Where 2009-10 Happens: Reason #1 Why We Love College Basketball
Posted by zhayes9 on November 7th, 2009
Shamelessly cribbing from the very clever NBA catch phrase, we here at RTC will present to you the Thirty Reasons We Love College Basketball as we gear up toward the start of the season next week. We’ll be bringing you players to watch for this season and moments to remember from last season, courtesy of the series of dump trucks, wires and effluvia known as YouTube.
#1- Where Greatest Game Ever Happens
I’m a UConn student. I remember that game more vividly than ten thousand nightmares. I went to bed after the game, at that point I was too tired to do anything else, and thought “Well played. All around, well played.” That and “Horror! Horror!”
I woke up that morning with a violent hatred for Syracuse. That hatred sustains me to this very day.
damn
Being at that game is one of my best memories ever that I cannot wait to tell my kids about. That atmosphere that night was unreal. Everyone in MSG was rooting for Syracuse the rest of the tournament.
Yeah, I’m pumped to see this be #1. It was unexpected. I’ve not ben on the site for a while & as the video was loading, under the caption, Greatest Game Ever I expected the Duke/Kentucky game to appear. That must’ve been some game, Jameson. I remember not believing that the Huskies couldn’t finish Syracuse. Then getting frustrated & just wanting it over. Then when UConn lost I was salty. Tough to be too mad though.
The best game I ever saw in person was the ’02 UConn/Pitt BE Final that went to 2OT & Taleik Brown hit a 3 from like half court that was just deadly & Brandon Knight was a total warrior. & another was a ’00 game, @ Gampel, against Arizona, that was decided by a sketchy goaltending call on Loren Woods. Wild comeback. & another still, was the ’04 BE Final, again against Pitt, where the Huskies made a furious comeback against yet another tough as nails Pitt team. I won’t decide which was the best, but probably one of the BE title games.
Any other best game’s seen in person out there?
jtruman37–
I think Zach was just focusing on last season for his countdown of the top 30 things about college basketball. While the Syracuse-UConn game was a great game it isn’t even in the same discussion as Duke-Kentucky for a variety of reasons including historic significance of Duke trying to be the first team to repeat since UCLA in 1973, Laettner being perfect, and the reemergence of Kentucky under Rick Pitino. Having said that and noting that we all fall prey to the recency effect, I think the Syracuse-UConn game will hold up as one of the better non-NCAA tournament games of all-time.
For those of you too young to remember the Duke-Kentucky game, check out Alexander Wolff’s SI article on the game. It’s one of the best pieces of college basketball writing you will find anywhere. I still remember the first time I read the article almost 17 years ago.
Link = http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1004691/index.htm
As for the best game I have seen in person I would have to go with Villanova’s win over Pittsburgh in last season’s Elite 8. I was on Dan Levy’s podcast a day or two after the game (http://rushthecourt.net/2009/03/30/rtc-on-the-dan-levy-podcast/) and he asked me about where I would rate it all-time. I rated it around #15-20 all-time for NCAA tournament games at the time. I’m not sure how UNC beating up on Villanova in the next round will alter basketball historians’ perspective on the Elite 8 game, but I think it’s a pretty accurate ranking of where that game should fall.
Lol. You say “to this very day” as if it were 30 yrs ago. Still, good hatred is hard to find, so enjoy it.
Best game I ever saw in person in terms of both drama and significance was probably the 97 title game where Arizona beat Kentucky in OT. The overtime wasn’t all that thrilling, but the last 90 seconds of regulation certainly were. Has anyone seen or heard from Ron Mercer since that game?
I’d also like to point out that I may have witnessed the worst modern game of significance as well – the Michigan State-Wisconsin debacle in the 2000 F4. Good grief, that game set back basketball at least five yrs.
Dougo, hate all you want. But SU fans will still hate Georgetown more than you for all time. We still hate you though, just not as much.
Ahh, see, I didn’t know this was strictly an ’08 thing. It makes sense though. The Duke Kentucky game deserves its pedestal. I remember exactly where I was while watching it. & to Screw Gottlieb’s point, I think most Husky fans will hate Pitt more than the Cuse, given all the big, tough, physical games between the two.
Syracuse fans, if this doesn't have you pumped for basketball season, I don't know what will. http://bit.ly/2AcJ5a