Marquette basketball came into the 1981 season on a run of ten straight NCAA Tournament appearances, and in an era when March Madness was considerably more restrictive than it is today. But 1980 had shown some warning signs, as they slipped to the bubble and were blown out in the first round. In 1981, the […]
Marquette had been a national power going back to 1968. Under the leadership of the charismatic Al McGuire, the Warriors made the Final Four in 1974 and won a national title in 1977. When McGuire handed the reins to his top assistant, Hank Raymonds, Marquette continued to be a legitimate national contender in 1978 and […]
Notre Dame basketball was on a high coming into the 1979 season. They were coming off of five straight trips to the Sweet 16 and had gotten the major breakthrough with a Final Four run in 1978. With a lot of talent left on hand, it was a year of great expectation in South Bend. […]
Marquette basketball had grown accustomed to being a national contender by 1979. Over the last decade, the Warriors were consistently one of college basketball’s marquee teams. That included a Final Four season in 1974 and a national championship in 1977. And while 1978, the first year after the retirement of legendary head coach Al McGuire […]
Digger Phelps enjoyed a long and successful career as the Notre Dame basketball coach and today he’s a fixture on ESPN’s Gameday coverage with Rece Davis and Jay Bilas. Phelps was the architect behind several big wins, including ending UCLA’s 88-game winning streak in the John Wooden era. But only once did Phelps ever reach the Final Four, and that was 1978.
DePaul was coming off a disappointing season in 1977 where injuries prevented the Blue Demons from gaining any consistency. Ray Meyer’s program had been consistently running a step behind Notre Dame and Marquette, their rivals as independent Catholic basketball programs in the Midwest. In 1978, DePaul made a huge step forward, joining the Irish and […]
Marquette basketball was facing a new world in 1978, one without Al McGuire. Their great head coach had gone out in a blaze of glory in 1977, winning the national championship after announcing his retirement. Al’s top assistant, Hank Raymonds, was promoted to the head job. Throughout the regular season, it looked like nothing had […]
The 1977 Marquette basketball team had come off a strong run in 1976 that ended in a tournament loss to Bob Knight’s undefeated Indiana team in a regional final. Al McGuire, later to gain fame as an NBC commentator was the head coach. McGuire was out of New York, colorful, witty and bombastic and in the days before the Big East got control of the New York area, was able to successfully recruit the Big Apple and get talent back to the Midwest
The DePaul basketball program came into the 1977 season on a high. They were coming off a Sweet 16 trip in ’76, a run that ended an 11-year NCAA Tournament drought. The key players were mostly back in the fold. But while the program was trending in the right direction, 1977 proved to be one […]
Notre Dame basketball came into the 1977 season with a veteran team that was coming off three consecutive Sweet 16 appearances. The Irish continued to enjoy success and again made it to the regional semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament. But a roller-coaster ride in the regular season ended with a heartbreaking defeat in March. […]
Bob Knight came to Indiana in 1972, inheriting a program with a proud history and coming off a 17-win season, but otherwise having not done a lot in recent years. By 1973, Knight was in the Final Four. In 1974, Indiana tied for the Big Ten title but with only one NCAA bid per conference […]
DePaul basketball came into the 1976 season needing a breakthrough. Ray Meyer’s program hadn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 1965. While making the NCAA field was considerably more difficult than it is today—only 32 teams would make it in ’76, and that was the result of a recent expansion—it still had the Blue Demons lagging […]