By Kyle Beery | 97.1 The Ticket
Today was supposed to be a national holiday of sorts. Selection Sunday. A few final conference tournaments in the afternoon, the selection show at 6 p.m., and madness to ensue.
But the coronavirus pandemic has put a halt to every college basketball fan's favorite time of the year.
We will not hear Greg Gumbel announce the matchups. We will not get a First Four in Dayton. We will not get any buzzer beaters, Cinderellas or upsets. Not so much as one viral March moment that will last for decades.
So to fill that March Sadness void we're all experiencing, here's a look back at the best NCAA Tournament moments of the last decade.
2010-11: "The Butler Did It!"
The 2009-10 Butler Bulldogs went most of the season under the radar, despite riding a 20-game winning streak to a No. 5 seed out of the Horizon League into the NCAA Tournament. But as the tournament moved to the second weekend, America began to take notice of that team with the young coach in the glasses. Brad Stevens took his team from unknown to America's favorite underdog that season.
The 2010 tournament ended with one of the most memorable shots in the history of the sport -- and it didn't even go in. Gordon Hayward's half-court heave came within inches of dethroning Duke (just miles from Butler's Indianapolis campus), in what would have been the real life version of "Hoosiers."
Though the season ended in heartbreak for Butler, they captured the hearts of the nation and proved that truly any school, no matter the size, can win it all. And then, as an 8-seed the next year, they made another improbable run, with buzzer beaters, comebacks and wild endings along the way that would help launch the program into the A-10, and ultimately the Big East.
2010: Ali Farokhmanesh and Northern Iowa
The Northern Iowa Panthers seemed like they were going to be the darlings of the 2010 tournament, prior to Butler's run. Ali Farokhmanesh took the world by storm with his 3-point shooting, including one in the final seconds to beat UNLV, before going on to drain the dagger against No. 1 overall seed Kansas in the second round. The Panthers ultimately lost in the Sweet 16 to Michigan State, who would go on to reach the Final Four.
2010: Lucious sends Spartans to Sweet 16
Michigan State's run to the 2010 Final Four -- their first of three trips in the decade -- was a classic case of "survive and advance." After holding on to beat 12-seed New Mexico State by three in the first round, the Spartans advanced to the Sweet 16 after Korie Lucious played the hero with a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Michigan State then knocked out UNI and squeezed past Tennessee by a point to make it to Indianapolis.
2011: VCU's improbable run
Much like Brad Stevens, Shaka Smart was a young coach turning a lot of heads in 2011. He took 11-seed VCU to the Final Four, only to be denied by Stevens and Butler. The Rams were the subject of controversy that year, as many thought they should not have been included in the inaugural "First Four" in Dayton. But Smart soon introduced the world to his "Havoc" full-court press, up-and-down the court style. The Rams took down Georgetown and Purdue to reach the Sweet 16 in the Southwest Regional, which featured three double-digit seeds. They then dispatched of Florida State and Kansas to reach the Final Four, validating the committee's decision to include them over Colorado.
2011: "Cardiac Kemba does it again!"
Kemba Walker rose to stardom in 2011 when he led UConn to five wins in five days as the 9-seed in the Big East Tournament, before going on to lead the Huskies to a national championship over Butler. It was an unforgettable 11-game stretch for Walker and the Huskies.
2012: Two 15-seeds win on the same day
Prior to 2012, there had been just four No. 15 seeds to take down a 2-seed in the first round: Richmond over Syracuse in 1991, Santa Clara over Arizona in '93, Coppin State over South Carolina in 1997 and Hampton over Iowa State in 2001. It had been more than a decade since we'd seen it happen, when Norfolk State took down the Pressey brothers and Missouri on the first Friday of the dance.
Then, in a matter of hours, C.J. McCollum dropped 30 points and Lehigh slayed Coach K and Duke.
2013: Dunk City
Speaking of 15 seeds, how about the most memorable of them all? High-flying Florida Gulf Coast dunked its way past Georgetown in the first round and then took down San Diego State to become the first 15-seed to reach the Sweet 16.
2013: Trey Burke forces OT vs. Kansas
Michigan's first trip to the Final Four in two decades almost didn't happen. In the Sweet 16, the Wolverines were trailing Kansas by 14 with under seven minutes to play, but scratched and clawed away to be within shouting distance in the final minute. With 12 seconds left, the Jayhawks had a chance to ice the game at the free throw line. But after a miss, breakout guard Trey Burke raced down the floor and pulled up from deep to keep the season alive. Michigan went on to outscore the Jayhawks in overtime, before beating Florida to make it to the Final Four in Atlanta.
2014: SFA's 4-point play takes down VCU
You gotta love it when a school named after a person you've never heard of pulls off an upset (shouts to George Mason). Stephen F. Austin, which used this game as a springboard to become a perennial mid-major powerhouse, was trailing 5-seed VCU by four and needed an absolute miracle to stay alive. Desmond Haymond delivered. The Lumberjacks held off the Rams in overtime for the win.
