Your personal non-USU tournament memories

This forum is for Basketball discussion only. Other topics will be moved to the appropriate forum.
utaggies
Posts: 8364
Joined: November 3rd, 2010, 12:25 pm
Has thanked: 990 times
Been thanked: 867 times

Your personal non-USU tournament memories

Post by utaggies » March 20th, 2019, 12:00 am

I’ve probably attended 12 or so NCAA first and second round games over the years. These are some of my favorite memories of the games that I have witnessed. What are yours?

1973 (Logan): After Weber St. lost its first-round game, a departing Wildcat fan offered his tickets to the next game to a group of us freshmen who were playing hoops in the parking lot of the East Highrise dorms. We took the tickets and saw the Jerry Tarkanian-led Long Beach St. team (with Olympian and AA Ed Ratleff) beat Arizona St.

1995 (Boise): I watched UCLA’s Tyrus Edney take the ball full-court and score in under 5 seconds to beat Missouri by a point. UCLA went on to win the national championship.

2003 (Salt Lake City): #1 seed Arizona, including players Salim Stoudamire, Luke Walton, Channing Frye and Andre Iguodala, beat #8 seed Gonzaga in 2OTs. The game was incredible. Gonzaga’s star guard Blake Stepp missed a short jumper at the buzzer that would have won the game for the Bulldogs.

2013 (Salt Lake City): #1 seed Gonzaga, and star player Kelly Olynyk, lost to #9 seed Wichita St. The Shockers go on to the Final 4. Only 5 teams seeded lower than #9 have made it to the Final 4.
These users thanked the author utaggies for the post (total 2):
ChicAggieEl Sapo



Aggie19
Posts: 1615
Joined: November 2nd, 2018, 7:52 am
Has thanked: 1729 times
Been thanked: 1084 times

Re: Your personal non-USU tournament memories

Post by Aggie19 » March 20th, 2019, 12:11 am

Watching Danny Manning and Kansas win the title in 1988. That's when I fell in love with college basketball and the NCAA tourney. I remember going out and practicing for hours on the hoop in the driveway wanting to be one of those guys playing in that tournament. Sadly, I didn't grow to the predicted 6' 10" I was supposed to, blame my mom 😁, and there is not much need for a slow 6'2" guard.


Go Aggies!

bluegrouse
Posts: 3843
Joined: November 9th, 2010, 5:04 pm
Has thanked: 1212 times
Been thanked: 1081 times

Re: Your personal non-USU tournament memories

Post by bluegrouse » March 20th, 2019, 5:29 am

1979 (Provo) Watching UCLA, DePaul, Marquette and San Francisco in the Western Regionals. DePaul beat UCLA by 4 to advance to the Final Four where they lost to Larry Bird’s Indiana State by 2 in the semi-finals. Indiana State would then lose their first game of the season to Magic Johnson’s Michigan State team in the Championship in SLC. As of 2016, that game was still the highest-rated televised college basketball games in history according to Wikipedia.

1982 (Logan) Watching Georgetown and Patrick Ewing beat Wyoming. They eventually lost to NC in the Championship game by 1 point...

1987 (Salt Lake City) Watching 12-seed Wyoming (Fennis Dembo and Eric Leckner) beat 4-seed UCLA to go to the Sweet Sixteen. I think the entire state of Wyoming was in the Special Events Center that day. Big upset; great atmosphere.

(Aggies: 2005 Loss to Arizona in Boise; 2006 Loss to Washington in San Diego)



AGGZILLA
Posts: 3098
Joined: November 4th, 2010, 5:53 pm
Location: North Salt Lake
Has thanked: 26 times
Been thanked: 16 times

Re: Your personal non-USU tournament memories

Post by AGGZILLA » March 20th, 2019, 6:47 am

1993- Santa Clara with Steve Nash over Arizona in SLC. I think that was the game that really got me interested in the tourney.

2000- Watching the first two rounds in Birmingham, AL. Sure, USU’s game didn’t go very well against the defending national champs, but it was so much fun to attend in person. I’ll never forget walking into the BJCC and taking in the atmosphere. There were some other good games and moments, like ULL almost beating Tennessee, a duel between the bands and mascots of Stanford and South Carolina St, and on Sunday with 8-seed UNC taking out 1-seed Stanford.

2009- Butler (almost) over Duke. I was taking a night class at the time and streaming that game on my laptop in the back of the class. They came about as close as you get to winning it all.

2017- Being present in SLC to watch Northwestern, in their first tourney appearance, take out Vanderbilt in dramatic fashion. Just remember there were tons of happy wildcat fans in the arena. Still can’t believe that Vandy player fouled at the end. Still feel bad for him.

