The 1982 NCAA Division 1 Championship Game was between the Georgetown Hoyas, led by Patrick Ewing and Eric "Sleepy" Floyd, versus the North Carolina Tar Heels, led by James Worthy, Sam Perkins, and a young Michael Jordan.

The championship matchup was tightly contested throughout, with no team ever leading by more than a few points, and 15 lead changes in the game overall. With slightly over a minute to go, Sleepy Floyd scored to put Georgetown on top, 62-61. After a timeout, Carolina worked the ball to its young freshman guard, Michael Jordan, who hit a jumper from the left wing with 17 seconds to go to put Carolina back on top, 63-62. Georgetown did not call timeout but immediately pushed the ball up the court. However, guard Fred Brown mistook Carolina's James Worthy for a teammate and passed the ball right to his opponent. Worthy was fouled with 2 seconds to go. He missed both free throws, but with no timeouts left (Georgetown coach John Thompson, in a questionable move, used his last one before Worthy's free throws rather than save it to set up a final play) the Hoyas' last desperation shot fell short.

Aside from the dramatic finish in the final minute, the 1982 NCAA championship game is today primarily remembered as being the stage on which several eventual basketball legends were introduced to a national audience, particularly Michael Jordan of North Carolina and Georgetown's Patrick Ewing, both 19-year-old freshmen at the time of this game. Both had outstanding games, Jordan with 16 points including the game-winner, and Ewing with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Jordan and Ewing went on to Hall of Fame careers in the National Basketball Association.