The NCAA Tournament has never suffered from a shortage of drama and nothing highlights drama more than a buzzer-beater.
Check out the top ten buzzer-beaters that shocked the college basketball world.
The opening round of the 2008 NCAA tournament got a treat when 12 seed Western Kentucky took on Drake in overtime. Down 99-98 with just seconds left, the Hilltoppers had to go the length of the court. Furiously speeding up the court, Ty Rogers took a handoff pass from beyond NBA three-point range and drained it to complete the upset.
Facing 11 seeded UNC Wilmington in the first round, Maryland needed a miracle. With five seconds left, Drew Nicholas took the inbound pass, raced with the ball to the wing, then threw up a prayer as his momentum carried him to the sideline, hitting nothing but net as time expired.
In the first round of the 2000 NCAA tournament, Florida appeared to be joining the long list of 5 seeds knocked out by a 12 seed. Butler was up 1 with 8 seconds left and was at the line in the bonus. They missed it. Florida got the rebound. Teddy Dupay pushed it up the court before dishing it to Mike Miller on the wing. Miller drove to the middle of the lane and put up a floater while falling forward and the only thing the Butler players could do was to watch the ball go through the bottom of the net as time expired. That shot propelled the Gators all the way to the national title game.
Washington fans are still haunted by this shot. In the 1998 regional semi-final, Washington had UConn on the ropes. Down 1 in the final seconds, UConn got multiple shots to win the game. After two failed attempts, the ball was tipped back to Richard Hamilton, who hit the shot while fading away.
This buzzer beater is the forgotten gem of Christian Laettner’s heroics. In the 1990 Regional Final, Laettner inbounded the ball with 2.6 seconds on the clock, got the ball back, drove, double-pumped and hit a jumper from the elbow as time expired sending the Dukies to the Final Four and breaking the hearts of UConn fans everywhere. I’m sensing a pattern here.
