Skip to content

Ranking the 5 worst mistakes from the NCAA tournament

Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

There are only 345 more days until the 2018 version of the NCAA tournament begins, following North Carolina's anticlimactic 71-65 victory over Gonzaga in Monday's national title game.

To try to hold you over until then, here are the five worst mistakes players and officials combined to make over the course of the 2017 tournament.

Related: Ranking the top 5 games from the NCAA tournament

No. 5. Seton Hall's Desi Rodriguez issued flagrant foul

In the opening round between Arkansas and Seton Hall, the Pirates were trailing by a point with 18 seconds remaining, when Desi Rodriguez was called for a flagrant-1 foul.

That call saw Razorback guard Jaylen Barford sent to the free-throw line, where he would make both of his attempts, and Arkansas would retain possession.

After the inbound, Seton Hall was forced to foul again, turning a 72-71 game into a 75-71 one with only a tick coming off the game clock.

The Pirates would not score again, losing by six to get knocked out of the tournament.

No. 4. Vanderbilt's Matthew Fisher-Davis intentionally fouls with his team up one

Northwestern became the last Power 5 school to play in its first NCAA tournament, and were bailed out in their surprising first-round win over Vanderbilt.

The Commodores' Matthew Fisher-Davis fouled Bryant McIntosh following a Vanderbilt basket, thinking his team was down a point with 20 seconds to go.

Unfortunately for Fisher-Davis, his team was up a point, thus sending McIntosh to the charity stripe and giving Northwestern the lead after two made free throws.

Vanderbilt had one last look with seven seconds left, but Riley LaChance's 3-pointer was off.

No. 3. Gonzaga's Zach Collins' non-goaltending vs. Northwestern

Gonzaga's run to the Final Four was an ultimate redemption story, as after constantly banging on the door for the last 18 years, the Zags were finally able to break through.

However, their 2017 run may have never materialized if not for a missed call against Northwestern.

With 4:57 left in the second half and Northwestern trailing 63-58, Zags' forward Zach Collins blocked Dererk Pardon's shot on what should have been a goaltending call, thus awarding the Wildcats two points and making the score 63-60 for Gonzaga.

Instead, Northwestern head coach Chris Collins was called for a technical foul over the noncall, giving Gonzaga two free throws and an eventual 79-73 victory.

No. 2. Oregon's Jordan Bell forgets to box out - twice!

Last year's Final Four featured a pair of blowouts, as Villanova and North Carolina won by a combined 61 points, but this year's matchups were much better.

Trailing 77-74, Oregon made a layup with six seconds left to cut the deficit to one against North Carolina.

However, that's where it unraveled for the Ducks, as Jordan Bell failed to box out on consecutive missed free throws, with the Tar Heels grabbing an offensive rebound each time.

"If I would've just boxed out," Bell said with tears running down his face after the game. "I had two opportunities to do it, I missed both of them. We lost the game because of it."

The Tar Heels would hold on for the 77-76 win and advance to the national championship game

No. 1. Missed out-of-bounds call on North Carolina's Kennedy Meeks

With under a minute to go and North Carolina up just one point in the national championship game, Tar Heels forward Kennedy Meeks and Gonzaga guard Silas Melson went to the floor for a loose ball.

While wrestling for possession, Meeks' hand touched the floor out of bounds, which should have stopped play, awarded possession to Gonzaga, and given the Bulldogs one last chance at the win with 26 seconds left on the clock.

Instead, there was no call, and Meeks was able to pass the ball to Isaiah Hicks, who made a basket to make the game 68-65 for the Tar Heels, who would go on to win 71-65.

Missing a blatant call that could have changed the outcome of a game in the biggest game of the season is why many people will remember the 2017 title game for the referees and not for the players.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox