Recap of the NCAA Tournament Weekend

Recap of the NCAA Tournament Weekend
www.espn.com

The Sweet 16 includes teams from the Atlantic 10, Horizon League, Ivy League, Missouri Valley Conference and West Coast Conference.
And there's one team from the Pac-10, which only looked like a mid-major league this season.
The final day of the first weekend of the 2010 NCAA tournament was as unpredictable as the first three, as Sunday delivered yet another upset and two more buzzer-beaters.
Now the tournament takes a three-day hiatus before regional semifinals begin Thursday in Salt Lake City and Syracuse, N.Y. College basketball fans can probably use a break after watching one of the most entertaining opening weekends in NCAA tournament history.
And maybe they'll stop celebrating by then on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, N.Y. On Sunday, the 12th-seeded Big Red became the lowest-seeded team to reach the Sweet 16 this year after blasting 4-seed Wisconsin 87-69 in an East Regional second-round game in Jacksonville, Fla. Outside first-round games, it is the second-largest margin of victory ever for a team seeded 12th or lower.
Cornell becomes the first Ivy League team to reach the regional semifinals since Penn advanced to the 1979 Final Four, where the Quakers lost to Michigan State and Earvin "Magic" Johnson in the national semifinals. After going 4-63 all-time against teams ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 poll, the Big Red upset No. 12-ranked Temple and No. 16-ranked Wisconsin in their last two games.
And for the second straight game, one of the country's best defenses had no answer for Cornell's one-two punch of Louis Dale and Ryan Wittman, who combined to score 50 points. The Badgers came into the game ranked fourth in the country in scoring defense (56.2 points per game) and didn't allow more than 50 points in 14 of their games.
Cornell shot 61.1 percent, the highest field goal percentage the Badgers have allowed in the nine-year tenure of coach Bo Ryan.
"We've got eight seniors on this team, and we want to take this ride as long as we can, because after this it's just nothing but babies and memories, so we'll just keep going," Dale told reporters on Sunday.
The Big Red play No. 1-seed Kentucky in Thursday's East Regional semifinals in Syracuse, N.Y., which is about a one-hour drive from the Cornell campus. No. 2-seed West Virginia, a 68-59 winner over 10th-seeded Missouri in Buffalo, N.Y., on Sunday, plays 11th-seeded Washington in the other regional semifinal in Syracuse.
Michigan State, which has become a Sweet 16 staple under coach Tom Izzo, will have to travel a little farther to St. Louis for Friday's Midwest Regional semifinals. But the Spartans' journey there is nearly as remarkable as Cornell's.
In a game that saw four lead-changes in the final 39 seconds, 5th-seeded Spartans beat 4-seed Maryland 85-83 on Korie Lucious' 3-pointer at the buzzer in a second-round game in Spokane, Wash., on Sunday. Michigan State won after losing star guard Kalin Lucas with about 2½ minutes left in the first half. Izzo told reporters after the game that Lucas, a two-time All-Big Ten selection, probably tore the Achilles tendon in his left foot and will miss the rest of the tournament.
In the Midwest Regional semifinals, the Spartans will play 9-seed Northern Iowa, which upset top-ranked Kansas 69-67 in Oklahoma City on Saturday. No. 2-seed Ohio State, a 75-66 winner over Georgia Tech on Sunday, plays 6-seed Tennessee in the other regional semifinal in St. Louis.
The Spartans weren't the only Big Ten team playing short-handed on Sunday. Purdue, which lost star forward Robbie Hummel to a season-ending knee injury on Feb. 24, defeated Texas A&M 63-61 in overtime in a South Regional second-round game in Spokane (the fourth time in five years the Aggies have lost in the NCAA tourney by two points or less). Senior guard Chris Kramer scored six of the No. 4-seeded Boilermakers' eight points in overtime, including the winning layup with 4.2 seconds to play.
"We might not be as good as the team as we are with Robbie as we are without, but our guys come in and give it our all, and you just have to keep dreaming," Kramer told reporters on Sunday.
Purdue plays No. 1-seeded Duke in the South Regional semifinals in Houston on Friday. The Blue Devils reached the Sweet 16 for the 25th time on Sunday by routing No. 8-seeded California 68-53 in a second-round game in Jacksonville, Fla. No. 3-seeded Baylor plays No. 10-seeded Saint Mary's in the other regional semifinal in Houston.
Syracuse, the No. 1 seed in the West Regional, didn't have any problems reaching the Sweet 16, either. The Orange routed 8-seed Gonzaga 87-65 in the second round on Sunday, after beating No. 16-seeded Vermont by 23 points in the first round on Friday. SU forward Wesley Johnson scored 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds against the Zags.
The Orange play No. 5-seed Butler in Salt Lake City in Thursday's West Regional semifinals. No. 2-seed Kansas State plays No. 6-seed Xavier in the other game there.
We can only hope the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight are as exciting as the first two rounds. That might be asking for a lot after what we just witnessed:

• For the first time since the NCAA tournament expanded in 1985, three one-bid conferences (the Horizon League, Ivy League and Missouri Valley Conference) had their teams advance to the Sweet 16.

• Thirteen games were decided by three points or fewer and four games were decided in overtime.

• Lower-seeded teams won 16 of the games during the first two rounds, including 11 won by double-digit seeds.

