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Ranking the 25 best men's college basketball games of the 2000s: Chalmers' 3, 6 OTs and more

Ranking the 25 best men's college basketball games of the 2000s: Chalmers' 3, 6 OTs and more

New York Times2 days ago
Editor's note: All week, The Athletic is looking back at the best of the first 25 years of the 2000s in men's college basketball. Also read the top 25 players, top 25 coaches, top 25 teams and top 25 non-title teams, and submit your own picks.
By Brendan Marks, CJ Moore and Lindsay Schnell
There are, on average, over 5,800 college basketball games every season. Multiply that by 25, and we're talking about more than 145,000 contests in the last 25 seasons.
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And we're expected to pick the best 25? Right.
It is an impossible exercise, but one that proved easier than it initially seemed. The breakdown explains why. Of the 26 games we settled on — two are a package deal, as you'll see — 20 occurred in the NCAA Tournament, and eight were national championship games. And while there are plenty of blue bloods featured, we also have several Cinderellas, like Davidson, George Mason, and Fairleigh Dickinson. Nine of our entries went into overtime (or double overtime … or six overtimes), and 16 were decided by a single basket. Unsurprisingly, buzzer-beaters abound, although we tried to be balanced in weighing great games against great finishes.
Enjoy the stroll down memory lane:
NCAA Tournament first round (March 17, 2023)
The last game to make our cut is a historic, 16-over-1 upset that has only happened twice in NCAA Tournament history? Talk about a stacked list. Unlike the first time a No. 16 seed beat a No. 1 — when UMBC throttled Virginia in 2018 — this game was neck-and-neck for 40 minutes.
FDU was the shortest team in Division I, with two sub-5-foot-10 starters. Purdue trotted out 7-foot-4 Wooden Award winner Zach Edey, a walking double-double. That Goliath-esque mismatch should have doomed the Knights, but their defensive strategy — quite literally surrounding the Big Maple, almost like little kids piling on a fun uncle in the pool — proved remarkably efficient, holding Edey scoreless the last nine minutes of the game. Couple that with FDU's full-court press, which it maintained the entire game, and non-Edey Boilermakers shot just 28.6 percent while also turning it over 14 times. Sean Moore's 3 with just over a minute left pushed Fairleigh Dickinson's lead to five, and his subsequent block on Braden Smith sealed one of the biggest shockers in college hoops history. — Marks
(16) FDU UPSETS (1) PURDUE 😱😱😱
MARCH. KEEPS. ON. GIVING. #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/4T0K3n13Er
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 18, 2023
Final Four (April 4, 2015)
How did Kentucky — with its sterling 38-0 record, 10 former top-50 recruits, four future NBA lottery picks and the nation's best defense — not even make the national title game? Because it ran into the nation's No. 1 offense, led by Wooden Award winner Frank Kaminsky. UK fell behind by eight early in the second half before ripping off a 16-4 run and taking a four-point lead with under five minutes to play. But a Wisconsin team running on fumes mustered the few precious plays it needed to win: Nigel Hayes' offensive rebound and putback with 2:35 left that tied things at 60; Sam Dekker's 3 that put the Badgers up for good; and finally, Kaminsky drawing a foul — and making both free throws — with 24.5 seconds left, which gave the Badgers all the margin they needed. — Marks
Final Four (April 1, 2023)
What's more surprising: That Lamont Butler hit a pull-up jumper at the buzzer to send San Diego State to the national championship game, or that Butler explained his mostly muted reaction by saying, 'I didn't really know how big it was.'
For clarification, it was quite big. It capped the tournament's first all-mid-major semifinal since 2011 (VCU-Butler) and an unbelievable comeback, as SDSU trailed by as many as 14 in the second half. The Aztecs got back into it with gritty defense and timely offensive rebounding, but at the end it was all Butler. SDSU didn't call a timeout to draw something up; Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher joked later he was out of plays. According to the Associated Press, Butler's shot was the fifth buzzer-beater in Final Four history but the only one hit by a team trailing at the time of the shot. — Schnell
LEGENDARY buzzer-beater 🤯#MFinalFour @Aztec_MBB pic.twitter.com/msNfmuVNCg
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 2, 2023
National championship (April 8, 2019)
A year after becoming a trivia answer — and a punchline — following the biggest upset in March Madness history, Virginia responded with a gritty win in the national title game against Texas Tech. The Cavs let a 10-point lead turn into a three-point deficit with 22 seconds to play, but De'Andre Hunter stepped up, hitting a game-tying 3 to send the game to overtime.
