The 2025 men's Final Four was one of the best we've seen in quite some time. The team trailing at halftime in all three games won, and we got a pair of absolute classics in Houston's comeback win over Duke and Florida's comeback win over Houston.
Monday's Gators-Cougars title game was impossibly gripping and physical, just as a game between these two experienced teams was meant to be. They boasted two of the best defenses in the country and made life as difficult as possible for each other all the way to the end. Granted, it was a bit of a ref show in the middle, as college basketball games tend to be -- after just four fouls in the first half, we got 13 in the first seven minutes of the second -- but it was edge-of-your-seat stuff all the way.
It probably wasn't, however, one of the 50 best Final Four games of all time. The bar is ridiculously high in that regard, and Monday's title game didn't really give us an ending -- Houston didn't get a shot off in its final three possessions, and Florida managed to win despite scoring just three points in the final two minutes. It was a thriller all the same, and Houston-Duke assured 2025 of marquee placement on the list below.
Based on dramatic endings and upsets, here are my 50 best Final Four games of all time, stretching back to a time before the final weekend had a name at all. From Utah-Dartmouth '44 to Houston's comeback over Duke, we've been watching late-tournament thrillers for eight decades. Let's recognize the best of the best.
50. UCLA 81, Florida State 76 (1972 finals)
UCLA won 10 championships in 12 seasons, and the Bruins' first six title-game wins came by an average of 15 points. But after a 68-62 win over Villanova in 1971's finale, they got their stiffest test yet from an upstart FSU team. Ron King's 27 points and an early surge drove the Seminoles' upset bid, but UCLA still had Bill Walton (24 points, 20 rebounds) and Jamaal Wilkes (23 and 10). John Wooden's Bruins eventually prevailed as always.
49. Kansas 64, Ohio State 62 (2012 semifinals)
Down 13 late in the first half, Kansas rallied behind a combined 32 points and 18 rebounds from Thomas Robinson and Elijah Johnson, took the lead with under three minutes left, and got two big free throws from Tyshawn Taylor with 8.3 seconds remaining to hold off the Buckeyes.
48. Indiana 97, UNLV 93 (1987 semifinals)
"That might be the most a Bobby Knight team has run since he has been the coach," UNLV star Armon Gilliam said after the Hoosiers' four-point win. Fearing UNLV's relentless defensive pressure, Knight advised his team to attack quickly, and they led by as many as 14 in the first half. UNLV charged back to take a second-half lead, but Steve Alford's 33 points paced an Indiana win.
47. UConn 56, Kentucky 55 (2011 semifinals)
In a game more intense than pretty, John Calipari's Wildcats couldn't overcome poor shooting or the simple fact that UConn had Kemba Walker (18 points, seven assists) and they didn't. Despite Walker's heroics, both Brandon Knight and DeAndre Liggins got looks at late 3-pointers. Neither fell.
46. Louisville 59, UCLA 54 (1980 finals)
UCLA was seeking its first title of the post-Wooden era, while Louisville, under former Wooden protege Denny Crum, was seeking its first title. Trailing 54-50 late, the Cardinals finished the game on a 9-0 run, getting two buckets from Jerry Eaves and some late free throws to seal the deal.
45. Duke 81, Indiana 78 (1992 semifinals)
A battle between Mike Krzyzewski and Bobby Knight turned more into a battle between Knight and referee Teddy Valentine. Down 12, Duke used a run of fouls (and a technical foul on Knight) to go on a 31-6 run and seize control in the second half. A quick run of 3s from IU's Todd Leary brought the Hoosiers back to within three, but Jamal Meeks missed a potential game-tying 3 with 23 seconds left, and Duke held on.
44. Butler 52, Michigan State 50 (2010 semifinals)
Against one of the 21st century's most storied programs, it was easy to assume that eventually Brad Stevens' Butler Bulldogs would crater. They refused. Two Draymond Green free throws brought MSU within 50-49 with 56 seconds left, but with a late stop and two Ronald Nored free throws, Cinderella advanced to the title game.
43. Louisville 72, Duke 69 (1986 finals)
Pervis Ellison was the No. 1 pick in the 1989 NBA draft and averaged 20 points per game for the Washington Bullets in 1991-92, but he'll forever be remembered as Never Nervous Pervis, the freshman who scored 25 points with 11 rebounds and helped Louisville overcome a Duke team with five future NBA players. Duke led by six with about seven minutes left, but Ellison & Co. charged ahead from there.
