Monday, March 2nd, 2009 at 4:42 pm  |  34 responses

Win This!

A trip down March Madness Memory Lane.

mm_3d_oring_02Tell us (in a comment box below) what you think is the greatest run to the Final Four in the history of March Madness and you could win one a copy of March Madness: The Greatest Moments of the NCAA Tournament.

First three to have good enough answers wins a brand new DVD. Three winners will be chosen on Thursday, March 5, 2009.

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  • http://slamonline.com/ Tzvi Twersky

    I bet I know Matt’s answer to this Q. To bad I can’t partake.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Justin Walsh

    not going for the contest, my moms got me this fresh ish, but I thought I might add a bit of mine. My favorite final four year was when George Mason went ultra cinderella on the world and beat UCONN in the elite8 and a good number of other teams in the process. I didn’t know that Matt Caputo’s brother is an assistant on GM, but that part of it makes it all f*ckin gravy.

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  • http://www.slamonline.com Justin Walsh

    Tzvi, no kidding on that part. Not taking part in the contests- only downside to it. Haha, oh well, still gonna answer these things just for fun. I love this gaaaame.

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com/ TADOne

    Aww hell, I would have to be leaving work now…

  • Pic

    ’92 and ’93 – Michigan Wolverines. Their swag was phenomenal. As much as that line has been watered down, it still captures that 2-year run perfectly. No, they never won the whole thing, but their influence is still felt to this very day.

  • http://andrewamcneill.wordpress.com andrew mcneill

    George Mason has to be considered the greatest Final Four run in history. To be as low a seed as they were and knocking off the yearly powerhouses like UCONN that they did, there hasn’t been a Final Four run like that in history. They were the epitome of a Cinderella team.

  • George

    1996 UK…an absolute dominate team just blowing out a good Utah & Wake Forest Team. Beating UMASS in the Final 4 and The Cuse in the Championship game. Delk, Walker, McCarty, Anderson, Pope, Epps, Turner, Mohammed…that team was disgusting. Their 2nd team could have made a deep run in the tourney!

  • http://www.alllooksame.com Tarzan Cooper

    07-08 Kansas Jayhawks….. this was about a whole lot more than one year, it was about all those roy williams years of “almost”. it was about paul pierce and raef, it was about kirk, drew, wayne, nick, langford, aaron miles, jeff graves, and michael lee. almost. it was about hakim warrick and melo. it was about jr giddens craziness. it was about roy “not giving a siht about north carolina”. it was about bill self being a great recruiter but a questioned coach. it was about beating everyones favorite lil kid, curry. it was about stomping roy and tyler. it was greatness, clutch plays, and poise. it was about battling everything and winning it all. 20 years after danny took down ok at kemper. it was about history and naismith. phog teaching dean and rupp. wilt. it was about going from one of the best, to the best. it was about more than just one year.

  • http://www.alllooksame.com Tarzan Cooper

    but that was last year. with chalmers, brandon, shady, and darnell in the nba, and sasha in russia. all thats left is sherron, cole, and a bunch of kids. they want theyre own tourney run and theyre poised. there is no rebuilding at kansas

  • Dave G

    I was originally going to say George Mason and be cliche, but I have to go with the ’86 LSU Tigers. They won their first game in double OT, won their second game at the buzzer, then beat SEC rival and #1 seed Kentucky by 2 in the regional final. And they beat the 3, 2 and 1 seeds in their region to get there.

  • Corey L

    I may have never witnessed Villanova’s Final Four run once upon a time nor the dominance of UNLV in 1990. I have, however, seen George Mason’s magical run past the likes of Michigan State, North Carolina, Wichita State, and UConn before falling to the eventual champions from Florida. Now, some will claim that this choice is a cop-out answer to an obvious cinderella run to the Final Four. To me, though, it represents that underdogs do exist. Everyone roots for them yet rarely do they pull through time after time. Very few picked them against the sixth-seeded Spartans. Even less people picked them to make the Sweet 16. And I bet everyone can count on one hand the amount of people they’ve ever even HEARD of having them in the Elite Eight. It was improbable and damn near impossible, but they did it. They were the underdogs who actually did it, and that was the greatest victory of all.

