We love hyperbole in sports. If something occurs, not matter how mundane, we need to slap it with some sort of a tag in order to properly categorize it or pigeonhole it. If something isn’t the greatest of all-time, it has to be “right up there” or some such non-sense.
Everybody wants to be part of something great. That’s just human nature. But sometimes things just happen. It has nothing to do with history or legacies or whatever. It’s just a game or an event or a party.
Things like that happen all the time.
Be that as it is, the wild victory over Pittsburgh that sent Villanova into the Final Four was an all-timer. It was a great, great game that was ridiculously entertaining. About halfway through the middle of the second half I IM’d CSNPhilly.com’s Andy Schwartz, who was sitting at courtside, and informed him that, “you know this game is coming down to one final shot, right?”
Yeah, I’m clairvoyant like that. I also called Matt Stairs’ homer in Game 4 of NLCS as he walked off the on-deck circle. Saw that one coming from a mile away, too.
Still, before we jump the gun in the wake of the euphoria of a fantastic basketball game, let’s take a deep breath. Yes, let’s say this again, it was an awesome game. It was easily the most entertaining game seen all year and clearly the best of the tournament.
But one of the greatest tournament games ever? Please… it’s not even the best tournament game in Villanova’s history.
Not even close.
Clearly the 1985 championship game victory over Georgetown on April 1 of that year was the best game in the school’s history. For a while some wrote that it might have been the biggest upset in tourney history, too. Not sure about that. It might be pushing it considering ‘Nova and Georgetown were in the same conference and played three times that season. It was a big game, to be sure, but the Wildcats definitely had a frame of reference on how to beat the Hoyas.
Y’know, they had to be perfect.
Besides, the wins over Dayton, Michigan, Maryland, North Carolina and Memphis heading into the Georgetown epic were no joke either. All of those games were classics, too.
So before we go all ‘Nova all the time this week, I’m going to rate the best tournament games I’ve seen. Granted, my frame of reference goes back to the early ‘80s though I clearly recall the hype leading up to the Indiana State-Michigan State clash in which Larry Bird and Magic Johnson squared off for the first time. I remember the Super Bowl-like lead up, but not the game because it started well past my bedtime.
Anyway, here they are:
1.) Duke 104, Kentucky 103 March 28, 1992 at The Spectrum Hard to argue with this one. It pretty much had it all and appeared to derail Duke’s little dynasty when Sean Woods banked in a runner with 2.1 seconds left. That set up the famous Grant Hill to Christian Laettner play:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY-iq58_oz4&hl=en&fs=1]
2.) N.C. State 54, Houston 52 April 3, 1983 at The Pit, Albuquerque, N.M. The image of this game is of Jim Valvano dashing around the court in a wide-eyed frenzy not really understanding what had just happened. Frankly, it was quite stunning – just the fact that NC State hung in there with No. 1-rated Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler and Houston. Just when we were about to settle in for overtime because it appeared as if Derrek Wittenberg’s last-second heave was going to fall short, Lorenzo Charles became college basketball’s Bobby Thomson.
Here it is:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH1Jt2XATgE&hl=en&fs=1]
3.) North Carolina 63, Georgetown 62 March 29, 1983 at the SuperDome, New Orleans This is the one where freshman Michael Jordan hit the game-winner with 16 seconds remaining in the game. However, Jordan was hardly the best player on the court that night, or even the best freshman. Patrick Ewing was the best freshman, James Worthy was the best player and Sleepy Floyd almost shot Georgetown to the title.
But Jordan, Worthy, Ewing or Floyd are hardly what anyone remembers here. Instead, it was Freddie Brown’s errant pass to Worthy in the waning moments clinched it for the Tar Heels.
Jordan’s shot and Freddie’s pass:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-suuy_tgOjo&hl=en&fs=1]
4.) Villanova 66, Georgetown 64 April 1, 1985 at Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky Villanova played the perfect game and still nearly lost. That’s how good Georgetown was. It was a stunner to be sure.
Yeah, you’ve already heard everything about this one… get ready to hear more this week.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxKNd94h1zY&hl=en&fs=1] 5.) Indiana 74, Syracuse 73 March 30, 1987 at the SuperDome, New Orleans This is the Keith Smart game, but what gets lost in the glory of the final shot is that Steve Alford drilled seven 3-pointersand a skinny freshman for Syracuse named Derrick Coleman grabbed 19 rebounds, but missed a key foul shot to set up Smart’s game-winner.
The shot:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dgkmikdVM8&hl=en&fs=1]
The 1987 championship game was also the first time CBS trotted out that terrifically cheesy “One Shining Moment” thing. I can’t stand it…
And yet I can’t turn away.
Here’s the first-ever “One Shining Moment:”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LjU0VTNTb0&hl=en&fs=1]
6.) Duke 79, UNLV 77 March 30, 1991 at The Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis Perhaps the Duke dynasty began this day? Either way, this was an upset of 'Nova-G'town proportions. The funny part about this one was the story I heard about UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian cussing out his players on the walk back to the locker room after the loss.
OK, there’s six of them. We can do this all night, but this week will be filled to the brim with college hoops talk so just use this to whet the appetite.