Another men’s NCAA Tournament is in the books, and that means it is time for one of the tournament’s greatest traditions: ‘One Shining Moment.’
And to no surprise, the ‘One Shining Moment’ for the 2025 NCAA Tournament didn’t disappoint.
Since the 1987 NCAA Tournament, ‘One Shining Moment’ has served as the soundtrack to March Madness as it includes all the roars, cries, celebration leaps, buzzer beaters, winning plays and everything in between that makes the NCAA Tournament one of the greatest postseason tournaments in the sports world.
Though the Final Four was all chalk and there weren’t any Cinderellas after the second round, the men’s NCAA Tournament still created some overnight sensations and historic moments.
Perhaps the most famous overnight sensation was Amir ‘Aura’ Khan, the McNeese student manager who became one of the most popular people of the first weekend in Providence, Rhode Island. Alabama State’s chaotic Hail Mary game-winning shot in the First Four vs. Saint Francis (Pa.) even made it too!
The 2025 men’s NCAA Tournament also saw the revival of John Calipari, as the Hall of Fame coach led Arkansas to back-to-back upsets against Bill Self’s Kansas Jayhawks and Rick Pitino’s St. John’s Red Storm en route to his first Sweet 16 appearance since 2019.
Derik Queen hit one of the biggest shots of the entire tournament in the second round for Maryland on a buzzer-beater to avoid an upset to Colorado State. Speaking of big shots, Alabama broke Loyola Marymount’s NCAA Tournament record for most 3-pointers in a single game when it hit 25 triples against BYU in the Sweet 16.
Cooper Flagg and Johni Broome put their respective teams on their backs in the postseason by leading Duke and Auburn to the Final Four, while creating some highlight reel moments along the run. En Route to its second Final Four appearance in the last five years, Kelvin Sampson drew up one of the top plays in the tournament with that inbound pass against Purdue to send Houston to the Elite Eight.
And of course, it included the final play of Monday’s national championship thriller between Florida and Houston that put the Gators back on the top of college basketball.
‘One Shining Moment’ lyrics
‘The ball is tippedAnd there you areYou’re running for your lifeYou’re a shooting starAnd all the yearsNo one knowsJust how hard you workedBut now it shows…(in) One Shining Moment, it’s all on the lineOne Shining Moment, there frozen in time…
But time is shortAnd the road is longIn the blinking of an eyeAh that moment’s goneAnd when it’s doneWin or loseYou always did your bestCuz inside you knew…(that) One Shining Moment, you reached deep insideOne Shining Moment, you knew you were alive…
Feel the beat of your heartFeel the wind in your faceIt’s more than a contestIt’s more than a race…
And when it’s doneWin or loseYou always did your bestCuz inside you knew…(that) One Shining Moment, you reached for the skyOne Shining Moment, you knewOne Shining Moment, you were willing to tryOne Shining Moment, you knewOne Shining Moment….‘
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.