ESPNTheMag.Com Presents: All-World Power Rankings

What's the best NCAA Men's Basketball Championship game ever?

by Ted Bauer

BEST MEN'S NATIONAL TITLE GAME EVER IN BASKETBALL? WE'LL TAKE LORENZO CHARLES AND THE '83 NC STATE TEAM, ALTHOUGH IT'S A TIGHT ONE

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The debate about "best NCAA title game" (in men's hoops) ever is a tricky one: do you go with something historical (1966, let's say), something monumental (1979 or 1985, let's say), something dramatic as heck (1983 or 2008, let's say), or something good and ol' school (1957)? Guess it's time to start making some hard choices, like the folks on the Muppet Bus.

TOP 5
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	1 (10)	1983: NC STATE VS. HOUSTON	Here's video from it. We went with this because it's dramatic as all get out, it was a title game (Laettner's shot was an Elite 8 game, lest you forget), and the image of Jim Valvano running around looking for someone to hug is priceless.
	2 (35)	1979: MICHIGAN STATE VS. INDIANA STATE	Not even a tremendous game—MSU won by 11—but if you're ever unclear what that game did for American basketball, you can start by reading this, then go ahead and watch this.
	3 (62)	1966: TEXAS WESTERN VS. KENTUCKY	By now, you likely know the story here (if you don't, read this) but Haskins' lineup decisions had a profound effect on the game. Here's some black and white footage of the game.
	4 (9)	1985: VILLANOVA VS. GEORGETOWN	Seriously, in the last 20-plus years, how many times has an announcer mentioned this game, even in a meaningless late June Padres/Rockies tilt that's 8-2 Padres in the 7th when the Rockies start swinging for the fences? It has been contextualized as the upset of all-time, so ya gotta put it on here. Here's "da vid."
	5 (42)	1989: MICHIGAN VS. SETON HALL	People never seem to include this game. It was really good, and what Rumeal Robinson did at the end is technically the definition of "clutch." Here's video.

HONORABLE MENTION
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	82 (139)	2008: KANSAS VS. MEMPHIS	Best remembered for "Mario's Miracle," there are two other cool things about this game: (1) Bill Self getting off the schnied and (2) the fact that all Tournament, people were blabbering, "Memphis at the line will do them in," and then, hey, it did. It's the ultimate "told you so." We love it when a plan comes together.
	103 (1,870)	1982: UNC VS. GEORGETOWN	There's a ton of stuff we could put here, honestly. 1957 comes to mind. So does 1997. We went with '82 (here's video) because it helped introduce Michael Jordan to the broader societal consciousness, and we find that to be an important basketball development.

RISING AND FALLING
MOVEMENT		WHAT
		TONIGHT'S GAME (Let's hope it's good, eh?)
		1990: UNLV VS. DUKE (This thing was a train wreck.)

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