Indiana Hoosiers Win NCAA Championship

On March 30, 1981, Indiana beats North Carolina 63-50 for the NCAA tournament championship.

Indiana, coached by Bob Knight, won the national title in the final game over North Carolina, coached by Dean Smith. Isiah Thomas of Indiana was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

A young Bobby Knight riding on the shoulders of his 1981 NCAA Champion Indiana Hoosiers team.

This was the last year the NCAA tournament in which the national third-place game would be played. The final third place game pitted up Virginia and LSU. Virginia would win in their first Final Four appearance.

The Indiana Hoosiers have amassed five NCAA Tournament Championships in 1940, 1953, 1976, 1981 and 1987. The Hoosiers have also finished NCAA Tournament runner-up once, in 2002. Indiana has reached the Final Four a total of eight times including once from every decade starting in the 70s through the 2000s. The Hoosiers have made the Elite Eight a total of 11 times, including back-to-back appearances in 1975-1976 and 1992-1993. Indiana has been to the Sweet 16 a total of 21 times, including four consecutive appearances from 1991-1994, and now back-to-back appearances from 2012 and 2013. The Hoosiers have been invited to 37 NCAA Tournaments, including 18-straight appearances from 1986-2003.

The Indiana Hoosiers have appeared in 95 NCAA Tournament games, good enough for seventh all-time behind only Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA, Duke and Louisville. Their record of 64-31 is the ninth best winning percentage, .673, of all time. But it is seventh among all teams with more than 13 NCAA Tournament games played. Their 64-wins in the NCAA Tournament is also tied for seventh all-time behind Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA, Duke and Louisville

Indiana missed out on the NCAA Tournament this year and will look to next season to add onto their historic legacy.

The North Carolina Tar Heels have amassed five NCAA Tournament Championships in 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005 and 2009. The Tar Heels were the runner-up four times in 1946, 1968, 1977 and 1981. North Carolina has been in the Final Four a total of 18 times, including three consecutive appearances from 1967-1969. The Tar Heels have reached the Elite Eight 26 times, including three-consecutive times twice, in 1967-1969 and 2007-2009. North Carolina has played in the Sweet 16 a total of 31 times, including 13-straight years from 1981-1993. The Tar Heels have been invited to the NCAA Tournament a total of 45 times, including 27-consecutive years from 1975-2001.

The North Carolina Tar Heels have appeared in 153 NCAA Tournament games, well enough for second all-time behind only Kentucky. Their record of 110-43 is good enough for fourth all-time in winning percentage, .718, behind only Florida Gulf Coast, Duke and UCLA. However, they are third all-time with teams playing with more than three games. Their 110-wins in the NCAA Tournament is good enough for second most all-time behind only Kentucky’s 114.

North Carolina had to give up their dream of adding onto their five NCAA Tournament championships when they lost to Iowa State in the third round.

Michigan State Spartans Wins NCAA Championship

On March 26, 1979, Michigan State would play Indiana State for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship.  Michigan would defeat Indiana 75-64, led by point guard Magic Johnson who was also named as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

To this day, the 1979 championship game remains as the highest-rated college basketball game in history.  Much hype was given to this game by the media because each team had a superstar, with Michigan State having Magic Johnson on their roster, while Larry Bird was playing for Indiana State. 

Both players led their respective teams in scoring in the game, but it was Magic’s 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists that ultimately took home the title for the Spartans.

Michigan State has compiled two NCAA Tournament championships in 1979 and 2000. They were the Tournament runner-up in 2009. The Spartans have reached the Final Four eight times including back-to-back-back appearances in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Their last appearance in the Final Four came in 2010. The Spartans have also reached the Elite Eight 11 times, the Sweet Sixteen 16 times, including four straight years from 1998-2001. Overall the Spartans have reached the NCAA Tournament 27 times, and is on their 17th consecutive appearance this year dating back to 1998.

While Michigan State won the NCAA Tournament in 1979, and again in 2000, Indiana State had never won the NCAA Tournament. Their highest finish ever was in 1979 when Bird’s team lost to Michigan State. The Sycamores have only reached the Final Four, Elite Eight and Sweet Sixteen once, in 1979.

They Sycamores have reached the NCAA Tournament four times though in 1979, 2001, 2001 and 2011.

The Michigan State Spartans have another chance to add onto their legacy of basketball excellence this year as they are now in the Sweet 16 and set to play the Virginia Cavaliers on Friday, March 28 at 6:57 p.m. on TBS.

UCLA Bruins Win NCAA Championship

On March 26, 1973, the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship is decided as UCLA beats Memphis 81-76.

The win over Memphis in the NCAA Tournament marked the seventh straight National Championship the Bruins had won dating back to 1967, and the end of back-to-back perfect seasons.

The 1973 Championship also marked another highlight in the dynasty that John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins had amassed.

The win also came during UCLA’s record breaking winning streak, which started in 1971 and went through 1974 where the Bruins won 88 consecutive games.

Since the 1973 Championship, UCLA has gone on to win two more NCAA Championships in 1975 and 1995.

