Best college basketball games of all time? | Syracusefan.com

Best college basketball games of all time?

cto

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A totally judgmental question, but my answer (based on the sheer drama of watching the games while they were actually being played) would be:

2009 six-overtime game between Syracuse and UConn
1992 NCAA regional final between Duke and Kentucky
1985 National Championshihp game, Villanova versus Georgetown.
 
A totally judgmental question, but my answer (based on the sheer drama of watching the games while they were actually being played) would be:

2009 six-overtime game between Syracuse and UConn
1992 NCAA regional final between Duke and Kentucky
1985 National Championshihp game, Villanova versus Georgetown.

It'd be difficult to top those 3. One I might consider is the NC State-Houston 1983 championship game but I'm not sure it tops those 3.
 
A totally judgmental question, but my answer (based on the sheer drama of watching the games while they were actually being played) would be:

2009 six-overtime game between Syracuse and UConn
1992 NCAA regional final between Duke and Kentucky
1985 National Championshihp game, Villanova versus Georgetown.

The six-overtime game was great don't get me wrong. but the best Syracuse game ever was the Georgia Sweet 16 one. There's an alternate universe where we lose to Georgia and Boeheim leaves Syracuse after that game. Syracuse was coming off probation, a TERRIBLE/Here we go again loss to Arkansas the season before and staring at a following season without John Wallace. The inmates were restless with Jim at that point. To me that's when he rehabilitated his image with the national media and the fans in Syracuse
 
Even though it was a loss, 1984 BET Final against Georgetown is up there to me. MSG at night hosting its 2nd tourney, Georgetown felt unbeatable, Pearl put up 27/6 and an unreal highlight clip against one of the best defensive teams ever, Ewing 27/16, conference tourneys seemed to mean more back then, both teams played great, the punch, reversed ejection, OT, JB tossing the chair post-game. The game had a bit of everything.
 
A totally judgmental question, but my answer (based on the sheer drama of watching the games while they were actually being played) would be:

2009 six-overtime game between Syracuse and UConn
1992 NCAA regional final between Duke and Kentucky
1985 National Championshihp game, Villanova versus Georgetown.
The 2016 NC Champ game (Nova 77, UNC 74) was a terrific game between two juggernaut squads. Lots of shotmaking in the last minutes, capped off by what now has to be the greatest shot in CBB history. It has to be on almost any top listing.
 
I'll go 92 regional final. That game was played on such a high level.
I agree it was the best game ever. Aside from the sheer drama of the game itself, the back story was so compelling. Kentucky coming off a two-year probation being led by four seniors ("The Unfogetables") who could have transferred without having to sit out a year ... but didn't because no other school wanted them because of perceived talent deficiencies. Weirdly, I still remember their names: Pelphry, Feldhaus, Farmer and Wood.
 
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(Because I'm prejudiced) December 11, 1982 - UVa (with Ralph Sampson) 68 v. Georgetown (with Patrick Ewing) 62.

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A great game I was at was the opening round game in the NCAA tourney in 1995. #3 seed Villanova led by Kerry Kittles vs #14 ODU. The game went into triple OT with ODU upsetting Nova. Everyone was rooting for Nova. It was a crazy game.

Another great game, or games, was in Worcester two days after losing to Vermont. I was probably the only Cuse fan there. I felt a little redemption watching Michigan State beat up Vermont and watching NC State shut up all the Yukon fans in an upset led by Julius Hodge. I became a Hodge fan after that. It was great seeing the Yukon fans crawl out of there.
 
A great game I was at was the opening round game in the NCAA tourney in 1995. #3 seed Villanova led by Kerry Kittles vs #14 ODU. The game went into triple OT with ODU upsetting Nova. Everyone was rooting for Nova. It was a crazy game.

Another great game, or games, was in Worcester two days after losing to Vermont. I was probably the only Cuse fan there. I felt a little redemption watching Michigan State beat up Vermont and watching NC State shut up all the Yukon fans in an upset led by Julius Hodge. I became a Hodge fan after that. It was great seeing the Yukon fans crawl out of there.

One of the ODU players from that game transferred to Mercer and I became friends with him when we had a couple classes together. He didn't play in that game (hence the transfer for more playing time) - but it was still a really cool memory for him to be on the team.
 
