March 27, 2019

With the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments in full swing across the United States, World Book looks back at the first NCAA basketball title game, which took place 80 years ago today on March 27, 1939. In that first championship, the University of Oregon men’s basketball team downed Ohio State 46-33 at the original Patten Gymnasium at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, just north of Chicago. The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) establishes athletic standards and official playing rules for college sports.

The 1939 NCAA national champion University of Oregon basketball team with members’ autographs at the bottom. From left to right, front row: Wally Johansen, Slim Wintermute, Bob Anet (holding trophy), coach Howard Hobson, Laddie Gale (holding trophy), and John Dick. Standing are: Bob Hardy, Evert McNeely, manager Jay Langston, Ford Mullen, Matt Pavalunas, trainer Bob Officer, Ted Sarpola, and Earl Sandness. Credit: University of Oregon

That first title team from Oregon was known as the Webfoots (today the team is known as the Ducks). The Webfoots sported five players known as the “Tall Firs” because of their towering stature (for the era)—they ranged from 6 feet 3 inches (1.9 meters) to 6 feet 8 inches (2 meters) tall. The Tall Firs dominated the tournament, but it was an Ohio State player, forward Jimmy Hull, who earned the first Most Outstanding Player award. The 5-foot-11-inch (1.8-meter) tall Hull averaged 19.3 points per game during the tourney.

There were some big differences between the tournament of 1939 and the modern “March Madness” that captures the attention of sports fans across the country every year. In 1939, just eight teams competed in the men’s tournament (68 teams compete today), and there was not yet a women’s competition (the first was held in 1972). And from the late 1930′s into the 1950′s, the NIT (National Invitation Tournament, first held in 1938) was considered the preeminent college basketball competition. (Long Island University, arguably the best team in the country in 1939, shunned that first NCAA tournament and went on to win the NIT.) The NIT has since been relegated to the also-rans who do not qualify for the NCAA tourney.

A few side notes to that first title game in 1939: in 2015, Oregon and Ohio State again challenged for a national championship, but this time in football. Ohio State won that title game, 42-20. In 2017, Oregon returned to the NCAA basketball final four for the first time since 1939 (but lost to North Carolina in the semifinal). Also in 2017, Northwestern, the host of the 1939 title game, finally qualified for its first NCAA tournament. Northwestern won its inaugural tourney game, but lost to Gonzaga in the second round.

April 3, 2018

On Sunday night, April 1, at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish women’s basketball team defeated the Mississippi State University Bulldogs 61-58 to win the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament. Notre Dame junior guard Arike Ogunbowale hit a 3-point shot as time expired to win the game and complete a stirring comeback. It was Notre Dame’s second NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) women’s basketball title (the team’s first came in 2001). For Mississippi State, it was the team’s second-straight heartbreaking loss in the championship game. The Bulldogs lost to champion South Carolina in 2017.

Notre Dame’s Arike Ogunbowale drives to the basket against Roshunda Johnson of Mississippi State during the championship game of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on April 1, 2018. Credit: © Justin Tafoya, Getty Images

The Irish struggled early, trailing 30-17 at halftime. But Notre Dame stormed back in the third quarter, making up the deficit and battling to a tie to start the fourth. Led by Ogunbowale (18 points) and junior forward Jessica Shepard (19 points), the Irish overcame Mississippi State’s scoring tandem of junior guard Victoria Vivians (21 points) and sophomore center Teaira McCowan (18 points). Tied at 58 in the final seconds of the game, Notre Dame’s Ogunbowale dribbled into the corner and threw up a contested shot that swished through the net as time expired. For Ogunbowale, it was her second-straight gigantic game-winning shot. In the Final Four semifinal against perennial powerhouse Connecticut, Ogunbowale drained a jumper with 1 second left to give Notre Dame a thrilling 91-89 victory in overtime. Ogunbowale was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player (MOP). Mississippi State downed Louisville in its Final Four semifinal.

