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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4. U.S. Reed: No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 5 Arkansas – 1981 Second Round

The year was 1981, the oldest shot made on this list. There were only 48 teams in the entire tournament. It was the last year the tournament was played on NBC and also the last time there was only a men’s tournament, as the women’s tourney started the next year. There was no three-point line, which makes this shot even more impressive somehow since it was only worth two.

U.S. Reed was the biggest headline in a day of upsets. St. John’s beat the top-seeded DePaul thanks to a shot with two seconds left. Oregon State also hit a last-second shot to beat 1-seed Kansas State. However, this is the shot that lives on and the one that pushed March into madness.

The scene was just odd. Louisville made a shot with five seconds left in the game to give them a one-point lead. Louisville fans started to flood the court, despite the fact the game wasn’t over yet. The refs had to reset everything before finishing out the game.

U.S. Reed was going to be the player to take the last shot. So, Louisville put two players to press as he tried to get up the court. The clock went down to just one second, so Reed had to heave the ball from 49 feet away from the basket.

Miraculously, it went in. Pandemonium ensued, and it’s the original buzzer-beater in this tournament’s history. Sure, there were last-second shots before this we’re sure, but with Marv Albert on the call and the NBC broadcast cutting to it in the middle of the play, it’s just the kind of madness we expect every season.

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