of its eight national titles in program history.  (team pictured below)
• Baylor wins the only close game of the entire tournament in their first round game again Washington and then proceed to make a run to  to school’s first and only national title game.

 

67

1951

NR

NR

58

73

22

Kentucky 68, K-State 58

48

50.25

Top Moments:

• Kentucky wins the third of its eight national titles by narrowly beating Illinois in the national semifinal.  The Cats overcame 7 point halftime deficit in that game to comeback and win on Shelby Linville’s game-winner. (team pictured below)
• The UConn Huskies make their first of thirty-two NCAA tournament appearances.

 

68

1952

NR

NR

66

19

47

Kansas 80, St. John’s 63

73

51.25

Top Moments:

• Kansas wins its first national championship in school history with legendary coach Phog Allen at the helm.
• St. John’s pulls off possibly the greatest NCAA tournament upset of the decade by beating defending national champion Kentucky in the Elite Eight (pictured below).  Amazingly, the Cats beat the Johnnies by 41 points in their earlier regular season meeting.

 

69

1972

39

NR

65

67

48

UCLA 81, Florida St 76

38

51.40

Top Moments:

• Southwest Louisiana becomes the first and only team to win an NCAA tournament game in its first year of postseason eligibility.
• Florida State makes Cinderella run to the national title game where they put up a valiant effort against a dominant UCLA team.  Surprisingly, this is still FSU’s only trip to a Final Four. (team pictured below)

 

70

2009

29

39

69

39

63

UNC 89, Michigan State 72

72

51.83

The worst NCAA tournament of the modern era was plagued by a lack of upsets, the worst Sweet 16 in tourney history (no close games and only one upset), and a dull and predictable Final Four and national title game.  In fact, the ’09 national championship game is the only title game since 1995 that I didn’t watch live.

Top Moments:

• Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds gives the Wildcats its first Final Four berth under Jay Wright with a game-winning runner in the lane to deny Pitt its first Final Four trip since 1941. (pictured below)
• North Carolina completes one of the most dominant NCAA tournament runs in history by beating all six of their opponents by at least twelve points.

 

71

1940

NR

NR

NR

62

26

(1) Indiana 60, (2) Kansas 42

74

54.00

Despite being the 11th worst tourney in NCAA history, this second NCAA tournament was considerably better than the inaugural event you will see below.

Top Moments:

• Indiana wins the first of its five national titles thanks to three dominant victories, two of which were played in front of a home crowd in nearby Indianapolis. (team pictured below)
• Phog Allen’s Jayhawks win the first close game in the history of the Final Four with one point victory over Southern Cal.
• Duquesne and Western Kentucky play in the first close game in the history of the NCAA tournament when the Dukes win their first round game over Western Kentucky by a single point.

 

72

1953

64

NR

43

70

80

Indiana 69, Kansas 68

24

56.20

Coincidentally, the only two tournaments featuring national championship games pairing Indiana and Kansas are ranked right next to one another!

Top Moments:

• Indiana wins the second of its five national titles with Bobby Leonard’s game winning free throw in the final 30 seconds of their one point title game victory.

 

73

1976

32

NR

40

66

71

Indiana 86, Michigan 68

75

56.80

Three of the five NCAA tournaments that Indiana won are ranked consecutively!

Top Moments:

• Indiana (pictured below) becomes the last team undefeated national champion by beating Michigan in the first title game that paired two teams from the same conference.
• Rutgers dodges a bullet in their first round game against Princeton to preserve their undefeated Final Four run, which is by far the best tourney finish in school history.

 

74

1965

46

NR

56

49

79

UCLA 91, Michigan 80

56

57.20

Top Moments:

• Bill Bradley leads Princeton (pictured below) to its first and only final four appearance by virtue of convincing wins over NC State and Providence.
• Wichita State earns its first final four berth as well by ending Henry Iba’s coaching career with Elite Eight win over Oklahoma State.  The Shockers wouldn’t return to the national semifinals until 2013.

 

75

1961

53

NR

55

68

81

Cincy 70, Ohio State 65*

30

57.40

Despite a quality national title game, this tournament is ranked near the bottom of the all-time list because of an absolutely dreadful Final Four round featuring two blowouts where the total margin of victory for the pair of games was 51 points!

Top Moments:

• Cincinnati wins its first national championship by pulling huge overtime upset against intrastate rival Ohio State in the title game. (team pictured below)
• St. Joseph’s and Utah play a four overtime third place game which is the last NCAA tournament game to go beyond three extra periods.

 

76

1968

56

NR

54

35

72

UCLA 78, UNC 55

80

59.40

Several of these UCLA championship tournaments are ranked near the bottom because of their lack of intrigue as to who was going to win the title.

Top Moments:

• UCLA avenged their regular season “game of the century” loss to Houston two months prior with a 31 point drubbing of the Cougars in the Final Four.  The Bruins would take care of UNC in the title game to win their fourth overall title and second in a string of seven straight.
• Ohio State’s Sunshine Sorenson (pictured below) hits game winner to knock off third ranked Kentucky in an epic Elite Eight game.

