75. 1956-The Longest Game Ever
#2 ranked NC State gets an unexpected challenge from the unranked Canisius Golden Griffins in their first round matchup as the game goes into four overtimes in the longest game ever played in NCAA Tournament history.
Canisius’ Fran Corcoran scores his only basket of the game with four seconds left in the fourth overtime that proves to be the game winner as the Griffins stun NC State 79-78. 
The 1956 Canisius basketball team that knocked off the #2 ranked NC State Wolfpack in a quadruple-overtime game in the NCAA Tournament.
74. 2000-Cleaves Pulls a Willis Reed
Michigan State fans and players had their hearts in their throats when they saw their emotional leader, point guard Matean Cleaves, go down with a sprained ankle and limp back to the locker room with the Spartans leading the Florida Gators 50-44 in the championship game.
But with 11:51 to play and the Spartans holding on to a 58-49 lead, Cleaves re-entered the game and sparked a 21-9 run to put the game away as Michigan State wins their first national title since 1979 with a 89-78 victory over the Gators.
73. 1986-Running and Stunning the Field
The Cleveland State Vikings make history as the first #14 seed to win a NCAA tournament game when they use their up tempo offense, or “Run n’ Stun” as they called it, to shock the East Region’s # 3 seed, the Indiana Hoosiers, 83-79 in the first round.
But the Vikings do not stop there as they knock off #6 seed St. Joseph’s 75-69, thanks to 23 points by point guard Ken “Mouse” McFadden to move on to the Sweet 16.
Cleveland State’s run came to a heartbreaking end in the Sweet 16 when they lost 71-70 to Navy after center David Robinson hit the game-winner with six seconds to go.
To this day, Cleveland State is only one of two #14 seeds to make it to the Sweet 16(the other was Chattanooga in 1997).
Ken "Mouse" McFadden helped lead the Cleveland State Vikings to the Sweet 16 as a #14 seed in the 1986 tournament.
72. 2021-Oral Roberts Soars To Sweet 16 The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles make history as they become only the second #15 seed to ever make it to the Sweet 16 as they stun the #2 seed Ohio State Buckeyes 75-72 in overtime, then knock off #7 seed Florida 81-78 to reach the regional semifinals of the South Region where they would fall to #3 seed Arkansas 72-70.  The Oral Roberts Golden Eagles joined the 2013 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles as the only #15 seeds to ever make it to the Sweet 16. 71. 1965-Goodrich’s Performance
One day after Princeton guard Bill Bradley’s record-setting performance in third place game, UCLA guard Gail Goodrich scores a then championship record 42 points as the Bruins win their second straight national title by defeating the Michigan Wolverines 91-80.
Goodrich’s record would stand for eight years until it was broken by another UCLA Bruin, Bill Walton.
UCLA guard Gail Goodrich shot 12-of-20 from the field and hit 18 of 20 free throws, totaling 42 points in UCLA's win against Michigan in the 1965 final.
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70.1986-Never Nervous Pervis
Living up to his nickname “Never Nervous”, freshman center Pervis Ellison scores 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting and grabs 11 rebounds to lead the Louisville Cardinals to a 72-69 win over the Duke Blue Devils in the title game, giving the Cardinals and head coach Denny Crum their second national title in seven years.
Pervis Ellison became only the second freshman to win the Final Four Most Outstanding Player award as he led Louisville to the 1986 national title.
69. 1984-Georgetown Wins Title
Georgetown head coach John Thompson makes history as the first black head coach to win a national championship as his Hoyas defeat the Houston Cougars 84-75 in the final.
Since Thompson’s title, three other black head coaches have won national championships;Nolan Richardson in 1994(Arkansas), Tubby Smith in 1998(Kentucky), and Kevin Ollie(2011).
John Thompson hugs Patrick Ewing as his Georgetown Hoyas win the 1984 national title.
68. 2015-Wisconsin Gets Revenge on Big Blue
One year after losing to Kentucky in the Final Four, the Wisconsin Badgers get a rematch with the Wildcats in the National Semifinals, this time with Kentucky entering the game with a 38-0 record.
Led by Frank Kaminsky’s 20 points and 11 rebounds, the Badgers knock off the Wildcats 71-64, ending Kentucky’s quest to become the first undefeated national champion since 1976.
67. 2023-Fairly Tale
The Fairleigh Dickinson Knights, who only got into the NCAA tournament because the tournament champion of their conference, the Merrimack Warriors were ineligible to qualify for the tournament because they were in the final year of a four-year transition from Division II to Divsion I, stun the Purdue Boilermakers 63-58 to become the second #16 seed to defeat a #1 seed in NCAA tournament history.
