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NCAA Tournament 2017: 15 best moments

By Nathaniel Reeves

Apr 3, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels players hoist the national championship trophy after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the championship game of the 2017 NCAA Men's Final Four at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 3, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels players hoist the national championship trophy after defeating the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the championship game of the 2017 NCAA Men's Final Four at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /
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Taking a look back at the top 15 moments of a memorable 2017 NCAA Tournament.

Another thrilling edition of the NCAA Tournament is in the books following Monday night’s national final between the North Carolina Tar Heels and Gonzaga Bulldogs.

One year after losing on Kris Jenkins’ 3-pointer at the buzzer, the Tar Heels prevailed with a 71-65 win over the Bulldogs for the sixth title in program history. Gonzaga was still able to change the national perception of its program with the run to the Final Four, its first appearance in school history.

While the tournament featured plenty of exciting finishes, it had a relatively small number of opening round upsets with no true mid-major Cinderella team. That only led to better games in the Second Round and beyond, as the Madness really started picking up in the Sweet 16.

Here’s a look at the top 15 moments of another fantastic Big Dance.

15. USC upsets SMU in the last minute 

The biggest upset of a relatively quiet first round was USC taking out SMU thanks to a wild rally and clutch 3-point shot by Elijah Stewart.

Just two days earlier, the Trojans needed a 17-point second half comeback in the First Four to beat Providence. Once again, USC was down double-digits in the early going of the opening round matchup against the Mustangs and faced a 53-43 deficit with 11:30 to go, a daunting task against one of the best defenses in the nation.

Andy Enfield’s zone then began to frustrate SMU, and the Trojans tied things up four minutes later behind Stewart. Shake Milton hit a perimeter shot to give SMU a two-point lead, but Stewart buried an open triple two possessions later to put the Trojans up 66-65.

SMU still had a chance after Chimezie Metu missed the front end of a one-and-one with 13 seconds to go. Tim Jankovich let his team play rather than call one of his three remaining timeouts, and Shake Milton’s layup at the buzzer bounced out following a disjointed possession.

The upset damaged many brackets around the nation, as the sixth-seeded Mustangs were a popular pick to take down Baylor in the next round after winning 16 games in a row to close out the regular season.

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