Tuesday, May 11, 2010
College Fanz Perfect 10 - Down to the Final Two!
Bill's blog from March 26, 2009:
If I’ve learned anything, it’s that March Madness is not confined to the NCAA Division I men‘s basketball tournament. That’s partly what inspired our College Fanz Perfect 10 contest, which so many fanz have embraced this year.
With attention now focused on the men and women of NCAA Division I, I must tell you about my recent visit to Kansas City for the NAIA Division I men’s basketball tournament. It’s the first time I ever attended this amazing championship. Did you know that the NAIA men’s championship was founded by the inventor of the game of basketball, the legendary Dr. James Naismith, with a couple of his friends? It’s also the country’s longest-running collegiate national championship in any sport – this year’s tournament was the 72nd annual championship.
It’s also probably the toughest tournament you can imagine – 32 teams, 31 games, one site, one week. They start playing every day at 8:30 a.m. and they are still going strong well after midnight. I saw some great games, some great fanz, and some great student-athletes who are as competitive as any student-athletes on any team in the country.
I even got the chance to get behind the radio microphone and do color commentary for the Freed Hardeman vs. Rocky Mountain contest in the tournament’s first round. Rocky Mountain (out of Montana) won that game – a real battle, with the Battlin’ Bears coming back from a 20 point first half deficit to outlast the Lions in overtime, 78-77.
Rocky Mountain went on to win their first-ever NAIA National Championship, beating Columbia College (of Missouri) 77-61 in the championship game. Both Rocky Mountain and Columbia were unseeded in the tourney, the first time that two unseeded teams ever played for the NAIA National Championship. In fact, on the first day of the tournament, the #32 seed, William Jewell, upset #1 seed Rogers State, 76-73. What a week!
Of course, people always ask me what I think about the “other” tournaments. Going back over the past 30 years, since the historic Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson/Michigan State vs. Indiana State game in the 1979 NCAA National Championship and the launch of ESPN later that year, I’ve had the pleasure to meet many of the student-athletes and coaches, and attended countless games. Remember Keith Smart and the Hoosiers at the Super Dome in New Orleans or how about Danny Manning and Kansas at Kemper in Kansas City, six Big East teams in the Elite Eight and on and on?
Ok, great memories, but how about 2009? Connecticut's my pick this year. I think they have an unbeatable combination, with Jim Calhoun's coaching, their history of success, the big man in the middle, Charles Okwandu and the talent around him, and their draw in the tournament. So my bracket has an All-Big East Final, with UConn beating Pitt for the National Championship.
I can’t wait!
If I’ve learned anything, it’s that March Madness is not confined to the NCAA Division I men‘s basketball tournament. That’s partly what inspired our College Fanz Perfect 10 contest, which so many fanz have embraced this year.
With attention now focused on the men and women of NCAA Division I, I must tell you about my recent visit to Kansas City for the NAIA Division I men’s basketball tournament. It’s the first time I ever attended this amazing championship. Did you know that the NAIA men’s championship was founded by the inventor of the game of basketball, the legendary Dr. James Naismith, with a couple of his friends? It’s also the country’s longest-running collegiate national championship in any sport – this year’s tournament was the 72nd annual championship.
It’s also probably the toughest tournament you can imagine – 32 teams, 31 games, one site, one week. They start playing every day at 8:30 a.m. and they are still going strong well after midnight. I saw some great games, some great fanz, and some great student-athletes who are as competitive as any student-athletes on any team in the country.
I even got the chance to get behind the radio microphone and do color commentary for the Freed Hardeman vs. Rocky Mountain contest in the tournament’s first round. Rocky Mountain (out of Montana) won that game – a real battle, with the Battlin’ Bears coming back from a 20 point first half deficit to outlast the Lions in overtime, 78-77.
Rocky Mountain went on to win their first-ever NAIA National Championship, beating Columbia College (of Missouri) 77-61 in the championship game. Both Rocky Mountain and Columbia were unseeded in the tourney, the first time that two unseeded teams ever played for the NAIA National Championship. In fact, on the first day of the tournament, the #32 seed, William Jewell, upset #1 seed Rogers State, 76-73. What a week!
Of course, people always ask me what I think about the “other” tournaments. Going back over the past 30 years, since the historic Larry Bird vs. Magic Johnson/Michigan State vs. Indiana State game in the 1979 NCAA National Championship and the launch of ESPN later that year, I’ve had the pleasure to meet many of the student-athletes and coaches, and attended countless games. Remember Keith Smart and the Hoosiers at the Super Dome in New Orleans or how about Danny Manning and Kansas at Kemper in Kansas City, six Big East teams in the Elite Eight and on and on?
Ok, great memories, but how about 2009? Connecticut's my pick this year. I think they have an unbeatable combination, with Jim Calhoun's coaching, their history of success, the big man in the middle, Charles Okwandu and the talent around him, and their draw in the tournament. So my bracket has an All-Big East Final, with UConn beating Pitt for the National Championship.
I can’t wait!
Labels: all_big_east, connecticut, danny_manning, ESPN, indiana_state, jim_calhoun, kansas, keith_smart, larry_bird, magic_johnson, michigan_state, ncaa, pitt, pittsburgh, rocky_mountain, william_jewell
# posted by ESPN Founder : 6:31 PM
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