  • http://hoops4life.com overtime

    I did consider the Gators of 07. But I must cosign Tarzan, and go with my Kansas Jaywaks of 07-08. Was there a more deep team in all of college basketball? Was there a team who simply embarrased the opposition more? A team that dared to say no to the Freshman obession across the nation, and instead proved that it is incredible teamwork, dedication, and mindblowing attention to detail that will win you the chip. How many times did we see the Jayhawks run a play absolutely perfectly, resulting in a lop oop pass over to Sasha Kaun (who yes, had the greatest name in the nation) from over the entire offense? You knew these guys had eachothers backs; Darrell Arthur, Mario Chalmers, Sherron Collins, Darnell Jackson, Sasha Kaun, Russell Robinson and Brandon Rush to name but a few!
    They were involved in the crazy ‘last to be undefeated race’ throughout the season, and even when they finally fell, it mattered not. They had their eyes on the prize.
    The boys racked up the awards, but that didn’t matter either.
    They just wanted the big one.
    They ran through the tournament, they won the nailbiter with Davison, and they took on Memphis and Mario hit one of the biggest shots in Championship Game History.
    If you need proof of what this run meant, then check http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=614gBkR1Y8A
    for the reaction to Chalmers’ shot back at Allen Fieldhouse, the best court in the country.
    It still gives me shivers

  • drose1

    Duke’s final four run in 2001 was crazy, and what they did in the final four was even better. They beat Monmouth, then Mizzou, USC in the sweet sixteen and UCLA in the elite 8. They were down by 22 in the first half to rival Maryland but they rallied back from the deficit and won. Then they beat Arizona in the championship game. THey did all this behind the play of Shane Battier, the tourneys MOP, JAson Williams, Mike Dunleavy jr., Chris Duhon, and Carlos Boozer.

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com Eboy

    Seton Hall Pirates-1989. They came out of nowhere to get to the Final Four and senior point guard John Morton was deadly cool in getting them there and Andrew Gaze and Ramon Ramos were big in the tournament. Getting beat by a super strong Michigan team with Glen Rice, Rumeal Robinson, Loy Vaught, Sean Higgins & Terry Mills wasn’t a crime. As a Jersey kid…..it was huge…..being courted to play there the summer (to take over for senior Morton)before that season and not being able to make the commitment to the squad and Coach Carlesimo is still something that haunts me, twenty years on.

  • http://www.hibachi20.blogspot.com BETCATS

    NC State in the Julius Hodge years- We were the sh!t back then. Every year come tourney time we went to war. It made me love basketball in ways i cannot speak of for children may read it and try to emulate it/become pervs later down the line. All i am gonna say is NC State + NCAA Tournement + Julius Hodge = hadhahfdashfdha for me. Plus yall give sh!t to everyone else HOOK ME UP.

  • http://www.alllooksame.com Tarzan Cooper

    bet, i think the idea is final four runs, you know deep tourney runs? all julius hodge got was roshambo’ed by chris paul

  • http://www.hibachi20.blogspot.com BETCATS

    i dont care. I never had a final four i enjoyed. Until i see NCSU win one, College BBall is dead to me come March

  • http://www.twitter.com/SeanEMitchell Homie

    My memories of the tourney go back a while – I swear I remember watching the end of NCSt-Houston in ’83 with the couch cushion over my eyes, it was such an exciting game (I was 9).

    But the most memorable for me was in 1990 when Loyola Marymount made the Elite 8 after the sudden passing of Hank Gathers. I will never, ever forget Bo Kimble shooting free throws left handed in tribute to his fallen teammate. To me that is one of the true joys of the tournament – a group of young men coming together and creating something memorable, that people will be talking about for years afterwards (and not because they were 7-seconds-or-less ahead of their time). I had to throw out my LMU t-shirt a couple of years ago (getting married will do that to you, lol) but the memories will never fade. RIP Hank!

  • Samantha

    George Mason’s run to the final four was sweet and special. That was a special year for sure.

  • Gift2basketball

    M.J. 83 Finals…
    Hands Down!!!

  • rob stewart

    I have to go with the Fab Five’s original run to the Championship game. Nothing like that had ever been done before and nothing like that will ever happen again. Jalen, Chris, Juwan, Ray, and Jimmy changed the entire landscape of college basketball. To this day kids still rock baggy shorts and black socks. The Fab Five’s run in the tournament was just as sensational on the court as it was off.

