It’s a bit easier to identify the best individual games in the history of the Sweet 16. Arizona-Oklahoma State in 2005 in suburban Chicago. Oklahoma-Iowa in Seattle’s Kingdome in 1987. Washington-Connecticut in 1998, enhanced by Sean McDonough’s amazing call of the final sequence.
Here’s a different discussion, though, with the Sweet 16 set to begin tonight in Memphis and Anaheim: What were the best same-site regional semifinal doubleheaders of all time, the best tickets purchased by fans ever since this tournament began to be seeded in 1979? What jumps out from the research is this:
The city of San Antonio is the greatest Sweet 16 city of the past 35 years, and the West and Midwest Regionals have generally provided the best doubleheaders. Here’s the list:
10 – SAINT LOUIS, 2010:
NORTHERN IOWA-MICHIGAN STATE and TENNESSEE-OHIO STATE
The Northern Iowa Panthers were the feel-good story of the 2010 tournament… unless you lived in Lawrence, Kan. The plucky No. 9 seed trailed Michigan State and Mister March himself, Tom Izzo, by only two points heading into the final 100 seconds, but a Korie Lucious jumper with just over 1:30 remaining gave the Spartans a four-point cushion, just enough to get to the finish line.
Then, in Bruce Pearl’s last big moment before his fall from grace at Tennessee, the Vols made the Elite Eight by outperforming Evan Turner and the rest of the highly-skilled Buckeyes. These games had their rugged stretches, but they were thoroughly riveting and involving from start to finish. You’ll get plenty of Sweet 16 doubleheader sessions in which one game is titanic, but the other game is forgettable. If we’re talking about two-game bundles here (and we are), the 2010 Midwest Regional provided plenty of bang for the buck.
9 – OAKLAND, 1990:
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT-ALABAMA and BALL STATE-UNLV
Loyola Marymount’s win over Alabama in the rare 11-versus-7 regional semifinal might not have been a piece of high art, but the Lions’ triumph was impressive because it was achieved in spite of the Crimson Tide’s disciplined approach under head coach Wimp Sanderson, the king of the ugly plaid jacket. Alabama slowed the game down and did not allow LMU to run to its heart’s content.
The ability of Paul Westhead’s team to win anyway showed just how much of a basketball team it was; this wasn’t a mere assemblage of runners and shooters. LMU knew how to compete. The emotional power of Loyola Marymount’s run to the Elite Eight after the death of Hank Gathers added to the significance of that win over Alabama, making it a memorable event.
Then came the nightcap.
UNLV destroyed Duke in the national championship game, and it outclassed LMU in the West Regional final. The team that nearly beat the Runnin’ Rebels in 1990? Little ol’ Ball State, a 12 seed that managed to keep the game in the 60s, flustering the group of elite athletes on the other side of the court. If you were a ticketholder in Oakland 24 years ago, you were treated to two of the most emotional same-night, same-site NCAA tournament games of all time.
8 – SALT LAKE CITY, 2010:
BUTLER-SYRACUSE and XAVIER-KANSAS STATE
The Butler Dream technically began in San Jose, the site of the subregional pod from which the Bulldogs advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2010, en route to consecutive appearances in the national championship game. However, the ascendancy of the small school from the Horizon League — and a fellow named Brad Stevens — truly began on a Thursday night in Salt Lake City, when the Bulldogs flummoxed and locked down a Syracuse team with high-flying athletes and knockdown shooters. Butler’s attention to detail at the defensive end of the floor became more widely known on that night, launching the Bulldogs to the Elite Eight, the Final Four, and into the history books.
Then came one of the greatest college basketball games of all time.
Tu Holloway and Jacob Pullen traded outrageously bad shots… that all went in the basket… as Kansas State outlasted Xavier in a double-overtime thriller that featured a “Bird-versus-Dominique-in-1988” duel. Yes, it was that good. Yes, it was that memorable.