66. 1998-Comeback Cats
Six years after their epic encounter in the 1992 Elite Eight, the Duke Blue Devils and the Kentucky Wildcats meet once again in the Elite Eight.
It appears that this contest is not going to be as memorable as the first one as the Devils hold a 71-54 with 9:38 to play.
But the Wildcats came roaring back cutting the lead to one point with 3:38, then taking thier first lead of the game when Cameron Mills hits a 3-pointer with 2:15 left, and then hold on as William Avery’s 40-foot at the buzzer is no good giving Kentucky a 86-84 win and a third straight trip to the Final Four.
The win gives birth to the moniker “Comeback Cats” as the Wildcats would overcome double digit-deficits against Stanford and Utah in the Final Four to win their second national title in three years.
Scott Padgett raises his arms after hitting a 3-pointer that put Kentucky in the lead for good with 39.4 seconds left in their comeback win against Duke.
65. 1983-Final Four Dunkfest
Houston’s “Phi Slamma Jamma” and Louisville “Doctors of Dunk” put on an aerial showcase in their national semifinal in what some experts felt was the “championship” game.
The game saw 20 dunks, 14 of them by Houston, including six in a row at one point, as the Cougars put together a 21-1 run in the second half on their way to a 94-81 victory and a trip to the actual national championship game, where they would lose ironically on a dunk.
Clyde Drexler goes in for one of the "Phi Slamma Jamma" 's 14 dunks during their 1983 Final Four contest with Louisville.
64. 1994-Scotty Thurman’s 3-Pointer
With less than a minute remaining and the game tied at 70, Scotty Thurman hits a 3-pointer from the top of the key as the shot clock runs out, to give Arkansas a 73-70 lead over Duke with 50 seconds to go.
The Blue Devils never recover as the Razorbacks hang on to win the game 76-72 and the school’s first national championship.
63. 1978-The Goose is Loose
Kentucky Jack Givens, nicknamed “Goose” because his high school teammates thought his play reminded them of “Goose” from the Harlem Globetrotters, scores a career high 41 points on 18-of-27 shooting, and grabs 18 rebounds to lead the Wildcats to the first national title in 20 years as they defeat the Duke Blue Devils 94-88 in the championship game.
Jack Givens(21) had the third highest scoring performance in a championship game with his 41 points in the 1978 title game.
62. 1997-Simon Says Championship
Arizona becomes the first team to defeat three #1 seeds in the same tournament as they win the 1997 national championship.
Led by MOP Miles Simon and freshman guard Mike Bibby, the Wildcats first knock #1 seed Kansas in the Sweet 16, then defeat their second #2 seed in the Final Four, North Carolina in what turns out to be head coach Dean Smith’s final game as head coach, and conclude their run by defeating the defending national champion Kentucky Wildcats 84-79 in overtime.
Miles Simon scored 30 points, 14 of them from the free throw line, to lead Arizona to a 84-79 win in the 1997 title game against Kentucky.
61. 1981-The Game Goes On
On the day of the 1981 National Championship Game, President Ronald Reagan is shot, jeopardizing whether the game will be played that night in Philadelphia.
But after hearing that President Reagan was in good condition following surgery, the NCAA decides to go on with the game as Indiana, led by point guard Isiah Thomas, defeats North Carolina 63-50.
Isiah Thomas scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half of Indiana's win in the 1981 championship game.
60. 1993-Santa Clara Shocks Arizona
The Santa Clara Broncos, the #15 seed in the West Region, overcome a 25-0 run by the #2 seed Arizona Wildcats, to become the 2nd #15 seed to win a NCAA tournament game as they upset the Wildcats 64-61 as Damon Stoudamire’s 3-pointer from 23 feet out misses as time expires.
Steve Nash was a freshman when his Santa Clara Broncos upset the Arizona Wildcats in the 1993 Tournament.
59. 1992-Holy Mackerel
With 0.8 seconds left, Georgia Tech trailed USC 78-76 with the ball inside midcourt.
Unable to pass the ball to Travis Best and Jon Berry, who were good 3-point shooters, Matt Geiger inbounded the ball to James Forrest, who attempted only three 3-pointers and missed all three.
But Forrest caught, turned around, and fired a 24-footer that sailed through the nets at the buzzer to give the Yellow Jackets a shocking 79-78 win as CBS announcer Al McGuire screamed “Holy Mackerel”.
