NCAA Basketball: Ranking the last 25 NCAA Tournament champions

17) 2016 Villanova Wildcats

Record: 35-5, 16-2 in Big East

Now, to the team that beat the North Carolina Tar Heels in the 2016 title game.

This was the start of the Villanova Wildcats dynasty that has taken hold over the last three years. It’s all thanks to perhaps the most clutch shot in tournament history.

That shot capped a phenomenal season for a Wildcats team that had finally delivered on their potential after being knocked out in the second round the previous two seasons.

Four of Villanova’s five losses came against teams ranked in the top 16 in the country, with the only other defeat coming against the Seton Hall Pirates in the Big East Tournament title game.

That loss to Seton Hall only seemed to raise Villanova’s level of focus for the Big Dance. Head coach Jay Wright’s squad won four games by at least 19 points, headlined by their 44-point blowout win over the Oklahoma Sooners in the Final Four.

Furthermore, they were No. 1 in the country for three weeks in February, becoming the first Wildcats team to reach the top of the AP poll ever.

Much of the core of this team was still around (and better) for their championship run in 2018, which is why they’re this low on the list. They were a great team with an iconic moment, yet they don’t stack up as one of the most talented championship teams of the last 25 years.