First the QUIZ- what 'patriotically named' player heaved a half court shot ,at the buzzer,to stun the defending champion (1980) Louisville Cardinals? easy question___ _____ ?
Anyone who has followed this tourney for the past 25-30 years will easily remember that one.
It was 25 years ago this weekend (hard to fathom it's been 25 years) the madness really became just that!
What if I told you that on one day in March, a defending champ had been defeated by a heave at the buzzer, that a team with a 27-1 record and No. 1 national ranking lost at the buzzer and that a team with a 26-1 record and No. 2 ranking had lost at the buzzer?
You'd say that was a pretty significant day of college basketball, wouldn't you?
And suppose I told you that on top of that, teams ranked 3, 8, 10, 11 and 13 all lost as well . . . within 24 hours? Chances are that would be one of the phenomenal weekends in college hoops history, right?
Twenty-five years ago, there was just such a weekend
How about this for starters? In the second round of the tournament, on Saturday, March 14, 1981, the following teams all lost....... No. 1 DePaul (27-1) with first-team all-American Mark Aguirre, No. 2 Oregon State (26-1) with first-team all-America Steve Johnson and No. 3 Arizona State (24-3).</NITF>
<NITF>DePaul lost to Saint Joseph's, 49-48.</NITF>
<NITF>Kansas State's Rolando Blackman beat Oregon State, 50-48, at the buzzer.</NITF>
<NITF>Kansas (who was not a great program at the time) whipped Arizona State, 88-71.</NITF>
<NITF>And they were out. One and done.
</NITF>
<NITF>Not only that but on that same Saturday, March 14, Arkansas guard ******* threw in a shot at the buzzer to beat Louisville ...... the defending champion and 12th-ranked team -- 74-73.</NITF>
<NITF>
Also that same weekend, Danny Ainge scored 29 in the first half to lead Brigham Young past UCLA, 78-55.</NITF>
<NITF>I'd say that's a pretty good weekend.</NITF>
<NITF>Yes, the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird NCAA championship game of 1979 is the game that juiced up the tournament
I will aways remember back to this weekend as the greatest in college basketball and what made March Madness what it is today.<NITF>
Journeyman
Anyone who has followed this tourney for the past 25-30 years will easily remember that one.
It was 25 years ago this weekend (hard to fathom it's been 25 years) the madness really became just that!
What if I told you that on one day in March, a defending champ had been defeated by a heave at the buzzer, that a team with a 27-1 record and No. 1 national ranking lost at the buzzer and that a team with a 26-1 record and No. 2 ranking had lost at the buzzer?
You'd say that was a pretty significant day of college basketball, wouldn't you?
And suppose I told you that on top of that, teams ranked 3, 8, 10, 11 and 13 all lost as well . . . within 24 hours? Chances are that would be one of the phenomenal weekends in college hoops history, right?
Twenty-five years ago, there was just such a weekend
How about this for starters? In the second round of the tournament, on Saturday, March 14, 1981, the following teams all lost....... No. 1 DePaul (27-1) with first-team all-American Mark Aguirre, No. 2 Oregon State (26-1) with first-team all-America Steve Johnson and No. 3 Arizona State (24-3).</NITF>
<NITF>DePaul lost to Saint Joseph's, 49-48.</NITF>
<NITF>Kansas State's Rolando Blackman beat Oregon State, 50-48, at the buzzer.</NITF>
<NITF>Kansas (who was not a great program at the time) whipped Arizona State, 88-71.</NITF>
<NITF>And they were out. One and done.
</NITF>
<NITF>Not only that but on that same Saturday, March 14, Arkansas guard ******* threw in a shot at the buzzer to beat Louisville ...... the defending champion and 12th-ranked team -- 74-73.</NITF>
<NITF>
Also that same weekend, Danny Ainge scored 29 in the first half to lead Brigham Young past UCLA, 78-55.</NITF>
<NITF>I'd say that's a pretty good weekend.</NITF>
<NITF>Yes, the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird NCAA championship game of 1979 is the game that juiced up the tournament
I will aways remember back to this weekend as the greatest in college basketball and what made March Madness what it is today.<NITF>
Journeyman