NCAA Basketball: 10 great tournament games we missed out on in history

North Carolina vs Connecticut (2009)

North Carolina managed to capture an ACC regular-season championship with seven future NBA players on their roster. Their almost 90 points per game and 72 against kept them ranked No.1 for the first eight weeks. Jim Calhoun had five future NBA players and was ranked No.1 for five of the weeks that North Carolina was not. UCONN could not score as much as UNC at 78 points per game, but they only trailed North Carolina by thirty-five total rebounds for the top in the nation.

Despite finishing third in the Big East, freshmen guard Kemba Walker and 7-3 junior center Hasheem Thabeet had garnered plenty of national attention. The regular-season champs of the ACC are always a popular target and dream match-up that fans want to see versus upstart teams.

Come selection Sunday, the Selection Committee did everybody a favor by placing UCONN as the #1 seed in the West and UNC as the #1 in the South. This put them on track to meet in the National Championship. Louisville had entered the tournament at No.1 but had lost to Connecticut in the Big East regular season. Memphis was highly ranked but had lost to two teams below UCONN in the Big East. Pittsburgh finished fourth in the polls and had beaten Connecticut twice in the regular season, but their team play lacked the star power that fuels the fans desire.

The desire was intensified as the tournament progressed, Connecticut continued their dominance with victories with little resistance that led them to the Final Four. North Carolina had an even easier road to the Final Four by defeating opponents with ease.

While North Carolina defeated Big East member Villanova 89-72, Connecticut could not get past a Graymond Green led Michigan State team, falling 82-73. North Carolina would go on to handle Michigan State by 17 to win the National Championship, but the fans lost out on UCONN versus UNC.