Top tournament moments

With the 10th anniversary of Duke forward Christian Laettner's historic turnaround jumper, CNNSI.com asked Sports Illustrated's Alexander Wolff for his all-time top NCAA tournament moments.

Laettner shoots down Kentucky.  Damian Strohmeyer

1. Christian Laettner's Shot (1992)

Though let's not forget Grant Hill's pass, and Mike Krzyzewski's timeout pep talk. This is such a stirring moment, capping such an epic East Regional final, that even the losers, Kentucky's Unforgettables, become ennobled.

2. Bobby Joe Hill's Steals (1966)

The Texas Western guard fleeces Kentucky's backcourt twice in 15 seconds, thereby setting the tone for basketball's Brown v. Board of Education, the Miners' defeat of Adolph Rupp's Wildcats in the title game.

3. The Harmonic Convergence (1981)

Within minutes on one second-round Saturday afternoon, St. Joe's upsets DePaul with a last rush up the floor; a buzzer beater from Kansas State's Rolando Blackman shoots down favored Oregon State; and U.S. Reed's heave from beyond halfcourt helps Arkansas eliminate Louisville -- and NBC somehow shows us all three finishes, live. Yes, the Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson final in 1979 bagged a record TV rating and introduced the personalities that would save the NBA. But this was when the NCAA tournament become a multibillion-dollar TV property.

Indiana's Smart move.  Jerry Wachter

4. Keith Smart's Shot (1987)

A juco transfer's sudden floater from the baseline gives Indiana the 1987 title -- and puts Syracuse's best-ever season on the blink.

5. Ernie D's Pass (1973)

It's a halfcourt, no-look, behind-the-back, through-a-crowd number that Providence's Ernie DiGregorio whips to Kevin Stacom for a layup in the national semifinals against Memphis State. Barnes injures his knee later in the game and the Friars go on to lose -- but the pass should be preserved in a display case.

6. The $300,000 Free Throws (1989)

Rumeal Robinson doesn't just make them; he makes them whisper. Pundits put that $300,000 price tag on those shots because that's how much tournament lucre rides on Michigan beating Seton Hall for the title.

7. A Rousing Rebound (1963)

Vic Rouse's putback gives Loyola of Chicago an unexpected, 60-58 victory over heavily favored Cincinnati in the final. "Like a blessing," Rouse later calls the shot.

8. David Thompson Mid-Air Trip (1974)

Ten minutes into the East Regional final against Pitt, N.C. State's David Thompson drives the line, levitates and trips over the shoulders of teammate Phil Spence. He suffers a gash in his head that requires 15 stitches. Just one of many ways Thompson left people gasping.

Lewullis slays the UCLA giant.  David E. Klutho

9. Lorenzo Charles' Dunk (1983)

An airball winds up in the hands of this obscure N.C. State power forward, and he does with it what he did with a pizza he'd pilfered from a deliveryman earlier in the season -- he stuffs it. Thus do the Pack and their exuberant coach, Jim Valvano, beat Houston for the title.

10. Princeton Shows UCLA the Backdoor (1996)

Such a simple play, such an epic result: The defending champion Bruins go down in the first round, 43-41, when the Tigers' Gabe Lewullis slips baseline, past an overplaying Charles O'Bannon, and converts a bounce pass for a layup.

11. Danny Ainge's March Through Atlanta (1981)

I could have listed Tyus Edney's 1995 Show Them against Missouri -- a virtual duplication of Ainge's final-seconds slalom up the floor for BYU to beat Notre Dame in the East Regional semifinals -- but Ainge did it first, so he gets the nod.

Five Irish couldn't stop Ainge.  Manny Millan

12. North Carolina Gets in Wilt's Head (1957)

Facing Kansas and 7-foot-1 Wilt Chamberlain in the final, Tar Heels coach Frank McGuire dispatches 5-11 Tommy Kearns for the opening tip. The gambit unnerves the Dipper just enough that it takes him five minutes to score and he finishes with only 23 points (10 below his tournament average entering the game), and Carolina prevails in three overtimes, 54-53.

Five Ignominious Moments

Law of Averages (1975)

Louisville's Terry Howard, who was 28-for-28 from the line on the year, misses the front end of a one-and-one with 20 seconds to play in overtime and the Cards leading UCLA by one in the national semifinals. The Bruins wind up winning en route to the title.

Bad News Booster (1975)

In the aftermath of the Bruins' 1975 defeat of Kentucky for the title, a UCLA booster tells John Wooden, "This makes up for you letting us down last year." The Wizard of Westwood had announced before the game that he was going to retire, but to this day he cites the comment as evidence that he'd made the right call.

Not Worthy (1982)

With his team down a point against North Carolina in the final seconds of the title game, Georgetown's Fred Brown throws a pass directly into the hands of ... the Tar Heels' James Worthy.

Timeout (1993)

Michigan's Chris Webber calls a timeout his team doesn't have, thereby cinching a title for the same beneficiary as Brown's bad pass -- North Carolina. The site is the same, too: New Orleans. Some pale-blue mojo must be working.

Fife's Foul (2002)

With Indiana up four in the dying seconds of a South Regional semifinal against Duke, the Hoosiers' Dane Fife fouls Blue Devils guard Jason Williams as he takes a 3-pointer. The shot drops, and though IU wins when Williams muffs the free throw, the play's essential ignominy can't be undone.

SI senior writer Alexander Wolff is author of Big Game, Small World: A Basketball Adventure, which is available online and in bookstores everywhere. He can be reached at http://www.biggamesmallworld.com.

 

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