March Madness: 25 greatest buzzer-beaters in NCAA Tournament history

HOUSTON, TX - APRIL 04: Kris Jenkins #2 of the Villanova Wildcats takes a shot over Joel Berry II #2 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during the NCAA College Basketball Tournament Championship game at NRG Stadium on April 04, 2016 in Houston, Texas. The Wildcats won 77-74. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

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25. Matt Howard: No. 8 Butler vs. No. 9 Old Dominion – 2011 Second Round

This one falls at the end of the list because it wasn’t the very best buzzer-beater of all time but it led to one of the most fun runs in NCAA Tournament history. The Butler Bulldogs were trying to survive as the 8-seed over the 9-seed Old Dominion. Imagine how much history changes if this shot by Matt Howard doesn’t go in and Old Dominion wins?

Maybe Brad Stevens never gets offered the Boston Celtics job and is still in college somewhere. Butler definitely doesn’t become the first national runner-up to return to the National Championship Game since the 1990s.

A lot had to go right for a mid-major like Butler to keep upsetting teams like No. 1 Pittsburgh, 4-seed Wisconsin Badgers, a 3-seed Florida and then fellow Cinderella VCU to make it all the way to the championship game. None of it happens if Howard isn’t there for the rebound in Butler’s first game.

A misdirected shot with just seconds remaining missed wildly, but Howard came from the free-throw line to grab the rebound under the basket. He got the ball out of his hands with 0.2 seconds left. It’s clearly out of his hand, and the senior sends Butler to the next round and another Cinderella run.

This game had 32 lead changes and no team led by more than six. It seemed these two mid-majors were destined to end in a buzzer-beater that would be talked about for a long time. We got exactly what we wanted here.

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