January 11, 2017

The Clemson University Tigers stunned the seemingly invincible University of Alabama Crimson Tide 35-31 on Monday night, January 9, to win the College Football Playoff National Championship at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Trailing for nearly all four quarters, Clemson’s junior quarterback Deshaun Watson completed a pass to wide receiver Hunter Renfrow in the end zone with just one second left in the game to secure the victory. The upset denied favorite Alabama and head coach Nick Saban an unprecedented fifth national football championship in the past eight seasons. For Clemson, it was their first national title since 1981 and only the second in school history.

Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson eludes Alabama defenders to score during the second quarter of the College Football Playoff National Championship at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on Jan. 9, 2017. Clemson defeated Alabama 35-31 on a last-second touchdown. Credit: © Kevin C. Cox, Getty Images

Watson passed for 420 yards and 3 touchdowns and rushed for 43 yards in several spectacular scrambles. Watson did all this against the most fearsome defense in college football. Over the season, the Crimson Tide allowed the fewest yards per game, the fewest points per game, and the fewest rushing yards of any team in the nation. Standout tackle Jonathan Allen led an Alabama defense that did not allow a touchdown in all of November.

Monday’s game was a rematch of last year’s title game won by Alabama. It was the first rematch of a Division 1 college football championship since the title game was introduced at the start of the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) era in 1998. Ranked No. 3 going into this season’s NCAA college football playoff, Clemson was well-positioned to be the first team to defeat Nick Saban in a national championship game. In the four-game college championship playoff, Clemson crushed No. 2-ranked Ohio State 31-0 in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve in Glendale, Arizona, to earn a shot at the championship. Alabama easily dispatched their playoff opponent as well, downing newcomer Washington 24-7 in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta to set up the title game rematch. It was the 26th consecutive win for Alabama.

For Clemson and head coach William “Dabo” Swinney, the game was a chance for redemption. In last year’s championship game, the two teams combined for more than 1,000 yards in total offense, plus almost 300 yards more in punt and kickoff returns, as the teams scored 40 points between them in the fourth quarter alone. Many fans felt Clemson outplayed Alabama, only to fall 45-40 late in the game after several big plays and an Alabama onside kick that swung the game’s momentum.

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.

June 28, 2016

Last week, on June 23, 2016, the Philadelphia 76ers selected Louisiana State University (LSU) forward Ben Simmons as the number one overall pick of the National Basketball Association (NBA) draft in Brooklyn, New York. A 19-year-old out of Australia, Simmons decided to go pro after his first collegiate season, in which he averaged 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game for the LSU Tigers. Simmons earned Freshman of the Year honors in LSU’s Southeastern Conference and was named to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men’s Basketball All-American first team.

Ben Simmons, right, greets NBA Commissioner Adam Silver after his selection as the number one overall pick in the NBA draft on June 23, 2016.
Credit: © Jerry Lai, USA Today Sports/Reuters

Simmons was born in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy in 1996, the son of Dave Simmons, a former star of Australia’s National Basketball League. Young Ben grew up playing basketball, rugby, and Australian Rules football. In 2013, Simmons moved to Florida, where he graduated from high school in 2015. Simmons is the third Australian to be chosen number one overall in the NBA draft, after Kyrie Irving (born in Melbourne but raised in New Jersey) in 2011 and Andrew Bogut (born and raised in Melbourne) in 2005. Simmons is the second top pick out of LSU. The first was Hall of Fame center Shaquille O’Neal in 1992.

The Los Angeles Lakers, fresh off the worst season in team history, chose Duke University forward Brandon Ingram with the second pick in the draft. With the third pick, the Boston Celtics chose forward Jaylen Brown out of the University of California. The Milwaukee Bucks rounded out the “down under” portion of the first round by choosing 7’1” power forward Thon Maker, a Sudanese-Australian out of Perth who has most recently played and lived in Canada, as the 10^th overall pick.

April 5, 2016

In the championship game of the 2016 NCAA Men’s Final Four, Kris Jenkins (in the number 2 jersey), a forward for the Villanova Wildcats, hits the game winning shot with 0.6 seconds left in the game against North Carolina. Credit: © Bob Donnan, USA TODAY Sports/Reuters

A three-point, buzzer-beating jump shot clinched the victory for Pennsylvania’s Villanova over North Carolina in the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament last evening. In an exciting game of multiple lead changes, the No. 1 seed North Carolina Tar Heels were up 39-34 at halftime before the No. 2 seed Villanova Wildcats came roaring back to take their largest lead of the game—67-57 with 5:29 to go. The Tar Heels came back to close the margin to three points with 14 seconds left on the clock, then North Carolina senior guard Marcus Paige tied the game at 74 with a wild three-point jumper.

With just 4.7 seconds left in the game, the Wildcats inbounded the ball and scrambled down the court. A pass from Villanova point guard Ryan Arcidiacono to teammate forward Kris Jenkins behind the arc gave Jenkins just enough time to shoot a clean three-point shot with less than a second to go to take the title with a final score of 77-74. With that last pass of his college basketball career, senior Arcidiacono became a national champion and was later named Final Four Most Outstanding Player.

For Villanova, it is its second national title—the first was in 1985, when the underdog Wildcats shocked Georgetown and won by a bucket. Villanova advanced to the championship game this year after setting a record for margin of victory in a Final Four semifinal, beating No. 2 seed Oklahoma 95-51.  The Wildcats also knocked out No. 1 seed Kansas when they went head to head in the Elite Eight with a score of 64-59.

North Carolina saw victories over No. 6 Notre Dame in the Elite Eight before blowing out No. 10 Syracuse in the Final Four to meet Villanova in the championship.

This year’s March Madness tournament lived up to its nickname, as low-seeded teams picked off the powerhouses at the tops of the brackets in early rounds, but left all four No. 1 seeds—Kansas, North Carolina, Oregon, and Virginia—unscathed up until the Elite Eight before all outside of North Carolina were sent home before the Final Four.

Tonight, the women’s NCAA Championship game will be played between top overall seed and commanding powerhouse Connecticut (UConn) and No. 4 seed Syracuse. UConn’s women are hoping to win the title for the fourth consecutive year tonight.

Other World Book articles:

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

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)

April 10, 2013

Women’s basketball history was made yesterday when the University of Connecticut’s UConn Huskies won their eighth National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) National Championship under coach Geno Auriemma. The Huskies beat the University of Louisville Cardinals 93-60, the most lopsided victory ever in a title game.

Geno Auriemma began coaching women’s basketball as an assistant coach in 1978 with St. Joseph’s University.  He began coaching the Connecticut women’s basketball team in 1986. His UConn Huskies won the NCAA National Championship in 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, and 2013. The 1995, 2002, 2009, and 2010 teams were undefeated.

Only one other women’s basketball program has won the NCAA title eight times–the Tennessee Volunteers under coach Pat Summit. Summit played women’s basketball for the University of Tennessee in the 1970′s. She was co-captain of the U.S. Olympic team that won a silver medal at the Montreal games in 1976. She began coaching for the Tennessee Volunteers in 1974 while a graduate assistant. Her teams won NCAA National Championships in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2007, and 2008.

Auriemma has the possibility of breaking the NCAA record with the Huskies but, sadly, Summitt stopped coaching in 2012. She suffers from early-onset dementia.

Additional World Book articles:

• Basketball (2010 Back in time)
• Basketball (2012 Back in time)
• National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)