1970 Marquette Basketball: The Year Al Turned Down The NCAA
On the surface, the 1970 Marquette basketball season was a typical one during the coaching tenure of the great Al McGuire. The Warriors were a good team and a national contender. They had their high points and a few low points. It was like the seasons MU had enjoyed since McGuire’s rebuilding project started to bear fruit in 1967 and came within a basket of the Final Four in 1969. But 1970 was different. Marquette reignited an old rivalry, and a bold act of defiance in March marked a decisive turning point in the landscape of postseason basketball.
LIFE AFTER GEORGE
The departure of George Thompson, the focal point of Marquette’s rise to prominence, was a big hole to fill, but a balanced lineup kept the Warriors winning. Senior guard Dean Meminger was the leader, averaging 19 points/5 rebounds/4 assists per game. Jeff Sewell was his backcourt running mate, knocking down 12 a night.
And while Marquette was often undersized in the post, they had three good forwards who could score and go the glass. Ric Cobb, Joe Thomas, and Gary Brell combined to average 38 points/26 rebounds per game.
Expectations were high in Milwaukee, and the Warriors were ranked #8 in the preseason polls.
RECOVERING FROM AN EARLY SLIP
Marquette stumbled out of the gate, going on the road and losing to subpar Michigan to start the season. This was an era when only 25 teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament and just 16 made the NIT. Early losses, especially to mediocre competition, while not a death blow, couldn’t be taken as casually as they are today.
And the Warriors immediately got back on track. They hosted Drake, a Final Four team from last season and bound for the Elite Eight this year. Marquette pulled out a 72-70 win. Then they hammered an 18-win North Texas squad by 23 points. Bowling Green, a competitive MAC team, came to Milwaukee and was sent home with a 64-55 loss.
Marquette rolled past Minnesota, middle of the pack in the Big Ten, 67-51 and then hosted the annual four-team Milwaukee Classic on the weekend between Christmas and New Year’s. On Friday night, the Warriors blew past respectable Delaware, 99-71. And on Saturday night, they finished it off by defeating their below average in-state rival from Wisconsin, 64-43.
The early loss had cost Marquette their poll position, but they were still #18 in the country and gaining steam as the calendar flipped to the New Year .
WINNING THE GAMES THEY SHOULD
January was a workmanlike run through other Midwestern schools. On the Saturday after the New Year, MU hammed the University of Detroit (today’s Detroit Mercy) by twenty points. They hosted Loyola-Illinois. The Ramblers did not stand out, but they had LaRue Martin, a future #1 overall pick in the NBA draft, at center. Marquette won 85-72
They went to Chicago and beat a pedestrian DePaul squad 72-60. Southern Illinois was decent, but the Warriors beat them by ten. An 82-73 win over lowly Xavier wasn’t inspiring, but it kept the winning moving forward. The same of a nine-point home win in the rematch with Wisconsin.
The winning streak ended on the last day of January when a return trip to Loyola resulted in a 76-72 loss. But Marquette was #7 in the country and very much on the radar as a Final Four contender.
A RIVALRY RE-IGNITES
On the first Saturday of February, the Warriors traveled to South Bend. It had been 11 years since Marquette and Notre Dame last met on the basketball court. There had been some bad behavior both on the court and by the fans that led to its cancellation. McGuire, and Irish counterpart Johnny Dee, decided it was time to get back on the floor.
The timing was also good. Dee had Notre Dame in the national picture, led by 38ppg scorer Austin Carr, so this was a high-profile game. It lived up to the hype. Marquette lost a 96-95 thriller, but a rivalry that would shape Catholic basketball in the Midwest for the next two decades was underway.
Air Force was a middling team, although they had a guard named Gregg Popovich. The came to Milwaukee and Marquette got back on track with a 79-74 win. The Warriors followed that up by winning 66-54 at woeful St. Louis. Marquette won rematches with Catholic rivals DePaul, Detroit, and Xavier. A home game with Eddie Sutton’s Creighton program produced a 76-66 win.
The Warriors closed out the season with road wins over Southern Illinois and Tulane. They were ranked #8 in the country, sitting on a 20-3 record and awaiting an NCAA Tournament bid.
THE BIG THAT WAS REJECTED
The NCAA Tournament indeed called, but Al didn’t like what he heard. The Warriors were being placed in the Midwest Regional which required travel to Fort Worth. Al thought they deserved a spot in the Mideast Regional, which was played in Dayton.
With the approval of the MU board, Al told the NCAA what they could with their bid. He instead opted for the NIT.
To give this decision some historical perspective, it’s important to note that it was only around the mid-1950s that the NCAA began to move past the NIT as the tournament whose winner was recognized as the national champion. Fifteen years later, while the NCAA Tournament was clearly the prestige event, the gap between the two was not large.
What’s more, the 16-team NIT was played entirely at Madison Square Garden over a week. McGuire was originally from Queens and successfully recruited in New York City. At a time when this was a marquee stage for college basketball, playing in New York for a week was a major recruiting opportunity.
Finally, there was longstanding tension between Al and the powers-that-be that simmered his entire career. McGuire felt like the NCAA didn’t respect independents from the Midwest and set the bracket up to work against them. 1970 was just the snapping point.
CONQUERING NEW YORK
A high-profile game was waiting for the Warriors when the NIT tipped off on Saturday. They were playing UMass, led by the high-flying Julius (“Dr. J”) Erving, who averaged 26 points/21 rebounds per game. Marquette was able to get a 62-55 win.
Utah was up next on Tuesday night. The Utes had a prolific scoring guard in Mike Newlin, and they also had a 6’10” big man in Jim Mahler who could potentially exploit Marquette’s lack of size. The Warriors played with pace and won 83-63.
The Thursday night semifinal brought LSU. Pete Maravich, a three-time All-American and national Player of the Year was an electric scorer, pouring in 45ppg. But Marquette had balance and the Warriors cruised to a 101-79 win.
St. John’s, playing the tournament as the de facto home team, was the last obstacle on Saturday. Marquette finished off their week in New York with a 65-53 win. They were NIT champs.
THE DECISION THAT CHANGED THE RULES
Of all the champions of the NIT, from the tournament’s glory days to its later years as a consolation prize, the 1970 Marquette team has to be the most famous. It’s act of defiance against the governing establishment drew an immediate response. The NCAA passed a rule banning any team who refused a bid to their tournament from playing in any other postseason tournaments. The march of history was working against the NIT, but this ’70 Marquette team is a reminder of how exciting the week in New York City used to be.
As for the Warriors, the controversial ending creates a weird blip in the historical record—officially Al made the NCAA Tournament 12 times in his final 13 seasons as head coach. But based purely on quality, it was 13-for-13 and Marquette was poised for a decade of excellence ahead.