10 Greatest Elite Eight Games of the 21st Century

03/29/2025 09:10 AM

Earlier this week, ahead of the NCAA Tournament regional semifinal games to be played on Thursday and Friday night, I took on the nearly impossible task of setting out to rank the ten greatest Sweet Sixteen games of the 21st Century. Little did I know that when I set out to do the same with the Elite Eight, things were only going to be more difficult.

Once again, this exercise began with 32 games ‘on the bubble,’ meaning 22 of them needed to be whittled away before I could reach a final 10 (well, 11). And let me tell you, we left some doozies on the cutting room floor. Six overtime games and nine additional matchups that were decided by three or fewer points didn’t make the final list, but as I said when I broke down the top ten Sweet Sixteen games, I encourage you to use to closest thing we have to a time machine — YouTube — over the course of the offseason to create your own list!

10. Michigan State vs. Duke (2019) 

Why You Should Watch: Once again, some good old-fashioned Duke schadenfreude is a terrific jumping off point, but if that for some reason doesn’t get your juices flowing, stick around for a Tom Izzo coaching masterclass, in which a clearly inferior — at least on paper — Michigan State Spartans team properly mucked up the game enough to knock Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish and Tre Jones out of the NCAA Tournament one round prior to a Final Four appearance that appeared to be a foregone conclusion before the tournament began.

Also, Cassius Winston deserves some love for a 20 point, 10 assist, 4 steals performance which paved the way for Kenny Goins’ go-ahead triple with under 40 seconds to go… a dagger three that is simply known as ‘The Shot’ in East Lansing.

9. Wisconsin vs. Arizona (2014) 

Why You Should Watch: Because I promise you that you’ve forgotten just how many entertaining, high-stakes games the Wisconsin Badgers played in between 2011 and 2017. In back to back years, the Badgers hooked up with the Arizona Wildcats in the Elite Eight, and both times, Wisconsin came out on top. Although their 2015 matchup certainly didn’t disappoint — it was one of the games on the initial list of 32 — their first Elite Eight matchup required a spot in the top ten.

Not only did Wisconsin narrowly sneak by with a 64-63 overtime win, it was this game that proved to be Frank Kaminsky’s official coming out party. Kaminsky went for 28 points and 11 rebounds, setting the stage for a senior season in which he’d be named the National Player of the Year.

8. Kentucky vs. Notre Dame (2015)

Why You Should Watch: The weight of the Kentucky Wildcats potentially becoming college basketball’s first undefeated team since the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers added a tangible layer of intensity to this game in which the biggest lead all game was only five points, as did the fact that when Notre Dame went up 61-56 with five minutes to go, it was the first time where the reality began to set in that Kentucky’s perfect season was in grave danger.

Ultimately, the Wildcats prevailed thanks to an anticlimactic pair of free throws from Andrew Harrison with just six seconds to go, giving Kentucky the 68-66 win. This would be the final win of the season for Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein, Trey Lyles and co. The Wisconsin Badgers handed the Wildcats their first loss of the season in the Final Four just one week later.

7. Louisville vs. West Virginia (2005) 

Why You Should Watch: Little known fact about this game… about eight hours before tip-off, the West Virginia Mountaineers and Louisville Cardinals stumbled upon a time machine in the Chihuahuan Desert and took a trip 20 years in the future. After they saw how basketball would be played in the year 2025, players for both programs agreed that it looked like a riot, and they went out and delivered a classic.

This deliriously fun game in which both teams shot over 55 percent from the field included some beautiful John Beilein offense and a whole bunch of extra clutch shots from players both teams. Despite the fact that West Virginia went 18-for-27 from three-point range, Louisville was able to wipe away a 20-point deficit and won 93-85 in overtime much to the dismay of 13-year-old Sonny, who badly wanted to see Kevin Pittsnogle make a trip to the Final Four.

Incredibly, this was only the third-best Elite Eight game of the 2005 NCAA Tournament.

