Crying Jordan Can't Be Wrong: Villanova-North Carolina Was The Best NCAA Title Game Ever

This feature is part of VICE Sports' March Madness coverage.

Villanova beat North Carolina 77-74 on a buzzer-beater to win the National Championship, which you know because everyone is talking about it today. They are approaching strangers and embracing them. Estranged couples are texting each other "Kris Jenkins wow." It was a game for the ages, featuring two ridiculous shots in the last five seconds, and so capped off a wild college basketball season in a fitting way. Here's the best of everything from an incredible night.

While March Madness historical montages suggest otherwise, the truth is that jaw-dropping, late-game shots are rare in college basketball. For them to happen, the game has to be close, and the stakes have to be high. It's not often those two scenarios collide, and it's extra rare for them to collide in the National Championship. Not only did the stars align on Monday, but we got not one but two jaw-dropping late-game shots.

Villanova's shot at the buzzer is the one that will be remembered forever. You could call it the most memorable college shot since Mario Chalmers' buzzer-beater to send the Kansas-Memphis title game to overtime in 2008, but that does Villanova's Kris Jenkins a disservice; as a straight-up game-winner, his was even more dramatic.

With one second left, Jenkins lined up for a long three and fired a perfect strike. After the ball dropped through hoop, he seemed anything but surprised:

That shot alone would make this game an instant classic, but the shot that came before it was just as good. Possibly even better on a sheer physical-degree-of-difficulty scale. With five seconds left, and down North Carolina trailing by three points, the Tar Heels' Marcus Paige hit a deep, contested, double-clutch, body-contorting three-pointer to tie the game:

There have been some good endings to National Championships—eternal thanks to Butler and North Carolina State—but none have been as doubly-dramatic as Monday night's.

Title games often get sloppy. Teams are nervous—these are college-age kids playing the most important game they've ever played on a weird elevated court in the middle of a football stadium, after all—and the shots don't fall. That wasn't the case in this one, though, which featured the top two teams in the KenPom.com offensive efficiency ratings for the first time since 2008.

Villanova scored 1.2 points per possession, while North Carolina finished at 1.16; neither team finished with an unreasonable number of turnovers, and neither ever led the game by more than 10. The Wildcats shot 57 percent from beyond the arc, while the Tar Heels, a typically bad three-point shooting team, shot an incredible 65 percent from outside—and still lost!

The stars showed up, too. Ryan Arcidiacono, Josh Hart, Kris Jenkins, and Phil Booth all had at least 12 points for Villanova, while Brice Johnson shot 60 percent from the floor and Marcus Paige was 4-for-7 from three for North Carolina.

Sometimes games are fun because they're close. Sometimes they're fun because they're well-played. This one had both, putting it in contention for the best title game of all-time.

There were some doozies, but perhaps the best was Villanova coach Jay Wright, who didn't even flinch after the shot fell. His only reaction was to say "bang" when the shot went off:

There's no other way you'd expect the freshest dresser in college sports to act. On the flip side was television analyst-cum-hoops raconteur Charles Barkley, who absolutely could not contain himself:

Thrill of victory… Agony of defeat. — NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT)April 5, 2016

Then there was this security guard, who was absolutely stunned:

Fans watching at The Pavilion, Villanova's on-campus home, went berserk, because of course they did:

The final seconds… No one in The Pavillion tonight will forget this moment. — Kaylee Hartung (@KayleeHartung)April 5, 2016

Even North Carolina alum Michael Jordan, himself a pretty good college player with a flair for dramatic title game shots before he became the everyone's favorite meme, recognized the greatness, saying "good shot" after it went in:

Speaking of the everyone's favorite meme: I did not have a rooting interest in this game at all, but a little part of me wanted Villanova to win so we could use the Crying Jordan meme on Jordan himself.

Boy, did Twitter not disappoint:

Oh no fam. — Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini)April 5, 2016

UNC fans right now — Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport)April 5, 2016

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog)April 5, 2016

— The Cauldron (ICYMI) (@CauldronICYMI)April 5, 2016

Crying Villanova piccolo girl even made an appearance!

Michael Jordan no longer cries when he is sad, he plays the piccolo. — SB Nation GIF (@SBNationGIF)April 5, 2016

The NCAA claims that college basketball is an "amateur" sport, despite the fact that March Madness brings in $700 million per year in TV money alone.

And despite the association's absurd claim that it helps fight commercial exploitation of athletes, the National Championship is the best example of rampant commercialism in college sports.

Consider:

●The National Championship was played in a football stadium so the NCAA could sell 70,000 tickets, as opposed to the 20,000 or so it could sell in a basketball arena.

●The game started at 9:15 p.m. ET because that's when the TV networks wanted it on.

●It was broadcast on three different channels, with three different audio streams, to capitalize on ad revenue.

Everybody gets a piece of that money, except the athletes. Even the referees make $2,000 per game.

But there's one anecdote that trumps the rest. You know that magical moment when the winning team gets to cut down the nets? That's sponsored, too. The NCAA has an official scissors and an official ladder:

There's an official net-cutting scissors. — Jon Solomon (@JonSolomonCBS)April 5, 2016

Got that branded ladder! — Kevin Trahan (@k_trahan)March 28, 2016

What a heartwarming scene, and all for the love of the game.

As always: you're welcome, America. See you next season!