Sports Then and Now

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.

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

After three crazy college football weeks LSU and Alabama are back on top, but can they stay there?

After three crazy weeks of college football upsets, looks like we are right back where we started the month when trying to determine which college football teams will play for the national title in January.

We began the month excitedly waiting for the matchup of the year between top-ranked LSU and second-ranked Alabama. The general consensus at the time was that they were unquestionably the two best teams in college football.

While the game did need overtime before LSU emerged victorious, few were willing to call the 9-6 defensive struggle a thriller. Granted, both teams had great defenses, but Alabama missed four field goals and neither team played with the offensive confidence you generally expect from a top-ranked team.

Except for a few folks from the SEC, most across the country were not interested in a potential rematch and glad that there were several undefeated teams, including Oklahoma State, Stanford and even Boise State still in-line to serve as LSU’s opponent in a national title game.

However, two of those teams took a tumble the very next week as Stanford was rocked by a suddenly resurgent Oregon (which had been unimpressive in an opening loss to LSU, but had quietly started playing like a national title contender again) and Boise State had its dream of finally making it to the title game snatched away by TCU.

This weekend was expected to be more like a place-holder weekend as most BCS contenders were prohibitive favorites and biding time for big games over the final two weeks of the season.

Instead, it suddenly became the weekend of the big upset. It started on Friday night when Iowa State shocked Oklahoma State in overtime to hand the Cowboys their first loss of the season. Then, just as quickly as they returned to the national conversation, Oregon was gone again as USC (anyone remember them) jumped out early and held on for a 38-35 victory. Read the rest of this entry →

To fans of the Alabama Crimson Tide, the last name “Tiffin” is considered as royalty because that is the last name of former kicker Van Tiffin, who made a 52-yard field goal as time expired to give ‘Bama a 25-23 victory over arch rival Auburn in the 1985 “Iron Bowl”.

But after the Tide’s 2006 game with the Arkansas Razorbacks, most Alabama fans probably cringed when they heard the last name “Tiffin”.

Alabama entered the game with a 3-0 record and a #22 ranking as they traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas for their first road game of the season.

The Tide were under the direction of head coach Mike Shula, who was in his fourth season as the Tide head coach and was coming off a 10-2 season the year before.

Alabama had 13 starters back from that team including running back Kenneth Darby and kicker Jamie Christensen, who made three game-winning field goals for the Tide in 2005.

But right before the start of the regular season, Christensen pulled a groin muscle and would be out of action for the first few games of the season.

That left the job to freshman walk-on Leigh Tiffin, son of ‘Bama hero Van Tiffin, to take the reins of the field goal kicker.

Tiffin filled the role quite nicely in the Tide’s first three game as he made seven out of nine field goal attempts, including a 47-yard game-winning field goal against Vanderbilt in the second game of the season.

While it seemed the future looked bright for Shula, the future was uncertain for Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt as he was coming off two losing seasons in Fayetteville and was on the hot seat as the 2006 season began.

But there was hope for the ‘Hogs in ’06, as a new offensive coordinator and the running back duo of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, gave optimisms’ that Arkansas would rebound with a winning season.

However, after a 50-14 loss to USC in the season opener and unimpressive wins against Utah State and Vanderbilt, Nutt was in need of a victory against the Tide.

Both teams traded punts until the Razorbacks’ second possession when Arkansas took over in ‘Bama territory and drove 30 yards in 10 plays, with McFadden carry it six times for 25 yards. Read the rest of this entry →

Zultan predictions for Week 3 of the college football season.

For Big Ten Plus

Finally order has been restored in the college football world.

Zultan would be as perfect as the Iowa Hawkeye defense were it not for the losses endured by Golden Gophers and the Fighting Irish.

These two teams conspired both weeks to trip up the mighty one.  Perfidy!

This week these two teams continue to try to stymie the All-Seeing One as he ponders the depths with his crystal ball.

The cloudy images of upcoming football clashes displayed in vivid but runny colors will come into focus once the last whistle blows on Saturday. It is Zultan’s innate power that allows him to read the indistinct images and predict the college football future.

Last week Zultan nudged perfection at 10-2.

There were a lucky 13 of you who managed to outguess the mighty one with 11-1 records. These super prognosticators will be listed at the end of the article so as not to distract from the important task at hand, picking the winners in Week 3.

Is this your week to surpass Zultan? Are you ready to step out on the lucky limb of chance?  If so click here and make your picks.  We shall see who has the superior powers.  Get ready to feel a sense of loss as you go against the power of mighty Zultan.

Read the rest of this entry →