This decade has seen it’s fair share of historic college basketball games. While Louisville-Memphis from the 2005 Conference USA title game, Illinois-Arizona from the ’05 Elite Eight, and Syracuse-Kansas in the 2003 championship game were all outstanding games in their own right, they couldn’t quite crack our top five. Without further ado, here are the top five college basketball games of the decade:
5. Michigan State 94, Kentucky 88 (2OT)- Patrick Sparks’ three with mere seconds to go hit the rim four separate times before falling through the cylander to tie this elite eight game from 2005. State’s tough defense prevented Kentucky from even getting off a shot at the end of overtime, and they coolly handled the Cats in the second extra frame.
4. George Mason 86, UConn 84 (OT)- This 2006 Elite Eight game saw 11-seed George Mason shock top seed Connecticut en route to the school’s first Final Four appearance. The selection committee was roundly criticized for including the Patriots in the field as an at-large bid, especially by CBS analyst Billy Packer. But GMU battled back from a nine-point halftime deficit to tie up the Huskies and force overtime. Denham Brown’s final shot attempt rimmed out in OT, sending George Mason to the Final Four.
3. Duke 98, Maryland 96 (OT)- A regular season game on the list? Well, in this Instant Classic, Jason Williams led the Blue Devils back from 10 points down in the final minute to shock Maryland back in 2000-01. The Terps led 90-80 with :54 left before Williams went to work, scoring eight points in the next 13 seconds. Two Nate James free throws tied the game and forced OT, where the Blue Devils held on. What a comeback.
2. Syracuse 127, UConn 117 (6OT)- One of the most thrilling games of all time took place in the 2009 Big East tournament. Eric Devendorf’s 28-foot heave as time expired swished through the nets, but a lengthy review dissallowed the goal. Each subsequent overtime had tremendous buzzer beating attempts, but the game just kept going. An Andy Rautins 3-pointer at the start of the sixth overtime game the ‘Cuse it’s first lead since regulation, and the Orange held on for the 10-point win in six overtimes.
1. Kansas 75, Memphis 68 (OT)- The 2008 National Championship game tops the six OT thriller simply because it was the NCAA title game. Kansas trailed by nine with 2:12 to go, but Memphis simply could not hit it’s free throws. Mario Chalmers’ 3-point heave with 2.1 ticks remaining tied the game, and the Jayhawks pulled away from an exhausted Tigers team in the extra frame for their first National Championship since Danny Manning’s tenure in Lawrence.