42. North Carolina 60, Ohio State 57 (OT) (1946 semifinals)
Ohio State led by seven in the second half in Madison Square Garden, but UNC forced overtime with a long Bob Paxton jumper. John "Hook" Dillon and Don Anderson made the key buckets in OT and advanced the Heels to their first-ever title game.
41. Arizona 84, Kentucky 79 (OT) (1997 finals)
With Rick Pitino, Ron Mercer and a 35-4 record, Kentucky was a 6.5-point favorite in this one, but Arizona got 30 points from Miles Simon and 19 more from Mike Bibby, and despite a game-tying 3-pointer from Anthony Epps late in regulation, Arizona pulled away in OT to win its only title.
40. Indiana 69, Kansas 68 (1953 finals)
To win Branch McCracken's second title in Bloomington, Indiana had to survive a heart-stopper in Kansas' backyard. Despite 30 points from IU's Don Schlundt, the Jayhawks overcame a late three-point deficit in Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium, only to fall when Bobby Leonard hit one of two late free throws.
39. Wisconsin 71, Kentucky 64 (2015 semifinals)
For about 53 weeks in the mid-2010s, Wisconsin-Kentucky was the college basketball game. After coming up just short against the Wildcats in the Final Four a year earlier (we'll get to that one), Wisconsin got its revenge in Indianapolis. Against a 38-0 Kentucky team that had Karl-Anthony Towns and Devin Booker, Frank Kaminsky and the Badgers fell behind by four with 6:37 left but outscored UK 15-4 from there.
38. Utah 42, Dartmouth 40 (OT) (1944 finals)
The sixth NCAA tournament gave us a classic in front of 17,990 at Madison Square Garden. A favored Dartmouth got a buzzer-beater from Dick McGuire to force overtime, but Herb Wilkinson knocked in a 20-footer with three seconds left in overtime, and the Utes snagged a surprise title.
37. Michigan 81, Kentucky 78 (OT) (1993 semifinals)
The Fab Five vs. Jamal Mashburn & Co.: It doesn't get much more star-studded than that. Rick Pitino's Wildcats had won their first four tourney games by an average of 31 points, but Chris Webber (27 points and 13 rebounds) matched Mashburn (26 and six), who fouled out with UK up four in OT. Michigan advanced with a 9-2 run to end the game.
36. California 71, West Virginia 70 (1959 finals)
To win their lone national title, Hall of Fame coach Pete Newell and his Golden Bears had to take down Oscar Robertson and Cincinnati in the semifinals, then Jerry West and WVU in the title game. West scored 28 points as the Mountaineers nearly overcame a late five-point deficit, but Darrall Imhoff's tip-in gave Cal the winning points.
35. North Carolina 75, Illinois 70 (2005 finals)
Illinois entered the title game 37-1, having overcome Arizona in an Elite Eight classic. The Illini tied this one after trailing by 13 at halftime and had multiple chances to tie or take a late lead. But the Tar Heels, led by Sean May (26 points, 10 rebounds), scored the final five points to secure Roy Williams' first title.
34. Cincinnati 70, Ohio State 65 (OT) (1961 finals)
Ohio State had Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek and a 32-game winning streak (and a bench player named Bob Knight), but the Buckeyes' bid for a second straight national title came up short thanks to a balanced Cincy attack with four players scoring between 13 and 17. Havlicek missed a jumper at the end of regulation, and the Bearcats were almost perfect in OT.
33. Arkansas 76, Duke 72 (1994 finals)
Nolan Richardson and his Hogs became national champions thanks to 38 combined points and 18 rebounds from Corliss Williamson and Corey Beck ... and one big 3-ball from Scotty Thurman.
32. Houston 49, Virginia 47 (OT) (1984 semifinals)
Houston reached its second straight national title game in 1984, but it wasn't easy. Against surprising Virginia, the 7-seed out of the East, the heavily favored Cougars found themselves tied after regulation and led by only two late in overtime. But freshman Rickie Winslow dunked home an Hakeem Olajuwon miss, and the Coogs advanced.
