There is nothing more iconic than being able to drop the mic after delivering that perfect one liner or piece of trash talk. Sports is one of the biggest stages for a mic drop, with millions of people watching and the bragging rights of a spot in history on the line, with the Final Four being no exception.
There have been plenty of iconic moments in the Final Four over the years, including dramatic buzzer-beaters, huge upsets, and incredible individual performances. Simply winning a championship or hitting a big shot isn't enough to be mic-drop worthy, however, as those moments tend to rise above your normal title-winning weekend heroics.
What are the 10 best mic-drop moments in the history of the Final Four? Read on for a look at some of the biggest, including one from inside the NCAA Tournament's COVID bubble in 2021.
10. Jalen Suggs sinks UCLA's miracle run at the buzzer
The 2021 NCAA Tournament was just four years ago but it feels like a lifetime since it was still in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 NCAA Tournament had been canceled and the 2020-21 regular season was plagued with game postponements as teams dealt with infections, leading the NCAA to create a bubble in the state of Indiana to host the event.
Even with an adjusted schedule to accomodate intake procedures for teams to prevent spread of the virus, the tournament produced plenty of drama, including the fact that Gonzaga steamrolled to the Final Four in pursuit of an undefeated season. Their opposition was 11-seed UCLA, which went from the First Four to the Final Four and forced overtime thanks to some incredible play from Johnny Juzang and company.
The Bruins looked poised to send the game to double-overtime, but Gonzaga's Jalen Suggs dropped the mic with a 40-footer that banked in at the buzzer to deliver a win for the Bulldogs. That shot was the mic drop moment for Gonzaga, which delivered the moment of the bubble tournament and set up an epic matchup with Baylor in the national championship game.
9. Enter Michael Jordan
Prior to the 1982 Final Four, very few people had heard much of a young guard on North Carolina named Michael Jordan. Dean Smith's Tar Heels were led by future NBA star James Worthy while Jordan, a freshman at the time, was merely a starter in the title game.
The 1982 championship game saw North Carolina take on Georgetown, which also had a future NBA Hall of Famer on its roster in Patrick Ewing, in a classic contest that saw the teams stay close throughout the way. The iconic mic drop moment came from the freshman Jordan, who hit the go-ahead jumper with 15 seconds to go to help deliver a championship to Chapel Hill.
While the shot itself isn't the most memorable in March Madness history, namely because there was still a lot of time left on the clock when it was made, this was the first mic drop of Jordan's legendary basketball career. After two more years in Chapel Hill, Jordan went pro and delivered arguably the most iconic NBA showing of all time, with this moment foreshadowing his eventual legendary status.
8. A Cavalier redemption
Virginia made history for the wrong reasons in 2018, when they became the first 1-seed to ever lose to a 16 when they got knocked out of the dance by UMBC (ironically led by Ryan Odom, who took over as the Cavaliers' head man this month). With Tony Bennett's Cavaliers back in line for a top seed in the following NCAA Tournament, pressure was high on Virginia to avoid another disappointment.
The Cavaliers got to the Final Four with some dramatics, including a game-tying shot from Mamadi Diakite in the Elite Eight to force overtime, and needed more as a controversial late foul in their Final Four matchup against Auburn allowed Kyle Guy to sink the go-ahead free throws in the final second.
Surviving that white knuckler set up another thriller in the championship game, where the Caveliers needed overtime to outlast Texas Tech and claim their first national championship. Following up the worst upset in March Madness history with a national title in the very next year is an iconic mic drop from Virginia, which earned its place on this list.
7. Mario Chalmers saves Kansas
The 2008 Final Four was a unique one in March Madness history as the only NCAA Tournament (to date) to send all four No. 1 seeds to the season's final weekend. The final set up between Bill Self's Kansas Jayhawks and John Calipari's Memphis Tigers, which was led by future NBA star Derrick Rose and entered the national title game as favorites.
Memphis led for most of the second half but Kansas whittled down the deficit by strategically fouling the Tigers, who couldn't convert enough free throws to put the game away. With just 2.1 seconds left and down by three, Kansas put the ball into the hands of Mario Chalmers, who nailed a game-tying three to force overtime.
The Jayhawks had hit just two threes on the night before Chalmers dropped the mic on Memphis with his clutch shot. The extra session was dominated by Kansas, which won its first title in the Self era after a few crushing March Madness disappointments in the prior years.
6. Keith Smart breaks Syracuse's heart
Few college basketball coaches were tortured more in March Madness than Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, who had a propensity for taking his teams deep into the NCAA Tournament only to lose in soul-crushing fashion. Things looked poised to change in the 1987 national championship game, when Syracuse was up by one with 28 seconds left and future NBA lottery pick Derrick Coleman at the free throw line.
Coleman missed the front end of a 1-and-1, opening the door for Indiana to try and steal the game. That honor went to Keith Smart, who got the ball with five seconds left and nailed a jumper as he was fading towards the out of bounds line to put the Hoosiers in front by a point.
