Ranking the top 5 games from the NCAA tournament

The 79th edition of the NCAA tournament is now complete, and the madness ended when North Carolina won its sixth national championship by taking down Gonzaga in the title game.

After three weeks and 67 games, here are the five best matchups from this edition of the Big Dance.

No. 5 - USC vs. SMU - 1st Round

After being bounced in the First Four a year ago due to an inbound gaffe, USC took down Providence in this year's First Four, putting trendy pick SMU in its sights.

The Trojans battled back from 10 points down midway through the second half, and the teams traded leads four times in the final two-and-a-half minutes, capped off by Elijah Stewart's corner three to provide the upset.

It marked the seventh straight year a First Four team advanced out of the first round, and the victory culled the remaining perfect brackets - on NCAA.com and Bleacher Report, they dropped from 0.2 percent to 0.035, and on ESPN they fell to 0.026 percent of entries after 22 games.

No. 4 - Xavier vs. Arizona - Sweet 16

Xavier had never reached the Elite Eight, while Arizona arguably boasted its strongest team under former Musketeers head coach Sean Miller.

Though Arizona was ahead by as many as eight points in the opening minutes of the first half, this game was a back-and-forth affair - until the Wildcats began to take control. They went on an 8-0 run with under four minutes to play and built a 69-61 lead.

Xavier did not quit, though. The Musketeers went on their own 9-0 run and held a two-point lead with under a minute to go.

Arizona's Allonzo Trier had a shot at the win, but his 3-pointer with seconds left didn't find net, giving Xavier the 73-71 victory.

The win punched the Musketeers' ticket to the Elite Eight, and actor Bill Murray went wild in the stands in support of his son, a Xavier assistant.

No. 3 - Michigan vs. Oregon - Sweet 16

Michigan was the Big Dance's early darling, as it won the Big Ten tournament after its plane skidded off the runway trying to get to D.C. for the beginning of the conference contest.

The Wolverines held on in the opening round against Oklahoma State before taking down 2-seed Louisville 73-69.

Guard Derrick Walton Jr., who brought back memories of Kemba Walker in UConn's magical 2011 championship run, had an open look and game-winner served up on a platter in a contest against Oregon that never featured a lead greater than six points.

Unfortunately for Michigan and Walton, their tournament ended with a one-point loss.

No. 2 - Wisconsin vs. Florida - Sweet 16

The only overtime game of the tournament came down to a buzzer-beater and featured big-time shots from both teams.

First, Zak Showalter of Wisconsin hit the game-tying 3-pointer with just seconds remaining to force the extra frame.

Then Florida's Chris Chiozza stole the spotlight by floating in the buzzer-beating game-winner from behind the arc to send the Gators to the Elite Eight.

No. 1 - Kentucky vs. North Carolina - Elite Eight

The best game to come from the 2017 edition of the NCAA tournament was an Elite Eight battle between blue-blood programs that had a combined 13 national championships at the time.

Though the Final Four and championship games were decided by a combined 11 points, those games' endings weren't as memorable as the ones on this list.

North Carolina led by seven heading into the final minute before Kentucky attempted a comeback.

Malik Monk made a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left to cut the Tar Heels' lead to one, then sunk another triple 20 seconds later to tie the game at 70 and kick off the chaos.

Unheralded forward Luke Maye played hero, sending North Carolina to the Final Four against Oregon and a step closer to the program's sixth national title.