The most memorable March Madness gaffes of all time

We'll talk later about North Carolina State's underdog run to the 1983 national championship, but Wolfpack fans also experienced perhaps their most painful NCAA Tournament experience in program history in 1989. It happened during N.C. State's Sweet 16 contest against No. 1 Georgetown. And, the gaffe seems to fall squarely on the shoulders of game official Rick Hartzell. With his team down three and 1:47 to play in regulation, Wolfpack guard Chris Corchiani drove the lane and floated the ball in over Hoyas star center Alonzo Mourning. There was contact on the play, and when Hartzell blew his whistle, it was assumed Corchiani was heading to the free-throw line to complete a three-point play and Mourning to the bench with his fifth foul. However, Hartzell whistled Corchiani for traveling, a decision that famed CBS analyst Billy Packer described as "nowhere near a walk."

Here's a case back in the mid-1980s when the official use of instant replay would have come in handy. During the regional semifinals of the 1986 NCAA Tournament at Kansas City's Kemper Arena, Michigan State led by four points with 2:20 left in regulation. However, the clock stuck on that time for roughly 15 seconds, at least according to then-Spartans assistant Tom Izzo. Legendary Michigan State coach Jud Heathcote pounded the scorer's table with his fist, but once the issue was officially realized, no time was taken off and Kansas eventually tied the game with 9 seconds remaining to force overtime. The Jayhawks went on to win 96-86.

Let's keep the officials' gaffe portion of the list going with another, somewhat forgotten blunder in a second-round contest between No. 1 seed Gonzaga and Northwestern. The Wildcats, who beat Vanderbilt in their first-ever NCAA Tournament game (more on that in a bit), were putting a scare into the title-favorite Zags. With less than five minutes to go in regulation and Gonzaga up by five, Northwestern's Derek Pardon moved in for a dunk, but it was blocked by the Bulldogs' Zach Collins, whose hand clearly went through the basket to make the play. There was no call, and Wildcats coach Chris Collins drew a technical for going too far on the court to argue. Gonzaga went on to win 79-73 and ultimately reach the tournament final. Northwestern, meanwhile, did receive an apology from the NCAA for the blown call.

Sticking with 2017, sometimes it takes something simple as forgetting to box out to play a major part in a game. But twice in a matter of seconds? With North Carolina up 77-76 over Oregon with 5.8 left in their national semifinal contest, the Ducks' Jordan Bell failed to box out on a Carolina missed free throw. UNC's Theo Pinson did get a hand on the rebound and tapped it back to teammate Joel Berry, who was fouled. With four seconds remaining, Berry missed his free throw, and again, Bell missed the rebound, and the Tar Heels' Kennedy Meeks gained position to preserve the one-part margin of victory. Bell was quite emotional after the game, knowing exactly what he failed to get done.

Sometimes the inability to handle the pressure of March Madness can be worse than a bonehead play or disheartening mistake. In 1979, DePaul reached the Final Four, where it lost by two points to Larry Bird's Indiana State group. Then, in the1980, '81, and '82 NCAA Tournaments, Ray Meyer's Blue Demons' held a No. 1 seed in each event. And each year, DePaul failed to win a game. Back then, the top seeds earned a bye into the second round. But, DePaul lost  77-71 versus No. 8 seed UCLA in '80, 49-48 against ninth-seeded St. Joseph's the next season, and fell 82-75 to No. 8 Boston College in the '82 tournament.

There are blown leads, then there's blowing a 12-point lead with 44.3 seconds remaining in the game. That's what upstart No. 11 seed Northern Iowa experienced during its second-round loss to Texas A&M. The Panthers' inability to handle the Aggies' desperation, full-court pressure led to their 69-57 lead evaporating over a span of roughly 42 seconds. The game went to overtime, where Texas A&M prevailed for a 92-88 victory, for one of the greatest comebacks in NCAA Tournament history.

"It's the most idiotic play in Indiana basketball history, potentially." That's what Dane Fife called it. With 4.2 seconds remaining in regulation of a 2002 Sweet 16 contest against No. 1 seed Duke, and Fife's Hoosiers leading 74-70, Blue Devils star Jason Williams knocked down a 3-pointer. Making matters worse for Indiana, Fife jumped in and curiously fouled Williams on the shot, giving him a chance to tie the game from the free-throw line. Thankfully for the state of Indiana, and Fife, most importantly, Williams missed the foul shot. Then, teammate Carlos Boozer couldn't convert the rebound put-back, thus keeping the Hoosiers' road to a national championship-game berth alive.

