10. 1992 (Minneapolis): Arguably, the greatest game in college basketball history was played the weekend before the Final Four, the Duke-Kentucky regional final in Philadelphia. Still, this Final 4 was memorable. Duke was looking to repeat. Indiana and Bobby Knight (This would be his last Final 4) stood in his way along with Cincinnati and The Fab 5.
Duke knocked off Indiana in one national semi-final as Coach K defeated his mentor, Bobby Knight. Many people don't remember this game because of the Duke-KY game but this was a real good game. IU jumped out early to a 12-point lead but Duke went on a 31-6 run that spanned the end of the 1st half to the beginning of the 2nd half to take a 13-point lead. To their credit, Indiana cut it to 3 late behind 3 3-pointers in a :27 span by Todd Leary. A turnover by Bobby Hurley gave IU a chance to tie but they'd miss a 3. Duke made 2 free throws to take a 5-point lead. IU hit another 3 with :06 left but couldn't get all the way back as Cherokee Parks hit a FT with a tenth of a second left to guarantee a Duke win.
In the other semifinal, Michigan and their Fab 5 freshmen outlasted Nick Van Exel and Cincinnati. Michigan would take the first all-frosh starting lineup to the national title game.
The Fab Five would get their own 30 for 30 as would Christian Laettner, that's how important this title game was. Few recall, Duke blew the Fab 5 off the court in the second half, winning by 20 after being close at half. Duke became the first team since John Wooden's UCLA teams to repeat.
9. 2013 (Atlanta): Louisville was a popular pre-season pick to win their first national title since 1986 and when they reached Atlanta, two 4-seeds and a 9-seed Valley team stood in their way. What seemed like a foregone conclusion was instead a weekend of great games.
In the first semifinal, Louisville beat a game Wichita State team. The Shockers were not intimidated by the big stage. They lead going into half but the Cardinals would pull away late and win by 4 despite being down 12 with 13
Minutes left.
Michigan downed Syracuse in the second semi. The Wolverines enjoyed an 11-point halftime lead but the Orange whittled it down to 2 with :20 left. The Orange had a chance to tie but Howard Triche was called for a charge. Michigan only made one FT but Syracuse Trevor Cooney had his layup attempt block leading to a dunk on the other end, sealing a Michigan win.
Louisville would win the national title in a great game. Michigan lead at half behind 4 3-pointers from Spike Albrecht. Michigan was up 35-23 but Luke Hancock matched Albrecht with 4 3-pointers of his own. Louisville would build a 10-point lead with 3:20 left but Michigan managed to cut it to 4. Louisville would ultimately hang on and Rick Pitino had his 2nd title.
8. 1985 (Lexington): The year of the Big East culminated in Kentucky, where Georgetown, St. John's and Villanova all made the Final 4. Joining them would be Memphis State. What many thought would be a coronation of Georgetown instead provided us with one of the greatest upsets in tourney history.
The semifinals includes a blowout and slugfest. In one game, Georgetown smoked the Johnnies 77-59 blowing open a game the Hoyas lead by 4 at half. 8-seed Villanova beat 2-seed Memphis State 52-45 in the other game.
In the title game, Villanova shocked Georgetown playing a near perfect game. The Hoyas were heavy favorites to repeat but Nova shot 78% from the field to become the unlikely champ. Villanova is the lowest seeded champ of all time. Georgetown has only appeared in one other Final 4 since then after making 3 in 4 years.
7. 1993 (New Orleans): Michigan was back in the Final 4 as they took their place in infamy, losing a second straight title game to Dean Smith and North Carolina.
North Carolina defeated Kansas in the first national semifinal, gaining a bit of revenge from 1991 when the Jayhawks and Roy Williams defeated his mentor in a national semifinal. Michigan won in overtime in the other game against Kentucky, 81-78. Kentucky lead 78-85 with 1:12 left but the Wolverines scored the final 6.
The national title game is forever remembered for the timeout Chris Webber called that Michigan didn't have. The game itself saw Carolina lead for a majority of the game but Michigan was never out of it. With a chance late, Webber would get away with a travel that wasn't called but got caught in a double team and tried calling a timeout he didn't have. The rest is history and Dean Smith had title two.
6. 1999 (St. Petersburg): The 1999 Final 4 had a lot happening.
Michigan State made its first Final 4 under Tom Izzo and was a program on the rise.
Duke was returning to the Final 4 for the first time since 1994 and a favorite to get Coach K his 3rd title.
UConn was in its first Final 4 under Jom Calhoun after a decade of knocking on the door.
Duke beat the Spartans in one semifinal. Up 12 at half, the Spartans wouldn't go away before Duke held on to win 68-62. The other Final 4 participant was Ohio State who lost to UConn in another 6-point game.
The final was one of the best finals in tournament history. Duke was a 9 1/2 point favorite, making this a bigger upset than Nova-GU but the truth was UConn was much better than that Nova team, entering the game 33-2 and 14-2 in league play. They were ranked number one more than Duke during the regular season.
The game was a sea-saw battle. UConn lead by 4 late when Trajan Langdon hit a 3 to cut the lead to 73-72. Khalid El-Amin hit a floater to put UConn up 3. William Avery hit two FTs to make it a 1-point game again. After El-Amin missed a shot, Langdon would get called for traveling with 5.4 seconds left and El-Amin would hit 2 more FTs for the final score. Duke had a chance but Langdon would lose the ball on the way up the court and UConn had its first title.
Next Week: The Final 5