31. Indiana State 76, DePaul 74 (1979 semifinals)
Before we could get the famous Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson battle in the title game, Bird's unbeaten Sycamores had to survive Mark Aguirre and DePaul. Bird shot 16-for-19 from the field (!) and scored 35 (!), but Aguirre still got a look at a long-distance fadeaway for the lead in the closing seconds. He missed.
30. North Carolina 81, Duke 77 (2022 semifinals)
Fate demanded that Mike Krzyzewski's final game come against North Carolina, even if it meant one of the stranger brackets you'll ever see: UNC made the Final Four as an 8-seed, beating 15-seed Saint Peter's in the Elite Eight. And after an anxious, constantly tight 39.5 minutes, Caleb Love's 3-pointer with 25 seconds left gave the Tar Heels a four-point lead they wouldn't relinquish.
29. Kentucky 86, Stanford 85 (OT) (1998 semifinals)
In Tubby Smith's first season as Rick Pitino's successor, Kentucky had to go into extra time to take down Arthur Lee (26 points, five assists) and the Cardinal. Stanford erased a late four-point deficit in regulation, then cut UK's lead to one in the closing seconds. Jarron Collins forced a jump ball with six seconds left, but the possession arrow pointed to Kentucky, and the Wildcats barely held on.
28. Michigan 83, Illinois 81 (1989 semifinals)
The Wolverines had avenged a pair of regular-season losses to conference-mate Illinois in a Final Four thriller. This game featured 33 lead changes and wasn't decided until Sean Higgins floated in a putback with one second left.
27. Virginia 85, Texas Tech 77 (OT) (2019 finals)
Virginia had already beaten Purdue in one of the Elite Eight's greatest games, then headed to Minneapolis to give us two more classics. Trailing by eight in the title game, Jarrett Culver and Texas Tech went on a 17-6 run to take a late lead before De'Andre Hunter's 3-pointer forced OT. Tech took an early lead in OT, but an 11-0 UVA run, featuring another Hunter 3, finally put the game to bed.
26. CCNY 71, Bradley 68 (1950 finals)
After beating Bradley to win the NIT a couple of weeks earlier, CCNY pulled the rarest of feats by beating the same team to win the NCAA tournament too. Nat Holman's Beavers led by six late, but Bradley scored five points in 20 seconds (without the 3-point line) and got the ball with a chance to take the lead in the closing seconds. A stop and an assist by Irwin Dambrot, however, sealed the double title. (We won't talk about what happened after this amazing accomplishment.)
25. Kansas 83, Oklahoma 79 (1988 finals)
Danny and the Miracles! Kansas was swept by Billy Tubbs' fun-and-gun Sooners in the regular season and trailed after a blistering first half in the title game, but the Jayhawks slowed the tempo down and let Danny Manning take over. The senior had 31 points and 18 rebounds, and his four free throws in the final 15 seconds sealed KU's first title in 36 years.
24. UConn 77, Duke 74 (1999 finals)
UConn's first ever Final Four appearance produced UConn's first-ever title. Against a Duke team featuring five future first-round picks, the Huskies got 27 points from Richard Hamilton and played customarily brilliant defense. Trajan Langdon scored 25 for Duke but committed a travel with five seconds left and couldn't get a shot off at the buzzer.
23. UConn 79, Duke 78 (2004 semifinals)
The Huskies had to go through Duke again to win Title No. 2. The Blue Devils led by eight with under three minutes remaining, but with three different Duke centers fouling out, UConn made its move. Emeka Okafor made a putback to give the Huskies the lead with 26 seconds left, then made a stop at the other end. Free throws from Rashad Anderson and Okafor sealed the deal.
22. North Carolina 74, Michigan State 70 (3OT) (1957 semifinals)
To become the second ever unbeaten NCAA champions, Frank McGuire's Tar Heels had to work overtime. Overtimes, actually. In an epic semifinal against Michigan State, three UNC starters fouled out, but Lennie Rosenbluth scored 31 points, and a late 6-0 run in the third OT finally sealed the deal. "Boy, I never want to ever play another game like that one," McGuire said afterward. About that ...
