By Mike DeCourcy

updated 8:52 p.m. ET Dec. 29, 2008

Mike DeCourcy

Top stories of 2008

1. Steph Curry becomes a star. He was not the college player of the year, and he wasn't eligible to be most outstanding player at the Final Four, because Davidson didn't make it. But Curry's scoring blitz through the NCAA Tournament introduced the nation to a basketball wizard, made a tiny liberal arts college into a national sports brand and reminded everyone who watched why this is the nation's best sporting event.

2. The Indiana implosion. Until IU broke its losing streak by hiring Tom Crean to clean up a colossal mess, everything the university did in regards to its basketball program was like amateur hour. From neglecting to monitor Kelvin Sampson and his staff to missing some small mistakes that turned into huge issues to trying to pin everything on an assistant coach, the IU administration got precisely the disaster it deserved. Some of the game's best fans are suffering the consequences, but Crean will rescue them, soon.

3. Tyler Hansbrough returns. You know how long it's been since the winner of the USBWA's Oscar Robertson Trophy returned for another year? More than a quarter-century. Hansbrough has a strong sense of the legacy he is building with the Tar Heels and a fierce desire to top that off with an NCAA championship.

4. Four No. 1s make history. If ever there were a season in which all four No. 1 seeds were going to make it to the Final Four, it was going to be 2008. Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina and UCLA entered the season loaded with NBA-level talent, won big in nonconference, dominated their leagues and only stumbled a few times each. Their gathering at San Antonio's Alamodome promised one of the great Final Four Saturdays ever. OK, so that was one promise broken.

5. Kansas' crushing comeback. We could argue for years about the biggest play in KU's scramble from a daunting deficit to force overtime against Memphis in the NCAA championship game. (For the record, it was not Mario Chalmers' 3-pointer at the buzzer; it was the stolen inbounds pass and Sherron Collins' 3-pointer that cut the Jayhawks' deficit from nine points to six in a flash).

Top surprises of 2008

1. The title that got away. The first time Memphis reached the NCAA championship game, in 1973, Bill Walton and UCLA were so dominant there was no real reason to hurt. Play that game 100 times, UCLA wins 100. But in April the Tigers held a 9-point lead on Kansas with 2:12 remaining in the title game. A key turnover, a foolish foul, some missed free throws, a timeout that was kept in the pocket — everything had to go just wrong for Memphis not to leave San Antonio with the national championship. And everything did.

Slideshow Nittany Lions, Tigers and Bearcats, oh my! Check out some of the mascots from around the college hoops world. NBCSports.com

2. The SEC saves Kentucky. After the Wildcats fell to 6-7 with a nonconference loss to Louisville, it appeared their only chance to reach the NCAA Tournament was by winning the SEC's automatic bid. The SEC did rescue UK. As senior guards Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley began to accept new coach Billy Gillispie's aggressive style, other league members rolled over and allowed the Wildcats to build a 12-4 conference mark.

3. Blake is back. Some of the mock draft folks were placing Oklahoma power forward Blake Griffin as high as No. 3 on the 2008 NBA draft board, which usually will entice starstruck collegians to file for early entry. Griffin chose to be different. He knew he wasn't nearly ready for the NBA and decided to stick around for another season with the Sooners.

4. We knew he was good, but this good? In only his second season as Michigan head coach, John Beilein led the Wolverines to nonleague victories over top-10 powers UCLA and Duke. It didn't seem possible he could invigorate this lifeless program so quickly, but he was able to convince gifted forwards DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris his unconventional offense could work for them. Michigan hasn't been to the NCAAs since 1998, but that drought should end.

5. It's not a sprint, it's the New York marathon. Recovering from an injury-riddled season in which forward Mike Cook was lost for the season with a torn ACL and point guard Levance Fields missed six weeks with a broken foot, Pitt had to win four games in four days to conquer the Big East Tournament. And the Panthers did. When Cook celebrated that unlikely championship with his teammates, it was a great reminder that not all the important basketball is played in the NCAAs.

Stories to watch in 2009

1. Where will UNC 2009 rank in history? Will the Tar Heels join Kentucky 1996, Duke 1992, North Carolina 1982 and UCLA 1969 — and a few others — in the pantheon of the greatest NCAA champions? Will they be filed away with UNLV 1991, Duke 1999, Indiana 1975 and Ohio State 1961 among the best teams to fall short? Or will this North Carolina edition just become a rank-and-file member in either category?

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