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The 1979 NCAA Tournament & The First Gutted Bracket

Dan Flaherty College Basketball History Articles, Sports History Articles 1979 NCAA Tournament, 1979 Penn basketball, Forever's Team, NCAA Tournament history, NCAA Tournament history articles, sports history, sports history articles

The 1979 NCAA Tournament has a special place in college basketball lore. The championship game, featuring Michigan State and Magic Johnson against Indiana State and Larry Bird remains the highest-rated NCAA final to date and is rightly seen as a watershed moment for basketball at both the college & NBA level. But the 1979 NCAA Tournament deserves to be remembered for something else—the beginning of a phenomena that continues today and it’s the gutted bracket.