Click here for David Griggs’ write up of today’s slate of basketball
Also click here for Jon Teitel’s interview with Mel Nowell regarding his teammate John Havlicek
We continue looking at the evolution of the NCAA Tournament – one of our colleagues has suggested looking at the 1986 NCAA Tournament. And I absolutely agree – this was the 2nd year of the field including 64 teams. This was also the first season that the NCAA had a uniform 45-second shot clock; some conferences had experimental rules in prior seasons that would include a shot clock and/or the 3-point line (which did become official in all NCAA competition for the following season). In fact, on many of CBS’s telecasts in the mid-80s, they would put a disclaimer on the TV screen if the shot clock was not used in the game – click here for an example (this links to a DePaul-Notre Dame game in 1984).
The 1985-86 season was also noteworthy for several programs in the NCAA. For the Duke Blue Devils, this marked the first season under Mike Krzyzewski where Duke was a national power. For Kentucky, they said adios to the Joe B. Hall regime and introduced Eddie Sutton as their head coach. For the Indiana Hoosiers, their season would be chronicled by John Feinstein in his best-selling book A Season On the Brink (whose name will be explained later). The Hoosiers had a rare losing season in conference play the year before; they would come back and wind up finishing 2nd in the Big 10 behind eventual conference champion Michigan.
Since there would now be 32 first-round games scheduled, ESPN would have TV coverage of those games and would “whip around” to competitive games as they took place. One of the first stunners that took place would be Arkansas-Little Rock’s upset of Notre Dame in the first round in Minneapolis. Syracuse’s region lent itself to even more upsets; Cleveland State was a relative newcomer to the NCAA Tournament and immediately made a splash with their full-court press. With a team featuring Eric Mudd and Mouse McFadden, the Vikings would knock Indiana back to the brink (click here for NCAA On Demand’s coverage) and then defeat Saint Joseph’s to advance to the Sweet 16. Even more remarkable was the U.S. Naval Academy; the 7th-seeded Midshipmen featured Doug Wojcik and the future Admiral in David Robinson. The Middies beat Tulsa in their first-round game before scoring a decisive win against the hometown Orangemen. Navy would defeat Cleveland State in the Sweet 16 before falling to Duke in the Elite 8 amid chants of “Abandon Ship” from the Duke fans.
In the Southeast Regional, Kentucky earned the top seed and would eventually accomplish an NCAA first in the Sweet 16 by defeating Alabama for the 4th time in the season. (Cincinnati would duplicate the feat in 1992 with 4 wins over Memphis State). However, the Wildcats would not advance to the Final 4 because of the enigmatic Louisiana State Tigers. 11th-seeded LSU would actually win their 1st and 2nd-round games on campus against Purdue and Memphis State, respectively. Turnabout was fair play in the Sweet 16 since LSU would have to play Georgia Tech in Atlanta (at the Omni but not on Tech’s Thrillerdome). Georgia Tech entered the season with high expectations and a roster featuring John Salley and Mark Price, but were not able to overcome the Tigers. After defeating Kentucky in the regional final, the Tigers completed the rare feat of defeating the #1, #2 and #3 seeds in the same regional.
The Midwest region did not have as many upsets beyond Little Rock’s win over Notre Dame, but the Jayhawks had a relatively easy path while not facing a team seeded higher than 5th. Their wins over Michigan State and NC State came in front of a hometown crowd in Kansas City; there they would punch their ticket to the Final 4 in Dallas. In the West region, another SEC team would pull off a Cinderella run to help disrupt the region. Auburn would stun top-seeded St. John’s in the 2nd round in Long Beach, California; they would also beat UNLV before falling to the Louisville Cardinals in the Elite 8. Louisville advanced to the Final 4 for the 4th time in the 1980s; no other team was able to match that feat during that decade.
When the Final 4 convened in Dallas, Louisville (headed by Milt Wagner and Pervis “Never Nervous” Ellison) would mark the midnight hour in LSU’s Cinderella season. The other game between Duke and Kansas was more competitive. It was also a rematch of the teams’ earlier meeting in the 1985 Preseason NIT. With Danny Manning in foul trouble for the Jayhawks, Duke was able to capitalize and advance to the national title game for the 3rd time. However, Krzyzewski would lament years later about not being able to use his bench more during the Kansas game. They were not quite as fresh down the stretch as Louisville would be on Monday night; the Cards would finish the Devils 72-69 to claim their 2nd national title in program history. Pervis Ellison would be named Most Outstanding Player.
Click here to see the official 1986 Final Four video.