58. 1950-CCNY Does The Double
The City College of New York, or CCNY, become the only team to win the NIT and NCAA Tournaments in the same season as they defeat Bradley 71-68 in the NCAA final.
The 1950 CCNY Beavers hold the trophy after winning the NIT Tournament, then would go on to win the NCAA tournament.
57. 2013-Dunk City
In just their second year as a Division I program, Florida Gulf Coast makes history by becoming the first #15 seed to ever reach the Sweet 16 as they stun #2 Georgetown 78-68 in the first round, then knock off #7 San Diego State 81-71.
The Eagles’ high flying offense and numerous slam dunks earned them the nickname “Dunk City”.
56. 2016-Texas A&M's Miracle Comeback
Northern Iowa was seemingly on its way to the Sweet 16 as they held a 69-57 lead with 44 seconds remaining, only to have Texas A&M go on a 14-2 run, which culiminates with Admon Gilder's game-tying lay-up with 1.9 seconds left, sending the game into overtime tied at 71, where A&M would pull out a 92-88 double overtime win, making it the greatest deficit overcome in the final minute of regulation to win any NCAA basketball game.
Northern Iowa was seemingly on its way to the Sweet 16 as they held a 69-57 lead with 44 seconds remaining, only to have Texas A&M go on a 14-2 run, which culiminates with Admon Gilder's game-tying lay-up with 1.9 seconds left, sending the game into overtime tied at 71, where A&M would pull out a 92-88 double overtime win, making it the greatest deficit overcome in the final minute of regulation to win any NCAA basketball game.
55. 1965-Bradley’s Barrage
From 1946 to 1981, the Final Four had a Third Place Game, in which the two losers of the semifinal games would play to be declared the third best team in the country.
The most memorable one came in 1965 thanks to Princeton’s Bill Bradley, who scored a Final Four and tournament record 58 points as he was 22-of-28 from the field and 14-of-15 from the free throw line as the Tigers defeated the Wichita State Shockers 118-82.
Bradley’s record for most points in a Final Four game still stands but his tournament record was broken by...
A teammate tries to get it to Bill Bradley, who scored a Final Four record 58 points in the 1965 third place game against Wichita State
54. 1970-Carr’s Record Breaking Performance
Notre Dame’s Austin Carr sets the all-time record for most points in a game as he scores 61 points on 25 of 44 shots, also setting records for most field goals made and attempted in a tournament game, as the Irish win their first round game with the Ohio Bobcats 112-82.
Austin Carr would average 52.6 points during the 1970 NCAA tournament, the highest average points per game by a player in a single tournament.
53. 1983-A Rivalry Renewed
In-state rivals Louisville and Kentucky met for the first time in 24 years, with a spot in the Final Four on the line in the Mideast Regional Final.
The game lives up to the hype as Kentucky’s Jim Master forces overtime with a 12-footer with one second left in regulation, tying the game at 62.
But the Cardinals score the first 14 points of overtime and go on to win the game 80-68 to earn their third trip to the Final Four in four years.
Since this meeting, Louisville and Kentucky have played each other in every regular season and three more times in the NCAA Tournament.
Louisville's Rodney McCray goes for a basket in the 1983 Mideast Regional Final.
52. 2001-Duke’s Furious Final Four Rally
With his team down 39-17 to ACC rival Maryland in their national semifinal, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski tells his team “You’re losing by so much, you can’t play any worse. So, what are you worried about, losing by 40?”
The Blue Devils respond as they able to cut the 22-point lead in half to 11 points, 49-38 at halftime, then take their first lead of the game, 73-72, with 6:48 to play and never look back as they pull off the greatest comeback in Final Four history with their 95-84 win over the Terps.
Two nights later, the Blue Devils would defeat Arizona for the national title.
Duke point guard Jay Williams scored 23 points to help lead the Blue Devils back from a 22-point first half deficit to beat Maryland in the 2001 Final Four.
51. 1998-Ripping the Hearts Out of Washington
Trailing 74-73 with 33.1 seconds to go in their Sweet 16 game with the Washington Huskies, the UConn Huskies try to come up with a game-winning play.
Point guard Khalil El-Amin goes to the right side of the lane until he passes it Jake Voskuhl with less than 10 seconds left, whose short jumper bounces off the rim and into the hands of Richard “Rip” Hamilton, who attempts another short jumper with five seconds left that does not go in.
The ball bounces around and back to Hamilton who makes a desperate fadeaway shot from inside the free throw line that goes in as time expires giving Uconn a 75-74 win and a trip to the Elite Eight.
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