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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) /
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Mandatory Credit: Andy Lyons /Allsport /

Stanford vs Duke (2001)

Mike Montgomery was building this team for a couple of years prior, and the 2000-01 season was going to see the culmination of this process. The 2000-01 Stanford Cardinals were composed of four future NBA players, three being 7 foot and two other players that were ranked in the top 100 of recruits for their class.

The 2000-01 Duke Blue Devils had five future NBA players being led on the court by senior forward Shane Battier and his 20 points per game. Duke would end the season with a 13-3 record in the ACC and finish in second place. The whole season saw Duke remain in the top 5 of the AP Poll and awarded at #1 seed in the East come tournament time.

Stanford earned the #1 seed in the West after winning the Pac 10 regular season and spending every week in the top 5 of the AP Polls, seven of which were at No.1. Stanford was not your average lovable underdog, for they had the seventh-highest scoring average, second-best three-point percentage and best field goal percentage in the nation.

Duke had the second-best scoring average in college basketball, as well led in steals and assists and they put up more threes than any other team. The reason why this game was so anticipated was for the fact that on December 21st Duke snapped Stanford’s 10 game win streak with an 84-83 victory on a neutral court in the No.1 versus No.3 matchup.

All of college basketball wanted the rematch to happen at the Final Four with a trip to the championship game on the line. Duke would go on to the championship game after defeating Maryland for the third time that year. Maryland was the team that defeated Stanford by 15 in the West Regional Final. Despite  Stanford ultimately proving that they were not ready to compete at that high level, it was not the sentiment leading up.

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