NCAA Basketball: 10 most memorable NCAA Tournament runs of last decade

With the 2019-20 NCAA Basketball season on the horizon, we are entering a new decade of the NCAA Tournament. The tournaments of the 2010s brought us plenty of fun, so here is a ranking of the 10 most memorable tourney runs of the decade.

Each of the NCAA Basketball teams on this list, whether unnoticed mid-major or unappreciated high-major, all shocked the world with their incredible performances in the NCAA Tournament . They all approached the tournament with great confidence, executed successful game plans, and held their own against the tournament favorites.  As fans, we celebrated their success and were even saddened to watch them go down; nonetheless, the runs were fun while they lasted.

Now, it must be known that a tournament run is much different than a singular upset. The teams on this list, with the exception of one (hat tip to the Retrievers), stuck around to grab at least two victories in the tournament. With the odds stacked against them, and the college basketball experts picking against them as well, the teams on this list managed to survive and advance.

Composing this list of the most memorable runs was fairly easy; however, the difficulty came with trying to rank them accordingly. In order to rank them, the tournament seed has to be thrown out. It would be easy to rank tournament runs based on seeding; however, that would just remove the debate altogether.

Instead, factors such as unlikeliness of the victories, opponent strength, captivating players, exciting plays, and the ability to win the crowd, have all been strongly considered when ranking the 10 most memorable NCAA Tournament runs. Now, let’s move on from the blabbering and get on with the rankings.