Dozens of games are played in the NCAA tournament every year, but a single glorious shot—one shining moment, you could say—can immediately turn a player into a March Madness legend.
The latest example is Connecticut’s Braylon Mullins, a highly recruited freshman who held an important yet complementary role all season. A now-iconic shot has cemented his legacy.
Mullins has joined a cast of players—including Lorenzo Charles, Kris Jenkins and Christian Laettner—who elicit March memories at the mere mention of their name.
Here, we’ve ranked the best of the best when it comes to iconic March Madness shots. The ranking is based on a mix of the stakes (the round of the game), shot difficulty and other context, such as completing a comeback, breaking a tie or whether an underdog pulled off an upset.
Only last-second shots are included, so Northern Iowa’s Ali Farokhmanesh’s dagger in 2010 is among the very honorable mentions.
We’ve picked out two dozen memories, one for each of Mullins’ No. 24.