This is why we watch

Is there any greater thrill than a good old fashioned March buzzer beater? Single-elimination, do-or-die moment, clock racing to zero — living in that infinite moment, watching the ball arc its path through the endless stretch of air, the swish of the net, the eruption of cheers, the impossible suddenly made possible — you guys get it.

As we cross our fingers that we’ll get to see plenty of these in the next few weeks, as conference tournaments wrap up and the Big Dance begins in all its former glory, we take a look back at the best Hail Mary-style game-winning buzzer beaters in the past decade of NCAA tourneys.

As the Zags head into this year’s tourney as the likely overall No. 1, they’re hoping to avenge last year’s national championship loss to Baylor, ever-so-close and yet so far to what would have been a perfect season. Their 2021 Final Four matchup against UCLA was one of the best Madness games in recent memory and had quite the memorable ending.

People forget just how close UCLA was to becoming the first ever 11-seed to make it to the national championship. After an improbable run to the Final Four, overcoming both the one- and two-seeds in their region, and sending their matchup with Gonzaga to overtime, the Bruins weren’t quite able to make it.

With under a second left in overtime, Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs tossed up a prayer that banked off the backboard and found net, sending the Zags to the national championship.

That 2018 Loyola team gave the country so much — in a divisive time, we were all united in cheering for the small team from Chicago. Sister Jean became a household name. The Ramblers were playing their hearts out and it was fun. But that legendary Cinderella run almost didn’t happen.

Down one point with three seconds to go in regulation in the first round matchup against Miami, Donte Ingram released a perfect three from the top of the arc that landed just as the clock hit zero, sending Loyola onto their eventual path to the Final Four.

God doesn’t let Notre Dame lose on Easter Sunday. Only days after Arike Ogunbowale made a game-winner from the corner with one second left against UConn in the Final Four, she made a near-identical three to cement the Irish as national champions against Mississippi State.

It was a leaping, off-balance shot that dropped in the net just as the game clock hit zero, although the refs later (and might I add, annoyingly) added 0.1 seconds to the clock, so it wasn’t a perfect buzzer beater. To make that shot once is insane, but twice? Ice in her veins.

Some years, “madness” is all you can really say. There’s no other words that do it justice.

In a second round matchup between Michigan and Houston, the Wolverines somehow got off two passes in under four seconds to hit a nothing-but-net three as the buzzer rang. The Houston bench sat in silent shock as Michigan ran joyful laps around the court as the game ended 64-63.

Michigan would go on to make the national championship that same year, losing to Villanova in the finals.

Wisconsin was able to force overtime and even go up by five in the final minute of the extra period, and make two clutch free throws in the final five seconds.

There was absolutely no way that shot should have gone in. Florida’s Chris Chiozza took a flying leap from behind the three-point line, releasing the ball in the air above the free-throw line in a shot that looked doomed from the start. But against all odds (isn’t it always?), Chiozza’s shot was on the money, and the Gators moved on to the Elite Eight.

I don’t think anyone, including Paul Jesperson, the guy taking the shot, actually thought this would go in. It’s that shot you kind of toss up as the game goes out, a second on the clock with no time to make it down court. It was casual, almost.

But go in it did, and 11-seeded Northern Iowa moved onto the second round in a jaw-dropping, wait-rewind-the-TV-how-did-that-actually-go-in bank shot from behind the half-court line.

That Villanova-UNC 2016 national championship game was something else entirely. One of, if not the, best college basketball games of all time almost went to overtime with Marcus Paige’s incredible double-pump three, released off-balance and on the way down, leaving under five seconds left in the game.

Warning: this video will give you chills. It might even make you tear up a bit (speaking from experience). The crowd is electric, Jim Nantz’s call is legendary, and Kris Jenkins’ final shot couldn’t have been more perfect. These aren’t in any particular order, but this has got to be the best buzzer beater shot in March Madness history.