College Basketball: Top 10 Game-Winning Shots of the Season So Far (With Video)

 As a college basketball fan, there's no better feeling in the world than watching a basketball fall through the basket in the waning seconds of a game to give your team an unexpected win. If the clock expires while the ball is still rotating in the air, that's just an added bonus. 

But if you're on the losing end of a game-winner, it hurts. It feels like you've just been punched in the stomach and all the wind is gone.

You stare in disbelief as time seems to slow down. You feel as though you can see each and every individual rotation of the orange sphere until it drops through the net. Then the world returns to its normal speed and a feeling of either jubilation or agony immediately sets in. 

There's a reason that game-winning shots captivate the sports nation. 

This season has already had its fair share of them, so read on for the 10 best of the 2010-2011 season to this point. 

To make the list, the shot had to either be ridiculously impressive or have big implications. If the squad isn't really in hunt for an at-large seed in March Madness, it's tough to put the shot on here. 

Similarly, that's why you'll see less impressive game-winners ranked above the full-court heaves. But truthfully, there's no such thing as an unimpressive game-winner. 

Enjoy reading through 10 of the most memorable moments of the still-young college basketball season. 

10. Brian Williams (Tennessee) Beats Georgia

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a student at the University of Georgia and I was at this game. I still have not fully recovered, so I'm slightly biased. 

But that doesn't change what happened. 

Georgia played brilliant defense and forced Tobias Harris into a contested three-pointer from the corner. Harris air-balled, but Brian Williams secured the rebound and made a buzzer-beater while falling backwards to give Tennessee a wild 59-57 win over the Bulldogs. 

I still can't believe that no over-the-back foul was called here, but that can't be retroactively fixed, so I'm stuck feeling disheartened and severely let down by the result. 

I may not be able to justify leaving this shot off the list, but my Georgia fandom prevents me from putting it any higher than No. 10. 

9. Scott Bamforth (Weber State) Beats Northern Colorado

After watching Northern Colorado drain both free throws to take a 71-69 lead with just 2.4 seconds left to play, Scott Bamforth ran up just behind mid-court to receive the inbounds pass. 

He was inexplicably left alone by all five of the Bears and caught an uncontested half-court pass. One dribble ensued and then he launched a 40-foot desperation heave that somehow rattled around the rim and through the nylon. 

With that shot, Weber State completed an upset victory and avoided losing to Northern Colorado for the second time in just a week. 

8. Michael Alvarado (Manhattan) Beats Marist

Michael Alvarado took the inbounds pass, one that was barely put into play during the allotted five seconds, dribbled twice and then launched a shot high into the sky.

You may notice though that the clock didn't start immediately when the ball was first touched. 

With my own stopwatch, I timed the lag between the time when the ball hit Alvarado's hands and when the clock started. The result was 0.7 seconds, which means that the ball actually left his hands with 0.2 seconds remaining instead of the 0.9 seconds which the clock showed. 

So in reality, this shot should have been even more dramatic. 

The ball was still spinning as the game-clock expired and then careened off the backboard and through the net for a 60-59 win over Marist. 

Alvarado only made one other shot the entire game, but it was also a three-pointer. He did chip in with six assists throughout the contest. 

The shot was incredibly impressive, and quite lucky, but the low-profile nature of the contest prevents it from ascending further up the list. 

7. Kemba Walker (Connecticut) Beats Villanova

This was one of those plays that helped spread Kemba fever around the country. 

Villanova is one of the better teams in the Big East and Connecticut really needed a victory against the Wildcats to affirm their status as a top team in the conference, especially since the game was being played at home. 

Kemba Walker got the ball (I mean, did you expect anything else?), dribbled to his right with less than six seconds remaining, drew contact and threw up an off-balance shot that fell through the net with 2.5 seconds to play. 

The shot broke a 59-59 tie with the Wildcats and gave the Huskies a two-point win. 

More on Kemba later. 

6. D.J. Gay (San Diego State) Beats Colorado State

In a game that came down to the wire, the upset-minded Rams of Colorado State made a tough inside shot with just 10.1 seconds remaining to tie up the score with San Diego State at 54.

A lot of coaches would have called a time out in this situation, especially since the Aztecs had two left. But not Steve Fisher. 

Instead, the ball was inbounded to D.J. Gay, who calmly dribbled the ball past mid-court before turning on the jets. Driving to the left, Gay got past his man and nailed a pull-up jumper with under two seconds remaining to give his team a two-point win. 

The game-winner prevented the Aztecs from dropping their second contest of the season, just two games after the loss to Jimmer Fredette and the BYU Cougars. 

5. Anthony Jones (Baylor) Beats Texas A&M

With 10 seconds remaining in the game, Baylor entered into its half-court offense while looking up at a scoreboard that showed 74 points for both its squad and the Aggies of Texas A&M. 

LaceDarius Dunn caught a pass and elevated, but the shot couldn't find its intended target. After clanging off the rim, it was gathered up by Anthony Jones, who drained the put-back layup with just three seconds left, ensuring an upset win for the Bears. 

