By Woodrow Carroll
The always-popular NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) men’s postseason basketball tournament is getting close. The tournament Selection Show will be Sunday, March 12.
We take a look at a team that came ever-so close to winning the tournament championship, only to falter at the finish, the very finish! The 1960-1961 Ohio State Buckeyes entered the national championship game with a 27-0 overall record, 14-0 in the Big Ten Conference.
In between 1956 and 1976 each of seven teams finished undefeated in capturing the NCAA men’s basketball tournament championship. Four times it was UCLA, 1964, 1967, 1972, and 1973, along with San Francisco in 1956, North Carolina in 1957, and Indiana in 1976. It is going on 47 years since Indiana won the championship with an undefeated record.
The Ohio State Buckeyes were the team to beat in the 1960-1961 season. The previous season, 1959-1960, Ohio State ended up trouncing California, 75-55, in the championship game. With four starters back from the 1960 championship squad, the Buckeyes were favorites to repeat.
The 1960-61 Buckeyes were talented. Three members, John Havlicek, Jerry Lucas, and Larry Siegfried, ended with pro careers of 10 years or more. The sixth man on the Buckeyes made a name for himself, Bob Knight! He was on the 1960 championship team. He captured three national championships as coach of Indiana in 1976, 1981, and 1987.
On the bench as a player, Knight tried to position himself near Buckeyes’ head coach Fred Taylor to glean coaching insights.
Ohio State did have some close calls along the way in 1960-1961, however, remained undefeated. The opening game in the 1961 NCAA Tournament, in Louisville, Ky. Ohio State eked out a 56-55 victory over Louisville. Then it was double-digit victories over Kentucky and St. Joseph that moved Ohio State into the championship game.
It was an all-Ohio championship for in 1961, favored Ohio State and the Cincinnati Bearcats. The presence of Cincinnati in the championship game was a shock to many. The three previous seasons, the Bearcats, with Oscar Robertson in the lineup, were looked upon as one of the teams to win championship. The best Cincy could do with Robertson were third-place finishes in 1959 and 1960.
Cincinnati struggled early in the 1960-1961 season. After a 72-53 loss at Bradley, the Bearcats were 4-3 and 0-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Turns out the loss in Peoria to Bradley was Cincinnati’s last defeat that season.
Carl Bouldin is a name to remember. Senior Bouldin was a starting guard for the 1960-1961 Cincy team. His first two years on the team and freshmen were not eligible, the spotlight was on Robertson. With Robertson gone, Bouldin played a much bigger roll for the Bearcats.
Bouldin’s 21 points keyed the Bearcats’ 82-67 semifinal victory over Utah to set up the championship game with Ohio State. In the championship game, a 70-65 overtime Cincinnati victory, ended Ohio State’s 32-game winning streak going back to the previous season, Bouldin scored 16 points.
Carl Bouldin was a gifted athlete. After college, he tried his hand as a Major League Baseball pitcher with middling success. Four years with the Washington Senators, today’s Texas Rangers, left Bouldin with a final MLB won-loss record of 3-8.
Paul Hogue, Tom Thacker, Tony Yates, and Bob Wiesenhahn joined Bouldin in the Bearcats’ starting lineup that 1960-1961 season. Wiesenhahn was spectacular in the championship game by scoring 17 points and limiting Havlicek to four points.
Ed Jucker was in his first year as the Cincy head coach in 1961. Jucker led the Bearcats in the 1961-1962 season to the national championship against Ohio State in the final game. Jucker was on the short end in the 1963 final when Loyola came from 15 points behind to beat Cincinnati, 60-58, in overtime.