About This Quiz
There is truly nothing else like the NCAA Tournament in all professional sports. First, the obvious difference — many other championships, especially at the professional level, take place in a best-of-7 series. While these formats allow the team that is better ultimately to come up victorious more often than not, they are also fairly predictable, especially in the early stages.
Not so with March Madness. Just ask last year's UVA team that was stunned in the first round by an underdog 16-seed. Or this past season's Duke Blue Devils, who were gifted with one of the best prospects in a generation, only to lose to a team that seemed to have more questions than star players.
The rivalries, the history, the buzzer-beaters ... they happen throughout the NCAA season, but there seems to be an extra mystique surrounding them when they take place under the bright lights of March Madness. You might remember some of the biggest games involving your favorite team, but how is your knowledge of the tournament on a broad scale? To find out, see how many questions you can get right on this quiz, which revisits some of the best memories in NCAA Championship history. Best of luck — they don't call it "madness" for nothing!
The shot was just one highlight of a memorable postseason run for the Huskies, who went on to win a National Championship that same year. They would go on to win another title in 2014 but haven't made it past the second round since.
Although it made for a nice story, UMBC's run didn't have much longevity — they were dispatched in the next round by Kansas. As for UVA, they would go on to recover from the heartbreaking loss in the best possible way — coming back the next year and winning the National Championship.
The small school was known for two things: teamwork and defense on the court, and the support of its lovable cheerleader Sister Jean. The now 99-year-old Jean enjoyed a viral moment during the 2018 tournament, even inspiring her own bobblehead.
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The 2011 Rams would go on to fall to Butler in the Final Four, but the team had already made their mark in history. VCU's squad became just the third 11-seed in NCAA history to make the Final Four, and coach Shaka Smart went on to coach at Texas.
Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Danny Green, Ed Davis, and Tyler Zeller all spent some time in the NBA. Hansbrough and Lawson both now play in the Chinese Basketball Association, while the other four have had varying levels of success in the league.
This March Madness game would actually be Shaq's last in college, as his team was eliminated and he declared for the 1992 NBA Draft. In his only other game in the first round, Shaq dropped another triple-double, with 26 points, 11 blocks and 13 rebounds.
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The Huskies were especially dominant that year, coming into the tournament as a #1 overall seed led by future NBA All-Rookie Rudy Gay. George Mason hasn't been anywhere close to the Final Four since, last appearing in the tournament in 2011.
Nicknamed "Tark the Shark," Tarkanian headed up a stacked team that included future NBA mainstays Larry Johnson and Greg Anthony. He's remembered for stirring up controversy by recruiting flashy, urban players who were willing to work hard in his system.
Though his pro career hasn't started yet, Zion is considered one of the most promising prospects of his generation. He made headlines in February 2019 for splitting open his shoe, leading to a knee injury that sidelined him until the NCAA postseason.
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Not only did Northwestern make the tournament, they actually won their first game over the Vanderbilt Commodores. The North Dakota Fighting Hawks and Jacksonville State Gamecocks also appeared in the tournament for the first time in 2017.
Webber claims he thought the team had a timeout, but then-teammate Jalen Rose told the media that they had just discussed how they used their last one in the huddle. Despite going on to a successful NBA career and subsequent announcer role, Webber has never publicly spoken about the timeout incident.
Although Carolina fans were thrilled, at the time of the game, many people criticized it for the slow place and spotty officiating. Even UNC coach Roy Williams said after that "neither team played very well."
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The game was tight, but forward Kenny Goins made the difference, hitting a go-ahead three-pointer with 34 seconds left. It was the first time the Spartans made the Final Four since 2015.
Edwards would go on to continue his hot shooting streak, dropping an insane 28 three-pointers in the entire Purdue tournament run. He also broke Steph Curry's record for most points through the first four games of the tournament with 139.
The UConn Huskies would go on to lose to a dominant UNC team in the regional final round. However, Rip returned the following year triumphantly, leading UConn to their first-ever National Championship in 1999.
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Laettner didn't miss a single shot the entire game, going a perfect 10-10 from the field and 10-10 from the free-throw line. Duke would go on to take down Michigan on the way to the school's second consecutive title.
Magic dropped 24 while Larry Legend scored 19, but Michigan State ultimately took home the title with a 75-64 win. Bird got his revenge a few years later in 1984 when his Boston Celtics topped Magic's Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Championship.
Jordan is now widely considered the GOAT, but back in '82, his teammate James Worthy was a bigger name. His 28 points propelled UNC in the title game, and he ended up taking home the Most Outstanding Player Award.
