*QUIZ* 25 years ago this weekend 'March Madness' took off, buzzer beaters and upsets!

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

US Reed

Pigpen said:

US Reed

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To easy J-man and I was a kid in Jr high when that happened.

Jman when did the tourney go to 64 teams that is when the madness real started I cant remember filling out brackets in high school but todays teens do

Wrigley said:

Jman when did the tourney go to 64 teams that is when the madness real started I cant remember filling out brackets in high school but todays teens do

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Yes easy question it was, more of a look back.

The tourney has evolved over the years, the ACC tournament at one time rivalved the entire NCAA tourney, remember at one point only the tourney *champion* (despite the fact you could be ranked #2 in the country) was the only team that moved on to the NCAA tournament.

Some other interesting facts-

1975 - The tournament expands to 32 teams, and allows more than one school from each conference to participate.

1979 - The tournament expands to 40 teams, and teams are seeded for the first time. Earvin Johnson leads Michigan State over Larry Bird and Indiana State to win the national championship. The matchup drew the attention of millions throughout the country, it's 24.1 TV rating remains the highest ever for a college basketball game.

1980 - The tournament expands to 48 teams.

1983 - The tournament expands to 53 teams. Upstart NC State stuns powerhouse Houston and Akeem Olajuwon on a last-second dunk by Lorenzo Charles to win the national championship. THERE WAS STILL NO 3 POINT SHOT IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT, YET USED IN CONFERENCE .

1985 - The tournament expands to 64 teams. Villanova shoots 22-28 to defeat Patrick Ewing and defending champion Georgetown in the championship game. The Wildcats remain the lowest seed (#8) to win the championship.

Wrigley said:

Jman when did the tourney go to 64 teams that is when the madness real started I cant remember filling out brackets in high school but todays teens do

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I had a good website that had every bracket ,history etc...I will try to find it, I posted it on here last year...can't find it though


Also, the #2 seeds have had a very hard time advancing to the sweet 16 the past several years, something to think about since they are all still alive.