Hunter finished with a career-high 27 points, particularly impressive given that he didn't score a field goal for the first 18 minutes of the game, and UVA won its first national championship. — Schnell
NCAA Tournament second round (March 19, 2005)
This was an introduction for many to John Beilein and his beautiful two-guard offense against Skip Prosser in what turned out to be his final NCAA Tournament game. It was also the last college game for Chris Paul, who scored 10 of his 22 points in the first overtime to force a second. Paul's backcourt mate Taron Downey kept burying huge shots, including game-tying 3s in both the final minute of regulation and the first overtime, but the Demon Deacons couldn't keep up after Paul fouled out.
Mike Gansey, with the classic T-shirt-under-the-jersey look, scored 19 of his 29 points in the two overtimes to help Beilein reach his first Sweet 16. — Moore
National championship (April 4, 2022)
North Carolina was the No. 8 seed that wasn't supposed to be there. Kansas was back in the title game for the first time in 10 years with a team that hadn't been one of Bill Self's best.
The Tar Heels were dominant, building a 15-point halftime lead. Those Jayhawks had made a habit of digging holes and fighting back, and Self, who lost his father that season, had always kept his cool. His dad always told him to never sweat the big stuff, and Self told his players at halftime to stay calm, emphasize a mantra they'd adopted that year ('make the other team play bad') and quit playing soft.
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The game was tied nine minutes and seven seconds into the second half, and from there the teams traded blows until the final 90 seconds, when David McCormack scored twice from the post while UNC went scoreless on its final three trip, including the last one, when KU's players told Self they wanted to guard instead of fouling while ahead by three. KU got the stop and pulled off the greatest comeback in championship game history. — Moore
National championship (April 5, 2010)
Since this game, three other national championships have been decided by a single basket. But this was the first such ending in 21 seasons. Aesthetically, this wasn't the prettiest basketball game — both teams shot under 45 percent, and they combined for 20 turnovers — but it had all the other elements of a classic: storied Duke, led by Mike Krzyzewski and his three national titles, against upstart Butler and 33-year-old coach Brad Stevens.
Neither team led by more than six, setting up one of the most replayed endings in championship game history. Down one, Gordon Hayward missed a baseline jumper that would've given Butler the lead with seconds left. Instead, Brian Zoubek made the first of two subsequent free throws — and then intentionally missed the second upon Krzyzewski's orders. That gave Hayward juuuust enough time to dribble to midcourt, where he unleashed a heave that clanked off the backboard and rim. It remains one of sports' biggest what-if misses. — Marks
1 unforgettable thing from every #MarchMadness since 2000…
including @gordonhayward's Hail Mary that wouldn't fall.👉 https://t.co/OuysQ6uEdD pic.twitter.com/twYU8aLqr2
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 5, 2019
National championship (April 7, 2025)
Houston fans are not going to want to relive this. The Cougars led by 12 with just over 16 minutes to play. They had held Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. in check and the Gators were out of sorts offensively.
But Florida slowly chipped away and took its first lead of the second half with 46 seconds left. On Houston's final possession, Clayton made a brilliant defensive play, forcing Houston's Emanuel Sharp to pause in the middle of his shooting motion. Worried about traveling, Sharp dropped the ball and watched it bounce, and the Gators pounced. Florida captured its first title in 18 years. — Schnell
National championship (April 4, 2005)
The NCAA Tournament does not always reward us with the two best teams in the championship, but it's sure nice when things work out like that. In terms of net rating, Illinois and UNC were five points better than any other team that season but only 0.09 points apart from one another.
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Illinois fell behind by as many as 15 early in the second half — just as it had in the Elite Eight against Arizona, before coming back to win in overtime — and once again had to rally. Luther Head's 3-pointer with just under three minutes left knotted the score at 70-all, setting up a tremendous finish.
