(01-08-2022 09:55 AM)BSU Wrote:  In 1990, BSU lost to UNLV by 2 points in the Sweet 16. UNLV had Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony and Stacey Augmon. After beating us, UNLV cruised to the National Championship, beating Duke by 30. We had beaten a good Oregon State team (led by Gary Payton) and Louisville team to earn the chance to play one of college basketball’s best teams ever. Man, if we would have beaten UNLV that day…

In those days, BSU packed U Gym (7K) every game, and in ‘91, when we started playing in what would become Worthen, we packed the house every game with 10K+. It was electric.

In Dec 1988, Majerus’ 2nd year, with a team that would eventually be 29-3, we beat a highly ranked (and favored) Purdue team in Muncie by 15. We lost to Illinois in the 2nd round of the ‘89 tournament (UI eventually made the final 4 that year). That BSU team is who nearly beat UNLV in the 1990 tournament. We had a legitimate 2-deep talented roster (many transfers) who some felt could play with literally anybody.

Surrounding Muncie are small towns with some of the biggest HS gyms in the world. New Castle 10K, Anderson 9K, Muncie Central 7.5K, and on and on. When Thompson played Kemp in ‘88, we only had one class of basketball in Indiana. One champion. Basketball passion was off the charts from the mid 1900s to the 1990’s around Muncie, Indiana.

Put the blame on NAFTA.

(01-08-2022 02:31 AM)MileHighBronco Wrote:  Western Michigan had a great team in 1975-76. It was a different game back then w/out 3 point shots and the NCAA Tourney had only 48 teams. They started the season 16 - 0 and broke into the AP at #17. They beat MSU, coached by Jud Heathcoate by 10 during that stretch.

Jud Heathcoate (sic) was not MSU's coach in 1975-76. That was Gus Ganakas' last year.

Heathcote was hired for the next season.

And the NCAA tourney in 1976 was only 32 teams, not 48.

By beating VaTech in 1st Round Broncos played Marquette in the "Sweet 16."

I believe Gene Keady made the declaration that he’d never come back to Muncie after that one.

(01-07-2022 07:27 PM)Polish Hammer Wrote:  

(01-07-2022 11:10 AM)Luckeyone Wrote:  Although I’m an EMU fan, I would have to say Ball State when Rick Majerus was the head coach. I believe BSU gave #1 seed UNLV everything they could handle by only losing to the eventual national champions by 1 point.

Who were the BSU starters ( I recall some of them):

Paris McCurdy
Curtis Kidd
Chandler Thompson
Billy Butts
Emanuel Cross

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/sch.../1990.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989–90_Ba...tball_team

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGFjCBzM5qk

I remember Thompson having amazing hops. First saw him in the 1988 Indiana state title game against Shawn Kemp who was throwing down alley-oops but Chandler responding with his own display of great dunks.

Thanks for the starters. That was a tough team and I remember watching them play rooting for a BSU upset win.

I watched one of the videos and reportedly Thompson had a 43” vertical - Woah!!

EMU had a lot of good teams in the 90s. went to a sweet 16 and knocked duke out in the 1st round another year. fun teams to watch. ohio was the NIT runner up in the 40s when that was the biggest post season tourney.

Toledo has a lot of basketball history. very good from the late 30s - early 80s. had a 2 -time all american in '38 and '39. made runs in the NIT and, like OU, had a national runner up finish in the early 40s. Rockets beat #3 Michigan in '49. beat teams from current ACC, Big10, Big12, Big East and St Bona in '50 and finished reg season ranked #14. beat #1 NYU in the Garden in '63. finished '67 reg season 23-1 #11. Snapped WMU's '76 top ten team's 20 game win streak. and opened the next season snapping defending NC Indiana's 33 game winning streak. ranked #19 in the final poll in '79 beat big 10 champ Iowa in NCAA to make sweet 16. of course, after returning to NCAAs in '80, UT has been shut out from the big dance.