• The South Regional semifinal game between 1-seed Duke and 4-seed Purdue is the only matchup in which the highest possible seeds reached the Sweet 16. And one could argue that even that matchup is a surprise. If they're honest, most will tell you they didn't have the Robbie Hummel-less Boilermakers in the Sweet 16 in their bracket.

• For the first time in four years, none of the four regions has each of its top four seeds in the Sweet 16. That "Bracket of Death" that we all talked about on Selection Sunday -- the treacherous Midwest? Well, that regional is down to a 2-seed, 5-seed, 6-seed and 9-seed.

• The Big Ten sent three teams (Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue) to the Sweet 16, more than any other conference. Big Ten teams went 7-2 in the first two rounds.

•The Big East, which had eight of its 16 teams playing in the NCAA tournament, has only two teams in the regional semifinals (Syracuse and West Virginia). Big East teams went 6-6 in the first two rounds.

• For the third time in four seasons, only one ACC team (Duke) reached the Sweet 16. Before this current stretch, the conference sent at least two teams to the regional semifinals in each of the previous 27 NCAA tournaments. ACC teams went 5-5 in the first two rounds.

• How's this for parity? Eleven different conferences have teams playing in the regional semifinals, including two teams (Kentucky and Tennessee) from the much-maligned SEC and one team (Washington) from the much-more-maligned Pac-10.

• And for only the third time since 1985, four teams seeded 9th or worse (No. 9 Northern Iowa, No. 10 Saint Mary's, No. 11 Washington and No. 12 Cornell) reached the Sweet 16.

Bottom line: That was one heck of a way to open up the 2010 NCAA tournament.
Enjoy catching your breath over the next few days. Here's hoping we all need more rest after next weekend.


www.cbssportsline.com
NEW YORK -- Northern Iowa's Ali Farokhmanesh still leads the NCAA tournament with two clutch/game-winning shots. But Michigan State's Korie Lucious and Purdue's Chris Kramer pulled within one Sunday, and have you caught your breath yet, college basketball fans?

Let's do the Day 4 Look Back ...

Best game from Sunday: "I told our team when we were up four, up six, whatever it was, we were going to win this game and it's going to be one of the greatest wins in the history of Michigan State," Tom Izzo said afterward, which means he's both an awesome coach and accurate predictor because, absolutely, the Spartans' 85-83 victory over Maryland was just what he promised. It was a win that came despite Kalin Lucas suffering an apparent torn Achilles in the first half, a win that came despite Greivis Vasquez driving and scoring and giving Maryland an 83-82 lead with six seconds remaining. The ball was subsequently pushed up court by Draymond Green, who found Korie Lucious, who took one dribble and drained a jumper that literally moved Izzo to tears. Just a wonderful game, shot, and scene.

Worst game from Sunday: Rick Jackson got his third foul barely nine minutes into a one-point game, which was a potentially devastating development for Syracuse considering Arinze Onuaku was sidelined with an injury. Turns out, it didn't matter one bit because Wesley Johnson was dominating (31 points and 14 rebounds) and Andy Rautins was making shots (5 of 9 on 3-point attempts). That made for an easy 87-65 victory over Gonzaga that'll send the Orange to the Sweet 16 with tons of confidence and momentum regardless of whether Onuaku returns.

Player who deserves improper benefits: Jon Diebler shot well enough in the second half that his non-existent first half didn't matter as Ohio State recorded a 75-66 win over Georgia Tech. Diebler turned an 0-of-3 effort from beyond the arc at the half into a 4-of-10 effort, meaning he went 4 of 7 on 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes to finish with 20 points, second only to Evan Turner's 24.

Player who does not deserve improper benefits: Jermaine Dixon had his worst game of the season at the worst possible time, missing eight of the nine shots he took and finishing with just two points in Pittsburgh's 71-68 loss to Xavier. This is the third time in six years that Pitt has been bounced in the second round.

Why I'm smarter than you think: I'm second in the "CBSSports.com Experts" Bracket Challenge, and the only person ahead of me is Jerry Palm, who has Kansas winning the national title. Perhaps you heard, but Kansas isn't winning the national title. I think that means I'm going to win the "CBSSports.com Experts" Bracket Challenge, which would be fitting because, well, you know.

Why I'm dumber than I think: Despite my domination of the other experts, I had Purdue, Butler, Northern Iowa and Cornell all losing in the first round. Perhaps you heard, but none of those teams did what I expected.

Three things you should know before you go

1. West Virginia committed only 10 turnovers against Missouri, and that was the key in the Mountaineers' 68-59 win. That and Da'Sean Butler's 29 points, of course.

2. Cornell -- according to the guys at BasketballProspectus.com -- scored 1.65 points per possession in its 87-69 win over Wisconsin. Those who follow statistics like these understand the strength of that number. The rest of you will have to trust me when I tell you it's impressive, especially against a coach like Bo Ryan and a team like the Badgers.

3. Duke dominated California and won 68-53 despite Jon Scheyer missing 10 of his 11 field goal attempts, including seven of his eight 3-point attempts. Brian Zoubek made up for the lackluster performance. He got 14 points and 13 rebounds, six of which were offensive.

