20 years after Danny Manning led the Kansas Jayhawks to a National Championship, the Jayhawks are once again the best college basketball team in the land. Kansas defeated Memphis 75-68 in overtime to win the 2008 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship. Memphis had one foot in the winner’s circle as they used a 20-8 run late in regulation to extend to their largest lead of nine with 2:12 remaining. But Kansas Head Coach Bill Self decided to force the Tigers to win the game at the free throw line. Memphis had struggled shooting free throws all season long, and the championship game was no exception. Their failure to make foul shots with the season on the line left the door open for the Jayhawks. Mario Chalmers completed the exciting comeback with a contested three-pointer that tied the score with 2.1 seconds to play in regulation. The half-court shot from Memphis at the buzzer bounced off the upper part of the backboard.

Rejuvenated by their new life Kansas scored the first six points of the extra period and made all of their free throws in overtime to pull away. Darrell Arthur led Kansas with 20 points, and Chalmers was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. For Memphis, Chris Douglas-Roberts scored a game high 22 points in the losing effort. It was only the second loss of the year for the Memphis Tigers.