5 more of the greatest finishes in NCAA tournament finals history

Monday night's national championship between Villanova and North Carolina arguably featured the greatest finish to any title game in NCAA tournament history.

Plenty of final bouts have come down to the wire, though. Here are five other games that could make a case for having the greatest conclusion to a national championship contest:

5. Hakim Warrick redeems himself with 'The Block' (Syracuse vs. Kansas, 2003)

Hakim Warrick stood at the charity stripe with under 15 seconds left, his team up three, and two chances to push the Syracuse lead to four. Incredibly, he missed both free throws, giving Kansas a chance to tie ... or not.

Warrick came through with a flying block on Michael Lee in the final seconds to save the game and secure a ring for Jim Boeheim, Carmelo Anthony, and the rest of the Orange.

4. Butler and the shot that almost was (Butler vs. Duke, 2010)

It would have been one of the greatest upsets in NCAA tournament finals history. Gordon Hayward had two opportunities to put Butler ahead of Duke in the game's dying moments, but a fall-away jumper from the baseline hit the back rim, and his second attempt - a half-court prayer that was nearly answered - simply wasn't meant to be.

3. The legend of MJ begins (North Carolina vs. Georgetown, 1982)

Long before Kris Jenkins left Michael Jordan looking like this ...

... Jordan left Georgetown fans looking much the same way. As a freshman in 1982, Jordan hit the go-ahead shot for the Tar Heels. While the Hoyas had 15 seconds left to answer, they turned the ball over, making Jordan's bucket the difference.

2. Villanova pulls off the upset 31 years earlier (Villanova vs. Georgetown, 1985)

Villanova was a 10-point underdog to a Georgetown team led by Patrick Ewing. Not many gave the No. 8 Wildcats a serious chance to beat the Hoyas, but they proved the nation wrong by knocking down all but one of their shot attempts in the second half, en route to capturing the program's first ever national title.

1. Lorenzo Charles' dunk sends Jim Valvano up and down the court (NC State vs. Houston, 1983)

Time winding down, national championship on the line, and NC State's a point away from a major upset over Hakeem Olajuwon and Houston. Dereck Whittenburg shoots, and it ... is ... an air ball?

That's exactly how the game would have ended if Houston had remembered to box out Lorenzo Charles. But the Cougars didn't, and Charles turned the errant heave into a title-winning dunk as time expired. That led coach Jim Valvano to produce one of the most iconic images in tournament history by running around the court like a chicken with its head cut off.