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On Monday night the UConn Huskies and Purdue Boilermakers will take the floor in Glendale, Arizona to determine who will win the 2024 NCAA Tournament. It's fair to say, given how dominant both the Huskies and Boilermakers have been this year, and how drastically different their experiences in the 2023 NCAA Tournament were, this could go down as a Championship Game to remember. But of course, that ultimately comes down to just how competitive and entertaining the game itself is.
Below is a countdown of what are, in my opinion, the greatest National Championship Games of the 21st Century thus far. Naturally, the composition of a list like this is completely subjective, so if you disagree, I won't take it personally… in large part because I have no real way of finding out how you feel.
Anyway, enjoy the trip down memory lane!
10. Duke 61, Butler 59 (2010)
The Matchup: The 2010 National Championship Game is a fantastic example of how a close game isn't necessarily a great game. While the Blue Devils and Bulldogs were within six points of each other for all forty minutes of this contest, the two teams combined to make just 43 of 110 field goal attempts in the game. The six players averaging double-figures in scoring heading into the game — Gordon Hayward, Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack for Butler, and Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler for Duke — were a combined 25-for-68. But this type of game was right in Butler's wheelhouse.
In their first five games of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, Butler held each of their opponents to under 60 points, earning slow-paced, rock-fight wins over three power conference opponents (Syracuse, Kansas State and Michigan State) in the process. But a championship matchup with Coach K, in search of his fourth National Title, proved just a little too daunting, and Butler's Cinderella run struck midnight just before the Bulldogs could secure what would've been one of the most surprising championships in NCAA Tournament history.
One Defining Moment: That damn half court heave that Gordon Hayward launched, which I'm almost positive would've become the first sports moment to break Twitter had it gone down.
9. Duke 82, Arizona 72 (2001)
The Matchup: In what was an absolutely talent-stacked game with ten players who would go on to be selected in the NBA Draft over the course of the next few years — Richard Jefferson, Luke Walton, Gilbert Arenas, Loren Woods and Michael Wright for Arizona, and Jay Williams, Shane Battier, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Chris Duhon and Carlos Boozer for Duke — the Wildcats and the Blue Devils played a jittery, B+ game for about 35 minutes before things picked up for a five minute stretch late in the game. Arizona kept coming, trying their damndest to chip away at a lead Duke had held for the entirety of the 2nd half, but the Blue Devils continued to find ways to hold off the pesky Wildcats. National Player of the Year Shane Battier secured offensive rebounds on two late-game possessions and cashed in with a pair of buckets, twice pushing Duke's three-point lead to five.
One Defining Moment: Jay Williams, who was dealing with both foul trouble and a prolonged shooting slump that started in the Elite Eight, knocked down a top-of-the-key three to give Duke an 8-point lead with under two minutes to go. Prior to that clutch triple, Williams had only hit five of his previous thirty three-pointers.
8. Florida 84, Ohio State 75 (2007)
The Matchup: Three months before their National Championship Game showdown, the defending champion Florida Gators cemented themselves as the best team in the country — not that there should've been any debate to begin with — after walloping the Ohio State Buckeyes in Gainesville by the final score of 86-60. At the time, the Buckeyes, led by a dynamite freshman class that included Mike Conley Jr., Daequan Cook, David Lighty, and the top recruit in the country, 7-footer Greg Oden, who Steve Kerr referred to as a “once-in-a-decade player” in a Yahoo Sports mailbag column in January 2007.
The National Championship Game showdown between the Gators and Buckeyes would be much closer than their meeting on Christmas Eve Eve. Although the Gators would take a 14-point lead in the 2nd half, the Buckeyes continued to hang around, staying within striking distance until the bitter end. But the Gators, who had won eleven consecutive NCAA Tournament games heading into the 2007 Title Game, just had too much firepower and too much big game experience for a younger Buckeyes squad. Even with 2006 Final Four Most Outstanding Player Joakim Noah limited to just 21 minutes thanks to foul trouble, the Gators still
One Defining Moment: While Florida was closing in on becoming the first back-to-back tournament champions since 1992, Billy Packer, for lord knows what reason, declared that Greg Oden would be named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four on a losing team, which is something I think about every single year without fail during the month of March. The wrong Bill was serving as the color commentator for the Final Four for far too long.
7. Louisville 82, Michigan 76 (2013)
The Matchup: After getting knocked out in the Final Four by Kentucky just one year earlier, the Louisville Cardinals had redemption on their mind all season long. Rick Pitino's squad took care of business against their in-state rival during the regular season, won the Big East Tournament, and made a repeat run to the Final Four, this time topping Wichita State in the National Semifinal, but losing reserve guard Kevin Ware in the process after Ware suffered a gruesome compound fracture of his right tibia during the win over the Shockers. On the other side of the bracket, Michigan opened their season with a 16-game winning streak, hit some turbulence in Big Ten play, but then course-corrected and found their stride in the Big Dance thanks to a balanced scoring attack and one deeeeeep Trey Burke three-pointer to keep the Wolverines tourney hopes alive in the Sweet Sixteen against Kansas.
Even with leading scorer Trey Burke on the bench for fourteen minutes in the 1st half due to foul trouble, Michigan built up a 12-point 1st half lead and seemingly had all of the momentum until Louisville's Luke Hancock hit four consecutive three-pointers to end the half and cut Michigan's lead to 1. The two teams went back and forth in the second half, but ultimately Louisville, who had overcome large deficits in the Big East Tournament Final and the Final Four, had more than a young Michigan team could handle.
One Defining Moment: Improbably, my lasting memory of this game is Wolverines seldom-used freshman reserve guard Spike Albrecht coming in and knocking down four 1st-half three-pointers in place of starting point guard Trey Burke. Perhaps this is a bit unfair to the Louisville Cardinals, who won the championship. But then again, the NCAA later stripped the title away from Louisville, so maybe it's fitting after all.
6. North Carolina 75, Illinois 70 (2005)
The Matchup: North Carolina vs. Illinois was one of the few occasions over the years where it has truly felt like the two best teams in the country were the two that were left standing on the final night of the season. Because this was the case, this was also a rare instance where I actually pegged the National Championship Game matchup correctly before the Tournament began. See, even if it's not always fun, sometimes going chalk pays off!
North Carolina entered the game as a 2-point favorite, despite the fact that Illinois was just one victory away from setting the single-season record for wins. And right out of the gate, the Tar Heels made the oddsmakers in Vegas look like they knew what they were doing. After going back and forth for the first fifteen minutes of the game, North Carolina went on a 13-2 run over the last five minutes of the first half to take a 13 point lead into the halftime locker room.
Despite a poor shooting night overall and particularly from their three leading scorers — Luther Head, Dee Brown and Deron Williams — who went 19-for-48 from the field, the Illini hung around and withstood a 15-point deficit to come back and tie the game at 70 with under two minutes to go. In the end, it was a tip-in from freshman Marvin Williams and some clutch free throws down the stretch that clinched the game, and the National Title for the Tar Heels, who won their first championship in twelve years. For Roy Williams, it was the title that had alluded him for the seventeen years of his coaching career.
One Defining Moment: North Carolina center Sean May, who shot 10-for-11 from the field, winning the NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player Award 29 years after his father Scott May and the Indiana Hoosiers became the last team to go undefeated and win the National Championship.
5. Kansas 72, North Carolina 69 (2022)
The Matchup: I think it's safe to say that for many basketball fans, the 2022 National Championship Game has largely been overshadowed by North Carolina's Final Four victory over Duke, in what was the first meeting between the in-state rivals in the NCAA Tournament, and the last game coached by the legendary Mike Krzyzewski. But in Lawrence, Kansas, the birthplace of basketball, the 2022 NCAA Tournament was the event that allowed the Kansas Jayhawks to return to their rightful place at the top of the sport. But to get there, the Jayhawks would have to work for it.
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Despite opening up a quick 7-0 lead in the first 90 seconds of the game, Kansas eventually spotted Carolina a 16-point 1st half lead. But in typical Kansas fashion, the Jayhawks found a way to make things interesting in the 2nd half of a National Championship Game. Two of the most experienced teams in title game history would go back-and-forth for much of the 2nd half, with the game eventually coming down to a handful of Carolina opportunities to tie the game, only for the Jayhawks to hang on.
One Defining Moment: For me, it was the feeling I had at the start of the 2nd half, when I was thinking back on past Kansas appearances in the National Championship Game, and I knew deep down in my gut that the Jayhawks were at least going to make this game interesting, if they weren't going to win. And with just over ten minutes remaining in the game, the Jayhawks had climbed back from a 13-point halftime deficit to take the lead, and only gave that lead back to North Carolina for 20 seconds the rest of the way.
4. Kansas 75, Memphis 68 (2008)
The Matchup: Just as was the case with North Carolina and Illinois in 2005, Kansas and Memphis — and to some extent, the North Carolina Tar Heels, who would go on to win the National Championship in 2009 — felt like the best teams in the country all year long, which meant going into the National Championship Game, one of these two teams was going to have the dubious distinction of going down as one of the greatest teams to fail to win the Title.