Final thought: The first four days of the NCAA tournament were incredible for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is how it produced a Sweet 16 that'll feature 11 different conferences. As we move forward, Cornell, Saint Mary's, and Northern Iowa will receive much of the attention, but Purdue advancing to the second weekend should get similar treatment because it's just as good of a story.

Remember, this team lost arguably its best player Feb. 24.

At that point, many expected the Boilermakers to fold.

I was one of them.

But what the nation learned Sunday is that Purdue is too determined for that, too tough for that, too full of pride to take an early loss, mention Robbie Hummel's torn ACL, shrug its shoulders and focus on next season. The Boilermakers could've lost to Texas A&M in the second round and probably should've considering they trailed by 11 points in the second half. But they rallied, forced overtime and won 63-61 on Kramer's buzzer-beating layup, and now this season won't be remembered for what it might've been as much as it'll be remembered for what it is.

So what is it?

It's still in progress.

Admirably, still in progress.

2009 NCAA College Basketball National Champions, North Carolina

Many different articles on last nights game! Not much I can say, except complete domination! It was good to see a group of SENIORS pass up millions of dollars to come back to college to win a national title. I believe this trend will catch on more and more as the years go by. The players sum it up when they say there is not a feeling in the world that compares to winning it all, especially in front of over 70,000 people. Can you imagine? 70,000 people to watch you play the game of basketball. WOW! Then you gotta ask yourself if you're a State fan if it was still fun getting blasted in front of 50,000 of your own fans??????


Nothin’ finer: Carolina cruises to NCAA title
Heels set championship-game records in rout of Spartans; win 5th crown
from www.msnbc.com
For a year, maybe more, North Carolina could feel this national championship coming.
It was a calculated march, and behind the unrelenting play of Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson, the Tar Heels stomped out Michigan State’s inspirational run Monday night with an 89-72 blowout that wasn’t that close.
“I felt like it was fitting for us to do what this group just accomplished,” coach Roy Williams said.
Hansbrough scored 18 points, Ellington had 19 and Lawson led all scorers with 21 and also had a record eight steals. Now, they and Danny Green can all head to the NBA feeling good about their decision to return to school. They’re bringing home Carolina’s fifth championship, and the second for Williams.
All those upperclassmen, save Hansbrough, came back in part because their draft prospects didn’t look so good. They also didn’t want their college careers to end on last year’s embarrassing loss to Kansas in the Final Four. That was a dud of a game in which they trailed 40-12 in the first half and Billy Packer was telling CBS viewers it was over.
This time, North Carolina led 36-13 around the time “Dancing With The Stars” was starting on another network. At least nobody knew how that one was going to end.
This game, though, was a slam dunk. Ellington got choked up as he basked in the confetti. Williams gave a shout-out to his mentor, Dean Smith, and he almost started crying, too. Hansbrough was the first to grab one of those “National Champion” T-shirts. Nobody worked harder for it than him.
“Sounds like I made a pretty good decision,” Hansbrough said. “Nothing beats this feeling right here.”
Likewise, it can’t feel much worse for the Spartans (31-7). They never had a chance. They had been on an uplifting run, and the final chapter was supposed to be the national championship. It would, the storybook said, bring the definitive ray of sunshine to a city and state that’s been battered by an ailing economy.
Instead, the 90-mile ride home to East Lansing will be a quiet one.
“You’ve got six NBA players that could be drafted in the first round or early second,” Spartans guard Travis Walton said. “You’re looking at a team that could probably beat the worst team in the NBA.”
The Tar Heels (34-4) were up 55-34 at halftime, breaking a 42-year-old title-game record for biggest lead at the break and setting the mark for most points at the half.
By then, Lawson had already set an NCAA title-game record with seven steals.
“When you play North Carolina, there’s nothing you can do,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. “Lawson says it all. He does stir the drink.”
A pretty strong drink.
This collection of NBA talent was too, too much from wire to wire, from the start of the tournament, to the very end.
Carolina won every game by double digits, something that hasn’t happened since Duke did it in 2001.
Lots of basketball fans saw this coming, including America’s No. 1 Hoopster-in-Chief.
Yes, President Barack Obama picked the Tar Heels to take it all in his much-publicized bracket.
Magic Johnson, Michigan State’s Spartan-in-Chief, joined Larry Bird at center court to present the game ball, a tribute to the 30-year anniversary of their historic matchup and Michigan State’s first title.
From there, it was pretty much all “Showtime,” all the time — but not for Michigan State. Heck, Magic didn’t even stick around for the end. He was spotted walking up the tunnel with 3½ minutes left.
Izzo tried to call a timeout to stop the onslaught with 6:45 left in the first half. His team came out and promptly turned it over — one of 14 in the first half, compared to only 12 baskets. Goran Suton led the Spartans with 17 points, and Kalin Lucas, the Big Ten player of the year, had 14 — most scored once the game was out of hand, which was very early in this one.
Michigan State pulled within 13 a couple times late in the second half, and the crowd of 72,922 — mostly pulling for the Spartans — tried to make some noise. But for most of the game, cavernous Ford Field had the atmosphere of a Lions game, save the few thousand Tar Heel fans whose Carolina Blue team put in a much better blue-collar effort than the team that was supposed to pride itself on that.
“I just don’t think we did the things we did all year,” Izzo said. “When you say that, you take away some credit from North Carolina, and I don’t want to do that. It was a combination of us and them, but we need to take some of the blame.”
As for that 98-63 beatdown Carolina put on Michigan State in this same building back on Dec. 3? No fluke. In fact, Detroit might want to give Ford Field a nice, long break. The winless Lions went 0-8 here last season, and there was no halt to the Motor City’s misery on this night.
It was, almost literally, over before it began. Ellington had a double-pump scoop layup and a 3-pointer and Hansbrough spotted up and sank a 14-foot jumper — all in the first 4:25 to put Carolina ahead 17-7. It never got closer.
The Spartans, meanwhile, were having trouble simply getting the ball in after Tar Heel buckets, turning it over that way twice in the first 6 minutes, part of a depressing day that didn’t do justice to the effort they put in to get here.
During pregame introductions, Williams walked over to shake hands with Izzo, who was distracted, drawing up a play on the greaseboard in the huddle. He jokingly showed the diagram to Williams — and you know what: It probably wouldn’t have mattered.
Izzo conceded in the lead-up to the game that if both teams played their best, Michigan State would lose. He’ll never find out if he was right because, while North Carolina was more than ready, the Spartans never showed up.
“The best team won,” Izzo said. “That’s an easy statement to make.”
Williams joined Jim Calhoun, Billy Donovan and Mike Krzyzewski as the fourth active coach (13th overall) to win multiple titles.
This title came four years after his first championship — and for the first time, with a roster full of his own recruits.
“Roy Williams is not that good,” Williams said. “But boy, ol’ Roy’s got some big-time players. That’s what it takes.”
Hansbrough was the only one who knew he wanted to come back from the get-go. He simply loves college, and though his senior season wasn’t quite as good as the year before, the ending was much better. Nobody on Michigan State could stop him — no shame there — and he had seven rebounds and two assists to go with the 18 points.
“I desperately wanted this championship for that young man,” Williams said. “I know it’s corny, but that’s who I am.”
Lawson was often criticized for not looking to shoot enough, and he sort of went back to his roots in this one. He finished only 3-for-10 from the floor but was a dominating presence, with six assists and a whopping 18 trips to the free-throw line.
Oh, and don’t forget Ed Davis. We’ll be seeing the 6-10 freshman in the pros with these other guys someday soon. He went 5-for-7 for 11 points with eight rebounds in 14 minutes and may have proven all he needs to, as well.
Overall, North Carolina dominated every matchup on the floor in pretty much every way. The Tar Heels were a unanimous No. 1 in the preseason and became the first UNC team to start and finish at No. 1 since 1982.
Michael Jordan was the star of that team.
There may not be any Jordans on this team, but there were plenty of Hansbroughs and Lawsons and Ellingtons — more than enough to finish off a project that seemed destined to end the way it did: On a ladder in Detroit, with scissors and twine in their hands.

