March Madness games of the decade: Ohio State-Xavier at No. 10

Watch the entire Ohio State-Xavier game from March 17, 2007

You've likely seen countless college basketball "Decade" lists by now.

Best players of the decade.

Best moments of the decade.

Best coaches of the decade.

Blah, blah, blah.

But I doubt you've seen a "Decade" list like the one we're putting together here, because not only is it a list of the "10 Best NCAA March Madness games from this decade," it's a list of the "10 Best NCAA March Madness games from this decade" with video of the selected game attached. So you don't have to rely on my memory of what happened to know what happened. You can watch the game yourself, right here, and then debate whether each entry should've been higher, lower or omitted completely.

We'll start the countdown today and continue each Wednesday, meaning on March 10 -- the Wednesday before Selection Sunday -- the top NCAA tournament game from the last decade will be unveiled. So with that, let's get started.

Coming in at No. 10 on the list of the "10 Best NCAA March Madness games from this decade" is ...

Ohio State vs. Xavier (2007)

Mike Conley Jr. gets a big hug from Thad Matta after lifting the Buckeyes in OT. (Getty Images)

It had two programs from the same state against each other, and the Ohio State coach (Thad Matta) facing his old school (Xavier) and former assistant (Sean Miller). So some intriguing story lines were in place even before the start of the second-round game, but those story lines quickly gave way to a wild 40 minutes -- make that 45 minutes -- of basketball.

Xavier led 59-50 with less than three minutes remaining and seemed as in control as Memphis would a year later against Kansas (more on that in the coming weeks, obviously). The Musketeers were on their way to snapping Ohio State's 18-game winning streak and removing a No. 1 seed from the bracket. But then Ron Lewis sank a couple of free throws (59-52 with 2:54 left), Jamar Butler buried a 3-pointer (59-55 with 2:07 left), Lewis got a 3-point play (59-58 with 1:36 left), and the Buckeyes eventually found themselves with the ball and down 62-59 with 9.3 seconds remaining. And, oh yeah, Greg Oden had just fouled out on a hard foul against Justin Cage that Xavier fans to this day insist should've been called an intentional foul.

Wild stuff.

But it got wilder.

After Cage missed the second of two free throws, Mike Conley rushed up the court and found Lewis, who made an overtime-forcing 3-pointer with 2.0 seconds remaining, bringing Miller's decision not to foul while up three points late into question. In the extra period, it was all Conley. The freshman point guard scored Ohio State's first seven points and pushed the Buckeyes to a 78-71 win. Conley finished with 11 points in overtime, 21 in the game.

Now consider the alternatives.

If the officials call an intentional foul on Oden, this ends differently. If Cage makes both free throws, this ends differently. If Xavier fouls Conley while he's bringing the ball up the court in the final nine seconds, this probably ends differently. But none of those things happened, so it ended how it ended, which allowed Conley to showcase his talents through the Final Four. Otherwise, no question, he would've returned to Ohio State for his sophomore season. But Conley was viewed as a serious prospect after leading the Buckeyes to the national title game. So he entered the draft and was picked fourth by the Grizzlies in a development that raises the following question: Did Sean Miller's decision not to foul Mike Conley in the final seconds make Mike Conley roughly $9 million?

Answer: Yes, I think it did.