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March Madness: Ranking every national champion from this century

By Rob Wolkenbrod

02 APR 2001: Duke University basketball team celebrates with head coach Mike Krzyzewski and the championship trophy after the NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four Championship game held in Minneaplois, MN at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Duke defeated Arizona 82-72 for the championship. Ryan McKee/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
02 APR 2001: Duke University basketball team celebrates with head coach Mike Krzyzewski and the championship trophy after the NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four Championship game held in Minneaplois, MN at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Duke defeated Arizona 82-72 for the championship. Ryan McKee/NCAA Photos via Getty Images /
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ATLANTA, GA – APRIL 08: (L-R) Peyton Siva #3, head coach Rick Pitino and Montrezl Harrell #24 of the Louisville Cardinals celebrate against the Michigan Wolverines during the 2013 NCAA Men’s Final Four Championship at the Georgia Dome on April 8, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA – APRIL 08: (L-R) Peyton Siva #3, head coach Rick Pitino and Montrezl Harrell #24 of the Louisville Cardinals celebrate against the Michigan Wolverines during the 2013 NCAA Men’s Final Four Championship at the Georgia Dome on April 8, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

16. Louisville (2013)

The 2013 Louisville team was hardly the flashiest college basketball team entering March Madness, but they also arrived as the No. 1 overall seed and lived up to those expectations without a hitch, at least in the final score.

This was the NCAA Tournament that featured Kevin Ware’s gruesome leg injury — a moment college basketball fans won’t want to relive. However, it forced a stretch of perseverance for the Cardinals, as they powered through the Elite Eight, Final Four and National Championship to win it all.

Was it the most memorable or talented group of the 2000s? Not quite, but a group of solid collegiate veterans — Russ Smith, Peyton Siva, Chane Behanan and Gorgui Dieng — led this team. It even had Montrezl Harrell buried on the bench.

Guard play and glass clean-up was the recipe for head coach Rick Pitino’s squad. Whether it was Siva’s dishing, Smith’s swishing, clutch three-pointers from Luke Hancock or rim protection by Dieng, they had a bit of everything and the depth to pull it off.

Unfortunately, this championship doesn’t technically exist, as players on the 2013 team competed while ineligible, according to the 2018 NCAA ruling. This was just part of the 123 wins the program vacated

Does that mean the title disappears from everyone’s memories? No, not at all. The players played. The games happened. People packed a football stadium to watch. Footage still exists, and Louisville holds a spot in college basketball history.

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