Without fail, the NCAA Tournament provides some of the best moments in sports every year. While a dramatic run to the Final Four (like Syracuse’s), a major early upset (Middle Tennessee State) or an eventual champion being crowned (we’ll find that out Monday) each provide their own dose of drama and excitement, there is nothing that screams “March Madness” more than a good buzzer-beater.
This year, teams like Providence, Iowa and, most memorably, Northern Iowa all advanced on last second game-winners that will be played in tournament montages for years to come. But with the Final Four coming up on Saturday, that got us thinking: What is the greatest buzzer-beating shot of all-time in the NCAA tournament?
The latest Uproxx Video has our top six ranked, and the No. 1 spot goes to Tyus Edney who helped save UCLA with his last second coast-to-coast layup to beat Missouri during the 1995 big dance. Edney’s shot was memorable enough on its own, but it’s made even better by the fact that it not only saved the Bruins from being upset by the Tigers, but it helped propel them to a national championship later that season.
The two spot on our list goes to a shot that’s often overlooked when speaking of the best shots in tournament history, and that is U.S. Reed’s 50-foot game winner for Arkansas to knock out the defending champion Louisville in 1981. “The Shot” by Christian Laettner against Kentucky in 1992 comes in at No. 3, while the rest of the list is rounded out by Mario Chalmers saving Kansas’ title hopes in ’08, Lorenzo Charles helping complete NC State and Jim Valvano’s dramatic run in 1983, and Michael Jordan capping off UNC’s title run one year before that.
Of the six spots on our list, four of them have come during Final Four weekend, so do any players from North Carolina, Syracuse, Villanova, or Oklahoma have some magic in them this weekend that could add to this list? Considering how crazy the tournament has been this year, it certainly seems like a realistic possibility.
