Basketball
can be serious business to a lot of people, and NCAAB (National Collegiate
Athletic Association basketball) can be an extremely important part of college
basketball for many fans. Even before games start, it is easy to focus on
future NCAAB picks, and there is sometimes money to be made in making NCAAB
basketball predictions of your own. But why do it, and what is it for?
Why should you make
NCAA basketball predictions?
Predictions
aren’t just a personal preference that you use to focus on a team that you
like: they can be an important way of trying to identify possible upsets and
underdogs and can really draw you into the experience. For some people, they
are also a good way to make money, focusing on personal or ‘professional’ bets
before the games have even begun.
Beginners
and newcomers to the idea of predictions need to remember that there is no such
thing as a “100% chance” of a particular result – there is a reason that upsets
have become so popular, with many players actually hoping for them simply
because of the drama and excitement that they can cause.
Given how much things have changed in just the last three
weeks, it seems hard to believe that if it were not for the global pandemic we
would be preparing this weekend to watch the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s
Basketball Final Four and Championship Games.
Though it has only been a few weeks, the 2019-2020 college
basketball season seems like a distant memory. The excitement over which teams
were on the bubble and who would be the top seeds seeming to be part of a long
ago time.
It may seem hard to imagine right now, but I have great
confidence that next year we will be back to enjoying March Madness and all the
drama and excitement of college sports.
However, for right now in our time of social distancing and
staying at home, we are fortunate that YouTube provides us with access to a
plethora of vintage sporting events that can help pass the time before live
sports return.
In part three of a multi-part series, Sports Then and Now has selected ten college basketball Final Four and Championship games that include some of the all-time moments and players in college basketball history. In the first two parts we shared great conference tournament games and early round NCAA Tournament action.
In this edition, we have chosen Final Four and Championship
Games that include some of the iconic moments, teams and players in NCAA
history. For each one we have included the records, rankings, coaches and
notable players at the time of the game, but are not spoiling the game with a
summary in case you don’t remember the outcome and want to enjoy the moment
without spoilers.
Among the players you can check out during their college
days are all-time greats Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Bill Walton, David
Thompson, Michael Jordan, Walter Davis, James Worthy, Grant Hill, Hakeem Olajuwon,
Clyde Drexler, Christian Laettner, Larry Johnson, Patrick Ewing and many more.
There are certainly other great games to watch on YouTube,
but we have chosen these party because the entire game is available on YouTube
and the game epitomized the excitement of March Madness.
Enjoy!
1979 NCAA
Championship Game – Indiana State vs. Michigan State
Records Entering Game: Indiana State: 33-0; Michigan State:
25-6
National Ranking: Indiana State #1; Michigan State: #3
Coaches: Indiana State: Bill Hodges; Michigan State: Jud
Heathcote
Notable Players: Indiana State: Larry Bird, Carl Nicks, Alex Gilbert, Bob Heaton; Michigan State: Magic Johnson, Greg Kelser, Terry Donnelly
As we all continue to get used to the “new (and hopefully
temporary) normal”, lack of live sports has likely been one of the things
mostly missed in the evenings. Instead of unwinding while watching an NHL or
NBA game or catching up on March Madness, the evenings has become a time for
Law & Order SVU reruns and watching the same shows over and over on HGTV.
Fortunately, YouTube is home to a plethora of vintage
sporting events that can help pass the time before live sports return.
In part two of a multi-part series, Sports Then and Now has selected 10 college basketball NCAA Tournament games that include some of the all-time moments and players in college basketball history. In part one we selected great conference tournament games and you can check those out through this link.
In this edition, we have chosen 10 games from the first two
weeks of the NCAA Tournament, so these are games up through the Regional Finals.
For each one we have included the records, rankings, coaches and notable
players at the time of the game, but are not spoiling the game with a summary
in case you don’t remember the outcome and want to enjoy the moment without
spoilers.
Michael Jordan and the UNC Tar Heels faced Villanova in the 1982 NCAA Regional Finals.
Among the players you can check out during their college
days are all-time greats Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Stephen Curry, James
Worthy and Sam Perkins. You can also watch some great upsets and last minute
heroics.
There are certainly other great games to watch on YouTube,
but we have chosen these party because the entire game is available on YouTube
and the game epitomized the excitement of March Madness.
Enjoy!
2008 Second Round – #10
Davidson vs. #2 Georgetown
Records Entering Game: Davidson 27-6; Georgetown 28-5
National Ranking: Davidson: #23; Georgetown:
Coaches: Davidson: Bob
McKillop; Georgetown: John Thompson, Jr.