Marvin Williams, the national freshman of the year, tipped in a missed Rashad McCants jumper with 90 seconds left to put UNC up two, and Raymond Felton stole the ball from Head a minute later to prevent a tying basket. Head — who scored a team-high 21 points, but on 21 shots — still got off a potential game-tying 3 with 15 seconds left, but his miss found Felton's hands and effectively ended the game. After 15 years of coming up short at Kansas, Roy Williams earned his first national championship in just his second season back at his alma mater. — Marks
Regular season (Jan. 4, 2016)
This was the rare No. 1 vs. No. 1, with Kansas atop the Associated Press poll and Oklahoma at No. 1 in the coaches' poll. Every minute lived up to the hype. In the final two overtimes, neither team led by more than four, and they swapped leads five times in third OT, with KU finishing on a 5-0 run, surviving one last Buddy Hield double-clutch shot at the buzzer that would have forced a fourth OT.
It's not often that ESPN brings a losing player onto the floor for a postgame interview, but it happened when Hield returned to talk to Scott Van Pelt on 'SportsCenter.' Hield tied the record for the most points by a visiting player against KU with 46, and the lingering KU fans gave him a standing ovation. — Moore
#TBT: With @buddyhield making his NBA debut last night & @OU_Football hosting Kansas Saturday, let's look back to Buddy's 46 points vs KU. pic.twitter.com/4YKmj6PbpT
— Oklahoma Basketball (@OU_MBBall) October 27, 2016
NCAA Tournament first round (March 21, 2008)
Long before he became the best shooter in NBA history, Steph Curry was a baby-faced, skinny sharpshooter for the Davidson Wildcats. He scored 30 points in the second half to lift 10th-seeded Davidson over seventh-seeded Gonzaga in Raleigh, N.C., in the round of 64 for Davidson's first NCAA Tournament win in 39 years.
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Curry went 8-of-10 from long distance that day, finishing with 40 points, three rebounds, two assists and five steals. Afterward Gonzaga coach Mark Few said his team did 'everything' to try to slow Curry: 'We had our man defense where we don't leave him, we had a triangle and two, we tried zone …' — Schnell
#OTD 13 years ago, @StephenCurry30 dropped 40 PTS on Gonzaga in a first round upset for @DavidsonMBB 🔥
Forever legendary. #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/rwapyHczii
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 21, 2021
NCAA Tournament second round (March 23, 2014)
Wichita State, 35-0 at the time, was coming off a Final Four and trying to become the first team since Indiana in 1976 to finish a perfect season. For its historic regular season, it was rewarded with Kentucky as its No. 8 seed.
The Cats had underachieved but had one of the most talented rosters in the country and would go on to make the title game. Both played like elite teams, a classic back-and-forth game with neither team leading by more than five over the final 18 minutes. Wichita State nearly had a storybook ending, but Fred VanVleet's 3 at the buzzer missed to the right. UK coach John Calipari declared afterward that the winner should have gone to the Final Four. — Moore
Final Four (April 3, 2021)
You likely remember this game because of the 37-foot how-did-he-make-that?! game winner from Gonzaga freshman Jalen Suggs, who banked in the buzzer-beater to advance to the national championship, preserving the Zags' perfect season for one more game. But it was hardly Suggs' only highlight: His full speed, perfectly placed bounce pass in transition to Drew Timme with two minutes to play in regulation was a thing of beauty.
As good as this game was — 15 ties, 19 lead changes, 58 percent combined shooting — it's wild to imagine what it would have been like had it been played in front of a real, rabid March Madness crowd. This was the best game of the COVID-19-adjusted tournament that was played across Indiana, with only 8,131 in attendance for the Final Four. — Schnell
Elite Eight (March 30, 2019)
To reach the Final Four a year after it was knocked out by a No. 16 seed, the Cavaliers had to outlast an epic performance from Purdue star Carsen Edwards, who drained 10 3s and finished with 42 points for the third-seeded Boilermakers.
The Cavs needed a chaotic buzzer-beater from Mamadi Diakite to force overtime. They also got a heroic return from Kyle Guy, who rolled his ankle in the first half but returned in the second, nailing crucial back-to-back 3s and finishing with 25 points.