  • http://www.gmail.com serevei

    ah not sure if it was march madness as ima aussie not american
    But the historic 1966 win by texas western over kentucky was pretty damn special and now regarded as the most important game ever

  • http://www.gmail.com serevei

    eboy andrew gaze is the tits

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com/ TADOne

    My favorite and most improbable NCAA Final Four Tourney run was the 1989 Michigan Wolverines squad, led by Glen Rice. Michigan had talent in the forms of Rice, Rumeal Robinson, Loy Vaught, Terry Mills, and Sean Higgins, but they were underachievers all year. They lost to Alaska-Anchorage (that game still haunts me) and got blown out by the Illini late in the year. To top it off, our coach Bill Frieder accepted the job at Arizona State (of all places) before the NCAA Tourney, and our AD fired him and replaced him with Steve Fisher. With the odds stacked against them, the team rallied behind coach Fisher and Glen Rice, who scored a NCAA record 184 points during the tourney run. It wan’t easy; they had to beat North Carolina and Illinois in the Sweet 16 and Final Four, respectively. They then had to take down a very game Seton Hall in the championship game in OT, won by two free throws from senior captain Rumeal Robinson.

  • R Bala

    dude … one of the greatest runs to the Final Four has to be the either the ’90 UNLV Rebels where they blew out Duke in the final or I’m TADOne and the ’89 Michigan Wolverines with Glen Rice, Rumeal Robinson and Terry Mills. They had to deal with a new coach just before the Tournament and they still one the title.

    I’m pushing for the former since that was LJ, Plastic Man, Greg Anthony and Anderson Hunt at the height of Rebels basketball. LJ was a beast and that team could have beaten anyone on the planet. Also, the whole situation with Hank Gathers and LMU should help to warrant major consideration.

  • Gary Keating

    1983 NC State – Having to win conference tournament to just get in. Then the upset of Houston to win it all. Watching Jimmy V run around the court for someone to hug was priceless.

  • Kurtis Startt

    Number 4 seeded Arizona’s trip to the championship game in ’97 was incredible. Going through THREE #1 seeds on the way to a OT win vs. #1 Kentucky in the championship game.

  • cneww

    Oregon when they got to the elite eight in 06 07. Everyone was ballin than, Aaron Brooks, Malik Hairston, Bryce Taylor, Maarty Leunen, and the freshman Tajaun Porter, he couldn’t miss! Too bad they had to play eventual champs Florida though. Go Ducks

  • David

    Syracuse’s title run in 2003 was perhaps THE BEST MOMENT IN SYRACUSE, NY HISTROY (at least in sports). Keith Smart in 87′, Kentucky in 96′, those 80s teams, where do I stop. Oh yeah, 2003. I had to suffer so long to one point; I became so skeptic about a SU title run. We were not even in the top 25 to start the season. We were destroyed by UCONN twice, we lost to Rutgers, and we even let Kansas come back. BUT THAT TEAM WAS NOT GOING TO LOSE THAT GAME AND THAT TROPHY PERIOD. We maybe would have repeated if Melo stayed. Now I did say maybe.

  • donlaker

    89 wolverines(instant rice or minute rice , 60′s /70′s bruins .walton ,lew alcinder,sidney wicks, gail goodrich , ed o bannon (lol)im a bruin fan , any john wooden final four apperance and the bruins with farmer they got there twice but florida had the moxy (NOAH) AND UNLV greg anthony /grandmama did everybody,

  • Johnson chau

    Does it matter what any other moments? The best moment should only be Jordan’s “shot”. That the beginning of the G.O.A.T.

  • DD

    It’s pretty hard to pick a favorite..there were some great moments in NCAA history. One of ‘em was the former UNC star Sean May scoring 26 points in the title game victory over Illinois in ’05.

  • http://slamonline.com Matt Caputo

    CONGRATULATIONS TO EBOY, TADONE AND ANDREW MCNEIL FOR HAVING THE FRESHEST FINAL FOUR MEMORIES EVER! THEY EACH WON (AN UNOPENED) COPY OF THE DVD IN THE PHOTO. KEEP POSTED FOR ANOTHER CONTEST!

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