2014: Dayton to the Elite Eight
Dayton almost joined the ranks of Butler, VCU and George Mason as mid-majors to reach the promise land. The Flyers knocked off in-state foe Ohio State, thanks to Vee Sanford's late layup and Aaron Craft's miss at the buzzer. They went on to survive a thriller with Syracuse, before knocking off 10-seed Stanford in the Elite 8. The run came to an end at the hands of Florida in the Elite 8.
2015: RJ Hunter beats Baylor, knocks his dad off a stool
Hitting a buzzer beater in the NCAA Tournament? That's something you'll never forget. Doing so and knocking your dad off his stool on the sideline? That's something no one will ever forget. That's exactly what R.J. Hunter did in 2015. With his dad hobbled after an injury suffered during the Sun Belt championship celebration, Hunter pulled up from way downtown and sunk the 3-seeded Bears. Coach Ron Hunter fell right off his stool and Georgia State was through to the next round.
2015: Wisconsin ends Kentucky's undefeated season
The quest for the first undefeated season since Bobby Knight's 1976 Indiana Hoosiers appeared destined to poetically end with IU's rival Kentucky, in Indianapolis. The Wildcats, led by the Harrison twins, Karl-Anthony Towns and six other future NBA players, began the season 38-0. Then they ran into Frank Kaminsky and the Wisconsin Badgers in the semifinal in Indy. That's the closest any team has come to an undefeated season since the famed Hoosiers' run more than four decades ago.
2016: UNI's half-court buzzer beater
The nightcap on the first Friday of the 2016 tournament appeared to be heading to overtime when Texas tied things up with under three seconds to play against Northern Iowa. And then Paul Jesperson took matters into his own hands and hit a shot that will live forever.
2016: UNI's second-round meltdown
Just two days later, Northern Iowa appeared to be headed to its second Sweet 16 of the decade, leading No. 3 seed Texas A&M by 12 points with 45 seconds left. But the Aggies stormed back to force overtime, and ultimately pull off the wild win.
2016: "Jenkins for the championship!"
Every kid dreams of it -- hitting the buzzer beater to win the championship. Kris Jenkins lived it. Moments after UNC's Marcus Paige drilled an insane double-clutch three-pointer to tie the game, Villanova's Ryan Arcidiacono raced down the floor and dropped it off for "Big Smoove" Jenkins, who capped off arguably the best title game ever with a shot that will be replayed for all eternity.
2017: Wisconsin, Florida's Sweet 16 OT thriller
Wisconsin's hopes of moving on to face 7-seed South Carolina in the Elite 8 were looking grim when Zach Showalter, against all odds, buried his head and hit a runner from the 3-point line to force overtime. Then, after rallying from down 5, Florida was rescued by Chris Chiozza, who hit a wild, off-balance 3-point runner of his own at the final horn.
2018: "U Must Be Cinderella"
It was destined to happen sooner or later. A 16-seed was going to beat a 1-seed. It took more than 130 times, but on March 16, 2018, in Charlotte North Carolina, the University of Maryland-Baltimore County finally did it. But it wasn't how we always pictured it: the underdog scrapping and clawing to hang around with the favorites, before finally hitting a buzzer beater in the dying moments. No, UMBC simply beat the brakes off the Cavaliers that night.
2018: Sister Jean
No. 11 seed Loyola-Chicago captured the minds of a nation in 2018. It wasn't just the fact that they pulled off miracle wins over Miami, Tennessee and Nevada in their first three games of the tournament. They had Sister Jean. The 98-year-old nun and chaplain of the team. She was right there alongside the Ramblers as they won close game after close game.
2018: Michigan's Final Four run
That Loyola run ultimately came to an end at the hands of Michigan, who had to escape the second round with Jordan Poole's desperation heave against Rob Gray and Houston. The Wolverines went on to drain 14 3-pointers against Texas A&M in the Sweet 16 and then held on against Florida State to reach its second Final Four of the decade. Villanova put a halt to the Wolverines' title hopes, winning their second title in three years.
2019: Carsen Edwards carries Purdue
What Carsen Edwards did in last year's NCAA Tournament was nothing short of remarkable, especially his performance against eventual national champion Virginia in the Elite Eight. After averaging 32 PPG in the Boilermakers' first three tournament games, Edwards absolutely went off against the Cavaliers. He scored 26 of his 42 points in the second half and overtime, but Purdue fell just short as UVA pulled off a miracle to force overtime.
2019: UVA's ultimate redemption
From the ultimate low to the ultimate high. After becoming the first 1-seed to ever lose to a 16-seed, the narrative surrounding Tony Bennett's burgeoning program was that they always choke in the tournament. But the Cavaliers survived three straight thrillers to earn the crown. First it was Kihei Clarke's magical pass to Mamadi Diakite against Purdue. Then it was Kyle Guy's trio of clutch free throws to skate past Auburn, and lastly it was DeAndre Hunter's corner 3 to force overtime against Texas Tech in the title game. Those three shots will never be forgotten in Charlottesville.
So when the bracket comes out in two weeks, we'll start filling it out in hopes of finding the next Cinderella, or getting a perfect Final Four. But just remember, even when your bracket blows up in the first weekend at the hands of some team you've never heard of, that moment could find its way onto a list like this 20 years from now and live forever. That's the beauty of the NCAA Tournament.
