Tournament of the Decade: The Best 63 NCAA Games of the 2000's

Now that the 2009 tournament is over, I decided to take a look back and come up with a tournament of the decade.

My list is in tournament format, with 32 1st round games, 16 2nd round games, 8 Sweet Sixteen games, 4 Elite Eight games, 2 Final Four Games and a championship.

I ranked the list according to my knowledge of the quality of play, excitement level, and memorable moments.

It would be really cool if ESPN Classic or CBS College Sports would do a list like this, even if they show it at 2 in the morning.

First Round

32. 2009 - Boise - Wisconsin 61, Florida St 59 (OT)

The quality of play was not great; however, the great Boise crowd and a fantastic overtime winning shot help this game make the list. If I didn't add it, 2009 would be the worst tournament of the decade.

31. 2007 - Lexington - Xavier 79, BYU 77

Xavier had a solid home court advantage, and made a strong comeback in the second half, and then Drew Lavender took over at the end for the Xavier victory.

30. 2008 - Raleigh - Davidson 82, Gonzaga 76

This was a close game throughout, and Stephen Curry had 40 points and was awesome. Another game happening at the same time is much higher up the list.

29. 2003 - Indianapolis - Notre Dame 70, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 69

I just remember this game being on ESPN, and Milwaukee having a last second shot and a drive to the basket which just missed.

28. 2006 - Greensboro - George Washington 88, UNC-Wilmington 85 (OT)

Eighteen lead changes, an 18-point comeback from George Washington in amazingly the first of three Seahawks games on this list.

27. 2006 - Salt Lake City - Boston College 88, Pacific 76 (2 OT)

The score doesn't really indicate how crazy this game was. A late Pacific comeback including a chance to win in regulation, and a shot right under the basket in overtime, was negated by the Eagles' big run in the second OT.

26. 2001 - Greensboro - Missouri 70, Georgia 68

Missouri looked like they had this game wrapped up until a big Georgia 10-0 run, and then Clarence Gilbert hit a shot with under a second to go to win it for Missouri.

25. 2003 - Tampa - Wake Forest 76, E. Tennessee St. 73

One of those games which was over, with Wake Forest up by eight with 47 seconds to go. Then 5'9" freshman Tim Smith stepped up, and helped to tie the game. Wake Forest won with Justin Gray free throws, but the Smith run makes the game memorable.

24. 2001 - Kansas City - Ole Miss 72, Iona 70

Iona put up a really excellent fight throughtout the game, and were tied with under a minute to go. Then a 46 percent foul shooter in Rahim Lockhart made the winning free throw and the game-clinching steal.

23. 2005 - Worcester - Vermont 60, Syracuse 57 (OT)

This game might deserve to be higher, especially with TJ Sorrentine hitting a shot from almost half court. It was a fun, slow-paced game and an upset in a tournament that was lacking one to that point.

22. 2001 - Nashville - Gonzaga 86, Virginia 85

Gonzaga was a No. 12 seed but morphing into an excellent program at this point, and Virginia crawled back into this fast-paced game and Roger Mason had a layup to win it before it rimmed out.

21. 2004 - Columbus - Cincinnati 80 E. Tennessee St. 77

Back and forth again, with Tim Smith once again being a star. This time, E. Tennessee State was beat in the last minute by a three, a Tony Bobbitt shot in a very exciting close affair.

20. 2005 - Cleveland - West Virginia 63, Creighton 61

Rarely does the game-winning basket come on a wide-open slam dunk, yet a few crisp passes sent Tyrone Sally in for a dunk after he blocked Nate Funk's shot. Funk had a good look at the buzzer but shot it too long.

19. 2000 - Cleveland - Kentucky 85, St Bonaventure 80 (2 OT)

Tayshaun Prince sent the game into overtime with a three, but how David Messiah Capers sent the game into double overtime was the memorable moment.

Capers was a 56 percent foul shooter, yet had to hit all 3 free throws with 4/10 of a second remaining.

Even with two time-outs in between free throws, Capers hit all 3 to send it to double OT. Tim Winn had a game tying three rim out in double OT.

18. 2008 - Washington DC - Duke 71, Belmont 70

Belmont played like the pesky underdog, where they would fall behind and come back multiple times and all of a sudden with two minutes remaining, were leading.

Gerald Henderson made a drive to the basket for the Duke lead, and then Belmont threw the ball away on an inbounds pass.

They also had a half court attempt which was pretty close to hitting.