21. North Carolina 54, Kansas 53 (3OT) (1957 finals)
In the finals, UNC had to face Wilt Chamberlain and a Kansas team that had won its past two games by 44 points -- and in Kansas City, no less. And they had to do it without Rosenbluth, who fouled out in regulation. But Pete Brennan and Joe Quigg combined for 21 points and 20 rebounds, and Quigg nailed two late free throws to seal UNC's first national title.
20. UCLA 75, Louisville 74 (OT) (1975 semifinals)
UCLA won John Wooden's 10th and final title, but things nearly fell apart one game early. Louisville led the Bruins by four with under a minute remaining in San Diego but committed a couple of late turnovers and missed a shot at the buzzer. In OT, with the Cardinals up by one, Terry Howard missed the front end of a 1-and-1 (he had been 28-for-28 for the season until that one), setting up UCLA's Richard Washington for the game-winning jumper with three seconds left. Wooden announced his retirement after the game.
19. Loyola Chicago 60, Cincinnati 58 (OT) (1963 finals)
Cincinnati came achingly close to a third straight national title, racking up a 45-30 lead with 14 minutes left. But thanks in part to 14 late points from All-American Jerry Harkness, Loyola charged back to force overtime, and Vic Rouse's putback at the OT buzzer gave the Ramblers a shocking title-game win.
18. Oklahoma 55, Texas 54 (1947 semifinals)
It might be more of a football rivalry, but OU-Texas produced one of the greatest games of the 1940s. In front of a record crowd of 9,500 in Kansas City, Oklahoma went on a 19-5 run to turn a seven-point deficit into a seven-point lead. Texas surged back and took the lead with under a minute left, but Gerald Tucker found Ken Pryor for a game-winning jumper in the closing seconds.
17. San Diego State 72, Florida Atlantic 71 (2023 semifinals)
The NCAA tournament went deliriously off-script in 2023, and both SDSU and FAU were presented with unexpected title opportunities. In one of the more urgent games you'll see, SDSU led by nine early, FAU led by 13 early in the second half, and neither team led by more than three over the final five-minute sprint. In a "whoever has the ball last wins" type of game, SDSU had the ball last:
16. Kentucky 74, Wisconsin 73 (2014 semifinals)
A regular-season underachiever, Kentucky won heart-stoppers over Wichita State, Louisville and Michigan to reach the Final Four as an 8-seed, then one-upped itself in Arlington:
15. Houston 70, Duke 67 (2025 semifinals)
Duke won its first four NCAA tournament games by an average of 24 points and seemed to have too much for Houston in the Final Four as well, easing out to a 14-point lead with 8:17 remaining. But Cooper Flagg and the Blue Devils wouldn't make another field goal. In the most Kelvin Sampson game ever, Sampson's Coogs stiffened defensively, got a 3-pointer from Emanuel Sharp with 33 seconds left, made all their free throws and toughed out a stunning comeback win.
14. NC State 80, UCLA 77 (2OT) (1974 semifinals)
UCLA lost only one tournament game between 1964-75, and it took double-overtime and a combined 48 points and 24 rebounds from David Thompson and Tom Burleson for NC State to pull it off. Bill Walton scored 29 points for the Bruins, who scored the first seven points in the second OT, but it was 13-3 Wolfpack from there. Thompson gave them a lead they wouldn't relinquish with 53 seconds left.
13. Duke 61, Butler 59 (2010 finals)
Cinderella almost got the bounce.
12. Marquette 51, Charlotte 49 (1977 semifinals)
In the first semifinal, Dean Smith's North Carolina went on a 14-0 second-half run and played perfect four-corners offense to kill the clock and knock off UNLV 84-83. But Marquette-UNCC topped that one with late heroics. Charlotte's Cornbread Maxwell nailed a runner with four seconds left to tie the game despite an early deficit, but Butch Lee threw a length-of-the-court pass to Jerome Whitehead, who threw in a layup over Maxwell at the buzzer. Marquette would win its only national title two days later.
11. Kansas 75, Memphis 68 (OT) (2008 finals)
After a nip-and-tuck first 38 minutes, it looked as if Derrick Rose and Memphis were primed for their first national title when they took a 60-51 lead with 2:12 remaining. But Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts missed four late free throws, and Mario Chalmers' stunning 3-pointer with nine seconds left forced overtime. The Jayhawks immediately took the lead in overtime and never let it go. Chalmers and Sherron Collins made their late free throws, and Kansas won its first title since Danny and the Miracles.