Villanova’s Mikal Bridges goes high to the basket against Michigan’s Zavier Simpson during the championship game of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on April 2, 2018. Credit: © Ronald Martinez, Getty Images

On Monday night, April 2, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, the Villanova University Wildcats downed the University of Michigan Wolverines 79-62 to win the men’s NCAA title. Michigan, led by junior forward Moritz Wagner, started strong and carried a 21-14 lead beyond the 11-minute mark in the first half. From that moment on, however, it was all Villanova. Wildcat sophomore guard Donte DiVincenzo alone outscored Michigan in the waning minutes of the first half, which ended 37-28 solidly in Villanova’s favor. The second half was Villanova’s, too, and the team steadily pulled away, leading by as many as 20 points. The Wildcats’ national player of the year, junior guard Jalen Brunson, had a lackluster 9 points, but a third guard, junior Mikal Bridges, added 19 points, and redshirt freshman forward Omari Spellman was a force inside, pulling down 11 rebounds, adding 8 points, and repeatedly getting under the skin of the Wolverines’ Wagner. The red-headed and Italian-named DiVincenzo—affectionately known as “The Big Ragu”—began the game on the bench as the sixth man, but finished with 31 points and earned tournament MOP honors.

It was the second national title for Villanova head coach Jay Wright, and Villanova’s third title overall. The Philadelphia school previously cut down the final nets in 1985 and 2016. It was Michigan’s seventh championship game. The lone title for the Wolverines of Ann Arbor, Michigan, came in 1989. Villanova dominated this year’s tournament, winning all games by 12 points or more, including the team’s 16-point pasting of Kansas in the Final Four semifinal. Michigan hoed a tough road to the title game, eclipsing tournament darling Loyola University Chicago in its Final Four semifinal.

June 28, 2016

This morning, June 28, legendary women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt died at age 64. Summitt coached the University of Tennessee Lady Vols from 1974 to 2012, leading them to eight National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships. She ended her career with more wins (1,098) than any other coach in NCAA Division I history. Summitt stepped down as head coach at Tennessee in 2012 after being diagnosed with early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type.

Legendary Tennessee head coach Pat Summit, seen here with the Southeastern Conference tournament championship trophy in 2012, died of early onset dementia on June 28, 2016.
Credit: © AP Images

Patricia Sue Head was born in Henrietta, Tennessee, on June 14, 1952. She married R. B. Summitt, a bank executive, in 1980. She starred in basketball while attending the University of Tennessee at Martin. She graduated in 1974 with a B.S. degree in physical education. She received an M.S. degree in physical education in 1975 from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Summitt was co-captain of the United States women’s basketball team that won the silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games and coached the U.S. team that won gold at the 1984 Olympics. In 2000, she was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and was honored as the Naismith Coach of the 20^th Century in women’s basketball.

In March 2005, Summitt won her 880^th game as a head coach, breaking the NCAA record held by Dean Smith of the University of North Carolina. In February 2009, Summitt became the first NCAA coach to win 1,000 games. Named the NCAA coach of the year seven times, Summitt led the Lady Vols to 16 Southeastern Conference tournament titles and 22 Final Fours. Her University of Tennessee teams won NCAA titles in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2007, and 2008. In 2012, U.S. President Barack Obama presented Summitt with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the country’s highest civilian honors.

March 21, 2016

On March 18, dejected Michigan State guard Bryn Forbes watches as Middle Tennessee prepares to shoot a free throw in the final moments of a first-round match-up of the NCAA Tournament. Middle Tennessee upset the heavily-favored Spartans, 90-81. Credit: © Charlie Riedel, AP Photo

On Thursday, March 17, 2016, the annual NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament, known familiarly as March Madness, tipped off in several cities around the United States. The tournament quickly lived up to its nickname, as low-seeded teams began picking off the powerhouses at the tops of the brackets. Twelve-seeded Yale took down no. 5 Baylor for its first-ever tournament victory. Other first-round double-digit-seed upset winners included Arkansas Little Rock, Hawaii, Gonzaga, Stephen F. Austin, Syracuse, Virginia Commonwealth, and Wichita State. The single-elimination tournament’s initial 64 teams are divided into 4 brackets of 16.