17. 2006 - Salt Lake City - Indiana 87, San Diego State 83

San Diego State played lights out for 59 minutes, and made mistakes in the last minute of a hectic game. Indiana picked up the ball when the San Diego St guard Brandon Heath thought it would have been a backcourt violation.

San Diego State tipped a pass, and the ball went right to Robert Vaden, who had enough room to hit the game-winning three for Indiana.

16. 2002 - Sacramento - UNC-Wilmington 93, USC 89 (OT)

A weird case where the underdog blows it down the stretch and is able to gain their composure enough to win.

UNC-Wilmington had a 19 point second half lead, which was finally eliminated with a three-pointer with seven seconds to go in regulation. Wilmington scored 13 points in the overtime as they were a No. 13 seed that pulled the upset in 2002.

15. 2000 - Buffalo - Seton Hall 72, Oregon 71

Seton Hall looked to be pulling away in the second half, then Oregon closed the 10 point deficit, and near the end it was back and forth. Fred Jones hit two free throws with 7.8 seconds left. Shaheen Holloway then found his inner Tyus Edney and went the full length of the court to hit the game winning basket.

14. 2006 - Auburn Hills - Northwestern State 64, Iowa 63

Iowa was in control for most of this game, but #14 seed Northwestern State came back slowly, and got the game to within 2. A free throw miss allowed them to shoot a 3 for the win, which was missed.

Then Jermaine Wallace ran down the ball in the left corner of the court and threw up a 3 that hit somehow with 1/2 a second remaining. Adam Haleska for Iowa actually got off a shot that hit the rim.

13. 2004 - Columbus - UAB 102, Washington 100

In a Loyola Marymount style game from the 90's, Washington and UAB put on a physical exciting battle with 78 foul shots, a ton of trapping, and a losing team scoring 100.

Demario Eddins blocked a shot near the end of the game to seal it for UAB and lead them on to face Kentucky.

12. 2008 - Tampa - San Diego 70, UConn 69 (OT)

UConn was hurt by AJ Price's injury, and San Diego had both of their best players foul out in overtime, so the ending was going to involve a mystery player most likely.

That fell to De'Jon Jackson, who got an inbounds pass with San Diego down 1, and pulled up for a 16 footer and nailed it with one second to go. Tampa in 2008 was a fun place to be for round one.

11. 2004 - Seattle - Alabama 65, Southern Illinois 64

Seattle had fantastic crowds for the tournament games, and Southern Illinois was feeding off the underdog vibe, even though they were a No. 9 seed.

Darren Brooks hit a leaning jumper with 13 seconds to go, and then Alabama scrambled down the court, and Antonio Pettaway shot a runner with five seconds to go that went in. A great ending sequence to a very entertaining game.

10. 2001 - Boise - Georgetown 63 Arkansas 61

The greatest opening day in NCAA history happened in 2001 in Boise. The total winning margin of all four games was seven points.

In game 3 of the day, Nat Burton hit a layup just as time expired and the Georgetown team mobbed Burton. The refs had to review it, and it was really close, however it counted and the fans of Boise saw the best ending of the night until...

9. 2001 - Boise - Hampton 58, Iowa State 57

Just to think that people saw both of these games back to back provides a little jealousy. Iowa State had a 9 point lead with 7 minutes to go, and didn't score again.

Tarvis Williams hit a short short with 7 seconds to go, and Jamaal Tinsley ran down the court for his Tyus Edney type layup, except it somehow rimmed out, and the celebration was on. The scene of coach Steve Merfeld being lifted by one of his players is now famous.

8. 2009 - Dayton - Siena 74, Ohio State 72 (2 OT)

Knocked down a few notches because of the Ohio State home court, this was fantastic because Siena kept clawing back, and because Ronald Moore hit two massive threes to help Siena win.

7. 2003 - Oklahoma City - California 76 NC State 74 (OT)

One of the best endings of a tournament game in this decade, because NC State hit a three, then California hit a three, and then Scooter Sherill had a shot for the win and it hit the rim.

6. 2005 - Oklahoma City - Bucknell 64, Kansas 63

Ruined a bit because the pod system gave Kansas a majority of the crowd, the game had Bucknell leading throughout and then after Kansas finally grabbed the lead, Chris McNaughton hit a hook with 15 seconds to go.

No. 14 seeds winning are rare, much less in hostile territory.