A totally judgmental question, but my answer (based on the sheer drama of watching the games while they were actually being played) would be:

2009 six-overtime game between Syracuse and UConn
1992 NCAA regional final between Duke and Kentucky
1985 National Championshihp game, Villanova versus Georgetown.
For me it’s the David versus Goliath upsets. Faroukmanesh taking down Kansas always comes to mind. The FGC run a few years ago, including the Hoyas. Of course Villanova 85, any of the wins that John Wallace pulled out for that team, and of course the 87 championship game. The Villanova deep three to beat UNCheat was also a great game.
 
Illinois-Arizona in the 2005 regional final.

Also, SU-UConn 1994, because why not? It was a fun game.
 
I agree it was the best game ever. Aside from the sheer drama of the game itself, the back story was so compelling. Kentucky coming off a two-year probation being led by four seniors ("The Unfogetables") who could have transferred without having to sit out a year ... but didn't because no other school wanted them because of perceived insufficient talent. Weirdly, I still remember their names: Pelphry, Feldhaus, Farmer and Wood.
The Shot Heard Round the World

Great, great article you might enjoy on that game, including the back story you mentioned.
 
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Answering a different question I realize but best regular season SU games (at least that I attended) were mid-80s Georgetown game when Pearl shake and baked the game winner with 5 seconds left. Also Pitt 2003 was unbelievable.
 
Illinois-Arizona in the 2005 regional final.

Also, SU-UConn 1994, because why not? It was a fun game.

I was at the Illinois-Arizona game, as much as the 'Cuse comeback over UVA(also in Chicago) was amazing, I don't think i have ever seen the tide turn as fast as that Illinois/AZ game did, it felt like the 15 pt comeback took 30 seconds. Probably felt that way to Lute Olsen too.
 
I was at the Illinois-Arizona game, as much as the 'Cuse comeback over UVA(also in Chicago) was amazing, I don't think i have ever seen the tide turn as fast as that Illinois/AZ game did, it felt like the 15 pt comeback took 30 seconds. Probably felt that way to Lute Olsen too.

One of the many cool things about that game was that Roger Ebert, in one of his next movie reviews after that weekend, launched into a gushing tangent about the Illinois comeback that had nothing to do with the movie he was reviewing. Just some random alumni/fan happiness that he had to get off his chest.

One of the uncool things about that game was that I'd just taken a 10-day vacation from basketball after our gut-punch early exit and was reminded that a girl I'd been dating had gone to high school with one of the Illinois student managers and he'd told her during the winter that, in addition to UNC, the one team they were aware of as a big title threat was Syracuse.
 
One of the many cool things about that game was that Roger Ebert, in one of his next movie reviews after that weekend, launched into a gushing tangent about the Illinois comeback that had nothing to do with the movie he was reviewing. Just some random alumni/fan happiness that he had to get off his chest.

One of the uncool things about that game was that I'd just taken a 10-day vacation from basketball after our gut-punch early exit and was reminded that a girl I'd been dating had gone to high school with one of the Illinois student managers and he'd told her during the winter that, in addition to UNC, the one team they were aware of as a big title threat was Syracuse.

ugh, so much for that one. I was wearing an SU sweatshirt at the game, and I had a couple of jackasses make snide remarks to me about our loss to Vermont. that part was fun.
 
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I watched the full Duke/Uk Regional Final from 1992 from start to finish a couple weeks ago for the first time (I was too young when it actually happened). Certainly understand why folks say that’s the greatest college basketball game of all-time.

There about 10 different moments in that game (big plays, momentum swings, etc) where I found myself saying “holy $&#%”
 
A totally judgmental question, but my answer (based on the sheer drama of watching the games while they were actually being played) would be:

2009 six-overtime game between Syracuse and UConn
1992 NCAA regional final between Duke and Kentucky
1985 National Championshihp game, Villanova versus Georgetown.


My favorite game of all time was the Bill Walton UCLA 1974 Final Four semifinal where they lost in double overtime, I think it was, to David Thompson and NC State. What a game!
 
One of those don't fit in this thread.


I know we lost, but the 87 team was a remarkable team, and we really outplayed them in that game. There were so many incredible plays, like the tipped dunk on the fast break, and Coleman with the two-handed block. Amazing game that announced us as a national program, because remember, that was the first year Post-Pearl. It showed that we weren't just a flash in the pan program.
 

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