It’s Time For The Big Dance!
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men’s Division 1 Basketball tournament is arguably the greatest tournament in the history of everything. The best part is that the 2016 tournament is right around the corner. This mystical event captures the attention of everyone, no matter their level of interest in college basketball. The wide spectrum includes the obvious die hard college basketball fanatics, middle-aged stay at home moms who have never picked up a basketball and even nihilists who believe in absolutely nothing.
The tournament promises nothing to no man. Yet, the very same tournament delivers the best comeback defeats, Cinderella stories, and non-stop action year after year. I ask myself every March “What did I do to deserve something so great and so beautiful? How could I live in a place and time where a person can experience so much joy?!” I am pumped for the 2016 tournament to begin and I wanted to pay tribute by writing about the history of the NCAA Men’s Division 1 Basketball playoff system. I will also highlight some of the greatest games, plays and moments during the 77 year history of the Big Dance.
Brief History
So it all began back in 1908 in the great state of Illinois at the High School level. A state wide tournament was created to have the best 8 teams compete against one another. Peoria High School was the first champion with their 48-29 victory over Rock Island High School. As the tournament generated interest the number of teams increased to 16 and High School basketball games started selling out.
In 1939 the first national college championship game was played between Oregon and Ohio State University. Oregon pulled out the victory with a score 46 to 33. At that time only 8 teams were allowed into the playoff tournament. This continued for a while. It wasn’t until 2001 when the number of invitees reached 65 teams total. The tournament itself wasn’t even broadcasted on television until 1969. The tournament format has changed several times with the most recent change taking place in 2011 where a total of 68 teams are now selected to partake. The tournament has always been single elimination and remains that way. The stakes are high and the chance of the same team winning the tournament multiple times are highly improbable, regardless of how talented that team may be. With that being said, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has won the national championship title 11 times. 10 of these titles where under the same head coach John Wooden over a twelve year span.
There is an ongoing debate on who actually coined the phrase “March Madness.” The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) credits Henry Porter due to a paper he wrote about the tournament that he titled “March Madness” in 1939. Henry Porter also happened to be employed by IHSA, so take that for what it’s worth. However, one of the first places where the term was documented was in an article about unsuccessful animal experimentation back in 1907. To be honest, it doesn’t much matter to me. I’m just glad that it’s here to stay.
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