Notable Players: Davidson: Stephen Curry, Jason Richards, Thomas Sander; Georgetown: Roy Hibbert, DaJuan Summers, Jonathan Wallace
2006 Regional Finals
– #11 George Mason vs. #1 University of Connecticut
Records Entering Game: George Mason: 26-7; Connecticut: 30-3
National Ranking: George Mason: not ranked; Connecticut: #1
Coaches: George Mason: Jim Larranaga; Connecticut: Jim
Calhoun
Notable Players: George Mason: Jai Lewis, Tony Skinn, Lamar Butler; Connecticut: Rudy Gay, Rashad Anderson, Josh Boone, Hilton Armstrong
With March Madness cancelled, the entire sports world on
pause and many public gatherings and places across the country and globe closed
due to the COVID-19 virus, there are only so many shows on Hulu, Netflix,
Disney+ and other streaming channels that we can watch before sports withdrawals
are surely to kick in.
Fortunately, YouTube is home to a plethora of vintage
sporting events that can help pass the time before live sports return.
In part 1 of a multi-part series, Sports Then and Now has selected 10 vintage conference tournament games that include some of the all-time moments and players in college basketball history. For each one we have included the records, rankings, coaches and notable players at the time of the game, but are not spoiling the game with a summary in case you don’t remember the outcome and want to enjoy the moment without spoilers.
Ray Allen led Connecticut against Georgetown and Allen Iverson in the 1996 Big East Tournament Finals.
The fun part about watching vintage games is that it includes the original announcers, as well as showcasing some players who went on to greatness often before they had become household names, or as they were building their reputation. Players like Patrick Ewing, Ray Allen, Allen Iverson, Ralph Sampson, Tim Duncan, Jerry Stackhouse and many more are included in our selections.
There are certainly other great games to watch on YouTube, but we have chosen these partly because the entire game is available and the game epitomized the excitement of March Madness.
Enjoy!
1983 ACC Tournament
Championship Game – Virginia vs. North Carolina State
Records Entering Game: Virginia 27-3; North Carolina State:
19-10
National Ranking: Virginia #2; North Carolina State unranked
Coaches: UVA: Terry Holland; North Carolina State: Jim
Valvano
Notable Players: UVA – Ralph Sampson, Othell Wilson, Ricky Stokes, Rick Carlisle; NC State – Thurl Bailey, Sidney Lowe, Lorenzo Charles, Dereck Whittenburg, Terry Gannon
Less than 24 hours after the World Health Organization
declared the spread of the coronavirus to be a pandemic the sports world is
coming to a screeching halt as sports leagues and college conferences struggle
to deal with this intersection between public health and the sports world.
It started Wednesday afternoon with the NCAA announcing that
all of their upcoming championships would be played without fans.
With most of the premier Division I conferences having
started their men’s basketball tournaments earlier this week, it didn’t take
long until they all announced that they would not admit fans starting on Thursday.
However, after a Wednesday evening address by the President
as well as continued uncertainty on how best to address the growing crisis, by
soon before game time on Thursday most conferences, including the ACC, Big Ten
and SEC had all canceled the remainder of their tournaments. The Big East tipped
off their first game on Thursday (Creighton against St. Johns), but the game
and tournament were later canceled.
So, what is typically
one of the most exciting weekends for college basketball now looks to be an
opportunity to catch up on shows from Netflix or Amazon Prime.
College basketball is not the only major sports group
impacted by the growing crisis.
After two members of the Utah Jazz tested positive for the
virus the game Wednesday night between the Oklahoma Thunder and Utah Jazz was
postponed and the NBA later announced an immediate suspension of their season.
The Vintage Sports Then and Now Athlete of the Month came to
national prominence in college basketball’s “Game of the Century” and then won
an NBA title while becoming one of the top players in league history.
A three-time college basketball All-American at the University of Houston, Elvin Hayes helped lead the Cougars to three straight NCAA Tournaments and a pair of Final Fours.
As the 2021 hockey season heats up, we recognize as the
Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month one of the all-time greats in
Chicago Black Hawks history.
Spending his entire 22-year career with the Chicago Black
Hawks, Stan Mikita was one of the best centers of his generation.
Mikita joined the Black Hawks for the 1959-60 season and by
the following season was a key player on a squad destined to win the Stanley
Cup. He scored a team-high six goals during the playoffs as Chicago won their
most recent cup championship.
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