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Draymond actually put up two triple doubles in consecutive years of the tournament. His first came in 2011 in the second round against the UCLA Bruins, while his second was in 2012 against LIU Brooklyn.
In a hard-fought title game, Ewing and his Hoyas outlasted fellow college star Hakeem Olajuwon. Both men would end up as star centers in the NBA and both would eventually get enshrined in the Hall of Fame in the same year, 2008.
While BYU never won the entire thing, they enjoyed some of their greatest seasons while the sharpshooting Fredette was on campus. It's safe to say the school won't see another player like him anytime soon. Jimmer left college with the school records for most points, three-pointers, field goals, and free throws in both a single season and all-time.
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Of his 34 points, Ferry scored just 14 in the second half, while the Pirates shot 71% from the field on the way to clinching the game. Ferry went on to serve as General Manager of both the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks in the NBA.
Mullin put up a dominant performance, scoring a game-high 30 points along with 10 rebounds and seven assists. He went on to play for the United States Olympic basketball team as part of the famous "dream team" of 1992.
The play ended up becoming a historical moment of March Madness, as did Charles' team — the 1983 NC State Wolfpack was the first team to win a title after losing ten games in a season. Sadly, Charles passed away in 2011 in a bus accident in North Carolina.
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Abdul-Jabbar dominated college basketball so thoroughly that there was a time period between 1967 and 1976 when the slam dunk was banned, mostly due to his dominance at the move. The rule preventing players from dunking was appropriately nicknamed, "The Lew Alcindor Rule."
The shot would go down in Kansas history as "Mario's Miracle," and is still considered a highlight of college basketball history. Though he's no longer in the league, Chalmers added a third type of championship to his resume, winning the 2019 Basketball Champions League title with Italian club Virtus Bologna.
The Wildcats went on to win their next game as well, sending Kansas State to the Elite Eight. Unfortunately, they ran up against a UNC team headlined by future NBA stars Sam Perkins and James Worthy, losing by double digits.
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With one shot, Jenkins helped Villanova capture their first title in over 30 years. The Wildcats would go on to repeat as champions just two years later in 2018, defeating Michigan in that year's final.
McCollum's squad lost in the next round to Xavier, but the 2012 upset is one of the signature moments in the school's basketball history. In fact, CJ McCollum is still the only player from the school ever to get drafted into the NBA.
Perhaps inspired by their come-from-behind win, the Bruins went on to beat a few impressive teams on their run to the championship, including a UConn Huskies team with Ray Allen. But nothing will ever come close to their run under John Wooden, winning 10 NCAA titles in 12 years.
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The Princeton Offense, as it came to be known, involved lots of cutting, passing and teamwork. NBA teams that have famously run the Princeton Offense include the Los Angeles Lakers and the Washington Wizards.
Jimmer's team played Florida's Gators next in the 2011 Sweet 16, a rematch against the team whose tournament they had ended last year. Though the game went to OT and Jimmer put up 32 points in what would be his final game as a Bulldog, Florida ultimately got revenge and won the game.
The Morris twins both played three seasons at Kansas, entering the NBA Draft in 2011. They ended up getting picked back-to-back as the 13th and 14th picks in that year's draft.
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These two teams were some of the greatest in both teams' respective histories, with Maryland playing Juan Dixon and future NBA star Steve Blake and Duke starting school legends Grant Hill and Mike Dunleavy, Jr.
Had Hayward's shot went in, it would have been ranked right up there with shots by Kris Jenkins and other exciting buzzer beaters on this list. Fortunately, karma repaid Butler the next year in 2011, when Matt Howard's last-second tip-in helped the Bulldogs beat Old Dominion in the second round.
Carmelo obliterated the competition in the 2003 tournament, winning the Most Outstanding Player. This performance against Texas set the record for most points ever scored by a freshman in a Final Four game.
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Duke's Grant Hill, who played against Kidd in this game, would also go on to become a star player in the NBA. Kidd went on to coach the Brooklyn (then New Jersey) Nets and Milwaukee Bucks, while Hill is now part-owner of the Atlanta Hawks.
As unique as the shot seemed, Forrest actually hit a similar buzzer beater the next season. Though it was only a regular season game, Forrest hit a three at the buzzer in December of 1992 to beat the Louisville Cardinals in the first game ever played at the Georgia Dome.
Carr not only has the highest-scoring game in tournament history, but he is also responsible for three of the five highest-scoring games. These days, he's best known for his catchphrases on TV, including "From deep in the Q!" for long three-pointers.
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Greens's triple-double in the 2012 NCAA tournament was only the eighth ever in March Madness. In college basketball history, Green is the only player besides Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson to ever record two triple-doubles in an NCAA tournament game.