Another good article about the game and Ty Lawson from www.si.com Seth Davis.

SI.com caught up with Seth Davis, who's serving as a CBS studio analyst during the tournament, to get his impressions of Monday's championship game.

SI.com: Wayne Ellington was the Most Outstanding Player, but who was your MVP tonight?

Seth Davis: Without a question, Ty Lawson. That was an air ball on the part of my friends on press row. Ellington wasn't the leading scorer and the Most Outstanding Player is the whole Final Four -- so the two games -- and Lawson was the most dominant player on the floor in both games. Tonight, Lawson had eight steals which was a Final Four record, controlled the lane, from the foul line he was ridiculous, going 15 of 18. He's a great player and a great example of a kid who benefited from having another year in school. He was the last one to come back and could have gone to the NBA and he could have come off someone's bench and just tried to play as fast as he can. Instead, he came back and learned how to play at different paces, his outside shooting improved, overall, he just got better in all phases of the game. He's a good example of a kid who made a good decision in coming back a year, and he'll make a whole lot of money off of it.

SI.com: What happened to the Spartans?

SD: Destiny ran into a buzzsaw. The worst case scenario for Michigan State was for UNC to get off to that kind of start, because Michigan State isn't that kind of a team and then they got away from what they do well. They had so many turnovers, which was their Achilles' heel all year. They had done such a good job during the tournament of avoiding them, but tonight there were a lot of unforced, bad turnovers. The Spartans were tight and nervous and that's all Carolina needs.

SI.com: What was the most important play?

SD: The opening tip? I guess Goran Suton hit a three to put them up 3 -2 and then there was that early sequence there when North Carolina had scored and Suton tried to throw the ball to Kalin Lucas and Lucas had three guys around him and Suton threw it to an open space on the floor. It was a quick, easy turnover and exemplified where Michigan State was tonight.

SI.com: What did you see on the court that we couldn't see from home?

SD: Greg Anthony eating popcorn. It's just a shame that it wasn't a game. It was a great atmosphere at the beginning and it never had a chance to get going ... North Carolina's a deserving champion but I would have liked to have heard 50,000 Spartan fans as loud as they can possible get, at least for a little while.

SI.com: We pretty much know what's next for the Tar Heels ... what's next for Michigan State?
SD: They're bringing everyone back except for Travis Walton and Goran Suton and they had a good season and I'm sure they will, in very short time, look back and think, 'that was very impressive.' They gave Detroit a reason to cheer, they represented their school well, and they ran into a great team playing at its very best and college basketball has its true champion.

