13. Syracuse Orange, 2003
Final Record: 30-5 | Def. Kansas 81-78
Led by superstar freshman Carmelo Anthony — maybe you’ve heard of him — along with a slew of key role players such as Hakim Warrick and Gerry McNamara, Jim Boeheim and the Syracuse Orange might’ve been a bit under-seeded considering that they lost just four regular-season games and won the Big East regular-season championship.
But a loss in the conference tournament ultimately put the Orange in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3-seed, making their path to winning a title a bit more difficult. That didn’t seem to faze them, however, despite their young leader. They got a scare in the Sweet 16 from Auburn but cruised through games against Manhattan, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma to get to the Final Four.
After taking down their second No. 1 seed of the tournament as they toppled Texas in a high-scoring national semifinal matchup, Anthony and the Orange found themselves up against Kansas with the title on the line. It was a tight one and a classic matchup but, thanks to a Warrick defensive play and Anthony’s scoring, Syracuse captured the title.
The reason that they are only at No. 13 on this list is due to some questionable regular-season losses and the lack of overall depth on the roster. Even still, this is one of the most memorable national champions of the century, largely thanks to Melo.