As Florida and Houston square off in the men's NCAA Tournament national championship game in San Antonio, the college basketball world is within earshot of another rendition of March Madness' greatest tradition:
The playing of "One Shining Moment."
Debuted after the 1987 NCAA Tournament, where Indiana defeated Syracuse in the national championship game for its fifth national title in program history, "One Shining Moment" has become the quintessential soundtrack and perfect way to close out March Madness every season since.
Since then, "One Shining Moment" has been played at every men's NCAA Tournament and includes roars, cries, celebration leaps, buzzer beaters and more from that season's run through March Madness.
Here's what you need to on "One Shining Moment," including who sings the song and more:
Who sings 'One Shining Moment' for March Madness?
Though there have been numerous renditions of "One Shining Moment," the one used for March Madness was written and composed by David Barrett and sung by Luther Vandross, as previously noted by For The Win.
"I knew the minute I wrote it that I had something. I'm a Hemingway kind of guy and I knew I had a big one on the line," Barrett said in a March Madness documentary in 2016.
As the legend goes, Barrett wrote the song while living in New York and gave it to his friend, former Sports Illustrated writer Armen Keteyian, who would then bring the demo tape to CBS in 1987.
"I was staying at his apartment and said to Armen, who was a writer for Sports Illustrated at the time, 'Hey man, I wrote a song about basketball and I think I really got it," Barrett said in the documentary.
Added Keteyian, who told Barrett to record it and send a demo to him: "This cassette shows up in the mail and I listen to it. I got chills listening to it. I said to him, 'Dave this is incredible. It's a terrific anthem for college basketball."
When did 'One Shining Moment' debut at March Madness?
"One Shining Moment" debuted at the conclusion of the 1987 men's NCAA Tournament.
However, the song wasn't purchased by CBS for the NCAA Tournament. Instead, it was supposed to be used for Super Bowl 21 on CBS between the
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