 

77

1949

NR

NR

NR

58

73

Kentucky 46, OK A & M 36

49

60.00

Top Moments:

• Illinois and Oregon State both make their inaugural trips to the Final Four.  The Illini would go on to play in four more.  The Beavers would make one more in 1963.
• Oklahoma A & M wins a first round thriller over Wyoming with a Jack Shelton game winning tip-in.  Henry Iba’s Cowboys would use this victory to propel them on a run to the national title game.
• Kentucky (pictured below) becomes the first team to win consecutive national titles with a dominating run through their three tournament games.

 

78

1964

48

NR

59

80

58

UCLA 98, Duke 83

71

63.20

Top Moments:

• The Bruins of UCLA (pictured below) win their first national championship with narrow victories over Seattle, San Francisco, and Kansas State followed by a dominant win over Duke.  The K-State game was particularly memorable, as the Bruins made a late game comeback with the help of their cheerleaders who arrived in the final seven minutes of regulation due to a flight delay.
• Michigan makes its first final four appearance in school history.

 

79

1973

41

NR

53

78

75

UCLA 87, Memphis St. 66

79

65.20

Top Moments:

• Indiana makes its first NCAA tournament appearance with Bob Knight at helm.
• UCLA wins the last of its seven straight national titles.  Bill Walton is the most outstanding player.
• James “Fly” Williams leads the Governors of Austin Peay into the Sweet 16 for an epic clash with Kentucky.  The Wildcats win this high scoring classic in overtime. (pictured below)

 

80

1960

63

NR

44

79

65

Ohio State 75, Cal 55

77

65.60

Top Moments:

• The seldom used Jim Reiss hits game winner for NYU in their overtime upset of West Virginia in the Sweet 16.
• Ohio State wins the school’s only national championship with four dominant tournament victories in which they won by a total of 80 points.

 

81

1939

NR

NR

NR

77

67

Oregon 46, Ohio State 33

61

68.33

The first-ever NCAA tournament ended up being the worst!  Not a single game was decided by less than 12 points.

Top Moments:

• The Oregon Webfoots, as they were called at the time, won the first ever NCAA title (pictured below) with three convincing tournament victories.  Not only has Oregon failed to win another title, but they didn’t even make it back to the Final Four again until 2017!

 

---

 

Finally, here is my complete ranking of every NCAA tournaments without the illustrations or descriptions above.  I thought some of you may want to look at this to more easily be able to compare different seasons over time.  Again, the six numbers to the right of each year represent that tournament’s ranking for each round starting with the first round and ending with the title game.  The seventh number on the far right is that tournament’s average round ranking used for the final ordering of these events.  Thanks everyone for reading, and please feel free to comment or debate.