That shot was the mic drop for Bob Knight's final championship with Indiana as Syracuse's last-second heave fell short. Smart also got to see his mic drop captured on the very first airing of One Shining Moment, which debuted after the championship and has become a staple of March Madness ever since.
5. Hakim Warrick's block seals a Syracuse title
We'll go back to Boeheim here as he made it back to the National Championship Game in 2003 with an Orange team headlined by future NBA All Star Carmelo Anthony. The final saw Syracuse take on Kansas as legacies were on the line with both Boeheim and Kansas' Roy Williams vying for their first title.
Even though Syracuse dominated early, the Jayhawks fought back and cut the deficit to 81-78, getting the ball back after Hakim Warrick missed a pair of free throws. Michael Lee got the ball in the corner for Kansas to try and nail a game-tying three to break Boeheim's heart again, but Warrick redeemed himself by flying in to block what had been a clean look for Lee.
Kansas got another look off but Kirk Hinrich missed at the buzzer, leaving Warrick's block as the mic drop for Syracuse's first national championship. It's rare for a defensive play to serve as a mic drop moment, but Warrick's game-icing block certainly fits the bill for the Orange.
4. A rivalry is born
If you're looking for a fun fact at your Final Four party, bring up the fact that the most-watched basketball game of all time was the 1979 national championship game. Michigan State and Indiana State squared off for the title, but the contest was best known for the birth of the epic rivalry between the Spartans' Magic Johnson and the Sycamores' Larry Bird.
The duel between the two future Hall of Famers lived up to the hype as the teams were close early on before Johnson's Spartans pulled away late to secure a 75-64 win. Johnson was named the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player, dropping the mic on Bird for the first time and helping bring about a new national interest in both college and professional basketball in the process.
The increase in interest of this title game led the NCAA Tournament to expand twice within a decade, helping turn March Madness into the spectacle that it is today. The rivalry between Magic and Larry also helped save the NBA, which rose in prominence as Johnson's Lakers and Bird's Celtics dominated the stage in the 1980s.
3. Wisconsin ends Kentucky's perfect season
The 2015 NCAA Tournament looked as if it would be a coronation for Calipari's Kentucky Wildcats, who had dominated the regular season at a level that hadn't been seen for decades. The 2014-15 Wildcats were loaded with stars, headlined by future No. 1 pick Karl-Anthony Towns, to such a degree that Calipari could do full hockey-style substitutions and not lose an ounce of quality on the floor.
Kentucky stormed through an undefeated regular season and cruised through their first three tournament games before surviving Notre Dame by a bucket in the Elite Eight. The Final Four brought a showdown with Wisconsin, which had gotten hot at the end of the season and was not afraid of the Wildcats' mystique.
The contest was tied at halftime before the Badgers pulled away late, winning 71-64 to stun the heavy favorites and deny Kentucky a chance at history. Frank Kaminsky and company dropped a mic on the Wildcats' chances as Kentucky never got to a Final Four again in the Calipari era.
2. Duke slows down the Runnin' Rebels
It may seem hard to believe, but the center of the college basketball world in 1990 was Paradise, Nevada, where Jerry Tarkanian's Runnin' Rebels had become a dominant force. After winning the national championship in 1990, UNLV steamrolled its competition in the regular season and carried an undefeated record into the Final Four as part of a 45-game winning streak.
The opposition for the Runnin' Rebels was Duke, which they had beaten by 30 for the national title in the previous season, so few expected a big change in the result. Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski broke through with a masterful gameplan to slow down the Runnin' Rebels high-flying offense, enabling a 79-77 upset for a Duke team that entered the night in eight point underdogs.
This game was a mic drop on UNLV's run as a college basketball powerhouse as the Runnin' Rebels were never the same after this game due to NCAA violations forcing Tarkanian to resign after the 1992 season. Duke went on to win the first of five national championships for Krzyzewski, ending any speculation that Coach K couldn't come through in the biggest moments.
1. Kris Jenkins wins the National Championship at the buzzer
If you're looking for the most pure drop the mic moment in college basketball history, winning the national championship on a buzzer-beater is impossible to top. Villanova's Kris Jenkins lived the dream of every kid on the playground in the 2016 national title game, when he helped the Wildcats win their first national title since 1985 with a dramatic game-winning three as time expired.
The contest between Villanova and North Carolina was an all-time classic as the teams traded haymakers down the stretch. Tar Heels' point guard Marcus Paige appeared to deliver a mic-drop of his own, nailing a game-tying three with 4.7 seconds to go, but that shot left too much time on the clock for the Wildcats.
Point guard Ryan Arcidiacano calmly got the inbound and raced up court before dropping the ball back to Jenkins, who trailed him on the play and got a clean look at three. The shot hit nothing but net as the horn sounded, leading to a euphoric celebration inside NRG Stadium as Jenkins delivered the ultimate mic drop in March Madness history.