Kansas forward David McCormack and North Carolina guard R.J. during the 2022 NCAA tournament finals.
Credit: © David J. Phillip, AP Photo

On Monday, April 4, the University of Kansas Jayhawks overcame a 15-point halftime deficit to defeat the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, 72-69, and win the school’s fourth National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball championship in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Jayhawks outscored the Tar Heels, 47-29, in the second half to cap the largest comeback in NCAA title game history.

North Carolina, the eighth seed in the East Region, hoped to become the first 8-seed to win the tournament since Villanova’s triumph in 1985. Led by the aggressive drives of point guard R. J. Davis and the spirited play of hobbled center Armando Bacot, the Tar Heels stunned the favored Jayhawks in the game’s first half. With several starters in foul trouble, Kansas—the Midwest Region’s top seed—looked out of sync and stumbled into halftime down 40-25.

Kansas emerged from the locker room as the more confident team, however, and quickly reduced the deficit to single digits. Center David McCormack (15 points, 10 rebounds) and guard Christian Braun (12 points, 12 rebounds) led the comeback. Forward Jalen Wilson and guards Ochai Agbaji and Remy Martin also scored in double-figures for the Jayhawks. Kansas Coach Bill Self nabbed a second NCAA victory, his last coming in 2008.

North Carolina outrebounded Kansas, 55 to 35, for the game, but it couldn’t convert enough of its extra shot attempts into baskets. The Jayhawks sank 44 percent of their field goal attempts, compared with 32 percent for the Tar Heels. Bacot (15 points, 15 rebounds), Davis (15 points, 12 rebounds), and forward Brady Manek (13 points, 13 rebounds) each tallied double-doubles for the Heels in the hard-fought game.

Carolina guard Caleb Love, whose heroics in Saturday’s semifinal led the Tar Heels to an 81-77 upset win over their archrival, the Blue Devils of Duke, had a rough game Monday night. Dogged by a tender ankle and a host of long, physical defenders, he missed 19 of his 24 shots, including an errant three-point attempt as time expired. Love had scored 28 points to dispatch Duke and send the Blue Devils’ legendary leader, Coach Mike Krzyzewski, into retirement a game earlier than Duke fans had hoped. Coach “K” finished his illustrious 47-year career with a record 1,202 wins, including 5 NCAA titles.

* * *

The NCAA women’s basketball championship took place a night earlier, on April 3. The top-ranked and top overall seed University of South Carolina Gamecocks led throughout, defeating the University of Connecticut Huskies, 64-49, at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Junior forward Aliyah Boston, the consensus national player of the year, amassed 11 points and 16 rebounds for the Gamecocks. Speedy senior guard Destanni Henderson played her greatest game on the biggest stage, tallying a career-high 26 points and frustrating the Huskies with relentless defensive pressure.

The Huskies, led by 14 points from star sophomore guard Paige Bueckers, were overwhelmed by the intensity and physicality of the Gamecocks. South Carolina outrebounded Connecticut, 49-24, and shot 26 free throws to the Huskies’ 4. South Carolina and Coach Dawn Staley brought home their second NCAA title, the first coming in 2017.

In a televised post-game interview, Henderson praised her coach and teammates, and she spoke of believing in herself through numerous on- and off-court challenges. The moment also served to highlight the NCAA’s new Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policy that allows amateur athletes to profit from their collegiate fame. As the interview drew to a close, the fashion-forward guard squeezed in a plug for her clothing line, aptly named “Hennything is Possible.”

April 8, 2020

Today, April 8, Behind the Headlines was originally scheduled to cover this year’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball championships in the United States. However, the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments were canceled in March because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The tournaments were not alone: nearly all sports leagues and sporting events have been suspended or canceled because of COVID-19, putting sports on hold in all corners of the globe. COVID-19 is a pneumonia-like disease caused by a coronavirus, a type of virus that also causes the common cold and other diseases of the upper respiratory system. To date, COVID-19 has killed more than 80,000 people among nearly 1.5 million confirmed cases.

Dodger Stadium sits empty in Los Angeles, California. Baseball stadiums, usually teeming with people at this time of year, are going unused throughout the world as leagues have been suspended or canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: John McCoy/Getty Images

All collegiate and high schools sports in the United States were suspended or canceled because of COVID-19 (the schools were then closed), and Little League Baseball, too, had to put off the start of its season. In professional sports, Major League Baseball, which had begun its annual spring training, canceled all exhibition games on March 12 and indefinitely delayed the start of the regular season. Minor League Baseball shut down, as did baseball leagues in Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and other countries. The National Basketball Association suspended its season on March 11, and basketball leagues in other countries were also shut down. The recently launched XFL football league suspended its first season on March 12, and the fledgling Basketball Africa League also lost its inaugural season, which had been scheduled to start on March 13.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo until 2021. Credit: Pakpoom Phummee/Shutterstock

Major League Soccer and the National Hockey League suspended their seasons in March, and other hockey and soccer leagues around the world were forced to do the same. Rugby and cricket leagues and tournaments were suspended, as were the upcoming Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, and British Open golf competitions. In tennis, Wimbledon was canceled for the first time since World War II (1939-1945), and the French Open was postponed. The Kentucky Derby horse race and the Indianapolis 500 auto race were postponed, and the Monaco Gran Prix auto race was canceled. (All three races are usually run in May.) Marathons around the world have been canceled or postponed, and athletes of all types will have to wait for the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, which were postponed a year until July 2021.

This illustration of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) shows the spikes on the outer surface of the virus that appear as a corona, giving the virus its name. Credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of sports continued to be played without fans in attendance, but fears for the safety of athletes quickly led to the canceling of the competitions themselves. Suspended and postponed sports leagues and events have issued optimistic timelines about when they will resume or take place. All timelines, however, depend on the containment or continued spread of COVID-19.

The sports cancellations are part of social distancing, also known as physical distancing, an effort to slow or stop the spread of a contagious disease by limiting contact between people. Social distancing is most effective against illnesses that can be transmitted by coughing or sneezing, direct or indirect physical contact, or through the air. Typical social distancing measures call for the closing of such public places as sports arenas, schools, restaurants, museums, and many offices and stores. They may also call for people to maintain a distance of around 6 feet (2 meters) between them in public places.

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.

April 6, 2016

Connecticut’s Morgan Tuck (3), Kia Nurse (11), and Breanna Stewart (30) celebrate Connecticut’s victory over Syracuse in the championship game at the women’s Final Four on April 5, 2016.
Credit: © Michael Conroy, AP Photo

Last night, April 5, the University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies women’s basketball team defeated the Syracuse University Orange 82-51 to win an unprecedented fourth straight NCAA Women’s Division I Basketball Tournament. It was the 11^th NCAA title for UConn and their coach Geno Auriemma, who now has more titles than legendary UCLA men’s coach John Wooden. The women’s tournament has been played every year since 1982, and UConn first won it in 1995. Last night’s game was played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

UConn’s 31-point margin of victory looks large enough, but the game really wasn’t that close. During an apparent breather in the third quarter, UConn let Syracuse rattle off 16 points in a row. UConn was even playing short-handed. Their top 3-point shooter, freshman Katie Lou Samuleson, watched the game from the bench with an injured foot. UConn has done more than dominate women’s college basketball. They own it. Last night’s win was the 75^th in a row for the Huskies. This year, 25 of their 38 wins (with no losses, obviously) were by 40 points or more.

UConn senior center Breanna Stewart scored 24 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and dished out 6 assists on her way to winning the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award. She won it last year, too, and the year before, and the year before that.