By Woodrow Carroll
Those of you who watched the University of Kansas’ come-from-behind 72-69 victory over North Carolina in Monday night’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament championship games saw a good one. Kansas backers had to savor the Jayhawks’ coming from 15 points behind at halftime to pull out the victory.
With the NCAA men’s basketball tournament now in the books, it is always fun to look back at historical notes relating to past tournaments. The first tournament finals were in 1939 at Northwestern University in Evanston.
Undefeated men’s championship teams were 1956 University of San Francisco, 1957 North Carolina, and four UCLA teams n 1964, 1967, 1972, and 1973.
The San Francisco Dons ended up with a record of 29-0 after beating Iowa, 83-71, in the championship game in Evanston.
San Francisco’s championship run in 1956 came as no surprise. The Dons were defending NCAA champions, having defeated, LaSalle, 77-63, in the championship game in 1955. LaSalle was defending champion in 1955 after defeating Bradley University of Peoria in the 1954 championship game.
The man behind San Francisco’s success in the mid-1950s was Bill Russell. Joining Russell in the Don’s glory was K. C. Jones, who was ineligible for the 1956 tournament. Jones briefly had enrolled at a junior college, then dropped out. As much as anything, the NCAA may have been trying to slow down the Dons by making Jones ineligible. It didn’t work because San Francisco romped to the championship in 1956.)
Moving to the NBA (National Basketball Association), Russell and Jones helped make the Boston Celtics nearly unbeatable, both as players and head coaches of the Celtics.
North Carolina matched San Francisco in 1957 with an undefeated season. The 1956-1957 Tar Heels finished with a 32-0 record. The final two victories for North Carolina that season were the stuff of legend.
Semifinal and championship games in the 1957 in the NCAA tournament took place in Kansas City. To get to the championship game, North Carolina had to beat Michigan State. The Tar Heels won in triple overtime, 74-70!
There was no day off between semifinal and the championship games in 1957. Games were played Friday and Saturday evenings. The championship game in 1957 was between North Carolina and the Kansas Jayhawks.
One triple-overtime game for North Carolina was not enough.
In the championship game, North Carolina and Kansas were knotted at 46 at the end of regulation. It was 48-all after the first overtime. There was no scoring in the second extra session, although both coaches, Frank McGuire for North Carolina and Dick Harp of Kansas, got into a midcourt tussle that held up the game briefly.
We need a hero! That honor fell to North Carolina’s Joe Quigg who made two free throws with six seconds remaining in the third overtime to give North Carolina a 54-53 victory and the NCAA tournament championship.
Kansas, playing 30 miles from its Lawrence campus, had the near unstoppable Wilt Chamberlain at center. Additionally, Kansas overwhelmed San Francisco, minus Russell and Jones, 80-56, in its semifinal game and had to be well rested for the championship game.
To go with San Francisco in 1956 and North Carolina in 1957, we can add four UCLA undefeated teams.. The Bruins, led by head coach John Wooden emerged unblemished fur times (See above). The dominant unbeaten team appears to be long gone in the NCAA basketball tournament.
The last team to cross the finish line without a defeat was head coach Bobby Knight’s 1976 Indiana team. The Hoosiers concluded with a 32-0 record.