The three-point basket by Kansas' Mario Chalmers with two seconds left that forced overtime and paved the way for the Jayhawks' 75-68 win against Memphis for the national title Monday night is the latest example of why the NCAA men's basketball tournament has become an exhilarating spectacle.
There have been a fistful of predecessors to last night's title game that make up the legacy of March Madness (even though the championship game has been played in April for quite a while now). And there are games others might think belong in any list of thrilling finishes. For instance, Loyola (Ill.) beat Cincinnati, 60-58, also in overtime, in 1963, and a handful of games were decided by a point, such as Indiana beating Syracuse, 74-73, in 1987.
Here's one person's list of five top finishes (chronologically) that rival the one we just saw:
1957: North Carolina 53, Kansas 52
It was a much smaller starting field 51 years ago, just 23 teams, but North Carolina's road to the national title was almost as difficult as those traveled by more recent champions. The Tar Heels had to win two triple-overtime games; the first one was the semifinal, 74-70 over Michigan State. Kansas was bigger, featuring none other than Wilt Chamberlain, who drew triple teams from North Carolina. The game was decided in the third OT, when Carolina center Joe Quigg hit two free throws with six seconds remaining. Some credit the Tar Heels' victory with helping establish the Atlantic Coast Conference's reputation as a basketball power.
1982: North Carolina 63, Georgetown 62
Different era but the same outcome for Carolina. This time the hero was His Airness, Michael Jordan, as a freshman, hitting a 16-foot jumper with 18 seconds left. It was a game filled with glittering names, such as James Worthy, Sam Perkins and Jordan on the Carolina side and Patrick Ewing and Eric "Sleepy" Floyd for Georgetown. The coaching duel was between Georgetown's John Thompson and Carolina's Dean Smith. After the Hoyas trailed most of the game, Georgetown closed to within a point on a basket by Ewing and went ahead on a jumper by Floyd with less than a minute left. That's when Jordan put his own stamp on the game, as he would so many more times.
1983: North Carolina State 54, Houston 52
