It is a mirror of human hope, excellence and positive social change. It is, in short, a microcosm of human existence, with all 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 and the first championship game was held at Northwestern on March 27, 1939. Only eight teams competed in two regions. Oregon defeated Ohio State for the championship and the West held a third-place game.
Although the NCAA tournament now determines the national champion, this was not always the case. Until the 1950s, the NIT was considered a more prestigious tournament than the NCAA, with teams often choosing to enter the NIT and avoid the NCAA tournament. Because of this dichotomy, two of the best centers of the 1940s never met in an NCAA tournament. 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 participated in both tournaments. One of those teams, 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, then won the NCAA title. Kentucky achieved a similar accomplishment in 1949, losing in the second round of the NIT and then winning the NCAA Tournament.
In 1941, the East region added a third-place game to 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 semifinal games and the championship game in one city. It was 1956 when the tournament was divided into four regions. Some of the most surprising and revealing events in college basketball followed: 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 the team from John Wooden’s UCLA made the first of 13 Final Four appearances over the next 15 seasons.
Reflecting the racial and civil rights issues of the time, Loyola, Illinois was paired with Mississippi State in a regional semifinal of the 1963 men’s basketball tournament. Mississippi State, an all-white team, fled the city in middle of the night despite protests from the Governor and Mississippi State Police to play a Loyola team that features four black starters. Mississippi State overcame an unwritten Mississippi rule against playing integrated teams with a swashbuckling flight north just one step ahead of a court order. Triumphantly, Loyola beat Mississippi State and won 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-for-22 shooting, won its seventh straight championship, defeating Memphis State. NC State, managed by David Thompson, ends UCLA’s title race in 1974, defeating the Bruins in the national semifinals in double overtime.
The following year, the NCAA tournament expanded to 32 teams and later allowed more than one school from each conference to participate. Prior to this decision, the restriction prevented several big teams from competing in the tournament, including the 1974 Maryland team. They finished the season ranked No. 4 nationally, but lost the ACC Conference final game to top-ranked NC State before the start of the tournament. After that, the NCAA began allowing more than one team per conference to participate. In 1976, Bobby Knight’s Indiana Hoosier team 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 the 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 caught the attention of millions across the country; its 24.1 TV rating remains the highest for a college basketball game and is still considered one of the best matchups in NCAA Tournament history.
Expansion followed in 1980 to 48 teams, and then in 1983 to 53 teams. In what many believe to be 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 victory. over favorites Akeem Olajuwon and Houston. Perhaps no figure in college basketball history embodied the spirit of March Madness better than coach Jim Valvano. His underdog North Carolina State Wolfpack did what many consider a miracle by making an incredible run in the 1983 Tournament. of media attention and quickly became the symbol of exuberance and enthusiasm. He found out soon after that he had bone cancer and briefly became a college basketball commentator. Before his death at age 47, he was named the winner of the Arthur Ashe Award for Bravery at the first ESPN ESPY Awards. It was at this time that he announced the formation of the V Foundation for Cancer Research.
In 1985 the tournament was expanded to 64 teams. A Villanova Wildcat team shot 22-for-28 from the field 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 defeated undefeated UNLV in the semifinals and won the national championship. In 1997, Arizona, led by Mike Bibby, Jason Terry and Miles Simon, became the first school to defeat three #1 seeds en route to the national championship, winning against Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky.
The popularity of the NCAA Tournament has grown to rival the World Series, the Olympics and the Super Bowl. CBS Sports in 1999 negotiated an 11-year, $6 billion deal for television, radio, Internet, corporate marketing, licensing, publishing, home video, and Hoop City rights to 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 location as close to home as possible, regardless of 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 winning their first title. In 2004, the regions became known by the host city of the regional final rather than by their geographical names. Final Four matchups were set by a committee prior to the tournament rather than rotated. Connecticut, behind center Emeka Okafor, won its second title in six seasons. Last year, 2005, Roy William’s North Carolina Tar Heels, managed by Sean May, held off the Fighting Illini to win the title game with a final score of 75-70.
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Adversity, tragedy and final triumph; the downtrodden and beleaguered emerge from the journey as champions. The drama of hope escalated into euphoria, only to crash against the rocks of defeat in the ultimate test of poise and determination. The human experience in all its excellence and in all its failures. Yes, this Tournament has it all.