5. 2003 - Nashville - Maryland 75 UNC Wilmington 73

A weird game, with the #11 seed Seahawks wearing the white jerseys, and Seahawks freshman John Goldsberry going nuts from 3, hitting 8 for 8, this game is remembered for the defending champs being down by 1, and Drew Nicholas hitting a running fade away 3 at the end for the Terps win.

4. 2002 - Chicago - Creighton 83, Florida 82 (2 OT)

A forgotten classic, Terrell Taylor went 8-for-10 from three in the second half and OT, and hit a game winning shot with 2 seconds left to go, which was the moment I decided to buy Mega March Madness from now on.

3. 2007 - Buffalo - VCU 79 Duke 77

2007 was a year absent of upsets, and Duke was definitely overrated, yet the crowd and VCU saw this as being a huge upset, especially when VCU was down double digits multiple times. Demarcus Nelson ran down the court for a layup and a Duke lead, then Eric Maynor was composed, took a move toward the key, and hit the game winning shot.

2. 2000 - Winston-Salem - Florida 69, Butler 68

Florida's national championship game run was almost derailed by a very pesky Butler team, in the one shining moment of the 2000 tournament. Mike Miller's runner at the buzzer gave Florida the win and led them to the finals before losing to Michigan State.

1. 2008 - Tampa - Western Kentucky 101, Drake 99 OT

Although most of America may have been watching Stephen Curry be awesome at this time, the game in Tampa had great shooting, a huge Drake comeback, and a fantastic buzzer beater. A high quality game as Ty Rogers ended it with a heave from 30 feet, and the Hilltoppers eventually made the sweet 16.

Second Round

16. 2001 - San Diego - Stanford 90 St Joes 83 - I never saw the game, I just remember hearing the standing ovation Marvin O'Connor of St. Joes got once he fouled out. I would love to see this game someday.

15. 2005 - Tucson - Texas Tech 71 Gonzaga 69 - A battle of two barely recruited players in Ronald Ross and Adam Morrison was won by Tech, who battled back in the second half and held on to the lead in the last minute as Gonzaga was trying a flurry.

14. 2008 - Raleigh - Davidson 74 Georgetown 70 - Georgetown was up by 15 in the second half, and I couldn't turn off the game knowing Stephen Curry had some magic in him, and wow was it fantastic.

13. 2007 - Buffalo - Pittsburgh 84 VCU 79 OT - Pittsburgh was up by 19 with under 12 minutes to go, on St Pat's Day, in Buffalo, and almost the entire crowd stayed. When VCU tied the game at 67, it was a wonderful fan reaction to be a part of.

12. 2003 - Spokane - Wisconsin 61 Tulsa 60 - This appeared to be a rare occasion where a 13 seed would make the sweet 16, until Freddie Owens hit a 3 pointer with 1 second left to end Tulsa's Cinderella hopes.

11. 2004 - Seattle - Alabama 70 Stanford 67 - If you rewatch it, please skip the first 12 minutes of the second half. Somehow Alabama scored 3 points in the first 12 minutes, and then 30 points in the last 8 minutes. Stanford had a shot to tie the game, but their season of miracle shots ended with a huge upset in round 2.

10. 2007 - Sacramento - Vanderbilt 78 Washington St 74 2OT - Derrick Byers had 27 points, and Vanderbilt overcame a 10 point deficit to take the lead, and then Washington State tied the game with a 3 to take the game into OT. A very physical affair which was punctuated with a Byers block of a layup near the end of the first OT.

9. 2005 - Worcester - NC State 65 UConn 62 - With the game tied, Julius Hodge drove to the basket, hit a layup, and was fouled, and helped NC State beat the defending champs in New England.

8. 2007 - Lexington - Ohio State 78 Xavier 71 OT - Xavier blew this game towards the end, however it will be remembered for the Greg Oden foul which probably should have been a flagrant, and the Ronald Lewis three that sent Gus Johnson into a frenzy, which is always a good thing.

7. 2002 – Pittsburgh – UCLA 105 Cincinnati 101 2OT – It’s almost hard to believe that during this decade, UCLA was an underdog in round 2, but the #8 Bruins fell behind the Bearcats by 11 in the second half before a comeback. It’s wasn’t a pretty game, but it was a lot of fun.

6. 2008 – Anaheim – Stanford 82 Marquette 81 OT – The ejection of Trent Johnson during a time out added drama to this game. It was a great offense battle in the second half, with Brook Lopez and Jerel McNeal shooting lights out. Lopez hit the running hook with 1 second to go in OT.