2018- UMBC over Virginia. I was convinced it would never happen. When it did, it got to me more than I thought it would. Amazing moment which I got to share with my kids.


"They got up to get excited... then they displayed all 5 stages of grief."
- Dallin

FloridaAggie13
Posts: 23289
Joined: August 22nd, 2011, 2:18 pm
Has thanked: 7624 times
Been thanked: 2790 times

Re: Your personal non-USU tournament memories

Post by FloridaAggie13 » March 20th, 2019, 7:53 am

1982: Watching MJ as a freshman, nail the game winning jumper from the wing to win the National Championship. This got me interested in college basketball.

1985: Villanova, the giant killers, beating the supposedly unbeatable Georgetown Hoyas in the National Championship shooting almost 80% from the field for the game. I think one of the McClain brothers for Villanova was high on crack during the game (no kidding).

1990: Watching Big West Champion UNLV destroy Duke in the National Championship. Bobby Hurley left early with the Hershey Squirts.

2008: Attending games in Tampa and seeing four double digit seeds win on opening day including Western Kentucky beating Drake, with Kyle Korver's little brother, and setting a record for most three point shots attempted in a game by both teams. I think Korver shot a dozen three's for the game. San Diego upsetting UCONN in overtime with three starters fouled out for the final five minutes. One of the SD players was the grandson of Jim Jones - yes, that Jim Jones.

2011: Same setting and watching a short, no name point guard for Princeton take John Wall of Kentucky anywhere he wanted on the court. Handles baby.



User avatar
El Sapo
Posts: 3051
Joined: November 27th, 2017, 1:32 pm
Has thanked: 605 times
Been thanked: 692 times

Re: Your personal non-USU tournament memories

Post by El Sapo » March 20th, 2019, 10:29 am

I was a student during the 1973 round in Logan. Ratliff? was a dominant player, can't remember what team. Vivid memory that the cheerleaders from one of the schools came up and sat right in front of my cousin and I for the 2nd game one day. That's probably the reason I don't have much in the way of game memories. We were totally distracted. They were really friendly. Total out of body experience.
Last edited by El Sapo on March 20th, 2019, 10:32 am, edited 1 time in total.



User avatar
Jjoey53
Posts: 1654
Joined: January 9th, 2018, 4:28 pm
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 145 times

Re: Your personal non-USU tournament memories

Post by Jjoey53 » March 20th, 2019, 10:30 am

1975 UCLA Vs Long Beach State at Provo. We snuck down at start of game and we were just a few rows from the Wizard of Westwood. The game was hyped as a rematch from the previous year when LB lost by one. The game was a blow out, but fun.

1977. Idaho State 76 UCLA 75

1974 I was not there, but the greatest game ever when NC State led by David Thompson topped UCLA in final four game. This was Bill Walton’s only loss in college. In double OT, NC State 80 UCLA 77.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
These users thanked the author Jjoey53 for the post:
El Sapo



User avatar
USU78
Pick'em Champ - '16 Weekly
Posts: 15337
Joined: November 3rd, 2010, 6:43 am
Location: Sandy
Has thanked: 7111 times
Been thanked: 2073 times

Re: Your personal non-USU tournament memories

Post by USU78 » March 20th, 2019, 10:42 am

While in grad school at the ewe in 1984, I walked over to see if there were any seats for the NCAAs. There were. I walked in and saw Auburn playing somebody or other. But an undersized 4 with one of the largest heinies I'd ever seen on a human was gobbling up every rebound, pushing people around, and conducting a dunk clinic. I was mesmerized.

Sir Charles was really something.
These users thanked the author USU78 for the post (total 2):
El SapoAggie19


You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

User avatar
dhilk3785
Posts: 1107
Joined: November 3rd, 2010, 5:14 pm
Has thanked: 20 times
Been thanked: 20 times

Re: Your personal non-USU tournament memories

Post by dhilk3785 » March 20th, 2019, 11:36 am

My junior year of HS I went to visit my dad in Atlanta over spring break to do a college visit road trip through the south (obviously ended up going to school elsewhere). Before heading out on our road trip though we went to the Michigan State vs Temple Elite Eight game. That was my first NCAA tourney experience and the first/only time I've been to a basketball game in a football stadium. Unlike for the championships now though, they only used the endzone seating and put bleachers on the opposite sideline, so it was mostly a vast open stadium and kinda weird.


"I'd rather be wrong and cringe than right and regret not speaking up." - Jon Lovett

Locked Previous topicNext topic