Tomorrow the NCAA Begin the Madness

The season is in the books, the selections have been made and tomorrow the NCAA will kick off the 68th annual March Madness tournament. If you haven’t do so you have about 24 hours to fill out your bracket for the Big O Tire Million Dollar Challenge at kool1079.com. To get you in the mood I thought we would jump in the way-back machine and take a look at some great moments from tournaments past.

In 1992 Michigan’s Fab Five made it to the national championship game but they lost to Duke 71-51. The next year, as sophomores, the Wolverines’ made it back to the final to take on North Carolina and that is when Chris Webber made a big mistake. With time winding down Webber called for a timeout, but Michigan didn’t have any timeouts  to use. That was a technical foul against the Wolverines paving the way for UNC to win their third national title.

North Carolina’s Michael Jordan hits the game winner against Georgetown. Dean Smith had been head coach at UNC for 21 years and had yet to win a national title. That was until the star freshman hit a jumper with 17 seconds left in the game to give the Tar Heels the lead. The Hoyas point guard Fred Brown pushed the ball up the court and mistook James Worthy for a teammate and passed not only the ball but also the title to UNC.

In 1985 one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history took place. The Villanova Wildcats knocked off top-seeded Michigan and No. 2 seed North Carolina on their way to the finals. In the championship game the Wildcats took on Patrick Ewing and the Georgetown Hoyas, who had beat Villanova in both meeting earlier in the season. In what is one of the greatest shooting games in NCAA history the Wildcats made over 75% of their shots to win the school’s only national title.

In 1983 Houston’s Phi Slama Jama had a 31-2 record and a 26-game winning streak that season. They were expected to win the national championship but no one told Jim Valvano. The N.C. State Wolfpack was the 6th seed in the west that year and after beating UNLV, Utah, Virginia and Georgia they found themselves in the title game against Houston which they won by two points.

Don't forget to fill out your bracket and enjoy the 68th annual NCAA Tournament.