5. 2004 – Orlando – Vanderbilt 75 NC State 73 – Rarely does the team come back from 10 down in the last 3 minutes and win, especially when they are the underdog. Vanderbilt did in 2004, with some luck and great foul shooting, as NC State lost composure by fouling three point shooters and intentionally fouling

4. 2004 – Columbus – UAB 76 Kentucky 75 – One of the most memorable plays of the decade, Ronell Taylor stole a pass on a Kentucky 3 on 1, and threw the pass backwards behind his head to his brother Donell for a dunk. Mo Finley hit a 17 footer with 12 seconds to go for the UAB win.

3. 2009 – Portland – Gonzaga 83 Western Kentucky 81 – Western Kentucky was down by 9 with 2:14 to go, and went on a fantastic late game run, including a fantastic tip in by Steffphon Pettigrew to tie the game at 81. Demetri Goodson took the ball for Gonzaga, got almost all the way to the basket, and threw up a short shot of the backboard for the win.

2. 2005 – Cleveland – West Virginia 111 Wake Forest 105 2OT – One of those games where Wake Forest had control, yet those watching could sense a West Virginia comeback. Chris Paul played great but fouled out in double OT. Taron Downey tied the game with 3’s in both regulation and overtime for Wake. Mike Gansey was the star for Wake Forest, scoring 29 points, with only 4 of those in the first half.

1. 2003 – Salt Lake City – Arizona 96 Gonzaga 95 2OT – Gonzaga was still considered an underdog darling at this point, and this was an exhausting fast paced game that was an ESPN Classic immediately. Luke Walton hit a shot to send it to the second OT, and Tony Skinner for Gonzaga hit a tip-in at the buzzer to get it to OT.

Sweet 16

8. 2006 – Washington DC – Uconn 98 Washington 92 OT – It’s memorable for the Rashad Anderson 3 pointer to send the game into OT. It’s almost memorable for the fact that 5 Washington players fouled out, and UConn had 47 foul shots. The crowd was angry at the end of the game, and that anger carried over to Sunday.

7. 2008 – Phoenix – Xavier 79 West Virginia 75 OT – Joe Alexander was the star for West Virginia, hitting a hook that tied the game with 14 seconds to go. Alexander then missed the foul shot, and fouled out in OT. Xavier hit two big 3’s in OT, including a cross court pass to BJ Raymond on an inbounds play where he was wide open.

6. 2007 – San Antonio – Ohio St 85 Tennessee 84 – Tennessee had a 20 point lead in the first half, and was on fire as they scored 49 points. Ohio State answered by scoring 53 in the second half. The game was back and forth for the last 10 minutes, and Ohio State won it on a Mike Conley free throw with 6 seconds left. Greg Oden blocked a potential game winning layup at the buzzer.

5. 2002 – Lexington – Indiana 74 Duke 73 – Duke went out to a huge lead, yet Indiana clawed back from a 17 point deficit. Tom Coverdale hit a jumper for Indiana to give them a 2 point lead, and Duke had to foul after missing on the next possession. On a 3-point attempt, Jason Williams was fouled and hit the three to make it 74-73. Williams then missed the foul shot, and Carlos Boozer couldn’t hit a follow-up. Duke was the defending champs and #1 seed.

4. 2007 – East Rutherford – Georgetown 66 Vanderbilt 65 – Roy Hibbert fouled out, and Jeff Green had to take over for Georgetown. Georgetown was down by 1 after two Dan Cage free throws, and the ball went into the lane, and Green hit a short shot after a spin. He probably traveled to get to the spot, but it happened so quickly that few noticed in real-time.

3. 2005 – Chicago – Arizona 79 Oklahoma St 78 – Eight points was the biggest lead in this entire game. Joey Graham, who had a huge game with 26 points, hit a jumper with 18 seconds left to give the Cowboys the lead. Then for Arizona, Salim Stoudamire took the ball to the left side of the court and hit a drifting jumper with 2.8 seconds. Oklahoma State and John Lucas had a shot at the win, but the shot hit the back of the rim.

2. 2006 – Atlanta – Texas 74 West Virginia 71 – Texas led by 12 at halftime, and West Virginia as the #6 seed looked ready to make another underdog run. West Virginia took the lead once with 7 ½ minutes to go, and Texas led from the 5 minute mark until 7 seconds to go, when Kevin Pittsnogle hit a deep 3. AJ Abrams drove the ball down the court, and Kenton Paulino nailed a three at the buzzer for the second best sweet 16 game of the decade. The best one ended a half hour later.