Throwback Thursday: 1986 NCAA Tournament
Click here for David Griggs’ write up of today’s slate of basketball
Also click here for Jon Teitel’s interview with Mel Nowell regarding his teammate John Havlicek
We continue looking at the evolution of the NCAA Tournament – one of our colleagues has suggested looking at the 1986 NCAA Tournament. And I absolutely agree – this was the 2nd year of the field including 64 teams. This was also the first season that the NCAA had a uniform 45-second shot clock; some conferences had experimental rules in prior seasons that would include a shot clock and/or the 3-point line (which did become official in all NCAA competition for the following season). In fact, on many of CBS’s telecasts in the mid-80s, they would put a disclaimer on the TV screen if the shot clock was not used in the game – click here for an example (this links to a DePaul-Notre Dame game in 1984).
The 1985-86 season was also noteworthy for several programs in the NCAA. For the Duke Blue Devils, this marked the first season under Mike Krzyzewski where Duke was a national power. For Kentucky, they said adios to the Joe B. Hall regime and introduced Eddie Sutton as their head coach. For the Indiana Hoosiers, their season would be chronicled by John Feinstein in his best-selling book A Season On the Brink (whose name will be explained later). The Hoosiers had a rare losing season in conference play the year before; they would come back and wind up finishing 2nd in the Big 10 behind eventual conference champion Michigan.
Since there would now be 32 first-round games scheduled, ESPN would have TV coverage of those games and would “whip around” to competitive games as they took place. One of the first stunners that took place would be Arkansas-Little Rock’s upset of Notre Dame in the first round in Minneapolis. Syracuse’s region lent itself to even more upsets; Cleveland State was a relative newcomer to the NCAA Tournament and immediately made a splash with their full-court press. With a team featuring Eric Mudd and Mouse McFadden, the Vikings would knock Indiana back to the brink (click here for NCAA On Demand’s coverage) and then defeat Saint Joseph’s to advance to the Sweet 16. Even more remarkable was the U.S. Naval Academy; the 7th-seeded Midshipmen featured Doug Wojcik and the future Admiral in David Robinson. The Middies beat Tulsa in their first-round game before scoring a decisive win against the hometown Orangemen. Navy would defeat Cleveland State in the Sweet 16 before falling to Duke in the Elite 8 amid chants of “Abandon Ship” from the Duke fans.
In the Southeast Regional, Kentucky earned the top seed and would eventually accomplish an NCAA first in the Sweet 16 by defeating Alabama for the 4th time in the season. (Cincinnati would duplicate the feat in 1992 with 4 wins over Memphis State). However, the Wildcats would not advance to the Final 4 because of the enigmatic Louisiana State Tigers. 11th-seeded LSU would actually win their 1st and 2nd-round games on campus against Purdue and Memphis State, respectively. Turnabout was fair play in the Sweet 16 since LSU would have to play Georgia Tech in Atlanta (at the Omni but not on Tech’s Thrillerdome). Georgia Tech entered the season with high expectations and a roster featuring John Salley and Mark Price, but were not able to overcome the Tigers. After defeating Kentucky in the regional final, the Tigers completed the rare feat of defeating the #1, #2 and #3 seeds in the same regional.
The Midwest region did not have as many upsets beyond Little Rock’s win over Notre Dame, but the Jayhawks had a relatively easy path while not facing a team seeded higher than 5th. Their wins over Michigan State and NC State came in front of a hometown crowd in Kansas City; there they would punch their ticket to the Final 4 in Dallas. In the West region, another SEC team would pull off a Cinderella run to help disrupt the region. Auburn would stun top-seeded St. John’s in the 2nd round in Long Beach, California; they would also beat UNLV before falling to the Louisville Cardinals in the Elite 8. Louisville advanced to the Final 4 for the 4th time in the 1980s; no other team was able to match that feat during that decade.
When the Final 4 convened in Dallas, Louisville (headed by Milt Wagner and Pervis “Never Nervous” Ellison) would mark the midnight hour in LSU’s Cinderella season. The other game between Duke and Kansas was more competitive. It was also a rematch of the teams’ earlier meeting in the 1985 Preseason NIT. With Danny Manning in foul trouble for the Jayhawks, Duke was able to capitalize and advance to the national title game for the 3rd time. However, Krzyzewski would lament years later about not being able to use his bench more during the Kansas game. They were not quite as fresh down the stretch as Louisville would be on Monday night; the Cards would finish the Devils 72-69 to claim their 2nd national title in program history. Pervis Ellison would be named Most Outstanding Player.
Click here to see the official 1986 Final Four video.