Ball State's Majerus and early Hunsacker years they could play w anyone. really complete rosters with size and talent.

NCAA tourney runs can be determined by match-ups too. Buffalo had great teams with very tough 2nd round match-ups. teams with elite 8 potential. Meanwhile, MAC teams with very good small quick guards have taken over early round ncaa tourney games. OU had a fairly recent sweet 16 team that was a missed free throw away from the elite 8 which wasn't one of the greatest mac teams of all time, but got great pg play in the tourney to control games.

(01-08-2022 02:14 PM)Kit-Cat Wrote:  

(01-08-2022 09:55 AM)BSU Wrote:  In 1990, BSU lost to UNLV by 2 points in the Sweet 16. UNLV had Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony and Stacey Augmon. After beating us, UNLV cruised to the National Championship, beating Duke by 30. We had beaten a good Oregon State team (led by Gary Payton) and Louisville team to earn the chance to play one of college basketball’s best teams ever. Man, if we would have beaten UNLV that day…

In those days, BSU packed U Gym (7K) every game, and in ‘91, when we started playing in what would become Worthen, we packed the house every game with 10K+. It was electric.

In Dec 1988, Majerus’ 2nd year, with a team that would eventually be 29-3, we beat a highly ranked (and favored) Purdue team in Muncie by 15. We lost to Illinois in the 2nd round of the ‘89 tournament (UI eventually made the final 4 that year). That BSU team is who nearly beat UNLV in the 1990 tournament. We had a legitimate 2-deep talented roster (many transfers) who some felt could play with literally anybody.

Surrounding Muncie are small towns with some of the biggest HS gyms in the world. New Castle 10K, Anderson 9K, Muncie Central 7.5K, and on and on. When Thompson played Kemp in ‘88, we only had one class of basketball in Indiana. One champion. Basketball passion was off the charts from the mid 1900s to the 1990’s around Muncie, Indiana.

Put the blame on NAFTA.

To ensure everyone got a participation trophy, the Indiana legislature destroyed the treasure that was once Indiana HS basketball.

(01-08-2022 09:09 PM)Frozenbaugh Wrote:  I believe Gene Keady made the declaration that he’d never come back to Muncie after that one.

Wouldn’t be great to see the Boilers football and basketball teams regularly play in Muncie? That’d create a rivalry and mess things up badly….

For those young people … 1990 UNLV team: Johnson was the NCAA player of the year (‘91) and the first pick in the NBA draft in ‘91, and Augmon and Anthony were first round picks in ‘91 (9th and 12th respectively). All told, UNLV had a decent starting 5. We had them - should have beaten them.

(01-08-2022 11:15 PM)BSU Wrote:  For those young people … 1990 UNLV team: Johnson was the NCAA player of the year (‘91) and the first pick in the NBA draft in ‘91, and Augmon and Anthony were first round picks in ‘91 (9th and 12th respectively). All told, UNLV had a decent starting 5. We had them - should have beaten them.

BSU had the ball for the final shot. called time out to set up a play and on the inbounds paris mccurdy slipped on a wet spot on the floor and the play broke down and they never got a shot off.

that BSU run was overshadowed by the great LMU elite eight run after hank gathers death. it (rightly) captivated everyone and BSU, despite 2 impressive upsets and the near epic upset of UNLV, was largely forgotten.

(01-08-2022 04:36 PM)MajorHoople Wrote:  

(01-08-2022 02:31 AM)MileHighBronco Wrote:  Western Michigan had a great team in 1975-76. It was a different game back then w/out 3 point shots and the NCAA Tourney had only 48 teams. They started the season 16 - 0 and broke into the AP at #17. They beat MSU, coached by Jud Heathcoate by 10 during that stretch.

Jud Heathcoate (sic) was not MSU's coach in 1975-76. That was Gus Ganakas' last year.

Heathcote was hired for the next season.

And the NCAA tourney in 1976 was only 32 teams, not 48.

By beating VaTech in 1st Round Broncos played Marquette in the "Sweet 16."