1. 2006 – Oakland – UCLA 73 Gonzaga 71 – Gus Johnson’s head almost exploded with the end of this game, and JP Batista lost his mind. With Derek Raivio, a 90 percent foul shooter right behind him, Batista held onto the ball, and had it stripped for the UCLA layup. UCLA then caused a tie-up in a hectic scramble. Batista had a shot at redemption, but missed the turnaround at the buzzer for a manic, crazy victory.

Elite 8

4. 2004 – East Rutherford – Oklahoma State 64 St Joseph’s 62 – St Joe’s had a 6 point lead at halftime, and the crowd behind them. Oklahoma State quickly came back, and led for a majority of the second half. John Lucas hit a shot with 41 seconds to go for a 61-59 lead, and then Pat Carroll nailed a 3 for St. Joe’s. Carroll went for a steal, and Lucas got open to hit a 3 for the 64-62 lead. Jameer Nelson had a fade away at the end that missed and ended the Hawks dream.

3. 2005 – Chicago – Illinois 90 Arizona 89 OT – With a huge home-court advantage and Bill Murray on their side, Illinois looked ready to advance easily to the Final Four. Arizona took the crowd out of the game. Ahead 14 with 3 ½ minutes to go, Arizona lost control, and Illinois had steals and three pointers, and tied the game to send it to overtime. Arizona had multiple shots to win it in both regulation and overtime, but Illinois’s tidal wave was too much for Arizona to handle.

2. 2009 – Boston – Villanova 78 Pittsburgh 76 – A better game than #3 because it was close throughout most of the game. A Big East battle in Boston (not a Big East city anymore), had a crazy ending where Nova first looked like they blew the game, and then made the shot of the tournament. The full court pass with 10 seconds to go on the inbounds was thrown too far, and led to a turnover and a foul. Levance Fields hit two big free throws to tie. Then Nova ran the perfect in bounds play, to give Scottie Reynolds room to drive to the basket. He hit the short floater with .5 seconds to go, and sent Nova to the final 4 in the best game of the 09 tournament.

1. 2006 - Washington DC - George Mason 86 UConn 84 OT – Some fans were still angry from Friday, some other fans were rooting for the underdog, and most of the rest of them made the short trip from Fairfax to DC. It was one of the best atmospheres in tournament history, and the crowd really got into it once George Mason made up a 9 point 2^nd half deficit. Only one 11 seed or higher had ever made the Final Four, and both teams played at a great pace and the game was back and forth. George Mason had the lead and Tony Skinn had a 1-and-1 with 6 seconds to go. He missed and Denham Brown got the ball and drove to the basket, and the ball looked ready to bounce out, and then dropped for the tie. George Mason kept making shots in overtime and once again had the lead, and once against missed free throws, and Denham Brown had a 3 pointer for the win. When it rimmed long, the Verizon Center exploded. Good thing it didn’t have a glass ceiling. Notice how the committee has taken actions to include less smaller conference teams since then.

Final Four

2. 2004 – San Antonio – Uconn 79 Duke 78 – There wasn’t a lot to choose from; in fact I only considered 5 games for the list. Duke blew an 8 point lead in the last 3 minutes, and didn’t do much of anything near the end of the game. Connecticut had Emeka Okafor make big plays while Duke had 3 centers foul out.

1. 2004 – San Antonio – Georgia Tech 67 Oklahoma St 65 – The only buzzer beater in the final four games of the decade (the one championship game shot is coming up). Georgia Tech had control for most of the second half, then Will Bynum made a few big mistakes, missing two free throws, and then fouling John Lucas. Lucas made the game a 1 possession game, which he eventually tied with a 3 pointer with 26 seconds to go. Bynum got his revenge, by driving to the basket and laid up the game winning shot with 1 second to go.

Title Game

1. 2008 – San Antonio – Kansas 75 Memphis 68 OT – Sadly the Final Four will not be back to San Antonio until at least 2017, since from my rankings they tend to have the best games. Kansas had the lead in the first half, and then Memphis took control in the second half, and looked poised to win their first title. Then the Tigers Achilles heel showed up, and the foul shooting that almost cost them the game against Mississippi St did cost them. Down by 3, Memphis could have fouled and probably clinched the game, instead Mario Chalmers got open and nailed a 3 to tie with 2 seconds to go. Kansas controlled the overtime and with the meltdown, and the big shot, this is the best title game of the decade.