The Greatest Cinderellas in NCAA Tournament History

Ah, the NCAA Tournament. March Madness. The upsets. The buzzer-beaters. There's nothing like it. Every game is a Game Seven. The loser goes home, and the winner moves on.

Every so often we get a team from out of nowhere who makes a great run through the tournament. We call them Cinderella stories. We love a good Cinderella story. We hope to get one every year. Most years it doesn't happen, but when it does, we never forget it.

Here are a look at the Greatest Teams in NCAA History to have that one great run and other than that, haven't done much.

UNC Charlotte, 1977

The Cedric Maxwell-led 49ers made their lone Final Four appearance in 1977.

They lost to eventual champion Marquette on a buzzer-beater play that looked a whole lot like Christian Laettner over Kentucky in 1992. Nobody had ever heard of UNC Charlotte before that year.

In the 1977 NCAA Tournament, they beat:

First Round—Central Michigan 91-86

Sweet Sixteen—Syracuse 81-59

Elite Eight—Michigan 75-68

Georgia, 1983

Everyone remembers the 1983 NCAA Tournament for Jim Valvano's NC State Wolfpack's Cinderella run to the National Championship.

Nobody remembers that Georgia, making its first NCAA Tournament appearance, went all the way to the Final Four.

Dominique Wilkins, the greatest player in school history, had just left for the NBA the previous season, foregoing his senior year.

What might have been had he stayed?

In 1983, UGA beat:

Round of 32—Va Commonwealth 56-54

Sweet Sixteen—Ohio State 70-51

Elite Eight—North Carolina 82-77

Florida State, 1972

Hugh Durham coached not only the aforementioned 1983 Georgia team, but also the 1972 Florida State team that went to the National Championship Game.

In those days, UCLA winning it all was automatic. So finishing second was as good as anyone else could do.

The 'Noles were led by Dave Cowens, who later became a Celtics great. They have made it back to an Elite Eight since with the 1993 Sam Cassell/Charlie Ward team, but that's about it.

In 1972, FSU beat:

Round of 32—Eastern Kentucky 83-81

Sweet Sixteen—Minnesota 70-56

Elite Eight—Kentucky 73-54

Final Four—North Carolina 79-75

Jacksonville, 1970

In 1970, UCLA was in the midst of its domination of college basketball. John Wooden would end up leading the Bruins to 10 National Championships in a 12-year stretch from 1964-1975.

In 1970, Artis Gilmore led tiny Jacksonville University to the title game against the Bruins.

Today, Jacksonville plays in the Atlantic Sun and would love to win the conference tourney one day to become a 16th seed. Then they will be devoured by a No. 1.

In 1970, JU beat:

Round of 32—Western Kentucky 109-96

Sweet Sixteen—Iowa 104-103

Elite Eight—Kentucky 106-100

Final Four—St. Bonaventure 91-83

George Mason, 2006

2006 George Mason. A true Cinderella story.

Some thought the Patriots should've been in the NIT. Their star player, Tony Skinn, was suspended for the first game of the tournament. They had not won an NCAA Tournament game is school history.

The Patriots made a miracle run. They did it against the best programs college basketball has to offer.

They did it against another Cinderella.

Before succumbing to a barrage of Lee Humphrey three-pointers in the Final Four, George Mason had become one of the greatest Cinderellas in tournament history. They haven't been back since.

In 2006, George Mason beat:

Round of 64—Michigan State 75-65

Round of 32—North Carolina 65-60

Sweet Sixteen—Wichita State 63-55

Elite Eight—Connecticut 86-84

Indiana State, 1979

When you think college basketball, Indiana is a state that immediately comes to mind.

Indiana, Kentucky and North Carolina are the three states in this country where little boys grow up eating, drinking and sleeping basketball.

However, when you think Indiana hoops, you think IU and Bob Knight. The Hoosiers have five NCAA Championships to their credit.

But in the late 1970s, the greatest player in the state's history couldn't handle the big state school. Too many people. He was a small town boy from a place called French Lick. His name was Larry Joe Bird.

Bird transferred from IU to Indiana State. In 1979, he led the Sycamores to the NCAA Tournament with an undefeated season.

In the title game, Bird met up with Michigan State and Magic Johnson. It was the most memorable tournament in NCAA history. It probably still is.

The 1979 NCAA Tournament was the start of the greatest rivalry in basketball history. It was a rivalry that literally saved the NBA. The floundering league from the '70s flourished in the '80s with either Bird's Celtics or Magic's Lakers winning eight titles.

Magic's Spartans won the NCAA title in '79 and have parlayed it into becoming one of the premiere programs in college hoops. ISU immediately went back into obscurity.

In 1979, ISU beat:

Round of 32—Virginia Tech 86-69

Sweet Sixteen—Oklahoma 93-72

Elite Eight—Arkansas 73-71

Final Four—DePaul 76-74

Texas Western, 1966

When Hollywood makes a movie about it, you know it's special.

Texas Western was the first team to start five black players in the NCAA Tournament.

They went on to beat Pat Riley and mighty Kentucky in the title game.

This gets the No. 1 spot because, well, they went all the way. They did it right smack in the middle of UCLA's dominance.

Their players had to endure the underdog role. Pile on the racism, the novelty act and the school's anonymity, and the Miners overcame the most of any team in NCAA History.

The school isn't even called Texas Western anymore. It is now called UTEP. They haven't done anything since, but stay tuned.

They are the team that has finally unseated Memphis in Conference USA. They are a sexy pick to make a run this year.

In 1966, the Miners beat:

Round of 32—Oklahoma City 89-74

Sweet Sixteen—Cincinnati 78-76

Elite Eight—Kansas 81-80

Final Four—Utah 85-78

Championship—Kentucky 72-65