10. Michigan 80, Seton Hall 79 (OT) (1989 finals)
After winning an all-timer against Illinois in the semis, Michigan needed even more heroics -- and, it must be said, a very tight whistle -- to win its lone title. The Wolverines' Glen Rice scored 31 points but missed a jumper at the end of regulation, and Seton Hall looked like it would take full advantage of its second chance. The Pirates led by three late in overtime, but Terry Mills scored, Michigan made a late stop, and after the slightest of contact in the lane, Rumeal Robinson made the go-ahead free throws with three seconds left.
Hey, speaking of controversial calls ...
9. Virginia 63, Auburn 62 (2019 semifinals)
Ty Jerome nearly double-dribbled. Samir Doughty just bumped Kyle Guy's hip on a last-second 3-pointer. The last 10 seconds of this one featured everything you could possibly want. Auburn had turned a 10-point deficit into a four-point lead with a late 14-0 run, but Guy made a 3-pointer with nine seconds left and, after the late whistle, nailed all three free throws with 0.6 seconds left to somehow advance the Cavaliers to the national finals.
8. Gonzaga 93, UCLA 90 (OT) (2021 semifinals)
Gonzaga missed two shots at the end of regulation and watched a five-point overtime lead disappear. As it turned out, the Bulldogs were just setting up the maximum amount of drama:
7. Syracuse 81, Kansas 78 (2003 finals)
After title game losses in 1987 and 1996, Jim Boeheim and Syracuse finally finished the job. All it took was a 20-and-10 performance from Carmelo Anthony, six 3-pointers from Gerry McNamara and the biggest block of Hakim Warrick's life. After watching an 18-point lead disappear, Warrick missed a free throw that could have put the Orange up by four late. But he made up for it by blocking what seemed like a wide-open corner-3 from Michael Lee. It was one of four missed 3-pointers for KU in the final minute.
6. Indiana 74, Syracuse 73 (1987 finals)
College basketball's popularity exploded in the 1980s, in part because of the hype of the Magic vs. Bird final in 1979, in part because of the NCAA tournament's expansion to a perfect 64-team bracket and in part because the tournament just couldn't stop producing amazing title-game drama. Five of the top 10 games on this list are title games from between 1982 and 1989. Keith Smart did his part in 1987:
5. North Carolina 63, Georgetown 62 (1982 finals)
Five years earlier, a freshman named Jordan nailed a nearly identical shot.
4. Duke 79, UNLV 77 (1991 semifinals)
UNLV put an end to all this title-game drama with a 30-point drubbing of Duke to finish the 1990 tourney. The Rebels then won their first 34 games of 1990-91, too, and were 9.5-point favorites against the Blue Devils in the 1991 semis. But Duke's Christian Laettner scored 28 points and nailed two free throws with 12.7 seconds left, but after Larry Johnson passed on a relatively open look, Anderson Hunt's desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer was well off. Duke had pulled one of the Final Four's biggest upsets.
3. Villanova 77, North Carolina 74 (2016 finals)
Villanova led by 10 with five minutes left and by six with under two minutes remaining, but North Carolina's Marcus Paige scored five points in 17 seconds to tie the game. His 3-pointer with six seconds left might have been one of the most defining shots in UNC history with a slightly different ending. But Kris Jenkins had just enough time left to write the ending instead.
2. NC State 54, Houston 52 (1983 finals)
Run, Jimmy V, run!
1. Villanova 66, Georgetown 64 (1985 finals)
The very first tournament of the 64-team era was also maybe the best. It gave us Cinderella stories like runs from Loyola Chicago, Louisiana Tech and three double-digit seeds to the Sweet 16. It gave us all the star power in the world, with players like Georgetown's Patrick Ewing and St. John's Chris Mullin leading Final Four charges. It also gave us a perfect ending.
Rollie Massimino's Villanova Wildcats, 8-seeds who had survived Dayton and upset Michigan, North Carolina and Memphis just to reach the title game, had been swept by Georgetown in the regular season. But the Wildcats shot 79% from the field (90% in the second half), took the lead with 2:37 left and somehow made it hold up. Georgetown, 35-2 heading into the game, shot 55% itself and did very little wrong. But the Wildcats played an almost perfect game.