The win had a special parallel, too. It got UVA coach Tony Bennett to his first Final Four, 19 years after his dad, Dick Bennett, went there with Wisconsin … who also beat Purdue in the regional final. — Schnell
WE'RE HEADING TO OT! 😱#MarchMADNESS | #Elite8 pic.twitter.com/pmX7SHt35Z
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 31, 2019
Regular season (Feb. 25, 2012)
This was the final Border War before Missouri left the Big 12 for the SEC. Considering the circumstances, it was one of the most anticipated games in the history of the rivalry, and it lived up to the billing. With a chance to tie KU atop the Big 12, Mizzou played a near-perfect game for 23 minutes, building a 19-point lead. But the Jayhawks rallied and forced overtime when Thomas Robinson blocked Phil Pressey's layup at the buzzer. 'I think I had my eyes closed,' Robinson said that day of the controversial play, which Mizzou fans will forever argue was a foul. Allen Fieldhouse has never been louder.
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Tyshawn Taylor made the game-winning free throws in OT, redeeming himself after he'd missed two free throws in the final minute of an earlier loss to Missouri in Columbia. Self showed how much the win meant with a full-body celebratory fist pump that still lives on in Kansas' pregame hype video. — Moore
Regular season (Dec. 10, 2011)
The eventual champion Wildcats were so stacked that going undefeated didn't seem out of the realm of possibility. Indiana was fighting to become relevant again under Tom Crean. This was the Hoosiers' chance to show they were back, and they executed to near-perfection for 31 minutes, building a 10-point lead. Then the Cats started getting to the paint and took the lead with two minutes left.
Kentucky had a chance to seal the game at the line, but IU intentionally fouled Anthony Davis, who missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Doron Lamb made just one of two free throws to give IU the ball down two. That set up the Wat Shot, a Christian Watford buzzer-beating 3 that led to an Assembly Hall court storm. Kentucky would only lose one more game that season and got redemption against Indiana in the Sweet 16 on its way to a title. — Moore
𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯… 🗣️#OTD in 2011, Christian Watford beat the buzzer to send @IndianaMBB past No. 1 Kentucky. 🙌#WatShot x @Cwat205 pic.twitter.com/JHXaMGoCcn
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) December 10, 2023
Big East tournament (March 12, 2009)
This is the ultimate 'where were you when …' game, and I can tell you where I was: Watching from the Oregon State media room in the basement of Gill Coliseum, wondering if the game was ever going to end and what the Big East was going to do if either team ran out of subs (between the two squads, eight players fouled out). It's hard to pick the wildest part: That the game went so long (70 minutes!) or that Syracuse won despite not leading during any of the previous five overtimes. Everyone was exhausted.
Connecticut guard A.J. Price later said, 'We were taking shots of B-12, energy drink(s) … I remember our trainer, after the second overtime, was like, 'Everybody has to take it. Everybody needs the B-12 right now.''
A Big East tournament quarterfinal, this matchup was particularly intriguing not only because of the NBA talent — future lottery picks Jonny Flynn, Kemba Walker and Hasheem Thabeet — but the bitter rivalry between then-Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim and then-UConn coach Jim Calhoun. — Schnell
On This Date: 10 years ago, Syracuse defeated UConn after 6 OVERTIME PERIODS 🔥 pic.twitter.com/RPRKqLBzaP
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 12, 2019
Regular season (Dec. 17, 2016)
Elite Eight (March 26, 2017)
Sure, technically we're cheating by including two games, but they're a package deal. First, in one of the more thrilling (and high-scoring) nonconference meetings of the last decade, the Cats outlasted the Tar Heels in Las Vegas courtesy of Malik Monk's 47 points, the last of which came via a game-winning 3 with 16.7 seconds left.
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An Elite Eight rematch between the two contenders felt inevitable after the bracket was released. Like in December, it appeared Monk would be the hero, draining a game-tying 3 with 7.2 seconds remaining — but Roy Williams famously opted not to call timeout, allowing the Tar Heels to quickly inbound the ball to Theo Pinson. Pinson sprinted down the floor in just enough time to dump the ball off to walk-on Luke Maye for one final shot, which he sank with 0.3 seconds left, sending UNC to a second consecutive Final Four. — Marks
"MAYE FOR THE WIN! … An incredible shot."