The weekend’s biggest surprise came on Friday, as 15-seed Middle Tennessee State took out 2-seed and perennial power Michigan State. The jolting upset was just the eighth time in tournament history (since 1939) that a 15-seed pulled off a first-round win. That same day, 11-seed Northern Iowa took down no. 6 Texas on a half-court lob at the buzzer that banked through the hoop. Northern Iowa ate their humble pie two days later, though, as they blew a 12-point lead with just 35 seconds left before losing in double overtime to Texas A & M. It was the biggest last-minute comeback in college basketball history.

Upsets aside, all four no. 1 seeds—Kansas, North Carolina, Oregon, and Virginia—skated through the tournament’s first weekend with easy victories. And of all the low-seeded upset winners, only Gonzaga and Syracuse—who play each other next—won their second game of the weekend to advance to the Sweet 16.

April 7, 2015

Yesterday, the Duke Blue Devils defeated the Wisconsin Badgers 68-63 to win the NCAA men’s basketball championship. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski won his fifth national championship, placing him second place in NCAA men’s basketball championships behind only John Wooden who won ten titles with UCLA between 1964 and 1975. Krzyzewski’s Duke teams previously won titles in 1991, 1992, 2001, and 2010.

Duke’s Justise Winslow (12) goes up for a shot between Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky (44) and Duje Dukan (13) during the NCAA championship game. Credit: AP Photo

After playing to a 31-31 tie in the first half, Wisconsin ran out to take a 48-39 lead with 13:23 left in the game. However, the Blue Devils, led by talented freshmen Grayson Allen, Tyus Jones, and Jahill Okafor, outscored the Badgers by 14 points the rest of the way to take the title. Jones, who led the Blue Devils with 23 points, was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. Frank Kaminsky, the Naismith College Player of the Year, led the Badgers with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Duke advanced to the championship game by crushing Michigan State 81-61 in one of the national semifinal games on April 5. Wisconsin upset previously undefeated Kentucky 71-64 to advance to their first national men’s basketball championship game since 1941. Kentucky had been trying to become the first undefeated NCAA men’s basketball champion since Indiana went undefeated in 1976. Earlier in the season Duke defeated Wisconsin 80-70.

Other World Book articles:

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
NCAA Men’s Basketball Champions  (a Timeline)

April 9, 2014

The University of Connecticut established itself as the undisputed monarch of college basketball, winning both the NCAA men’s and women’s championships in a 24-hour period. It was only the second time in NCAA history that one school won both championships in the same season, and it was Connecticut who accomplished the feat first, back in 2003-2004.

The women’s victory on April 8 was no great surprise. Coach Geno Auriemma’s team came into the finals against opponent Notre Dame with a 39-game winning streak and overwhelmed the previously undefeated Fighting Irish 79-58. It was the school’s second-consecutive women’s title and gave Auriemma his ninth NCAA championship, breaking the record of eight he had shared with former Tennessee coach Pat Summitt. Breanna Stewart led UConn with 21 points and was named the Most Valuable Player of the Final Four for the second straight year.

Connecticut’s men’s victory on April 7 was a far different story. UConn was seeded 7th in its tournament and was established as a clear underdog against the red-hot University of Kentucky team. Kentucky’s roster was packed with freshmen who seemed destined to become National Basketball Association millionaires after the next NBA draft. But behind the steady play of guards Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright, UConn jumped out to an early lead and fought off several Kentucky surges to take the title with a 60-54 victory. The school became the lowest seed ever to win the NCAA men’s basketball championship. The victory was a personal triumph for UConn’s 42-year old coach Kevin Ollie, who won the title in only his second year at the school.

Additional World Book articles:

• Basketball
• Basketball (1995) (a Back in Time article)
• Basketball (1997) (a Back in Time article)
• Basketball (2013) (a Back in Time article)