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This afternoon Twitter, I posed a seemingly simple question: Outside of the three national championship games, what is your favorite all-time Louisville NCAA Tournament victory? You could give any reason you wanted as justification, the only qualification was that you had to have been alive to witness the game in question.
The responses were both numerous and entertaining, as plenty of folks grappled with this question of paramount fan importance. With 165 votes cast, here are the results and a few of the rationales behind them:
1. 2005 Elite 8 vs. West Virginia (67)
@CardChronicle West Virginia '05 to finally get back to the Final Four. No other team in the country would have come back to win that.
— ross schulz (@rossschulz) March 18, 2015
@CardChronicle WVU '05 without doubt. They shot 18-27 from 3 (18-27!) and we came back from 20 down. On paper it seems impossible we won.
— William George (@willkgeorge) March 18, 2015
@CardChronicle West Virginia in 2005. Down by 10 with 6 to play and won in OT to go to Final 4. Almost got Pittsnogled.
— Scott Snider (@HoopzJunkie) March 18, 2015
2. 2012 Elite 8 vs. Florida (21)
@CardChronicle 2012 elite 8 win over Florida. It was my first year in the pep band travelling with the team, and it was awesome
— Joshua Jackson (@JoshuaTJackson) March 18, 2015
@CardChronicle 2012 Elite 8 vs. Florida always sticks out to me. Down double digits, Siva fouled out, Final Four season NO ONE expected
— CardinalStrong (@CardinaIStrong) March 18, 2015
3. 1983 Elite 8 "Dream Game" vs. Kentucky (20)
@CardChronicle Pretty easy for us old guys...1983 Dream Game.
— AzCard (@AzCard81) March 18, 2015
@CardChronicle Dream. Game. There will never be anything to match it in my opinion. #L1C4
— Sean Ash (@SeanWTHR) March 18, 2015
4. 2013 Elite 8 "Kevin Ware Game" vs. Duke (19)
@cardchronicle Duke in 2013. So many emotions during that game man. After that game you almost felt like it was meant to be.
— Steven Whitworth (@SMWHIT1991) March 18, 2015
@CardChronicle the Duke win in 2013 stands out to me. An absolute slaughter but both teams/fans came together for Ware. Respect K for that
— BeatUCIrvine (@CARDSALLDAY26) March 18, 2015
5. 2012 Sweet 16 vs. Michigan State (10)
@CardChronicle Michigan State - Gorgui 3 - Swop hot from outside - Tom Izzo angry
— Maxwell Morley (@MaxwellMorley) March 18, 2015
@CardChronicle Michigan St. Sweet 16. Nobody picked UofL revenge for 2010, Gorgui's 3 disgusting Izzo, Russ forcing frustration off. foul.
— Mark Ennis (@MarkEnnis) March 18, 2015
6. 2013 Final 4 vs. Wichita State
@CardChronicle 2013 Final Four: UofL vs Wichita State. Hendo goes from Louisville fandom to Louisville legend. #HendoShootsAThree #MaybeMore
— Colin Kurayama (@japanman76) March 18, 2015
@CardChronicle wichita state bc @T_Henny15 is my cousin
— Ben Soto (@bensoto1) March 18, 2015
7. 2009 Sweet 16 vs. Arizona
@CardChronicle UL 103 Arizona 64 in '09 Sweet 16. Best team basketball I can remember live. TWill + Earl looked like Top 5 picks that day.
— Chad Brizendine (@ChadBrizendine) March 18, 2015
Other Games Receiving Multiple Votes:
2008 second round vs. Oklahoma
2012 second round vs. New Mexico
1996 second round vs. Villanova
1983 Sweet 16 vs. Arkansas
Other Games Receiving Single Votes:
1997 Sweet 16 vs. Arkansas
1996 first round vs. Tulsa
1986 Sweet 16 vs. North Carolina
2008 Sweet 16 vs. Tennessee
1986 Final Four vs. LSU
1990 first round vs. Idaho
Personally, I have to go with the herd here and say the 2005 West Virginia game is my No. 1.
My No. 2, though, is that '96 first round game against Tulsa, because I have never given up on a game more in my life than I had on that one. I had spent the bulk of my 11-year-old existence looking forward to the tournament that year, and it seemed destined to end in the snap of a finger. I remember walking out of the room at the under 4 timeout with Louisville trailing by 13 and thinking that I was going to cry. I went outside and shot basketball in our driveway, and refused to come inside when my dad started shouting updates about the massive comeback. We won in overtime, of course, and then upset Kerry Kittles and Villanova two days later to send my 5th grade euphoria into the next week. It was awesome.