My original thought was, not to rank based solely on title game. This was impossible. Looking back, we've had a lot of bad national semi-finals.
I also thought I'd rank based on Final 4's with Final 4's including the best seeded teams left. This, too, was impossible. Seeding is often wrong and based on resume, not necessarily the best teams. Look back and you'll see the analytics were closer to picking a Final 4 than the committee.
There's also personal bias. For reasons solely mine, some just stand out more. Without further ado, away we go.
32. 2000 (Indianapolis): Two 8-seeds, Wisconsin & North Carolina made it, along with 5-seed Florida and perceived favorite all season, Michigan State.
Sparty overcame Dick Bennett's crawl ball to take a scintillating 19-17 lead at half. They'd pull away in the 2nd half to win 53-41 in one of the worst semi-finals ever played.
Florida held off a mediocre UNC team to advance to the final where they were down double digits at halftime and never got closer than 6 in the 2nd half.
The only memorable moment was Matean Cleaves coming back from a bum ankle to help Sparty put away Florida and give Tom Izzo his one title.
31. 2011 (Houston): This Final 4 included an 11-seed in VCU, an 8-seed in Butler and two blue bloods, 3rd-seeded UConn and 4th-seeded Kentucky.
Butler beat VCU in one semi-final and UConn stifled Kentucky to win the other. Though it was a one-point game, the UConn-Kentucky game hardly registers any memories.
The title game was atrocious. Greg Anthony called it the "worst half of basketball in a national championship game." Butler lead 22-19 but UConn would win 53-41 lead by Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb.
30. 2006 (Indianapolis): The sad thing about this Final 4 was it came on the heels of one of the best Tournaments up to that point.
It included a blue blood returning for the first time since 1995 in UCLA and a Cinderella in George Mason. Two SEC teams in LSU and Florida completed the foursome.
Sadly, the games were bad. UCLA defeated LSU 59-45 in a snoozer and Florida ended George Mason's run 73-58. Florida nearly matched that score by winning the title game over UCLA, 73-59.
29. 2009 (Detroit): This could have been a classic Final 4. You had 4 great basketball schools in Villanova, UNC, Michigan State and UConn. The lowest seed was 'Nova at 3 but they were a 30-win team who would finish 14th in KenPom.
Ultimately, none of the games were very exciting or in doubt. UNC comfortably beat Villanova and despite it being close for a good time, Michigan State would pull away late and win without any drama against UConn.
The title game was a rout. Michigan State fell behind by 19 at half and turned the ball over 17 times. They never got closer than 13 in the second half.
It didn't help CBS sold this as "Detroit Redemption" with Michigan State playing. The game coincided with the auto industry bailout and somehow, a Spartan win would have brought joy and jobs to Detroit or something.
28. 2002 (Atlanta): This Final 4 lost its luster when Indiana shocked the Jason Williams and Carlos Boozer Duke team in the Sweet 16. A potential rematch in the Final Four against Maryland was thwarted.
Instead, IU made it as a 5-seed and beat 2-seed Oklahoma who was coached by Kelvin Sampson in one semi-final. The other looked like a potential classic against two 1-seeds in Kansas and Maryland. Instead, Maryland went ahead by 20 in the second half and held off a furious but futile charge by the Jayhawks.
The title game was a dud. Maryland ended the game on a 22-8 run to win 64-52. Indiana lead for only one brief moment on the 2nd half and didn't have the horses to keep up with Gary Williams best Maryland team.
27. 1996 (East Rutherford): On a personal note, I had a case of the flu and was a physical wreck but managed to watch this unremarkable Final Four.
We had two 1-seeds in Kentucky and UMass and a 4-seed in Syracuse. The stranger was Mississippi State, a 5-seed.
UMass and Kentucky were perceived as the top two teams in America that year so they naturally played in the national semi-final in a game Kentucky won easily. UMass never really threatened the Wildcats.
The other semi-final saw Syracuse win by 8 in a game only fans of those schools can recall.
Syracuse was game against the heavily-favored Kentucky. John Wallace went for 29 and had 10 boards but Kentucky had too much firepower and won their first title in two decades.
26. 1995 (Seattle): This Final 4 had great storylines. UCLA finally made it back to the Final 4 under Jim Harrick and was a considerable favorite. You had the defending champ in Arkansas. You had Dean Smith and a young, cocky UNC team lead by Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse. And finishing the foursome was Oklahoma State lead by "Big Country" Bryant Reeves.
Like 2006, this had been a memorable dance. Like 2006, the memories largely came from the games leading up to the Final 4. All three games were close in the first half with the eventual winner pulling away comfortably late in the Final 4.
Ed O'Bannon put on a great finals performance going for 30 and 17. I might have this too low but once we go to Seattle, a UCLA title seemed predetermined.
Next Week: 21-25
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