A good article on Tyler Hansbrough by Andy Staples

Google the phrase "Tyler Hansbrough sucks." You'll get seven pages of results, including a YouTube clip with that very title. The ever-intuitive Google also will suggest you try Tyler Hansbrough overrated, which nets 37 pages of results.
Among Hansbrough's critics' complaints: He isn't athletic. He'll make a lousy pro. When he flashes that bug-eyed, slack-jawed, "Who, me?" look at the refs every time they whistle him for a foul, he looks like Beaker from The Muppets.
Here's another one for the list. He has no rhythm. None whatsoever. When the North Carolina band struck up Jump Around early Tuesday morning and Tar Heels guard Danny Green broke it down one last time, Hansbrough stood on the periphery of a circle of dancing teammates and did a little white-guy shuffle that looked more like a mild seizure than a celebratory groove.
Guess what? He doesn't care. You can criticize his jumper. You can compare him to a Jim Henson creation. You can even rip his dancing. He has that net he wore as a necklace early Tuesday, and that's all that matters. "They ain't getting that net," Hansbrough said. "They can try."
Though he tried his best for four seasons to block them out, the ACC's all-time leading scorer couldn't help but hear his critics. Monday, as he scored 18 and grabbed seven rebounds to help the Tar Heels to an 89-72 win against Michigan State Hansbrough silenced them. "A lot of people doubted me this year," Hansbrough said. "But people can say whatever they want. I'm part of something special that some people never experience in their lives."
That something special began in 2005, when Hansbrough, Green, Bobby Frasor, Marcus Ginyard and Mike Copeland arrived in the wake of the departures of Sean May, Raymond Felton and the other key members of North Carolina's fourth national championship team. The first time he met Hansbrough, the scruffy high-schooler Copeland knew he was dealing with a different cat. During his first conversation with Green, Green told Copeland they needed to make 2005 the best class ever. Frasor and Copeland discussed basically the same thing. What were Hansbrough's first words to his new teammate? "Mike," he said, "you need a shave."
Copeland's suspicions were confirmed his freshman year when the players took a dip in the pool at the Dean Smith Center. Hansbrough climbed to the highest diving platform and did a belly flop. But in the weight room and on the practice court, Copeland saw something else. "He's the most dedicated player I've ever been around. Ever. He does everything he's supposed to do. Everything."
That's why when Hansbrough decided to return for his senior season, the Tar Heels' other potential pros followed him back to Chapel Hill. And while point guard Ty Lawson probably was North Carolina's most talented player, Hansbrough was the Tar Heels' heart and soul. That's why his teammates smiled so wide when they saw him climb that ladder, snip that net and punch the sky with a pair of gold-plated scissors. "He's going out the right way," forward Deon Thompson said. "For all the things he's accomplished in his career, this was the only thing missing. Now, he's a legend."
When Carolina coach Roy Williams inserted his walk-ons with 1:03 remaining, Hansbrough walked off the court and wrapped his coach in a bear hug. Williams will cherish that hug forever. "I earn a good salary, but if you put $10 million in that pile right there, and say, Roy, you can have that $10 million, but if you take it, you'll forget that feeling you had when that big rascal came over and hugged you," Williams said, "you guys can split that $10 million, because I wouldn't give $10 million for the feeling that I had at that moment."
So go ahead, rip Hansbrough. Prank call him, even. He's gotten plenty of those. At this point, he'd welcome a few more. "When they prank call me, I'll just leave it at that," Hansbrough said. "I'll be like, 'I'm a national champion.'"
As the celebration raged, Hansbrough kept uttering the phrase "national champion," as if he couldn't believe his dream had finally come true. But the net around his neck and the smile on his face provided plenty of proof. The Hansbrough haters can't touch him now.
"Say what you want," Hansbrough said. "I'm a national champion. Who can say they're a national champion? I can. That's right."

Bird vs. Magic created March Madness

Bird vs. Magic created Madness

Great Article from Michael Wilbon. This is a good read on Larry Bird and Magic Johnson's Epic Battles that Started March Madness.