The Luke Maye shot that sent @UNC_Basketball to the Final Four in 2017. They would go on to win the natty that year. pic.twitter.com/W6G3yAMoLM
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 16, 2024
National championship (April 7, 2003)
Kansas fans will forever be haunted by free throws and the long arm of Hakim Warrick, who blocked Michael Lee's 3-point attempt to send the game to overtime in one of the greatest defensive plays in the history of the tournament.
Syracuse controlled the first half of this game. All eyes were on Carmelo Anthony, but Gerry McNamara was the freshman who burned the Jayhawks early, burying big 3 after big 3. Anthony still got his, scoring 20 points.
Kansas came back behind dominant performances by Nick Collison (19 points and 21 rebounds) and Jeff Graves (16 points and 16 rebounds), but both bigs had nightmarish nights at the line, combining to make just 5 of 17 free throws and giving the Cuse its first national championship. — Moore
Elite Eight (March 26, 2006)
George Mason's run to the 2006 Final Four epitomizes why the NCAA Tournament is the best postseason in sports, and this game was the exclamation point. With five future NBA players on its roster, including Rudy Gay, UConn was the No. 1 seed in the field and one of the season-long front-runners. But George Mason never folded, even after it trailed by 12 late in the first half. Instead, the Patriots hit six straight 3s midway through the second half to flip the game on its head, going from down nine to up two.
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UConn eventually found itself down four with under 10 seconds left in regulation, before cutting it to two via a Marcus Williams layup with 7.9 seconds left. George Mason missed its next two free throws, giving Huskies wing Denham Brown enough time to get off a game-tying reverse layup … which bounced three times on the rim before falling in.
George Mason made five of its six shots in overtime, but its poor free-throw shooting — including two misses with 6.1 seconds left — left the window open for UConn one last time. Brown's stepback 3 at the horn would've won it for the Huskies, but it went long, and George Mason became the lowest-seeded team since LSU in 1986 to make the Final Four. — Marks
Final Four (April 2, 2022)
You want stakes? How's this: North Carolina and Duke, the biggest rivals in college basketball, meeting for the first time ever in the NCAA Tournament, in the Final Four, with a trip to the national championship on the line — oh, and Mike Krzyzewski's career hanging in the balance.
The two teams couldn't have taken more opposite paths to that point, either. Duke, with future No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero and three other first-round NBA picks, was a season-long favorite to cut down the nets. UNC struggled all season under first-year coach Hubert Davis and only firmly cemented its March Madness berth by upsetting the Blue Devils in Krzyzewski's final home game. But the Tar Heels caught a comet over the last eight weeks of the season, and behind Brady Manek and Caleb Love's sharpshooting, stormed to the Final Four for the rematch of a lifetime.
There were 18 lead changes — including five in the final three minutes. But what everyone will remember most? Caleb Love's game-deciding 3-pointer over Mark Williams with 25 seconds left. Other than Michael Jordan's game-winning jumper in the title game against Georgetown, Love's shot is perhaps the most dramatic and important in UNC hoops history. — Marks
Two years ago today, Caleb Love hit the dagger for @UNC_Basketball as the Tar Heels defeated Duke in Coach K's final game to advance to the National Championship 👏#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/X2kSAEsyyk
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 2, 2024
Elite Eight (March 26, 2005)
The Illini, 35-1 at the time, had had not trailed by more than nine points all year. With four minutes left in the Elite Eight, they found themselves down 15. They had one of the best guard trios this century — Deron Williams, Dee Brown and Luther Head — and were ahead of their time, relying heavily on 3s. Knowing where the game has gone, it's funny to listen back to the broadcast criticize the approach.
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'Illinois has relied way too much on the 3 in this game. Half of the Illini's shots have been beyond the arc — 26 of their 52 shots have been 3s. That is not a balanced offense,' Jay Bilas said late in the game, finishing his statement just as Head canned another 3.
