Ranking Utah's best March Madness moments in recent memory

The 2025-26 campaign was a blemish on Utah's rather proud and accomplished basketball history, which is highlighted by 29 NCAA Tournament appearances, four Final Four berths and the program's 1944 national championship win.

While a majority of the Utes' finest moments on the hardwood occurred over 30 years ago, there have been bright spots over the past couple decades, including a few during the height of March Madness.

Let's take a look at three of Utah's most memorable NCAA Tournament games in the past 25 years.

3. Dominate First Round Victory Over Fresno State (2016)

Utah Utes guard Lorenzo Bonam (15). — Utah Utes guard Lorenzo Bonam (15) strips the ball from Fresno State Bulldogs guard Marvelle Harris (23) in the first half of Utah vs Fresno State in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Pepsi Center. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

After appearing in the Sweet 16 the year prior, Utah went into the 2015-16 campaign with a lot of momentum. Yes, the Utes lost Delon Wright to the NBA in the offseason, but Jakob Poeltl was already a stud going into his sophomore year, and Kyle Kuzma was taking the next steps in his development following his freshman season. Jordan Loveridge, Brandon Taylor and Dakari Tucker were back in the fold as well, giving Larry Krystkowiak and his staff a nice blend of youth and experienced talent to work with as they built off the 26-win campaign from 2014-15.

The Utes earned marque nonconference wins over San Diego State, BYU and Duke, then won 12 of their final 14 regular season games to strengthen their NCAA Tournament at-large case. A couple of wins over USC and Cal in the Pac-12 tournament helped too, and despite getting blown out by Oregon in the title game, Utah earned a No. 3 seed and a trip to Denver for the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Awaiting the Utes was a red-hot Fresno State squad that went into the matchup having won its last nine games and boasted a 25-9 record. The Bulldogs put up a fight early on, though rather than call a timeout, Krystkowiak let his players figure things out for themselves.

The result? The Utes seized control with a 19-2 scoring run and managed to pull out an 80-69 win behind 16 points and a career-high 18 rebounds from Poeltl, who shook off a slow start to galvanize Utah to its third tournament win in the span of two seasons.

Unfortunately for Utah, it would also be its last NCAA Tournament victory for the next decade. The Utes ran into another dominant big man — Domantas Sabonis — and a feisty Gonzaga squad in the second round, and have not been back to the tournament since.

2. Comeback Win Over Georgetown (2015)

Utah Utes head coach Larry Krystkowiak (left) and guard Brandon Taylor (11). — Utah Utes head coach Larry Krystkowiak (left) and guard Brandon Taylor (11) celebrate after the game against the Georgetown Hoyas in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Moda Center. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Going into the 2014-15 season, Utah hadn't advanced past the first round in about a decade. But with Wright back for another year and a talented freshman in Poeltl headlining the frontcourt, it was expected the fruits of Krystkowiak's efforts in rebuilding the program would be realized in his fourth season at the helm.

The Utes crushed the first two months of the season, winning 16 of their first 20 games while stifling opposing offenses and dictating the pace of each contest. Utah ranked No. 6 in the country in defensive efficiency and No. 328 in tempo, making for a nasty combination of grit and precision as its identity.

A so-so finish to the regular season and loss in the Pac-12 semifinals to Oregon didn't send the Utes into the 68-team tournament on a high note, though they still got placed on the 5-seed line and only had to travel one time zone over for the first weekend, which they spent in Portland at the Moda Center.

After surviving 12-seed Stephen F. Austin, Utah found itself in a double-digit hole early against 4-seeded Georgetown in their second round matchup. Krystkowiak called out a timeout (this time) with his team trailing 21-10, and Utah responded with an 11-2 run of its own to knot things up at 32 apiece going into halftime.

Utah, which didn't roster a single player with NCAA Tournament experience, put together another timely spurt in the second half to keep the Hoyas at arm's length the rest of the way, securing a 75-64 victory and the program's first Sweet 16 berth since 2005. The Utes went an efficient 22-of-38 from the field and shot 23-of-32 at the free-throw line.

1. Second Round Upset Over Oklahoma (2005)

The 2004-05 campaign was the beginning of a new era of Utah men's basketball. The Rick Majerus chapter had just closed, and the program was several years removed from its national runner-up finish in 1998 with zero second weekend appearances to show for going into Ray Giacoletti's first season in charge.

The good news: Andrew Bogut was back for his sophomore season after nearly averaging a double-double as a freshman.

The floppy-haired 7-footer from Australia not only reached that threshold in 2004-05; he earned Associated Press Player of the Year honors and was the recipient of both the Naismith Award and Wooden Award with averages of 20.4 points, 12.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks for the Utes, who earned an at-large bid as a No. 6 seed with a 27-5 record.

Utah knocked off UTEP in the first round to set up a date with No. 3 seed Oklahoma in a round of 32 matchup from Tuscon. Kelvin Sampson's Sooners did their best to throw Bogut off his game, but his passing (seven assists) and Utah's 16-4 lead out of the gate wound up being the difference in a 67-58 final.