Come March, people start talking about the great games and moments of the past. They reminisce about Christian Laettner's shot against Kentucky. They talk about Bryce Drew's incredible buzzer beater. And this year's tourney has produced no shortage of future ESPN Classic reruns and specials and insides and "10 Years Later" retrospectives (it's true - no one can milk a story like ESPN). When this tournament is over, people will talk about the great moments of 2005 as this tournament is chock full of instant classics.
10. UNC 67, Villanova 66: What looked like a potential blowout with powerful UNC matched up against an undermanned Villanova team turned into a nailbiter as Randy Foye and Kyle Lowry led a ferocious effort that just wasn't quite enough.
9. Texas Tech 71, Gonzaga 69: The Zags found themselves on the flipside of the upset this time around, as Bobby Knight's boys came back from an 11 point halftime deficit to move on to the Sweet 16.
8. NC State 65, UConn 62: The tournament is all about making heroes, and who can forget Julius Hodge carrying his team on his back and winning the game with a three-point play.
7. Arizona 79, Oklahoma State 78: Silky smooth shooter Salim Stoudamire launched the Wildcats to the elite eight by hitting a huge shot with 13 seconds left.
6. Vermont 60, Syracuse 57: In Coach Tom Brennan's final game coaching the Catamounts, Vermont instantly became one of the biggest bracket-busters in history, knocking off Cuse behind the strength of senior Tyler Coppenrath.
5. Michigan State 94, Kentucky 88: MSU proved that its upset of Duke in the Sweet 16 was not a fluke as the Spartans brought down another Final Four regular in a double overtime thriller.
4. West Virginia 111, Wake Forest 105: In a classic example of what happens when a team peaks at the right time, West Virginia knocked off No. 2 seed Wake behind a flurry of threes that would carry the Mountaineers all the way to the Elite Eight.
3. Bucknell 64, Kansas 63: Huge upset and classic finish as Bucknell held on and then held their breaths as Wayne Simien got a chance to make a Laettner-esque shot, but instead watched his shot hit off the front of the rim. Even Bucknell's atrocious final minute of play wasn't enough to take away their stupendous upset as the No. 14 knocked off the No. 3.
2. Louisville 93, West Virginia 85: Down by 20 at one point, the Louisville Cardinals refused to quit. Taquan Dean, playing through the excruciating pain of a sprained foot, gutted it out and led the Cardinals to the Final Four, even as star player Francisco Garcia fouled out in the second half.
1. Illinois 90, Arizona 89: With the Illini down by 15 points with just four minutes left, it appeared that No. 1 Illinois would be headed home early. Nobody told that to the players however, as Deron Williams, Luther Head and Dee Brown stole, shot and defended their way to a Final Four as the Illini forced OT and withstood two last-second chances by the Wildcats.
-by Nate Grubman, Liz Hoffman, and Dave Pomerantz
