Myron Medcalf, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

#Top10Thursday: Moments of the Year

The 2014-15 season was wonderful. Sometimes. And it was certainly memorable.

Here are the top 10 moments from the 2014-15 season. Agree? Disagree? Tell us on Twitter by using #Top10Thursday.

1. Wisconsin ruins Kentucky's push for 40-0

The most interesting narrative of this season changed on Saturday when Wisconsin defeated Kentucky in the Final Four and handed John Calipari's program its first loss of 2014-15. The school was already locked in a legal battle with a local over the rights to the "40-0" trademark. All season, the Wildcats had been the favorites to win the national championship. There were close calls. A bunch of them, but Kentucky's talent always found a way. Until it didn't. The Badgers avenged last season's loss to Kentucky in the Final Four and put a roadblock between the Wildcats and the first perfect season in nearly 40 years.

2. Coach K caps special season with fifth national championship

It can't get much better for Mike Krzyzewski. The longtime Duke leader won his 1,000th game after the Blue Devils defeated St. John's, 77-68, at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 25. Krzyzewski had already entered the "greatest coach of all time" discussion by that point. By winning his fifth national championship on Monday, however, he enhanced his claim for the G.O.A.T. crown. It wasn't a flawless season. Krzyzewski gave an abundance of responsibility to a group of talented freshmen. Earlier this year, Duke lost to NC State and Miami and those youngsters didn't look like national title contenders then. After that, former McDonald's All American Rasheed Sulaimon was dismissed and ultimately linked to an off-court scandal that rocked the program and Coach K. But the Blue Devils persisted through the drama and ended the season atop the most important podium.

3. NCAA drops the hammer on Syracuse

Jim Boeheim had been a legend, too. Perhaps he still is. But the severe penalties the NCAA levied against his program in early March blemished his tenure. As a result of an NCAA investigation that concluded Syracuse "did not control and monitor its athletics programs" for more than a decade, the program lost 12 scholarships and vacated 108 wins. Boeheim, who will appeal the ruling, will be suspended for nine ACC games next season. The school also announced he'll retire in three years. Boeheim has had some highs. This moment, however, is not one of those bright spots in his career.

4. Chris Jones booted off Louisville squad following rape charge

Louisville had already faced a variety of struggles throughout the ACC's gauntlet. Then, the program suffered its most devastating blow when Chris Jones, who'd just led his team to a win over Miami, was dismissed from the program and charged with sexual assault in late February. Just. Like. That. Rick Pitino had lost his starting point guard for the remainder of the season. Pitino said Jones was his best defender and his toughest player. The Cardinals recovered from the loss and reached the Elite Eight. But the Jones situation was a messy chapter for the program.

5. Donnie Tyndall's firing shifts coaching landscape

For months, Tyndall had dealt with the aroma of the NCAA scandal that had ambushed his previous program, Southern Miss. But Tyndall had already accepted the Tennessee gig before things got real at his previous place of employment. The NCAA, however, eventually pounced on him and Tennessee fired him before he was hit with a major penalty. The domino effect that Tyndall's firing sparked sent a veteran to Knoxville and one of the top young coaches in America to Austin. Rick Barnes will lead Tennessee after he was dismissed at Texas. And Shaka Smart left VCU and ventured to Texas. Major moves for both programs. More turbulence ahead for Tyndall, who also dealt with NCAA violations when he was the head coach at Morehead State.

6. Kansas wins its 11th consecutive Big 12 title

OK. So this was supposed to be the year when things fell apart in Lawrence. Bill Self lost Joel Embiid and Andrew Wiggins off last season's squad. He didn't have a great fit at point guard, it seemed, entering the season. He had far more questions than answers. His freshman stars, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Cliff Alexander, struggled early. The streak was in jeopardy. Until it wasn't. Self and Kansas extended the most underrated streak in sports by winning their 11th consecutive Big 12 title. That's 11. In a row. Some of the guys on this team were in elementary school when the streak started. Think about that.

7. Michigan State's Final Four run

At one point, Michigan State looked like a bubble team. The Spartans lost to Texas Southern. They weren't great for stretches of the Big Ten season. A 7-5 chapter wasn't helpful. There were no signs Michigan State would finish this strong. But that's what it did. Its defense picked up. Travis Trice and Denzel Valentine made big plays as the program gained steam in late February and early March. Even then, the Spartans didn't look like a Final Four team. The Spartans, however, ended up in their seventh Final Four under Tom Izzo with a furious rally down the stretch. Because Izzo gon do what Izzo gon do.

8. Wichita State beats Kansas in the second round of the Big Dance

Every year, the NCAA selection committee reemphasizes a key principle of its selection process, one that's often touted as truth: its refusal to seed and position teams according to the appeal of a particular matchup. If that's true, then the selection committee blindly sent Kansas and Wichita State to the same Midwest Region, where they collided in the round of 32. The idea of a rivalry series between Kansas and Wichita State had been reactivated in recent years, but Kansas hasn't invested much into the idea. Who even knows how hard Gregg Marshall has pushed for it. The bottom line is we finally got the Sunflower State matchup we've all wanted to see. And then, Wichita State, which sings background vocals to the powerhouse program in Lawrence, won and knocked Kansas out of the NCAA tournament. Think Shockers fans might talk a little trash for the next few months or decades off this? Yes. Yes, they will.

9. Willie Cauley-Stein destroys Florida basketball with the dunk of the decade

I don't even know how it happened. Florida 44, Kentucky 44. A February SEC matchup between the Wildcats and Gators. Kentucky was on a fast break. It had made a lot of great things happen on fast breaks throughout the year. But this was something else. Cauley-Stein grabbed the rock, took a step and … THAT'S SOMEBODY'S CHILD, WILLIE CAULEY-STEIN! Not sure if you felt it or not, but Cauley-Stein dunked on all of us. Not just Devin Robinson. The whole world. America got some of that. Australia, too. South America? Don't act like you didn't get dunked on, South America. Rule proposal: When these dunks happen in the future, you gotta stop the game and give everybody a chance to recover.

10. NJIT over Michigan in Ann Arbor

The NCAA tournament gave us some big upsets. It always does. Georgia State topped Baylor and UAB defeated Iowa State in the opening round. NC State knocked No. 1 seed Villanova out of the tournament in the second round. But the Big Dance didn't provide any upset that surpassed NJIT's win over Michigan. In early December. In Ann Arbor. At Crisler Arena. None. The NJIT bookstore manager told reporters that some of the students at the prestigious institution that doesn't even have a conference weren't aware their team had won until he told them about it hours later. Michigan State fans wouldn't let their rival forget about it … until the Spartans lost to Texas Southern.

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