Top 10 March Madness buzzer-beaters in tournament history

March Madness is as beloved a sporting event as America has and a big part of its appeal is its propensity to produce buzzer-beating shots. With the one-and-done format of the NCAA Tournament, the exhileration of seeing a loss swing to a win with a last second shot is one of the more thrilling experiences a sports fan can have (unless your favorite team is on the losing end of said buzzer-beater).

There have been dozens of iconic buzzer beaters over the years, but which ones rate as the best of all-time? Let's look at the 10 most memorable buzzer beaters in the history of the NCAA Tournament.

10. Paul Jesperson saves Northern Iowa from halfcourt

The first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament is the site of our first buzzer-beater, with 11-seed Northern Iowa taking down 6-seed Texas on a dramatic half-court heave from Paul Jesperson. The Longhorns appeared to send the game to overtime on a last second layup, but the Panthers calmly inbounded the ball and got it to Jesperson, whose half-court shot banked off the glass and in for a game-winning three.

This one cracks the list for the sheer drama the end result produced, which saw Texas' layup come after Northern Iowa missed a free throw that would have made it a three-point game. The loss became a symbolic representation of perennial March Madness heartbreak for the Longhorns under Shaka Smart while the Panthers nearly rode the momentum of Jesperson's shot into the Sweet 16, falling to 3-seed Texas A&M in overtime.

9. Donte Ingram helps Loyola-Chicago sink Miami

One of the most memorable NCAA Tournament storylines of the past decade involves Loyola-Chicago's Cinderella run to the Final Four. While Sister Jean became a national star thanks to the Ramblers' foray deep into March, they almost didn't get out of the first round as the 11-seed from the South Region was trailing 5-seed Miami by a point with 9.3 seconds to go.

Hurricanes' guard Lonnie Walker missed a free throw to put his team up too, leaving the Ramblers plenty of time to get up the floor and get the ball into the hands of Ingram, who put Loyola-Chicago up by two. This shot is a bit lower down the list because it isn't a buzzer-beater by the technical definition since Miami had 0.4 seconds left to try and answer, but it is close enough and a symbolic representation of one of the most magical March Madness runs ever.

8. UCLA survives Missouri as Tyus Edney goes coast-to-coast

The 1995 NCAA Tournament saw UCLA win its only national title outside of the legendary John Wooden era, but it almost didn't come to be. Facing 8-seed Missouri in the Round of 32, the Bruins were in deep trouble as the Tigers connected for a go-ahead layup with 4.8 seconds to go.

Head coach Jim Harrick called time to set up a play, which ended up seeing guard Tyus Edney receive the inbounds pass and go coast-to-coast to launch a jumper inside the paint that fell and saved the day for UCLA. That contest would be the Bruins' biggest scare of the tournament as they won the rest of their games by at least six points, capping it off with an 11-point victory over Arkansas to capture the title in Seattle.

7. Richard Hamilton sends UConn to the Elite Eight

The late 1990s saw UCONN become a college basketball powerhouse in the most unlikely fashion. Jim Calhoun completed the Huskies' ascent from a largely irrelevant program to national champion in 1999, but the stage for that run was set by their Elite Eight run the year before.

Things looked dicey in the final seconds as UCONN trailed Washington by a point with under 30 seconds to go. Two close attempts fell short for the Huskies but Hamilton snagged the second rebound and hit a fadeaway jumper as time expired to stun Washington and allow UCONN to move on to the Elite Eight. Even though they lost in the next game, Hamilton returned to school and was the Most Outstanding Player of the 1999 NCAA Tournament before going on to have a prolific professional career.

6. Lamont Butler sends San Diego State to the National Championship game

The 2023 NCAA Tournament was an exercise in absolute chaos as top seeds went down left and right throughout the bracket. The Final Four featured a very unusual matchup between Florida Atlantic and San Diego State that delivered an absolutely iconic finish, capped by Lamont Butler's last second jumper to send San Diego State to the national championship game.

Even though the Aztecs got blown out by UCONN in the title game, it was a memorable March moment for a strong basketball program that doesn't get much time in the national spotlight due to its affiliation with the Mountain West Conference. Butler's shot is the kind of March memory that San Diego State fans will talk about for generations and is a strong example of why the NCAA Tournament needs mid-majors making runs to keep the event exciting.

5. Jalen Suggs bursts UCLA's bubble

After the 2020 NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, fans were eager to see the return of March Madness. The 2021 edition of the dance will forever be unique due to the bubble format, which saw all games played in the state of Indiana, and resulted in one of the more iconic games in the history of the tournament as 11-seed UCLA took unbeaten Gonzaga to overtime.

