Sadly, the buzzers have won.
Through 48 NCAA Tournament games from Thursday to Sunday, along with the quartet of "First Four" contests, not a single game was won on a buzzer beater. By comparison, last year there were three buzzer-beating, game winners nailed in just one day during the second round.
Madness prevailed nonetheless, with not one but two No. 15 seeds pulling off historic upsets of No. 2 seeds. Before Lehigh and Norfolk State unceremoniously dumped Duke and Missouri, respectively, just four No. 15 seeds had ever reached the field of 32 in the history of the tournament. Even more shocking, Duke had only lost its first game in the tournament three times dating all the way back to 1955. In addition to those epic results, there was at least one upset in each region. No. 10 Xavier, No. 11 N.C. State and No. 13 Ohio all reached the Sweet 16.
Six games in the third round were decided by five points or less and Indiana reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2002 by way of game-winning shot over VCU that dropped with 11 seconds remaining. But no game was won with the sort of walk-off splash that will be played again and again until it is indelibly inked in the memories of college basketball fans.
To make up for the paucity of last-second heroics so far, we've compiled many of the most memorable buzzer beaters from the history of the NCAA Tournament. From Lorenzo Charles to Christian Laettner all the way up to Matt Howard's shot for Butler in 2011, here are some of the most iconic made baskets in NCAA Tournament history.
