Interesting facts about the NCAA Basketball Tournament
Interesting facts about the NCAA Basketball Tournament
The NCAA Basketball Tournament is one of the most popular televised sporting events in the world. The tournament offers a lot of exciting games to attract a lot of passionate basketball fans to sold-out arenas. The NCAA tournament was started in 1939 and currently features 68 college basketball teams.
Because of the fantasy college basketball, fans are getting more engaged in the sporting event now. You can check this out to make your watching experience more fun as well. In the meanwhile, let's see some of the most interesting facts about the NCAA basketball tournament.
Slam Dunk:
A slam dunk or simply dunk is a very popular scoring move in which a player jumps in the air and tries to put the ball directly through the basket to earn two points. It might surprise you to know that the NCAA banned the slam dunk from 1967 to 1976.
The NCAA said that the ban was issued due to injury concerns, and also that the slam dunk wasn't a skillful shot. However, many people believe that the real reason NCAA banned it was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who couldn't be stopped from dunking.
The invention of Basketball:
The invention of the game of basketball took place in 1891 in very interesting circumstances. James Naismith was a Canadian physical education teacher at the Springfield YMCA and he was given 14 days to create an indoor game for keeping his students busy on rainy days. Naismith invented the game of basketball this way, and the first game of basketball was played in December 1891.
Peach Baskets:
During the initial years, peach baskets were used instead of string nets for playing basketball. This meant that the officials had to retrieve the ball every time a team would score. To solve this problem, string nets were introduced in the early 1900s.
2016 Championship Game:
The 2016 championship game is considered as one of the best championship games in the history of the tournament. It was a very close game and nobody could say anything about the result right until the very end.
Marcus Paige produced one of the jaw-dropping moments when he grabbed a 3-pointer to tie the game with only 4.7 seconds remaining. What followed, however, wasn't to the liking of Marcus Paige and North Carolina. The superb combination of Ryan Arcidiacono and Kris Jenkins delivered the 3-pointer and hence Villanova Wildcats won the final by 77-74.
Michale Jordon's Famous Jump Shot:
Almost everyone knows how successful Michael Jordon is in the history of the NBA. However, he left some indelible marks in the NCAA tournament as a freshman also. He produced one of the most famous jump shots in the history of college basketball. That jump shot came against Georgetown in the 1982 national championship game when only 15 seconds were remaining. He himself described this jump shot to be the major turning point in his career.
2008 NCAA tournament:
The year 2008 was the only year in the history of NCAA when all 4 number one seeds won their regionals and progressed to the Final Four. This was the year Memphis, UCLA, North Carolina and Kansas all won their regionals. Later, Kansas Jayhawks won that year's championship game against Memphis Tigers.
2 Teams From The Same State:
There's been only one time in the history of the national championship when two teams from the same state faced each other in the final game. Both Ohio State Buckeyes and Cincinnati Bearcats made it to the final of the NCAA tournament in the year 1961. Cincinnati won the national title in the end with a 70-65 victory over Ohio State.
Most successful NCAA Basketball Team:
UCLA Bruins is the most successful team in the history of NCAA tournament. They have won 11 national championship titles. While Kentucky Wildcats have won 8 championships followed by North Carolina who have won six titles.