Busting Brackets
Fansided

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

By Trevor Sinodhinos

JACKSONVILLE, FL - MARCH 20: The NCAA March Madness logo on the floor during the NCAA Basketball First round practice session at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on March 20, 2019 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
JACKSONVILLE, FL - MARCH 20: The NCAA March Madness logo on the floor during the NCAA Basketball First round practice session at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on March 20, 2019 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 11
Next
8 Mar 1992: Michigan Wolverines forward Juwan Howard, guard Jalen Rose, and forward Chris Webber (l to r) look on during a game against the Indiana Pacers.
8 Mar 1992: Michigan Wolverines forward Juwan Howard, guard Jalen Rose, and forward Chris Webber (l to r) look on during a game against the Indiana Pacers. /

Michigan vs Arizona (1993)

The Fab 5 were now Sophmore’s and with a whole NCAA Tournament under their belts, they were more popular than ever. The Wolverines versus anybody is what the fans wanted. Steve Fisher had Chris Webber averaging 19 points, Jalen Rose over 15 and Juwan Howard dropping over 14 points per game.

While scoring the seventh-most total points in the nation, Michigan went 31-5 and 15-3 in the Big Ten for a second-place finish. After a loss to Duke in the second game of the season, Michigan would win eleven in a row. In January however, their pre-season No.1 seed would sit as low as No.7 and eventually settle at No.3 to end the season and give Michigan a #1 seed in the West come tournament time.

The team that would get the #2 seed in the West was coached by Lute Olson and was comprised of seven future NBA selections. The Arizona Wildcats would win 22 games of their last 23 to finish the season No.5 in the AP Poll. Behind Chris Mills’ 20 point average and Damon Stoudamire’s near six assists, the Wildcats averaged over 83 points per game. The 71 points per game that they surrendered would make for entertaining basketball against Michigan who averaged 82 points in their own right.

Everybody got to see the Fab 5 versus Kentucky in the Final Four and then face UNC in the title game, but it was the match-up in the West FInal that would never materialize, due to the WIldcats losing in the first round and drastically underachieving for the second straight year. The Elite 8 game Michigan had versus Temple did not disappoint, but it was not the match-up everybody was hoping for.

Home/NCAA Basketball News