Sports Then and Now

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

After years of coming close, Gonzaga is finally in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four.

Gonzaga played as close to perfect as perfect as you can imagine in its Elite 8 annihilation of Xavier on Saturday. With the Musketeers on a red-hot run through the first three rounds of the tournament, most pundits figure they’d run out of gas at some point, but a 24-point whipping wasn’t what most had in mind.

The Bulldogs are now two wins away from not just a national championship, but one of the single greatest seasons in NCAA college basketball history. Two wins would get them to 38-1, tying them for the most wins in a single season with Kentucky’s 2012 and 2015 teams and Memphis’s 2008 squad – interestingly enough all three coached by John Calipari.

The Bulldogs’ best number is their +22.3 points per game differential entering the Final Four. Only Duke’s 1998-1999 team had a higher average (25.9 ppg).

The Bulldogs are exciting because they have one of the best inside-outside combinations in the country in junior guard Nigel Williams-Goss and Premek Karnowski. Williams-Goss is the straw who stirs the drink, leading the team in minutes (32.4 per game), points per game (16.7), assists per game (4.6), steals per game (1.8), and free-throw percentage (.882).

How Karnowski responds to the pressure of this round will determine a lot. He’s 7-feet, 1-inch and weighs 300 pounds, but the Bulldogs have won in spite of him so far during the tournament. Against Xavier last weekend, he had just five points and three rebounds and sat a bunch with four fouls. During the tournament, he’s averaging 9.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. He’s not a banger but being that tall should be good for 15 and 8 every game.

The X factors for the Bulldogs are Jordan Mathews and Johnathan Williams, the team’s third- and fourth-leading scorers. Mathews is putting up 10.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, while Williams leads the team in rebounds at 6.6 per game and adds in 10.3 points per contest. Read the rest of this entry →