Johnson and Larry Bird did this. With all due respect to John Wooden and his 10 championships at UCLA, the Bruins dominated what was then merely a basketball tournament. But Magic and Bird, 30 years ago Thursday night, gave us March Madness.
The game itself, on the evening of March 26, 1979, wasn't the best championship game ever. Playing for Indiana State, Bird missed 14 of 21 shots and Michigan State was in control for essentially the entire game. Magic's greatest performance had come two days earlier, in the national semifinals, when he ran the University of Pennsylvania off the court with a triple-double. But no basketball game, before or since, college or professional, produced the anticipation, television ratings, impact or reaction of Indiana State-Michigan State, Bird vs. Magic.
Most people, in a television audience of about 20 million, had never seen either man play live on TV. Few had seen Bird, who had been on national television only three times all season, even though the Sycamores were undefeated. A great many, having heard stories about Bird's shooting and passing skills, were stunned to turn on the game that night and find that Bird was white.
College basketball, by today's standards, was primitive in 1979. Coaches usually didn't have film of an upcoming opponent and because scouting was outsourced, coaches from out of conference had never seen Bird nor Magic until the teams took the court. It seemed as if everything about college basketball changed that night, and dramatically so.
In "When March Went Mad: The Game That Transformed Basketball," a must-read book for anybody who considers themselves a basketball fan, Seth Davis chronicles how the championship game between Bird and Magic kicked off a six-year stretch that took the NCAA tournament from basketball event to calendar-defining cultural festival, every minute of which is televised.
In 1979, the NCAA tournament had a 40-team field. It was expanded twice over the next six years, to 48 teams in 1980 and 64 teams in 1985. The rights fees, only $5.2 million in 1979, doubled in 1980, went to $48 million in 1982 (when CBS snatched the tournament from NBC) and doubled to $96 million in 1985. Now, it's $6 billion over 11years.
On the court, Bird-Magic kicked off an era that in just six years gave us Isiah Thomas, Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon, all of whom played in the NCAA tournament title game. The Big East and ESPN were born. And as Al McGuire is quoted as saying in Davis's book: "The college game was already on the launching pad. Then Bird and Magic came along and pushed the button."
And nobody had expected any of it when the 1978-79 season began. Indiana State was a nice little team that simply hoped to win its conference, the Missouri Valley, and make it to the NCAA tournament in Bird's senior season. Magic and Michigan State — which also featured forward Greg Kelser, a future first-round NBA draft pick — were talented but seemed just a little less than they should have been in the Big Ten.
I can't remember the correct night to put out the garbage these days, but I remember so much of that winter of '79 like it was yesterday. I was a junior at Northwestern University, but worked that winter as an intern at the Lafayette Journal and Courier in Indiana. Not knowing a soul outside the newsroom became a blessing because parts of Indiana, even then, had cable television.
I could (and did) walk to my apartment every night and watch college basketball from somewhere in the region.
Ray Meyer's DePaul team, featuring a freshman named Mark Aguirre, was Final Four-bound and always on WGN. Digger Phelps's Notre Dame team had been to the Final Four a season earlier. Purdue and Indiana seemed to be on most nights. Then there was a team from Terre Haute, Ind., featuring Bird that just kept winning, every night. It was unbelievable to follow, like our own little Midwestern secret. Nobody outside Indiana and maybe Illinois knew what conference the Sycamores were in or whom they played or how they got to be undefeated.
It took forever for them to creep up in the polls. Billy Packer, obsessed as he was with North Carolina and Duke, was utterly dismissive of Bird and the Sycamores for most of the season. Dick Versace, the brash young coach at Bradley, said he could stop Indiana State by throwing what he called the "Bird Cage" defense around Bird, a triangle-and-two. Bird took only two shots that night and scored a career-low four points, but Indiana State won to go to something like 22-0.
Michigan State was only a four-hour drive, if that. While Bird was desperate to not interact with almost anyone outside his team and buddies, Magic was restoring the lob pass (to Kelser) to college basketball. The Spartans also were pressing Heathcote to take the wraps off them, and ultimately they were able to persuade him. By the time the tournament started, people who loved college basketball were praying for Bird and Magic in the championship game.
Michigan State cruised, more or less. Bird narrowly avoided losing to both Sidney Moncrief and Arkansas and Aguirre and DePaul. The most memorable scene from the title game is Bird, having lost for the first time as a senior, sitting with the white towel over his head, sobbing underneath it. That and Magic's smile while he hugged Heathcote after the 75-64 Spartans win.
More than 35 percent of all TV sets turned on that night were tuned to Magic and Bird. It was like a Christmas present in March, and it's something that could never happen today. We'd know everything about an undefeated team featuring any player as talented as Bird. A 6-foot-9 white kid from small-town Indiana who had driven a garbage truck and who had run from Bob Knight during a freshman year spent briefly at Indiana? Are you kidding? A game between Bird and Magic — two "Cousys," as McGuire called them — that reintroduced the passing game to basketball, only at a higher and more sophisticated and entertaining level, could never sneak up on anybody today, not with 24-7 saturation coverage and bloggers and Twitter.
But 30 years ago, Magic vs. Bird didn't have any such clutter. Dave Kindred, who wrote so eloquently in this space during the '70s and early '80s, told Seth Davis: "If Magic and Bird came along today we'd have 29 different scouting reports on each guy. We'd have 'Outside the Lines' documentaries, 'Instant Classics.' We'd know too much."
Now, what we know in retrospect is that it was one of the most groundbreaking sporting events in America the last 40 years, one that launched the popularity of college basketball and began the Golden Age of professional basketball. And without that game, March might be just another month.