They were the NCAA Tournament runner up in 1980 and 2006. They reached the Final Four 18 times, including a 10-year span where they went every year; 1967-1976. Their last appearance came in 2008, when they were making their third consecutive appearance from 2006-2008.

The Bruins have reached the NCAA Tournament 45 times from 1950, including 20 straight years from 1962-1981.

The Bruins made the NCAA Tournament this year adding onto their historic legacy of basketball excellence in Westwood, and are facing the No. 1 overall seed Florida Gators at 6:40 p.m. on CBS.

Niagra Upsets Florida A&M

On March 13, 2007, University of Niagra defeats Florida A&M 77-69 in Dayton Ohio, in the tournament opener.

The Niagra Eagles Clif Brown after scoring a bucket in the game against Florida A&M.

The win for Niagra in the NCAA Tournament, albeit a “play-in” game, was the first win for Niagra in the tournament since 1970, so it was a big deal.

The hero on the night for the Eagles was Clif Brown, who helped the team to their 12 straight win, scoring 32 points on the night.

With the win Niagra moved on to play top-seeded Kansas in Chicago just a few days later.

The Eagles would end up falling to the Jay Hawks 107-67, but the Eagles would make history in the process winning the only “play-in” game that season, and getting a chance to make history in the NCAA Tournament.

NCAA Selection Sunday

On March 7, 1982, that the NCAA Tournament Selection, also known as Selection Sunday, was first broadcast on live television.  Since then, a live broadcast of the event, which takes place the weekend before the tournament begins, has been used to inform each school of whether they have made it into the tournament, and where they will be seeded.

Both CBS and ESPN televise the selection process, however, CBS owns the official rights to cover the selection of the men’s tournament field as they broadcast the vast majority of the games.  What will happen, as a result, is CBS will announce each bracket first, followed by ESPN only seconds later.

The selection process for College basketball's NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships determines which teams (68 men's, 64 women's) will enter the tournaments (the centerpieces of the basketball championship frenzy known as "March Madness") and their seedings and matchups in the knockout bracket. Thirty-one teams gain automatic entry through winning their conference's championship (commonly through winning a conference tournament or, in the sole case of the Ivy League, the regular season title).

The remaining teams (37 men's, 33 women's) rely on the selection committee to award them an at-large bid in the tournament.

The selection process primarily takes place on Selection Sunday and the days leading up to it; Selection Sunday is also when the brackets and seeds are released to the public. (The women's championship brackets and seeds are announced one day later, on Selection Monday.)

The ten-member basketball selection committee is made up of athletic directors and conference commissioners throughout Division I men's and women's basketball. (There are separate committees for the Division I men's and women's tournaments.)

The committee, whose members serve 5-year terms, is chosen to ensure that conferences from around the country, both major and mid-major conferences, are represented. Generally the men's selection committee consists of all men, and the women's selection committee consists of all women, although there have been exceptions, including Lynn Hickey (see below), who is the 2nd woman to sit on the men's committee (after Charlotte athletic director Judy Rose, who served from 1999-2003), and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference commissioner Richard Ensor, who serves on the women's committee. The tournament selection is only part of the committee members' duties; the panel meets year-round (in-person or through conference calls) to discuss the tournament and its administration, evaluate teams, assign tournament game officials, and determine future tournament sites.

To avoid a potential conflict of interest, committee members must leave the room when their own school is being discussed--or schools in the case of the conference commissioners. The member may be invited to answer factual questions regarding their team (e.g. status of player injuries). An athletic director may be present when other schools from his or her conference are discussed, but he or she may only speak if asked.

The selection committee must first decide which teams will compete in the tournament. Thirty teams receive automatic bids to the tournament by winning their conference tournament; a thirty-first team gains automatic entry by winning the Ivy League's regular-season championship (as that conference does not conduct a championship tournament).

The only teams the selection committee selects are the 37 teams (33 for women) who receive at-large bids. Though each conference receives only one automatic bid, the selection committee can select any number of at-large teams from each conference. The at-large teams generally come from college basketball's top conferences, including the ACC, Atlantic-10, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Conference USA, Mountain West, Pac-12, and SEC. Many of these at-large teams, however, are "on the bubble," meaning their chances of gaining a tournament berth are borderline, and they will not know if they have gained entry until they see their name during the Selection Sunday bracket announcements.

A number of teams essentially know that they are assured of an at-large berth no matter their performance in their conference tournament. Most teams in the Top 25 in the national polls or RPI are essentially guaranteed at-large berths even if they do not win their respective conference tournament.

However, teams that have been ranked heading into Selection Sunday, but didn't win their conference tournament, have been left out (or "snubbed") by the selection committee despite what the polls and pundits may say. The Missouri Valley Conference has received the most snubs (5 RPI top 40 teams excluded), with Missouri State left out each of the last 9 years, despite RPI's of 21, 34, and 36). Another famous snub was in 2004, when Utah State completed the regular season with a record of 25-2 but was snubbed after losing in its conference tournament, even though it was ranked in the polls at the time.

Selection Sunday this year in March 16.