1	2014	8	17	13	4	14	Uconn 60, Kentucky 54	15	11.83
2	2017	31	14	5	7	9	UNC 71, Gonzaga 65	27	15.50
3	1950	NR	NR	NR	12	12	CCNY 71, Bradley 68	25	16.33
4	2011	5	13	2	2	24	Uconn 53, Butler 41	67	18.83
5	1983	27	33	15	3	35	NC State 54, Houston 52	1	19.00
6	1986	15	5	12	25	30	Louisville 72, Duke 69	28	19.17
7	1984	33	11	4	14	18	Georgetown 84, Houston 75	37	19.50
8	1978	24	NR	17	21	13	Kentucky 94, Duke 88	26	20.20
9	2019	37	36	27	1	4	Virginia 85, Texas Tech 77*	19	20.67
10	1985	18	4	31	26	49	Villanova 66, Georgetown 64	3	21.83
11	1998	3	28	63	9	10	Kentucky 78, Utah 69	23	22.67
12	1987	25	10	46	5	46	Indiana 74, Syracuse 73	9	23.50
13	2013	12	20	26	36	6	Louisville 82, Mich 76	42	23.67
14	2010	4	9	49	38	37	Duke 61, Butler 59	10	24.50
15	1966	65	NR	18	18	15	Texas Western 72, KY 65	17	26.60
16	1975	43	NR	33	20	8	UCLA 92, Kentucky 85	36	28.00
17	1996	26	34	14	37	19	Kentucky 76, Syracuse 67	39	28.17
18	1971	58	NR	16	11	16	UCLA 68, Villanova 62	40	28.20
19	1999	10	19	37	40	56	UConn 77, Duke 74	8	28.33
19	2004	28	6	60	29	1	UConn 82, Georgia Tech 73	46	28.33
21	2018	6	2	23	17	51	Villanova 79, Mich 62	76	29.17
22	2006	14	18	6	13	60	Florida 73, UCLA 57	65	29.33
23	1997	44	7	29	65	20	Arizona 84, Kentucky 79*	14	29.83
24	1982	42	8	24	75	25	UNC 63, Georgetown 62	7	30.17
25	2012	7	15	25	56	40	Kentucky 67, Kansas 59	41	30.67
25	1990	16	1	1	15	70	UNLV 103, Duke 73	81	30.67
27	1943	NR	NR	NR	41	5	Wyoming 46, Georgetown 34	47	31.00
28	1989	11	41	35	61	34	Michigan 80, Seton Hall 79*	5	31.17
29	1980	49	16	3	52	41	Louisville 59, UCLA 54	33	32.33
29	1992	51	32	28	6	11	Duke 71, Michigan 51	66	32.33
31	1991	9	38	45	57	3	Duke 72, Kansas 65	44	32.67
32	1979	62	22	47	10	39	Mich St 75, Indiana St 64	18	33.00
33	1988	35	21	38	71	28	Kansas 83, Oklahoma 79	12	34.17
34	2002	17	24	9	74	32	Maryland 64, Indiana 52	52	34.67
35	2016	2	40	68	24	74	Nova 77, UNC 74	2	35.00
35	1977	55	NR	11	64	2	Marquette 67, UNC 59	43	35.00
37	2005	34	26	36	8	77	UNC 75, Illinois 70	32	35.50
38	2003	19	27	52	27	68	Syracuse 81, Kansas 78	21	35.67
39	1993	30	35	61	60	17	UNC 77, Michigan 71	13	36.00
39	1947	NR	NR	NR	23	31	Holy Cross 58, Oklahoma 47	54	36.00
41	1941	NR	NR	NR	30	45	Wisky 39, Wazzu 34	35	36.67
42	2015	13	31	67	28	50	Duke 68, Wisky 63	34	37.17
43	2008	21	29	48	44	78	Kansas 75, Memphis 68*	4	37.33
44	1974	59	NR	30	34	7	NC State 76, Marquette 64	58	37.60
45	1994	36	25	51	72	27	Arkansas 76, Duke 72	16	37.83
46	1954	47	NR	8	31	44	La Salle 92, Bradley 76	64	38.80
47	1957	66	NR	41	63	23	UNC 54, Kansas 53***	6	39.80
47	1962	38	NR	20	51	33	Cincy 71, Ohio State 59	57	39.80
49	1958	57	NR	22	50	21	Kentucky 84, Seattle 72	50	40.00
50	1995	20	12	50	55	61	UCLA 89, Arkansas 78	53	41.83
51	2001	1	37	62	54	53	Duke 82, Zona 72	51	43.00
52	1970	67	NR	19	22	64	UCLA 80, Jacksonville 69	45	43.40
53	1945	NR	NR	NR	45	55	OK A & M 49, NYU 45	31	43.67
54	1942	NR	NR	NR	16	54	Stanford 53, Dartmouth 38	63	44.33
55	1959	52	NR	57	32	62	Cal 71, West Virginia 70	20	44.60
56	1946	NR	NR	NR	69	36	OK A & M 43, UNC 40	29	44.67
57	1963	54	NR	42	48	69	Loyola 60, Cincy 58	11	44.80
58	1955	61	NR	21	46	29	San Francisco 77, La Salle 63	68	45.00
59	1981	50	3	10	81	66	Indiana 63, UNC 50	62	45.33
60	2000	22	23	34	53	76	Michigan St. 89, Florida 76	69	46.17
61	1967	60	NR	7	42	52	UCLA 79, Dayton 64	70	46.20
61	1969	40	NR	32	43	38	UCLA 92, Purdue 72	78	46.20
63	1944	NR	NR	NR	76	42	Utah 42, Dartmouth 40	22	46.67
64	1956	23	NR	64	33	57	San Francisco 83, Iowa 71	60	47.40
65	2007	45	30	39	59	59	Florida 84, Ohio State 75	55	47.83
66	1948	NR	NR	NR	47	43	Kentucky 58, Baylor 42	59	49.67
67	1951	NR	NR	58	73	22	Kentucky 68, K-State 58	48	50.25
68	1952	NR	NR	66	19	47	Kansas 80, St. John’s 63	73	51.25
69	1972	39	NR	65	67	48	UCLA 81, Florida St 76	38	51.40
70	2009	29	39	69	39	63	UNC 89, Michigan State 72	72	51.83
71	1940	NR	NR	NR	62	26	(1) Indiana 60, (2) Kansas 42	74	54.00
72	1953	64	NR	43	70	80	Indiana 69, Kansas 68	24	56.20
73	1976	32	NR	40	66	71	Indiana 86, Michigan 68	75	56.80
74	1965	46	NR	56	49	79	UCLA 91, Michigan 80	56	57.20
75	1961	53	NR	55	68	81	Cincy 70, Ohio State 65*	30	57.40
76	1968	56	NR	54	35	72	UCLA 78, UNC 55	80	59.40
77	1949	NR	NR	NR	58	73	Kentucky 46, OK A & M 36	49	60.00
78	1964	48	NR	59	80	58	UCLA 98, Duke 83	71	63.20
79	1973	41	NR	53	78	75	UCLA 87, Memphis St. 66	79	65.20
80	1960	63	NR	44	79	65	Ohio State 75, Cal 55	77	65.60
81	1939	NR	NR	NR	77	67	Oregon 46, Ohio State 33	61	68.33

Be on the lookout for my next column which systematically answers the questions of which NCAA tournament has produced the most upsets and which has produced the biggest upsets.