Kansas had a five-point lead at halftime and maintained that lead for much of the 2nd half, but a 16-4 Memphis run over the course of seven minutes gave the Tigers a 60-51 lead. The run was spearheaded by freshman sensation and eventual #1 pick in the NBA Draft Derrick Rose, who scored 11 of those 16 Memphis points. But the Jayhawks weren't going to roll over on the 20th anniversary of their last National Title. The Jayhawks hung around and with 2 seconds left, point guard Mario Chalmers knocked down one of the coldest and most clutch three-pointers in tournament history to send the game to overtime — the first title game to go to overtime since 1997. The Jayhawks took momentum into OT and maintained it for all five minutes, knocking off the 38-1 Tigers in dramatic fashion.
One Defining Moment: Even more so than Mario Chalmers' game-tying three with 2 seconds left that sent the game to overtime, the defining moment of this game for me will always be Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts going a combined 1-for-5 from the free throw line in the final 75 seconds of regulation, which could've very easily clinched the game (and the title) for Coach John Calipari and the Memphis Tigers. This wasn't a fluke for Memphis. The Tigers were 339th out of 341 teams in free throw percentage during the season.
3. Virginia 85, Texas Tech 77 (2019)
The Matchup: The Virginia Cavaliers had to go through hell and back just to get to the National Championship Game in 2019. The year prior, Virginia became the first 1 seed to lose to a 16 seed in NCAA Tournament history, and on their way to the Title game, they had to escape a number of close calls. Virginia trailed by double-digits in the opening round against 16 seed Gardner Webb, barely hung on to beat Purdue in overtime in the Elite Eight, and got what was potentially a bail-out foul call on a missed Kyle Guy three-point attempt against Auburn in the Final Four. Standing in their way in the title game was Texas Tech, perhaps the only team in the country that could claim to be as devastating defensively as the Cavaliers. The Red Raiders cruised to the title game, winning four of their five tournament games by double-digits. And what most folks expected to be an ugly, defensive-minded slugfest turned into one of the most entertaining title games in recent memory.
Once again, with time ticking away, Virginia had to find a way to keep their championship hopes alive, and somehow, they did just that. After sending the game to overtime with a clutch corner three from De'Andre Hunter, the Cavaliers found themselves in an early three-point hole, but responded with a 15-4 run in the last three minutes of the action frame that clinched the title.
One Defining Moment: De'Andre Hunter's game-tying three-pointer with 13 seconds to go in regulation — Tech fans are still wondering why Jarrett Culver helped off of Hunter from the corner to stop a driving Ty Jerome — followed by an extra high-pitched “Onions!” call from Bill Raftery.
2. Syracuse 81, Kansas 78 (2003)
The Matchup: The 1st half of Syracuse vs. Kansas remains one of the most entertaining halves of basketball in NCAA Championship Game history. The two teams played at a breakneck pace, and Syracuse freshman Gerry McNamara (no, not Carmelo Anthony) hit a barrage of three-pointers, which helped Cuse take a 53-42 lead into the half. The 2nd half was a much different story. Both teams looked and played like they were exhausted, and Anthony, the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player, scored all 20 of his points in the first 27 minutes of the game. Even with the country's best freshman being held scoreless for the final thirteen minutes of the game, Syracuse still remained in control.
But like so many other teams mentioned already in this column, Syracuse was able to build a comfortable 2nd half lead, but when Kansas kept coming, Cuse got tight down the stretch. The Orange started turning the ball over and missing free throws, and Syracuse watched their 12-point lead with 5 minutes to go evaporate. With under a minute left, Syracuse forward Kueth Duany split a pair of free throws that pushed Cuse's lead from two to three, and thanks to an enormous defensive play by sophomore Hakim Warrick, that very same three-point margin ended up being the final score.
One Defining Moment: After missing a pair of free throws which could've extended Syracuse's lead to a two-possession game, Warrick sealed the game with a block on a corner three attempt from Jayhawks wing Michael Lee, which could've potentially tied things up at 81 and sent the game to overtime.
1. Villanova 77, North Carolina 74 (2016)
The Matchup: Just an absolute barnburner of a game between two programs that would go on to win the next two National Titles. Villanova was making their first Championship Game appearance since winning the 1985 NCAA Tournament as an 8-seed, and Carolina was back in the title game for the third time under head coach Roy Williams. I would love to sit here and try to break down this game, but I promise you, I wouldn't be able to do it justice. The whole thing, from opening tip to final buzzer, is right here on YouTube, and if you have some free time before Monday's NCAA Championship Game between UConn or Purdue — or if you get the post-tournament blues a week from now — I highly recommend going back and rewatching this one. And not just for the final ten seconds.
One Defining Moment: Just an absolutely bonkers final sequence that included a double-clutch three-pointer by North Carolina guard Marcus Paige with 4.7 seconds left, a cutaway shot to Michael Jordan going bananas in the crowd, a perfectly designed final play by Jay Wright, and a Kris Jenkins buzzer-beating game-winning three-pointer, the first ever in the National Championship Game.
