No. 5: Kansas vs. Memphis, 2008

Each Monday until the national championship is played in Indianapolis on April 5, One Great Season will count down the Top 10 National Championship games since 1979, when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson squared off in Salt Lake City. Today's No. 5 is the 2008 overtime thriller between Kansas and Memphis in San Antonio.

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Mario Chalmers will forever be remembered as the hero for Kansas, but college basketball fans probably won't soon forget Memphis' terrible free-throw shooting that allowed Chalmers' late three to even matter.

KU trailed by nine points with barely more than two minutes left, but the Tigers missed four of five freebies down the stretch as the Jayhawks mounted their furious comeback.

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COUNTING DOWN THE TOP GAMES + No. 6: Michigan vs. Seton Hall, 1989
+ No. 7: Syracuse vs. Kansas, 2003
+ No. 8: Georgetown vs. North Carolina, 1982
+ No. 9: Duke vs. Connecticut, 1999
+ No. 10: Indiana State vs. Michigan State, 1979

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Kansas guard Sherron Collins brought the ball up on Kansas' final possession in regulation, handed to Chalmers, who dribbled once to his left, then launched the game-tying shot that the following week would grace the cover of Sports Illustrated.

And once overtime began, one team enjoyed the momentum while the other went searching for a Zoloft prescription. Kansas took advantage of its second life and ran away with its first national championship in 20 years, 75-68.

No account of this game can be provided without a mention of Derrick Rose, Memphis' electrifying freshman point guard who almost single-handedly led the Tigers to the title. Rose blossomed in the second half, scoring on driving layups and long-range bombs. His off-balanced rainbow banked in as the shot clock expired, giving Memphis a late eight-point cushion. But the officials later overturned the three-point ruling and said Rose's foot was on the line.

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