Friday's NCAA Tournament Games

Friday's NCAA Tournament Games


Indianapolis, Ind. - Midwest Region
7:07 pm
Arizona #12
Louisville #1

Memphis, Tenn - South Region
7:27 pm
Syracuse #3
Oklahoma #2

Indianapolis, Ind. - Midwest Region
9:37 pm
Kansas #3
Michigan State #2

Memphis, Tenn - South Region
9:57 pm
Gonzaga #4
North Carolina #1

Arizona vs. Louisville
When: 7:07 p.m. ET Friday
Where: Indianapolis (Midwest Regional)
Comment: There are already stories popping up about whether it's possible Arizona could be playing against its next head coach, i.e., Rick Pitino, and you can expect Pitino to be asked about it at some point, if he hasn't already. On the surface, such a move sounds crazy. But when you consider that Pitino is about to complete his eighth season at Louisville, and that he has never started a ninth season anywhere, and that he's going to lose Terrence Williams and Earl Clark, and that he doesn't enjoy coaching in the brutal Big East, and that he likes new challenges, and that the weather is nice in Tucson, well, maybe it's not as crazy as it sounds. In other words, if Arizona can pay the type of money it would take to land a Hall of Famer, this is the type of Hall of Famer who might consider rebuilding its program. My take: Pitino is going NO WHERE! He will be at Louisville for at least two more years. I don't think Arizona is his type of school to jump ship again. I think they can win it all this year or next. He will be a Cardinal. However, I could see him going across town before out west this year......Kentucky?????
Final score: Louisville 73, Arizona 65 I say: Louisville 79 Zona 60

Syracuse vs. Oklahoma
When: 7:27 p.m. ET Friday
Where: Memphis (South Regional)
Comment: I like this Oklahoma team, love Blake Griffin. But does it concern anybody that the best team the Sooners have beaten all season is Purdue, and that it took a 46-5 advantage at the free throw line to do it? That concerns me a little, long as I'm being honest. Meantime, Syracuse has beaten Memphis, Connecticut and Kansas, otherwise known as three other Sweet 16 teams. So what I'm telling you is that the Sooners haven't beaten anybody as good as the Orange (unless you think Purdue is as good as the Orange), and that the Orange have beaten at least three teams as good as the Sooners. What does that mean? Perhaps nothing. But I can't get it out of my head, and that's why I have Jonny Flynn pulling this out, in overtime, naturally. My take: The Oarange win behind terrific TEAM PLAY and a Zone defense that will take Blake Griffin away. Don't get me wrong, Blake is a beast, but now he will need some help and experience...... Oklahoma doesn't have that just yet.
Final score: Syracuse 82, Oklahoma 81 (OT) I'll take:Oklahoma 60 Syracuse 67

Kansas vs. Michigan State
When: 9:37 p.m. ET Friday
Where: Indianapolis (Midwest Regional)
Comment: Michigan State coach Tom Izzo was announced as the winner of the United States Basketball Writers Association's "Good Guy Award" this week. I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I won't argue against it because, yes, Izzo is absolutely one of the good guys. He is among the most accommodating and genuinely pleasant men in this business, someone who always seems appreciative that you'd even consider calling him or pulling him aside. I don't know a single writer who doesn't rave about every encounter with Izzo, and though that has nothing to do with this game, I just thought it was worth mentioning. My take: Izzo! IZZO! Enough Said!
Final score: Michigan State 69, Kansas 65 I'll take: State 71 Kansas 60

Gonzaga vs. North Carolina
When: 9:57 p.m. ET Friday
Where: Memphis (South Regional)
Comment: My brother is nothing like me, which is probably good for him. We don't have the same political views or opinions on anything, really, and though I spend every day of my life either writing or talking about college basketball in some form, he couldn't care less, evidence being the following real-life conversation we had Monday morning. My take: Carolina all the way. I think: this is where Carolina begins to roll. Lawson will gut out the next four games and help them cut down the nets.k

My brother (who is in sales): Hey, I've got a customer who says his nephew is playing at FedExForum this weekend. Plays for North Carolina, I think. Tyler or something. Do you know him?
Me: Tyler Hansbrough?
My brother: Yeah. Is he good? My customer is building him up like he's pretty good or something.
Me: Yeah, he's pretty good. He's like a four-time All-American. Seriously, you've never heard of him?
My brother: Is he a white dude?
Final score: North Carolina (and its white dude) 82, Gonzaga 79.
I'll take: Carolina 89 Gonzaga 69

Thursday Night's Sweet 16 Matchups

Thursday Night's Sweet 16 Matchups

Glendale, Ariz - West Region
7:07 pm
Purdue #5
Connecticut #1

Boston, Mass - East Region
7:27 pm
Xavier #4
Pittsburgh #1

Glendale, Ariz - West Region
9:37 pm
Missouri #3
Memphis #2

Boston, Mass - East Region
9:57 pm
Villanova #3
Duke #2

Momentum: No. 2 seed Duke. After Duke lost to North Carolina 79-71 on Tyler Hansbrough Day in Chapel Hill on March 8, Coach K said, "We're a better basketball team than we were a month ago, but they're really good." Five wins, an ACC tournament title and a Sweet 16 berth later, the Blue Devils look like a team coming together at the right time. On Saturday night, Duke rode Gerald Henderson (24 points on 7-of-21 shooting) to a tight victory over Texas, but it was other players who complemented him. Jon Scheyer displayed savvy in saving a loose ball, David McClure did his part on another loose ball and Kyle Singler (17 points) shot well. If Henderson, the Merion, Pa., native, can continue to get to the basket against the Villanova and Pitt, Duke could be dancing in Detroit.

