By Woodrow Carroll
It’s fun to argue with the pollsters and nearly all fans do it. Yet, those who put Gonzaga University and Baylor University in, or near, the top spot in the collegiate basketball rankings for most, or all, of the season, should have had smiles on their faces when they did battle for the national championship Monday in Indianapolis.
The 86-70 victory by Baylor over previously undefeated Gonzaga was surprising, not in the Baylor victory so much as in the wire-to-wire victory. Baylor, from Waco, Texas, was second in the polls nearly all year, and Gonzaga, from Spokane, Wash., was No. 1 in the polls all season.
For most of the season, the Big Ten Conference was praised for the quality of its teams. Conversely, the Pac-12 Conference was largely overlooked. Turns out the Big Ten did not do so well in NCAA tournament play and the Pac-12 was successful.
Pac-12 member UCLA just missed a seven-game postseason run in the NCAA tournament. The Bruins had to defeat Michigan State in a First Four game just to qualify for the first round. From there UCLA defeated Brigham Young University (BYU), Abilene Christian, Alabama, and Michigan, to earn a spot in the Final Four. In a semifinal game, the Bruins played to a memorable overtime conclusion with undefeated Gonzaga. The top-seeded Zags won, 93-90, on a nearly 40-foot shot at the buzzer by freshman Jalen Suggs.
The Houston Cougars fell to Baylor, 78-59, in Saturday’s first semifinal game.
Houston was 14-3 in the American Conference and finished the season with a final record of 28-4. Wichita State was the top team in Conference based on its winning percentage with an 11-2 record. The two teams split two games in Conference. Wichita State, 16-6, 11-2, was a First Four team and lost right away to Drake, 53-52.
Prior to Scott Drew taking over the basketball program at Baylor as the head coach, the school was better known for football, although Baylor reached the NCAA championship game in 1948 only to fall to Kentucky, 58-42.
In 1950 Baylor reached the Final Four in what proved to be the end of an era.
In 1950, for the seventh and final time, the NCAA men’s basketball championship game was played at Madison Square Garden in New York City. CCNY (City College of New York) defeated Bradley, 71-68, in the championship game.
The NCAA championship game in 1950 was a rematch of that season’s NIT (National Invitation Tournament) championship game won by CCNY, 69-61, over Bradley. The two schools took part in both tournaments that year.
The 1950 Baylor team finished in fourth place in the NCAA tournament.. From 1946 through 1981 there was a third-place game. After losing a semifinal game to Bradley, Baylor lost to North Carolina State for third place.
After 1950, it was not until 1988 that Baylor made it an appearance in the NCAA tournament. Under head coach Gene Iba, the Bears did a one and done in 1988 by losing, 75-60, to Memphis State in the opening round. It was not until Scott Drew arrived that the Bears made their next appearance. Starting in 2008, Baylor has become a fixture in the NCAA tournament with the best finish in Monday night’s championship game.
UCLA made its first appearance in the NCAA tournament in 1950. John Wooden was the Bruins head coach and he had little success. First, UCLA lost to Bradley, 73-59, in Western Regional championship game.
At the time, the regional losers squared off in a third-place game. It didn’t help the Bruins who lost to BYU, 83-62.
Wooden, who guided UCLA to 10 NCAA national tournament championships, finally broke through with his first national championship in 1964 when undefeated UCLA, 30-0, defeated Duke, 98-83, for the tournament championship.