The NCAA tournament is known as March Madness for a reason. Teams are seeded, brackets are filled out, and then for the next three weeks, anything and everything can — and often does — happen.
After an unpredictable regular season loaded with upsets, the tournament followed suit. Opening weekend exceeded even the loftiest of expectations, and the later rounds didn’t disappoint, either.
Here's a countdown of the best things from the 2016 edition of the big dance:
12. Nation, meet Yale's Makai Mason
Mason became a household name after the sophomore set the net on fire during No. 12 Yale’s 79-75 upset of No. 5 Baylor on the first day of the tournament. Mason couldn’t miss, scoring 31 points and leading Yale to its first tournament victory in the school’s history.
11. Cincinnati’s game-winner that wasn’t
The only thing better than a buzzer-beating shot is a thunderous dunk as time expires. When No. 8 Saint Joseph’s squared off against No. 9 Cincinnati, we almost had just that.
The Bearcats’ Octavius Ellis appeared to tie the game with a two-handed slam as time expired, but after a lengthy review, officials determined Ellis’ hand was still on the ball as the clock struck zero. Saint Joseph’s defeated Cincinnati, 78-76.
10. Arkansas Little Rock upsets Purdue thanks to a ‘great’ shot
Little Rock’s Josh Hagins connected on a heat-check three, stepping back and fading away from NBA range with six seconds left in regulation to force overtime in a wild game against Purdue. Thanks to Hagins’ 31 points (10 after regulation), the No. 12 Trojans upset the No. 5 Boilermakers in double-overtime.
9. Northern Iowa upsets Texas with half court buzzer-beater
Paul Jesperson one-upped Ali Farokhmanesh in the opening round, drilling a game-winner from half court as time expired to beat the Texas Longhorns, driving a dagger deep to the heart of Texas. It took just 2.7 seconds for one of opening weekend’s most memorable moments to be etched into tournament lore.
8. The powerhouse game that everyone wanted
When brackets were released on Selection Sunday, the second round of the East region was lauded for having the potential match-up of opening weekend: No. 4 Kentucky vs. No. 5 Indiana. Fans got what they wished for and more, unless you’re a patron of Big Blue Nation.
The college basketball powerhouses went shot-for-shot for 40 minutes, and the matchup between Indiana’s Yogi Ferrell and Kentucky’s Tyler Ulis kept fans on the edge of their seats. Though Ferrell’s No. 5 Hoosiers bested Ulis’ No. 4 Wildcats 73-67 to reach the Sweet 16, Ulis was able to provide us with this amazing shot.
7. Koenig beats Xavier on dagger from the corner
We’ll just let the video do the talking here.
6. Buddy Hield did Buddy Hield-things
The Oklahoma guard dominated in back-to-back games in the tournament, scoring 36 points against VCU, then following up that performance with 37 against Oregon on 13-of-20 shooting.
5. Rex who?!
It seemed as if No. 14-seed Stephen F. Austin would be this year’s Cinderella during their second round game against Notre Dame, but the Fighting Irish’s Rex Pflueger had other ideas. The freshman hadn’t scored all game, but he was there when it counted, tipping in an errant Zach Auguste attempt with 1.5 seconds left, ultimately giving Notre Dame a 76-75 win.
4. Syracuse’s improbable run from the bubble to the Final Four
Syracuse didn’t have the strongest resume to make the tournament, losing their final three games (five of the final six) leading many to think they should have been left out. That being said, the Orange made history as just the fourth double-digit seed to make the Final Four, thanks to an impressive five minute stretch in the Elite 8, forcing key turnovers and going on a 20-4 run in the final 8 minutes to upset No. 1-seed Virginia.
3. Texas A&M’s historic last-minute comeback
Forcing four turnovers and ending the game on a 14-2 run in the final 33 seconds of regulation? No problem. Once again, we’ll just let the video do the talking here.
According to David Worlock of the NCAA, A&M's comeback from 12 down in the second round was the largest deficit overcome in the final minute of a game in college basketball history.
2. No. 15 seed Middle Tennessee State upsets national title contender Michigan State
We saw Cinderella dance and Goliath fall in one game as the No. 15 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders shocked the world, literally, when they upset No. 2 Michigan State, 90-81, in the first round. Just 22.3 % of people picked Michigan State to win the title, and in a matter of 40 minutes, brackets were busted.
1. Kris Jenkins' buzzer-beater for the championship
Marcus Paige was clutch down the stretch, hitting two major threes in the last two minutes, including an off-balance, double-clutched three with 4.7 seconds left. The entire stadium knew the ball would be in Villanova guard Ryan Arcidiacono’s hands, and it was, until he hit his teammate Kris Jenkins with a perfect pass, setting up the game-winning three to cap off one of the wildest NCAA tournaments in history.
The Wildcats danced under the confetti to One Shining Moment and were crowned as kings of the college basketball world for the first time in 31 years.