Head and Williams buried two more 3s in the final minute during an 8-0 run that took just 15 seconds to tie the game and send it to overtime. The 3-happy Illini made two more in overtime and finished 16-of-35 from deep, their willingness to keep firing helping pull off one of the greatest comebacks in NCAA Tournament history. — Moore
🎥 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠
March 26, 2005 – Illinois vs. Arizona #Illini | #EveryDayGuys pic.twitter.com/sf4V5hUO7d
— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) December 10, 2021
National championship (April 4, 2016)
'Gives it to Jenkins, for the championship…'
'A #NationalChampionship … BUZZER-BEATER!' 🗣#OTD, Kris Jenkins (@Smoove2you_) handed @NovaMBB its second National Championship in an absolute THRILLER vs. UNC! 🏆 #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/9trRX4WX58
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 4, 2022
The first buzzer-beating, game-winning shot in a national championship since Lorenzo Charles' putback in 1983, Kris Jenkins' 3 at the horn lives in basketball immortality. Never mind the rest of this fantastic game, which featured nine ties, nine lead changes, and North Carolina desperately surging back from down 10 points late in the second half.
The final 90 seconds alone induced palpitations. With UNC trailing by six, Marcus Paige drained a corner 3 to cut the deficit to three, and All-American Brice Johnson banked one off the glass on the Tar Heels' next possession to bring the game within one. But Villanova kept answering and still led by three with under 10 seconds left. Paige, desperate to get off a look, heaved up a double-clutch 3 in traffic and sunk it with 4.7 seconds left to seemingly send the national title to overtime.
Jenkins made sure it didn't, though — and delivered the perfect ending to one of the three best games of the last 25 years. — Brendan Marks
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Regular season (January 27, 2001)
Maryland was up 90-80 with 60 seconds to play at home. The Terps student section started chanting 'overrated!' at Duke guard Jay Williams, who struggled much of the night. He did not take it well.
'I say this with the utmost respect, but their fans were assholes … I was ready to fight those fans,' Williams told The Athletic in 2020. 'I didn't like them, but I very much embraced that environment. I don't know why I heard the fans at that moment … For the first time, hearing that got me angry.'
Williams hit a layup to cut the lead to single digits, which prompted ESPN broadcaster Mike Patrick to say of Duke's situation, 'They need a miracle.'
They got one. Williams grabbed a steal and buried a 3 to cut the deficit to five. Maryland missed two free throws and Williams responded with another 3 — eight points for him in 20 seconds. After another Duke steal and missed 3, Nate James was fouled on an offensive tip-in attempt and hit two free throws to tie it. Maryland missed a shot at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime.
Shane Battier, the 2001 national player of the year, dominated the extra period and Duke escaped with a stunning comeback — that I still have recorded on a VHS tape if anyone can't get YouTube to work. — Schnell
National championship (April 7, 2008)
This was one of the most memorable Final Fours ever, with four No. 1 seeds, including the next year's champion (North Carolina), Memphis and John Calipari with maybe the best guard he's coached in Derrick Rose, UCLA with a loaded roster that included Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook and a Kansas team that returned everyone but Julian Wright from a top-seeded team the previous year.
Memphis started to pull away late, in part thanks to Rose's shot-clock-beating banked shot that Jim Nantz declared 'the shot of the tournament.' The shot, initially ruled a 3, felt like the dagger that put the Tigers up 56-49 with 4:06 to play. Had Rose's right foot been inches back or had the Tigers made one more free throw in the final 75 seconds — they went 1-of-5 — then Mario Chalmers would have never had the opportunity to hit one of the most iconic shots in tournament history, a moon ball 3 that completed a nine-point comeback in just two minutes.
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Chalmers' iconic shot came on a play called 'Chop.' Weeks earlier, Chalmers had passed to Brandon Rush on the same play call in KU's last loss that season — at Oklahoma State — and Self told Chalmers never to pass it again. Chalmers listened, buried the real shot of the tournament, and Kansas owned overtime.