We mentioned Northwestern's first NCAA Tournament victory in its first appearance. The Wildcats' 68-66 win over Vanderbilt was not without drama. Vandy's Matthew Fisher-Davis had a team-high 22 points off the bench, and his team led 66-65 with 18 seconds left in regulation. However, Fisher-Davis apparently suffered a brain cramp and thought his team was trailing, so he intentionally fouled the Wildcats' Bryant McIntosh. The Northwestern guard went to the free-throw line and made both foul shots that gave his program its historic victory. 

Perhaps it's not fair to call a poor performance a gaffe. But when your team is the first No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament history to lose to a No. 16 squad, the embarrassment level is high. Top-seeded Virginia, a national title favorite with a 31-2 record, shot 4-of-22 from 3-point range and was outrebounded 33-22 during its 74-54 loss to No. 16 University of Maryland-Baltimore County. Now, let's give the upstart Retrievers their credit for shooting 54.2 percent from the field, and 12-of-24 from beyond the arc. Virginia seemed to learn a lesson from this historic loss by rebounding to win the program's first national championship the following season.

Speaking of the Cavaliers' run to the 2019 title, they were aided by one of the most memorable foul calls in Final Four history. With Virginia down two and 1.5 seconds remaining in regulation, the Cavaliers' Kyle Guy got the ball in the corner and took a 3-point attempt. Jumping up with him was Auburn's Samir Doughty, who nudged the shooter and apparently didn't give Guy enough room to land causing official James Breeding to whistle a foul -- giving three free throws to Guy. He made them all with 0.6 seconds to go for Virginia's 63-62 victory. Still, the question begs, who is to blame? Doughty for his poor defensive position or Breeding for essentially deciding a game with one questionable call.?

Led by star Derrick Rose, Memphis was in good shape to win the program's first national championship in 2008. The Tigers held a nine-point advantage over Kansas with 2:12 left in regulation of that season's title game. But, they went 1-for-5 from the free-throw line down the stretch in regulation. Rose made one of two with 10.8 seconds left. Just enough time for Kansas' Mario Chalmers to tie the game with a 3-pointer and force overtime, ultimately leading to a 75-68 victory for the Jayhawks. Memphis, which ended up vacating its runner-up finish for violating NCAA eligibility rules, went 12-of-19 from the stripe for the game.

Christian Laettner's turnaround jumper at the buzzer to give Duke a 104-103 overtime victory against Kentucky in the 1992 Elite Eight might be the greatest shot in the history of the NCAA Tournament. But Grant Hill's three-quarter court inbounds pass was just as impressive. Yet, it might have made sense for the Wildcats to guard Hill, instead of allowing him a clear look at the court. In the end, Kentucky's "prevent" defense led to one of the greatest moments in sports history.

One of the great mysteries of North Carolina State's improbable run to the 1983 national championship is why no Houston player boxed out Wolfpack forward Lorenzo Charles? Charles, unattended in the paint behind two Cougars' defenders, caught teammate Dereck Whittenburg's long airball and delivered an uncontested, last-second dunk that gave N.C. State a 54-52 win over the heavily-favored Cougars and a national championship. Houston 7-foot legend Hakeem Olajuwon told ESPN's Survive and Advance, 30 for 30 feature, that when he saw the ball coming down near the basket, and over his head, he opted not to defend it with concern he'd be called for goaltending. It's not a good reason, but at least it's a reason.

College hoops fans thought Michael Jordan's go-ahead corner jumper, that put North Carolina up with 16 seconds left, would be the most memorable moment from the 1982 national championship game. Then Georgetown guard Fred Brown, one of the best players in program history, brought the ball over half court, pick him his dribble, then inexplicably -- with six seconds on the clock -- passed the ball to the Tar Heels' James Worthy. Prompting CBS play-by-play voice Gary Bender to proclaim "Oh, he threw the ball to the wrong man." Carolina held on for the 63-62 victory.

We're not just talking about the biggest blunders in college basketball history, but arguably all of sports. With his Michigan Wolverines trailing by two points to North Carolina and 20 seconds remaining in the 1993 national title game, star Chris Webber grabbed an offensive rebound, nearly walked, then dribbled down the court and into a corner trap. Where he called timeout with 11 seconds to go. Harmless? Not if your team has exhausted its timeouts. The Wolverines were slapped with a technical foul and the Tar Heels' Donald Williams made two free throws en route to their 77-71 victory.