Top five March Madness moments

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Photo by Todd Wickersty used with permission from Google Commons

#3 seed Xavier vs. #14 seed Georgia: March 20, 2008 NCAA Tournament from the Verizon Center in Washington D.C.

Over the past 10 years, March Madness has had incredible moments, from buzzer beaters, to Cinderella stories, and double-digit comebacks.  The top five March Madness moments since 2011are worth revisiting.

In fifth place is when the 14th seed, Georgia Southern Eagles, beat the third seed, Baylor Bears. In 2015 Georgia Southern was down by two points with time expiring and RJ Hunter made a deep three with less than three seconds left on the clock, sending the Eagles to the next round.Hunter’s coach (his dad Ron Hunter) tore his Achilles tendon prior to the game and was forced to roll around the court on a stool. During the celebration, the assistant coach accidently bumped Ron Hunter off his stool..

In fourth place is when Texas A&M had a comeback against Northern Iowa. In the last 30 seconds of the game, Texas A&M caused five turnovers, forcing the game into overtime. Going into overtime Texas A&M was down by 12 points, but had a comeback that led them to their victory. This was the largest comeback in under a minute in March Madness history.

In third place is Loyola Chicago’s historic 2018 final four run. The Loyola Chicago Ramblers last tournament appearance before 2018 was in 1985. The Ramblers were tied with George Maso., LSU and VCU were the only 11 seeds that made the final four. In the first round the Ramblers hit a deep three at the buzzer to upset the six-seeded Miami Hurricanes. The next round they beat three-seeded Tennessee on a floater as time was expiring. They then beat Kansas State and Nevada to punch their ticket into the Final Four.

In second place is when the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) beat Virginia. This is the only time in history that a 16-seed has beaten a one-seed. Virginia was the favorite to win the entire tournament and UMBC was ranked the worst team to make the tournament after barely winning their conference. UMBC ended up dominating the game, winning by 20 points and giving hope to all the small schools that don’t have the budget that bigger schools like Virginia have. 

Finally, the best moment in the last 10 NCAA tournaments is the 2016 championship buzzer beater by  Kris Jenkins, who plays for Villanova. Villanova was winning by three points with only 13 seconds left and  Marcus Paige, who plays for North Carolina, hit a deep three after adjusting his body in mid-air. With 4.8 seconds left, Villanova point guard Ryan Arcidiacono dribbled down the court to the three-point line and shoved it back to forward Jenkins who heaved up a deep three, which swished through the net as the buzzer sounded. This was the second of three national championships for Villanova with their last title being in 1985 and their next two years after 2016 in 2018.

This year March Madness should provide some great moments with lots of Cinderella stories, comebacks, game winning plays and historic tournament runs.