Even more impressive was the fact that the shot came in overtime during an away game at College Station. 

This shot may not be too flashy, but it was quite dramatic. 

4. JaJuan Johnson (Purdue) Beats Penn State

JaJuan Johnson is one of those players that really needs to be mentioned more during conversations about the best players in college basketball. 

Not many other players in the country can provide buckets like this for their teams. 

With just less than six seconds remaining in the game, Johnson calmly stepped inside the three-point line, received the inbounds pass and flat-out drained the game-winner for a 63-62 victory over Penn State. 

The shot was huge because Purdue really couldn't afford to lose at home to Penn State if it still wanted to be mentioned in the same breath as the nation's elite teams. 

3. Pe'Shon Howard (Maryland) Beats College Of Charleston

This was a game that really shouldn't have been close. 

Heavily favored Maryland was playing the College of Charleston in its second game of the 2010-2011 season. Moreover, the Terrapins were playing at home in the Comcast Center and coming off a 29-point drubbing of Seattle in the season opener. As for their opponents, well they hadn't even played a game yet. 

Regardless of what led up to the game, the Terrapins were down by a single point with less than nine seconds left when freshman Pe'Shon Howard found the rock in his hands. 

Howard drove into the lane and made a contested shot that never even hit the rim as it fell through with 4.6 seconds remaining. After the College of Charleston's last-second three-point attempt drew iron but no net, the Terrapins had somehow escaped with a win. 

As this game proved, it's never too early in the season for a nail-biting finish. 

2. Kemba Walker (Connecticut) Beats Texas

There is no way that any human being should make the shot Kemba Walker drained at the beginning of the embedded video.

He gets trapped, tries to pass the ball away, has it deflected back to him and then throws up a ridiculous one-handed shot as the shot clock expires to give his Huskies an 80-77 overtime lead against Texas.

And that’s not even why he’s on this list.

Later on in the video, he got the ball back trailing by one point with just 15 seconds left in overtime. Never one to succumb to the pressure, Walker called his own number, crossed up his defender multiple times and drained a step-back jumper to give Connecticut a one-point lead with just 5.2 seconds left.

Texas failed to score on the following possession and the nation’s sixth-leading scorer added another chapter to his ever-growing legend. 

1b. Chris Warren (Mississippi) Beats Kentucky

Thanks to Beast McCann (see comment section), I realized that I'd completely forgotten about this shot. So now you get an extra game-winner. 

Chris Warren dribbled the ball down the court with precious few seconds left on the clock and drilled a deep three-pointer that fell through the net with just three seconds remaining. 

Kentucky failed to score and the Rebels came away with an upset win over the No. 11 Kentucky Wildcats. 

Why was it not No. 1 you may ask? Well, it wasn't as tough a shot as the one you'll see next and the game was at home. 

1a. Mickey McConnell (St. Mary's) Beats Gonzaga

This may seem like a strange choice for No. 1, but bear with me as I explain. It wasn't as key a situation and St. Mary's isn't quite as good as some of the other previous teams, but this is indeed the right placement for this game-winner. 

The shot may not have been do-or-die, but St. Mary's probably would not have won this game if it had gone to overtime. Gonzaga had, after all, been leading for much of the game. 

Next is the degree of difficulty. Many of the other shots you've watched were lengthy ones with defenders in the face of the player shooting, but this is on a whole different level. 

Mickey McConnell got stopped by the defender, had to step forward on his right foot and lift off the ground awkwardly while throwing the ball past his defender and into the basket with just 1.2 seconds left on the clock.

Nothing about it was easy, especially the fact that he had very little time to get down the entire court and even set up the difficult opportunity. 

As a result, the Gaels won 73-71. 

Finally, this game was played in the McCarthy Athletic Center, where Gonzaga simply does not lose. Remember that this court, affectionately called "The New Kennel" by Gonzaga faithful and feared by all opponents, was once a huge part of the nation's longest home winning streak. 

In fact, going into this season, the Bulldogs had lost just six home games since the court opened in 2004. 

Because of the difficulty of the shot, the situation, and the court it was made on, this shot by McConnell takes the cake. 

Bonus: Andrew Nicholson (St. Bonaventure) Beats Buffalo and St. Johns

If he'd made just one of these two shots, Andrew Nicholson would never have made it onto this list. Neither is impressive enough on its own to merit a spot in the top 10. 

They're still not enough for the top 10 together, but the feat is too impressive to leave off entirely. 

Playing for the St. Bonaventure Bonnies, Nicholson had a chance to shine when he was given the chance to drill the game-winner against Buffalo. The Bonnies had given up a 19-point lead in the half, but the junior nailed his 17-footer with just 6.7 seconds left to preserve a tough win. 

Three days later, St. Bonaventure upset St. John's 77-76 when Nicholson made a step-back jumper from the same spot, this time with just 5.3 seconds remaining. 

Amazingly, the star Bonnie hadn't made a single game-winner in his previous two years playing for St. Bonaventure. He's averaging 20.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game this season, so the fact that he was entrusted with both shots should come as no surprise.