With Gonzaga up by a bucket with seconds left, UCLA managed to drive and tie the game, setting up the prospect of a second overtime before Jalen Suggs took the inbounds pass and heaved up a 40-foot three pointer as time expired. Suggs' shot went off the glass and banked in, stunning the Bruins and sending Gonzaga to the title game, but it did not lead to an undefeated season as the Bulldogs were beaten by Baylor in the championship.

4. NC State's last-second dunk gives Jim Valvano a title

The 1983 NCAA Tournament culminated with what looked like a potential mismatch as the Phi Slama Jamma Houston Cougars, led by future Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon, faced off with a 10-loss NC State team in the championship game. A brilliant game plan by Wolfpack head coach Jim Valvano allowed NC State to slow the game to a crawl, leaving them with a chance to win in the final seconds.

A heave by Dereck Whittenburg came up short of the rim but Houston failed to secure the rebound, leaving it in the hands of Lorenzo Charles, who slammed the put back home to win the title. The moment left the Cougars absolutely stunned and created one of March Madness' most iconic images as Valvano was frantically searching for someone to hug after the win.

3. Bryce Drew makes Valparaiso a national name

One of the most memorable aspects of March Madness is how small schools can become known nationally with their One Shining Moment. Valparaiso had theirs in 1998, when they were trailing 4-seed Ole Miss with 2.5 seconds to go by a bucket, before Bryce Drew took his shot.

After a long heave on the inbounds pass, Valpo managed to get the ball to Drew on the wing and he calmly nailed a three to send the Crusaders on and end Ole Miss' season in dramatic fashion. Few shots have become more iconic than Drew's last second shot and it led to a memorable career arc for him that saw become a first-round pick for the Houston Rockets before transitioning to coaching, a run that began with a run as the head coach at his alma mater in 2011.

2. Kris Jenkins ... for the championship

Every kid playing basketball in their backyard or at the playground dreams of hitting that last second jumper to win a championship for their team. Villanova's Kris Jenkins got to turn that dream into a reality in the classic 2016 national championship game, which was a back-and-forth affair that wnet down to the wire.

North Carolina tied the game with 4.7 seconds left to go, forcing the Wildcats to go the length of the floor to attempt a game-winner. Ryan Arcidiacano took the inbounds and got just outside the three-point arc before giving it to the trailing Jenkins, who coldly nailed the game-winner to send the Houston crowd into euphoria and completing one of the most iconic title runs with a fitting capper.

1. Christian Laettner ... need we say more?

The name Christian Laettner will send shivers down the spine of Kentucky fans and illicit intense hatred from almost all non-Duke supporters. No player embodied what made Duke the envy of all college basketball programs than Laettner, and his cold-blooded nature on the court was on full display when he sank March Madness' most memorable buzzer-beater of all time against Kentucky in the 1992 Elite Eight.

With the Blue Devils down a point with 2.1 seconds left, the Wildcats opted not to guard inbounder Grant Hill, who was able to cleanly launch a 70-foot heave to Laettner, who had time to put the ball on the deck once and hit a turnaround jumper to sink Kentucky. The shot helped Duke go on to win its second straight title and secured a spot on the Dream Team for Laettner, who was the only collegian picked to join the most decorated group of basketball players in history.

Honorable mentions

There are plenty of other iconic buzzer-beaters in March Madness history so it was really hard to cut the list to just 10. The second weekend has seen its fair share of iconic buzzer-beaters in the past decade, including Chris Chiozza's shot to push Florida to the Elite Eight at Madison Square Garden while Michigan's Jordan Poole sunk Houston and propelled the Wolverines on a run to the national championship game.

Several other buzzer-beaters from the first weekend resulted in iconic March Madness images, like Drew Nicholas' run down the tunnel after hitting a last-second three to push Maryland past UNC Wilmington and Ty Rogers' heave for Western Kentucky to push them past 5-seed Drake.

Another last-second stunner that had a big impact on March Madness came in 2010, when Michigan State's Korie Lucious hit a last second shot to stun Maryland at the horn. The Spartans rode the wave of that shot all the way to the Final Four, where they got tripped by Butler one game short of a second straight national championship game appearance.

Will we see a new entry to this list in the 2025 NCAA Tournament? Time will tell as this year's tournament has the potential for massive chaos and we are overdue for another buzzer-beater after 2024's dance was surprisingly light on drama.