A comprehensive and in-depth history of the NCAA men's
basketball Tournament offers a genuine look at individual and
collective adversities and strengths. It is a looking glass for
human hope, excellence and positive social change. It is, in
short, a microcosm of the human existence, with all of its
exuberance, tragedy and triumph.
The excitement and tradition of "March Madness" as we know it
today has been shaped by many significant events in NCAA
tournament history: The first NCAA men's basketball tournament
was held in 1939 with the first championship game held at
Northwestern on March 27, 1939. Only eight teams competed in two
regions. Oregon defeated Ohio State in the championship, and the
West region held a third-place game.
Although the NCAA tournament now determines the national
champion, that was not always the case. Until the 1950's, the
NIT was considered a more prestigious tournament than the NCAA,
and teams often chose to enter the NIT and bypass the NCAA
tourney. Because of this dichotomy, two of the best centers of
the 1940's never met in an NCAA tourney. George Mikan's DePaul
team traditionally entered the NIT, while Bob Kurland's Oklahoma
A&M (now Oklahoma State) won two NCAA titles. Several schools
entered both tournaments. One such team, City College of New
York (CCNY) led by Irwin Dambrot, won both in 1950. Ironically,
CCNY defeated Bradley University in the finals of both
tournaments. Another school, Utah in 1944, entered the NIT, lost
in the first round, and then went on to win the NCAA title.
Kentucky pulled off a similar accomplishment in 1949, losing in
the second round of the NIT and then going on to win the NCAA
Tournament.
In 1941, the East region added a third-place game into the
schedule, and in 1946, a national third-place game was held for
the first time; the game would be a fixture until 1980. In 1951,
the tournament expanded to 16 teams, and in 1952, Seattle was
the site of the first true "Final Four," with both semifinal
games and the championship game in one city. It was 1956 when
the tournament was divided into four regions. Some of the most
astounding and telling events in college basketball were to
follow: North Carolina defeated Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas
54-53 in three overtimes to win the title in 1957. The legend of
dominance emerged in 1962 when John Wooden's UCLA team makes the
first of 13 Final Four appearances over the next 15 seasons.
Reflecting the race and civil rights issues of the time, Loyola
(Illinois) was matched up with Mississippi State in a 1963 men's
basketball tournament regional semifinal. Mississippi State, an
all-white team, fled the town in the middle of the night despite
protests from the governor and state police of Mississippi to
play a Loyola team that features four black starters.
Mississippi State overcame an unwritten Mississippi rule against
playing integrated teams with a cloak-and-dagger flight to the
North just one step ahead of a court injunction. Triumphantly,
Loyola beat Mississippi State and went on to win the title. In
1966, Texas Western (now UTEP), with an all-black starting five,
defeats an all-white Kentucky team to win the national title.
In 1973, with the championship game held on Monday night for the
first time, UCLA behind Bill Walton's 44 points on 21 of 22
shooting, won its seventh straight championship, defeating
Memphis State. NC State, led by David Thompson, ends UCLA's
title run in 1974, defeating the Bruins in the national
semifinals in double overtime.
The following year, the NCAA tournament expanded to 32 teams,
and then allowed more than one school from each conference to
participate. Prior to this ruling, the restriction prevented
several great teams from competing in the tournament, including
the 1974 Maryland team. They finished the season nationally
ranked #4, yet lost the ACC Conference final game to top-ranked
NC State prior to the start of the tournament. After that, the
NCAA began to allow more than one team per conference to
participate. In 1976, Bobby Knight's Indiana Hoosier squad
completed an undefeated season with a victory over Michigan in
the championship game. The Hoosiers are the last team to go
undefeated and win the title.
The tournament expanded to 40 teams in 1979, and teams were
seeded for the first time. "Magic" Earvin Johnson leads
Michigan State over Larry Bird and Indiana State to win the
national championship. The game drew the attention of millions
throughout the country; its 24.1 TV rating remains the highest
ever for a college basketball game and is still considered one
of the greatest match-ups in NCAA Tournament history.
Expansion followed in 1980 to 48 teams, and then in 1983, to 53
teams. In what many believe is the greatest Cinderella story in
college basketball, North Carolina State's Lorenzo Charles dunks
the ball as time expires in the 1983 championship game to lead
the Wolfpack to a 54-52 win over heavily favored Akeem Olajuwon
and Houston. Perhaps no one figure in college basketball history
more personified the spirit of March Madness than Coach Jim
Valvano. His underdog North Carolina State Wolfpack did what
many consider a miracle by making an incredible run through the
1983 Tournament. Culminating in the defeat of the highly touted
"Phi Slamma Jamma" squad from the University of Houston, Valvano
was rocketed into the media limelight and quickly became the
symbol of exuberance and enthusiasm. He discovered soon
afterward that he had bone cancer, and for a short time became a
commentator for college basketball. Before his death at age 47,
he was named the recipient of the Arthur Ashe award for courage
at the first ESPN ESPY awards. It was at this time he announced
the formation of the V Foundation for cancer research.
In 1985 the tournament expanded to 64 teams. A Villanova
Wildcat team shot a 22 for 28 field goal percentage to defeat
Patrick Ewing and defending champion Georgetown in the
championship game. Villanova remains the lowest seed (#8) to win
the championship. In 1991, Duke upset undefeated UNLV in the
semifinals and went on to win the national championship. In
1997, Arizona, led by Mike Bibby, Jason Terry and Miles Simon,
becomes the first school to defeat three #1 seeds en route to
the national championship, winning against Kansas, North
Carolina and Kentucky.
The NCAA Tournament's popularity has grown to rival that of the
World Series, the Olympics and the Super Bowl. CBS Sports in
1999 negotiated an 11-year, $6 billion agreement for television,
radio, Internet, corporate marketing, licensing, publishing,
home video and Hoop City rights for the Division I men's
basketball championship.
In 2002, the NCAA tournament committee developed a "pod" system
for the first and second rounds. The system allows the top four
seeds to play at a site as close to home as possible, without
regard to the school's tournament region. In that year's
tournament, Maryland became the first school to defeat five
former national champions on their way to win their first title.
In 2004, the regions became known by the regional final's host
city instead of by their geographic names. The Final Four
match-ups were set by committee prior to the tournament instead
of on a rotating basis. Connecticut, behind center Emeka
Okafor, won its second title in six seasons. Last year, 2005,
Roy William's North Carolina Tar Heels led by Sean May, held off
the Fighting Illini to win the title game by a final score of
75-70. a Adversity, tragedy, and ultimate triumph; the
downtrodden and beleaguered emerge through the journey as
champions. The drama of hope intensified to euphoria, only to be
dashed on the rocks of defeat in the ultimate test of poise and
determination. The human experience in all its excellence and
all its failures. Yes, this Tournament has it all.
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