I stand corrected. Thanks Hoop.

Here's the bracket for 1976.

Here's a page where you can find the tournament bracket for any year.

(01-07-2022 11:10 AM)Luckeyone Wrote:  Although I’m an EMU fan, I would have to say Ball State when Rick Majerus was the head coach. I believe BSU gave #1 seed UNLV everything they could handle by only losing to the eventual national champions by 1 point.

Who were the BSU starters ( I recall some of them):

I'm going with BSU. I know they went out in the 2nd round but it doesn't do justice to how good that team was.

To have a DYNASTY, the UNLV team on the run speaks volumes to how good that team was.

Did they get a good draw? No. Could they have advanced to the elite eight, etc. with a good draw? Possibly.

(01-08-2022 09:44 PM)pono Wrote:  EMU had a lot of good teams in the 90s. went to a sweet 16 and knocked duke out in the 1st round another year. fun teams to watch. ohio was the NIT runner up in the 40s when that was the biggest post season tourney.

Toledo has a lot of basketball history. very good from the late 30s - early 80s. had a 2 -time all american in '38 and '39. made runs in the NIT and, like OU, had a national runner up finish in the early 40s. Rockets beat #3 Michigan in '49. beat teams from current ACC, Big10, Big12, Big East and St Bona in '50 and finished reg season ranked #14. beat #1 NYU in the Garden in '63. finished '67 reg season 23-1 #11. Snapped WMU's '76 top ten team's 20 game win streak. and opened the next season snapping defending NC Indiana's 33 game winning streak. ranked #19 in the final poll in '79 beat big 10 champ Iowa in NCAA to make sweet 16. of course, after returning to NCAAs in '80, UT has been shut out from the big dance.

Ball State's Majerus and early Hunsacker years they could play w anyone. really complete rosters with size and talent.

NCAA tourney runs can be determined by match-ups too. Buffalo had great teams with very tough 2nd round match-ups. teams with elite 8 potential. Meanwhile, MAC teams with very good small quick guards have taken over early round ncaa tourney games. OU had a fairly recent sweet 16 team that was a missed free throw away from the elite 8 which wasn't one of the greatest mac teams of all time, but got great pg play in the tourney to control games.

The EMU '96 is another team hard to judge because of their tough draw.

They were on the 8/9 line and drew UConn in the next round. They may have led at the half before coming back to earth.

That was a crazy year. Duke was a 8 seed.

(01-08-2022 09:44 PM)pono Wrote:  ohio was the NIT runner up in the 40s when that was the biggest post season tourney.

Bowling Green was the NIT runner up in 1945. The Falcons were no match for DePaul and George Mikan, unfortunately.

(01-07-2022 02:58 PM)bobcat_backer Wrote:  

(01-07-2022 02:52 PM)Luckeyone Wrote:  

(01-07-2022 02:48 PM)bobcat_backer Wrote:  Ohio made the Elite Eight in 1964. Can't disregard that just because it wasn't as recent as Kent's. Not saying one is better than the other; just saying they should be both considered.

That must have been a really great team. Questions: 1) What seeds did Ohio beat to get there and 2) how many pros on that team either NBA or European?

i don't know about your second question, but your first question...

We beat Louisville in the first round and then beat #4 Kentucky in the regional semi-final. we lost to #2 Michigan in the regional final. there weren't as many rounds back then as there are now, of course. During the season, we beat Wisconsin (in Madison), won at St. John's, and swept Miami (not that those wins are relevant to this conversation; i just like mentioning it! LOL)

We finished with a record of 21-6, 10-2 in the MAC.

"Back then" Louisville and Kentucky were all-white teams.

Ohio U. had three outstanding black players - Don Hilt, Jerry Jackson, and Mike Haley.

And it showed.

Unfortunately in Mideast Regional Final ('Elite Eight') they ran into an excellent Michigan team that included three great black players - Cazzie Russell, Bill Buntin, and Oliver Darden, who averaged almost 60 points a game between them.