6. Michigan State vs. Kentucky (2005) 

Why You Should Watch: One day after Louisville and West Virginia treated hoops fans to an overtime thriller in the Albuquerque Regional Final, the Michigan State Spartans and Kentucky Wildcats came together to say ‘hold my beer’ in the Austin Regional Final, playing to not one but two overtimes, the first of which came to fruition thanks to a Patrick Sparks three-pointer that, A) Couldn’t have been closer to being a two-pointer without actually being a two-pointer, and B) Bounced around on the rim for an eternity before falling.

And remember, we’ve still got one more regional final from 2005 to go here.

5. Villanova vs. Pittsburgh (2009) 

Why You Should Watch: Because in 2009, Big East basketball was king — the conference was responsible for three of the four 1-seeds in the NCAA Tournament, and had five of the top 12 teams in the tournament field — and this was the final matchup of the season between a pair of Big East schools. And boy, what a dandy this one was. Over the final 20 minutes of action, there were 13 lead changes and eight ties, and in the end, it all came down to Scottie Reynolds, who held the distinction of having made the biggest shot in Villanova history until Kris Jenkins came along seven years later and won Nova the Natty at the buzzer.

Also, if you love watching basketball games in which players are wearing absurdly baggy shorts, this is the game for you.

4. North Carolina vs. Kentucky (2017) 

Why You Should Watch: Luke Maye will get all of the shine here, but I implore you to watch this one as a reminder for how damn fun this particular Kentucky squad was. De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk and Bam Adebayo deserved better than to watch their lone season in Lexington end in such devastating fashion, but that’s March Madness for ya. A more seasoned North Carolina squad that had been to the National Championship Game the year prior was on their redemption tour, and Kentucky gave them one hell of a test.

3. Illinois vs. Arizona (2005)

Why You Should Watch: The 2005 Illinois Fighting Illini may be the best National Championship runner-up this century, but they came damn close to not even making the Final Four. With four minutes to go in their Elite Eight matchup with the Arizona Wildcats, Illinois — playing a de facto home game in Chicago — trailed 75-60 and looked dead to rights. But an absolutely ridiculous 20-5 run over the ensuing 240 seconds sent the game to overtime, where the Illini survived a potential Hassan Adams game-winner to advance to the second Final Four in program history.

Seriously, at the very least you need to watch (or rewatch if you remember watching it the first time around) Illinois’ late game rally if you don’t want to watch the entire game. I’d love to give the Illini all of the credit here, because there was some high-level shot-making, but Arizona handed them the game on a silver platter.

2. Virginia vs. Purdue (2019)

Why You Should Watch: For all of the late game dramatics, but let me tell you this… I’d advise that on some rainy summer day, you dial up this game, and then follow it up with Virginia’s Final Four matchup against Auburn, and then complete the triple-play with their National Championship win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Never in NCAA Tournament history has an eventual champion had to survive three absolutely bonkers games in a row to cut down the nets like Virginia did in 2019, exorcising the demons from the previous year when 16-seed UMBC ran them off the floor in the opening round of the tournament.

1. George Mason vs. UConn (2006)

Why You Should Watch: Because if The Godfather is the movie that paved the way for Goodfellas, Casino, The Sopranos, The Departed, and A Bronx Tale, then we can look at George Mason over UConn in the 2006 Elite Eight as the game that paved the way for the Cinderella runs of VCU, Wichita State, Loyola-Chicago and Florida Atlantic in the years to come.

The Patriots had to get through Michigan State, North Carolina and Wichita State before even getting the opportunity to knock off the top-seeded UConn Huskies, who had only three losses heading into the game and had already defeated 11 ranked teams already that season. After overcoming a 9-point halftime deficit, George Mason survived in overtime, securing an 86-84 win in which their starters scored all but three of their 86 points.

The Cinderella run ended in the Final Four, when GMU ran into the eventual back-to-back champions, the Florida Gators. But by that point, George Mason’s tournament run had already been immortalized.

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