7 – MADISON, 2002:
TEXAS-OREGON and ILLINOIS-KANSAS
There was no iconic moment, no profoundly resonant image which emerged from this pair of games in the Wisconsin Badgers’ home building. These were simply two extremely fluid and entertaining games that managed to be competitive all the way. Kansas was then coached by Roy Williams, and his opponent on the Illinois bench was the guy who would succeed him in Lawrence: Bill Self.
6 – SAN ANTONIO, 2003:
CONNECTICUT-TEXAS and MICHIGAN STATE-MARYLAND
Thefirst game witnessed a survival act by top-seeded Texas, en route to its only Final Four in the Rick Barnes era. The Longhorns fended off a Connecticut team that would ripen into a national champion — and in the very same city of San Antonio, no less — a year later.
In the second game, Michigan State — previewing what would happen six years later in the NCAA tournament in Spokane — defeated Maryland on a bucket in the last 10 seconds. San Antonio is 3-for-3 in terms of providing epic Sweet 16 twin bills. This city never misses; it’s really rather remarkable.
Remember the Alamo City, indeed.
5 – KNOXVILLE, 1983:
KENTUCKY-INDIANA and ARKANSAS-LOUISVILLE
One night, two games, four iconic coaches: Joe B. Hall, Bobby Knight, Eddie Sutton, and Denny Crum. This was cutthroat competition from four brand-name programs all located close to each other and playing in a centralized, geographically proximate location. The Arkansas-Louisville game was especially memorable, given that Louisville won it on a tip-in just before the final horn.
4 – DALLAS, 1985:
LOUISIANA TECH-OKLAHOMA and BOSTON COLLEGE-MEMPHIS STATE
Wayman Tisdale. Andre Turner. Keith Lee. Gary Williams, coaching Boston College. Billy Tubbs, coaching Oklahoma. There was plenty of star power to be found in Reunion Arena on an electric Thursday night.
The fact that both games were decided by two points didn’t exactly detract from the show. OU and Tech played in the 80s, while B.C. and Memphis (then called Memphis State) played in the high 50s. Ticketholders got to see two different styles of play but two dramatic conclusions, especially in the case of Eagles-Tigers.
3 – DENVER, 1996:
GEORGIA-SYRACUSE and ARIZONA-KANSAS
This pair of games was incredibly good… and yet it only merits third place on the list. That tells you something.
In the first game, the Georgia-Syracuse overtime period produced one of the greatest conclusions to any NCAA tournament game, period. Any basketball fan over 30 years of age likely remembers John Wallace’s onion-rich game winner. Yet, what gets forgotten about this doubleheader is that the late game between Arizona and Kansas was simply riveting, played above the rim and with a demanding, swift pace at high altitude.
2 – SAN ANTONIO, 2007:
TEXAS A&M-MEMPHIS and TENNESSEE-OHIO STATE
Two sprawling, brawling donnybrooks. Two games decided by one point apiece.
San Antonio added to its reputation as the best Sweet 16 city in history, which makes you realize how great the top entry on this list (below) actually is.
The opener in 2007 was decided by two free throws from Memphis’s Antonio Anderson with three seconds left. The second game also went down to the last second, as Greg Oden delivered one of the most athletically impressive and situationally significant blocked shots in NCAA tournament history.
1 – SAN ANTONIO, 1997:
CLEMSON-MINNESOTA and IOWA STATE-UCLA
There’s not much that needs to be said here. Game one between the Tigers and Golden Gophers went to double overtime. Game two between the Cyclones and Bruins went to overtime and featured multiple lead changes at the end, punctuated by an amazing game-winning shot with 1.9 seconds left by current Seattle University head coach and former University of Washington assistant Cameron Dollar. There simply isn’t a better same-site Sweet 16 doubleheader than this one. You will not find it, because it doesn’t exist… not yet.
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We’ll see what tonight and tomorrow bring in Memphis, Anaheim, Madison Square Garden, and Indianapolis.
