Get your brackets and collegiate gear ready because March is all about the madness! From the Duke Blue Devils to the North Carolina Tar Heels, the rivalries, the intensity, and the upsets capture the college and gameday spirit as the 68 best teams in the NCAA battle their way through the Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, and the Championship Game in their paths to crown a champion. To celebrate this year’s tournament, we’ll look back on some of the best March Madness games and runs over the past decades.
For 80 years, March Madness has been a staple event for basketball fans. This tournament has brought us some of the greatest moments in the history of the sport. Every year, we get to witness greatness in the making with iconic games and shots that have become legendary. Starting it off, everybody remembers Kemba Walker’s epic game-winner against Pittsburgh in 2010, but his 11-game run with UConn in 2011 truly cemented their place in NCAA history. Continuing with great runs, Virginia’s championship run in 2019 deserves a mention as it came right after an embarrassing upset to UMBC the year before. Their run would be anything but easy as every game was a nail-biter as they nearly edged out Purdue, Auburn, and Texas Tech to win the tourney. With great runs there come great shots, for example, Jalen Suggs’ half court game-winner for Gonzaga in 2021 secured their second trip to the finals. But when the lights are the brightest, the stars come out to play as some of the biggest moments have happened in the Championship game. From Michael Jordan’s go-ahead bucket in 1982 to “The Shot” by Christian Laettner in 1992 to Mario Chalmers’ game-tying three in 2008, college basketball has always saved the best for last.
In my opinion, the greatest moment in March Madness history happened in 2016 when fan-favorite Villanova faced North Carolina in the national championship. What was already a great game turned legendary in the final minutes of the game as UNC player Marcus Paige hit an improbable shot to tie the game up. But with seconds left Kris Jenkings drilled a deep three at the buzzer to seal the title for Villanova, winning in legendary fashion.
When talking about March Madness, it’s hard to ignore the upsets that momentarily take over the basketball world as they ruin thousands of perfect brackets every year. These “Cinderella” stories, as they are called, are the foundation of the culture and atmosphere of the tournament. The underdogs that we root for time and time again bring madness and excitement to the tournament as they show their resilience to bring down the giants of the tournament, showing that no one is truly safe. Some of the biggest upsets in NCAA history have happened very recently, within the last few years, such as the No. 15 Florida Gulf Coast’s win over No. 2 Georgetown in 2013 or No. 15 Princeton’s victory against No. 2 Arizona in 2023. or last night, when Kentucky fell to number 14 seed Oakland to destroy many brackets. While these singular games were incredible, no single game can dethrone the run that No. 15 Saint Peter’s put up in 2022 as they beat teams such as No. 2 Kentucky and No. 3 Purdue. The Peacocks became the first 15-seed team to ever reach the Elite Eight as their run ended with a loss to No. 8 North Carolina. But one of the biggest upsets you can see in the NCAA is a No. 16 team beating a No. 1 team. There have only been two teams in March Madness history to ever accomplish this feat, with both games happening within six years of each other. The most recent was from 2023, last year’s tournament as No. 1 Purdue fell to No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson stunningly. But No. 1 Virginia’s defeat to No. 16 UMBC in 2018 might have been the single worst loss in NCAA history, as going into that game there had never been a 16-seed team to ever topple a 1st-seed team. Virginia entered the tournament with the second-best odds to win it all that year according to ESPN.
After reading about some of these historic runs, hopefully, you will tune into this year’s NCAA tournament. You can watch the madness unfold on TNT, truTV, TBS, and CBS starting on March 21 to the tournament’s climactic ending on April 8. Who will take home the championship this year? My pick is UConn, let the madness begin!