Because of the finish, it's in the conversation for the greatest title game of all time, and it's our pick as the best of this century. — Moore
12 years ago today, Mario Chalmers hit this shot to force OT 🔥
Kansas went on to beat Derrick Rose's Memphis team and claim the 2008 title. pic.twitter.com/QCx2a2mzGr
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 7, 2020
Honorable mention
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NFL teams open training camp, starting the long journey to Super Bowl 60 in San Francisco

The Los Angeles Chargers and Detroit Lions already have kicked off training camp. Rookies for several other teams have also reported. All veterans across the league are due this week. The NFL season is underway. The road to San Francisco for Super Bowl 60 begins in the grueling summer heat. Some teams have new coaches. A couple of old coaches have new teams. Star players have switched uniforms. There are position battles to determine. And, plenty of storylines to watch. Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles aim for a repeat. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs look to rebound after being denied the first three-peat in Super Bowl history. Training camp dates The Chargers and Lions were the first teams to have their full roster in camp. The Cowboys and Chiefs will have theirs on Monday. The rest of the league starts Tuesday. The Falcons and Steelers arrive Wednesday. Jim Harbaugh's Chargers face off against Dan Campbell's Lions in the Hall of Fame game on July 31 in Canton, Ohio. A pair of division rivalry games will open the season. The Eagles will host Dallas to begin the regular season on Sept. 4. The Chiefs and Chargers meet in Brazil the following night. New head coaches Pete Carroll is back in the NFL with the Las Vegas Raiders after just one year out of coaching. Carroll, who turns 74 in September, has a tough task building the Raiders into a playoff contender in a difficult division. Former Patriots star linebacker Mike Vrabel takes over in New England, replacing Jerod Mayo, who lasted one season after replacing Bill Belichick. The Bears turned to former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. The Jets hired former Lions DC Aaron Glenn. Kellen Moore left Philadelphia after one championship season to take over in New Orleans. Liam Cohen's success as Tampa Bay's OC landed him the head job in Jacksonville. Jerry Jones gave Brian Schottenheimer a chance to lead Dallas. Teams with new quarterbacks The Steelers are going all-in on Aaron Rodgers, hoping the 41-year-old, four-time MVP can take them to the big game. The Raiders acquired Geno Smith, reuniting Carroll with the quarterback he chose to replace Russell Wilson in Seattle. Sam Darnold ended up with the Seahawks after a career-year in Minnesota. Joe Flacco is back in Cleveland where he was the NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2023. The Browns also traded for Kenny Pickett and drafted Dillon Gabriel in the third round and Shedeur Sanders in the fifth. Wilson and Jameis Winston ended up in New York, but the Giants also selected Jaxson Dart in the first round. Justin Fields has a third chance with the Jets. J.J. McCarthy is the man in Minnesota after he missed his entire rookie season with a knee injury. Saints rookie Tyler Slough gets an opportunity to replace Derek Carr, who retired. The Titans have No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward. Top camp storylines Some contract issues still need to be resolved. The Bengals have yet to sign first-round pick Shemar Stewart and they haven't agreed to a new deal with All-Pro edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, who wants a raise after leading the league in sacks last season. The dispute with Stewart, a pass rusher the defense needs, isn't about money; it's about the team trying to insert language in Stewart's contract that would trigger the voiding of his salary guarantees with a breach or default by him. Another contract situation to watch involves Dallas. Micah Parsons is due for a new deal that's expected to make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. T.J. Watt currently holds that distinction after Pittsburgh gave him a $123 million extension worth an average of $41 million per season. Jones waited too long on Dak Prescott and ended up making him the NFL's first $60 million man last season. Now, he's going to end up paying Parsons more than anyone else who doesn't play QB. Quarterback competition The Browns have to choose between Flacco, Pickett, Sanders and Gabriel. Veteran Daniel Jones is competing with Anthony Richardson in Indianapolis. Richardson, the No. 4 overall pick in 2023, has been injured often and has a lingering shoulder problem. Shough and Spencer Rattler are battling in New Orleans. Wilson, Winston and Dart should make it a tough decision for the Giants. Ward has to beat out Will Levis in Tennessee. Joint practices With more teams opting to rest quarterbacks and key starters in preseason games, joint practices have become the way to prepare players for the regular season. A total of 29 teams have scheduled joint practices with other clubs. On the road Six teams - the Bills, Cowboys, Colts, Chiefs, Rams and Steelers - will spend their entire camp away from their facilities. Dallas, which trains in Oxnard, California, is the only team going out of state. Roster cuts Teams can carry a maximum of 90 players throughout training camp and for all of their preseason games. Rosters must be trimmed to 53 by 4 p.m. EDT on Aug. 26. ___ AP NFL:

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