Best Matchup: Pitt vs. Villanova. The battle for Pennsylvania bragging rights will play out on a neutral court in Boston if the bracket breaks the right way, and if it does, fans can expect the Big East powers to provide high-end entertainment. New York guards Levance Fields and Corey Fisher will offer flash when paired against each other and a Dante Cunningham-DeJuan Blair block fight would provide a nice contrast in styles of play.
Home cooking: None. 'Nova steps out of the comforts of the Wachovia Center and into the TD Banknorth Garden -- a venue which none of the four competing teams has ties to.
Burning question: Is Levance Fields really healthy? After an uncharacteristically sloppy opening-round performance (five assists, three turnovers) the man they call "The General" bounced back to dish out nine assists while turning the ball over just twice in Sunday's 84-76 second-round win over Oklahoma State. All his guile and sleight-of-hand passing will be necessary in order for the Panthers to beat Xavier and Villanova or Duke in Boston.
Difference maker: Dante Cunningham. Running rim-to-rim, there may not be a better forward in the country right now than the Big East's Most Improved Player. Able to get out on the break with Wright's ball-pushing guards, Cunningham provides the inside presence the 'Cats lacked in recent NCAA tournament runs. His boarding prowess will be a necessity if the Pitt matchup comes to fruition.
The pick: Villanova. In the lobby of the basketball offices at Villanova, coach Jay Wright presses a button that cues up One Shining Moment every time he enters or leaves the building. After reaching the second weekend for the fourth time in five years, he appears to have his well-balanced unit ready to take the next step. No word yet on whether he would purchase a new Hugo Boss suit to wear on such an occasion.

Top Plays from the first 2 Rounds of the NCAA Tournament

The top plays from this past week's NCAA Tournament. The Sweet 16 is set! I think Duke vs Nova will be a great game to watch and I think Memphis and Missouri could be interesting as well. What do you think?

Friday's NCAA Tournament Schedule, Times, and Venues

AmericanAirlines Arena (Miami, Fla.) - South Region
12:15 pm
Stephen F. Austin #14
Syracuse #3

University of Dayton Arena (Dayton, OH) - East Region
12:25 pm
Tennessee #9
Oklahoma State #8

Metrodome (Minneapolis, Minn) - Midwest Region
12:30 pm
North Dakota State #14
Kansas #3

Taco Bell Arena (Boise, ID) - West Region
12:30 pm
Utah State #11
Marquette #6

AmericanAirlines Arena (Miami, Fla.) - South Region
2:45 pm
Temple #11
Arizona State #6

University of Dayton Arena (Dayton, OH) - East Region
2:55 pm
E. Tennessee State #16
Pittsburgh #1

Metrodome (Minneapolis, Minn) - Midwest Region
3:00 pm
Dayton #11
West Virginia #6

Taco Bell Arena (Boise, ID) - West Region
3:00 pm
Cornell #14
Missouri #3

AmericanAirlines Arena (Miami, Fla.) - Midwest Region
7:10 pm
Arizona #12
Utah #5

University of Dayton Arena (Dayton, OH) - Midwest Region
7:10 pm
Morehead State #16
Louisville #1

Metrodome (Minneapolis, Minn) - Midwest Region
7:20 pm
Southern California #10
Boston College #7

Taco Bell Arena (Boise, ID) - East Region
7:25 pm
Portland State #13
Xavier #4

University of Dayton Arena (Dayton, OH) - Midwest Region
9:40 pm
Siena #9
Ohio State #8

AmericanAirlines Arena (Miami, Fla.) - Midwest Region
9:40 pm
Cleveland State #13
Wake Forest #4

Metrodome (Minneapolis, Minn) - Midwest Region
9:50 pm
Robert Morris #15
Michigan State #2

Taco Bell Arena (Boise, ID) - East Region
9:55 pm
Wisconsin #12
Florida State #5

Thursday's Match-ups and Game-Times for the NCAA Tournament

Thursday's Match-ups and Game-Times for the NCAA Tournament


Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, NC) - South Region
12:20 pm
Butler #9
LSU #8

Sprint Center (Kansas City, Mo.) - West Region
12:25 pm
Northridge #15
Memphis #2

Wachovia Center (Philadelphia, Pa.) - West Region
12:30 pm
Texas A&M #9
Brigham Young #8

Rose Garden (Portland, Ore.) - West Region
2:30 pm
Northern Iowa #12
Purdue #5

Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, NC) - South Region
2:50 pm
Radford #16
North Carolina #1

Sprint Center (Kansas City, Mo.) - West Region
2:55 pm
Maryland #10
California #7

Wachovia Center (Philadelphia, Pa.) - West Region
3:00 pm
Chattanooga #16
Connecticut #1

Rose Garden (Portland, Ore.) - West Region
4:55 pm
Mississippi State #13
Washington #4

Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, NC) - East Region
7:10 pm
Minnesota #10
Texas #7

Sprint Center (Kansas City, Mo.) - South Region
7:10 pm
Michigan #10
Clemson #7

Wachovia Center (Philadelphia, Pa.) - East Region
7:20 pm
American #14
Villanova #3

Rose Garden (Portland, Ore.) - South Region
7:25 pm
Akron #13
Gonzaga #4

Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, NC) - East Region
9:40 pm
Binghamton #15
Duke #2

Sprint Center (Kansas City, Mo.) - South Region
9:40 pm
Morgan State #15
Oklahoma #2

Wachovia Center (Philadelphia, Pa.) - East Region
9:50 pm
Virginia Commonwealth #11
UCLA #6

Rose Garden (Portland, Ore.) - South Region
9:55 pm
Western Kentucky #12
Illinois #5