Ohio U. coach Jim Snyder was one of MAC's all-time greats.

(01-08-2022 01:54 PM)Luckeyone Wrote:  

(01-08-2022 09:55 AM)BSU Wrote:  In 1990, BSU lost to UNLV by 2 points in the Sweet 16. UNLV had Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony and Stacey Augmon. After beating us, UNLV cruised to the National Championship, beating Duke by 30. We had beaten a good Oregon State team (led by Gary Payton) and Louisville team to earn the chance to play one of college basketball’s best teams ever. Man, if we would have beaten UNLV that day…

In those days, BSU packed U Gym (7K) every game, and in ‘91, when we started playing in what would become Worthen, we packed the house every game with 10K+. It was electric.

In Dec 1988, Majerus’ 2nd year, with a team that would eventually be 29-3, we beat a highly ranked (and favored) Purdue team in Muncie by 15. We lost to Illinois in the 2nd round of the ‘89 tournament (UI eventually made the final 4 that year). That BSU team is who nearly beat UNLV in the 1990 tournament. We had a legitimate 2-deep talented roster (many transfers) who some felt could play with literally anybody.

Surrounding Muncie are small towns with some of the biggest HS gyms in the world. New Castle 10K, Anderson 9K, Muncie Central 7.5K, and on and on. When Thompson played Kemp in ‘88, we only had one class of basketball in Indiana. One champion. Basketball passion was off the charts from the mid 1900s to the 1990’s around Muncie, Indiana.

That was a great post!!! Thanks for sharing some of the great tradition at BSU. I believe BSU should always have a great team in the conference because of local recruiting and facilities!

Today EMU and BSU square off…..keep your eye on Farrakhan, he is a PRO.

Unfortunately Lucky, Bumbalough from the aforementioned New Castle, kicked our ass. Noah is a pro prospect and Luke is not but we got beat today.

(01-09-2022 05:57 PM)MajorHoople Wrote:  

(01-07-2022 02:58 PM)bobcat_backer Wrote:  

(01-07-2022 02:52 PM)Luckeyone Wrote:  

(01-07-2022 02:48 PM)bobcat_backer Wrote:  Ohio made the Elite Eight in 1964. Can't disregard that just because it wasn't as recent as Kent's. Not saying one is better than the other; just saying they should be both considered.

That must have been a really great team. Questions: 1) What seeds did Ohio beat to get there and 2) how many pros on that team either NBA or European?

i don't know about your second question, but your first question...

We beat Louisville in the first round and then beat #4 Kentucky in the regional semi-final. we lost to #2 Michigan in the regional final. there weren't as many rounds back then as there are now, of course. During the season, we beat Wisconsin (in Madison), won at St. John's, and swept Miami (not that those wins are relevant to this conversation; i just like mentioning it! LOL)

We finished with a record of 21-6, 10-2 in the MAC.

"Back then" Louisville and Kentucky were all-white teams.

Ohio U. had three outstanding black players - Don Hilt, Jerry Jackson, and Mike Haley.

And it showed.

Unfortunately in Mideast Regional Final ('Elite Eight') they ran into an excellent Michigan team that included three great black players - Cazzie Russell, Bill Buntin, and Oliver Darden, who averaged almost 60 points a game between them.

Ohio U. coach Jim Snyder was one of MAC's all-time greats.

Those teams - Ball State(Paris McCurdy & co.), Eastern Michigan(Derick Dial, Earl Boykins), and Kent State with(A.Gates & T. Huffman) were the Holy Trinity of the league at that time...
Definitely the golden age of MAC basketball, along with some very good years of Ohio University and UB hoops ...

(01-09-2022 10:31 PM)FMRocket Wrote:  Those teams - Ball State(Paris McCurdy & co.), Eastern Michigan(Derick Dial, Earl Boykins), and Kent State with(A.Gates & T. Huffman) were the Holy Trinity of the league at that time...
Definitely the golden age of MAC basketball, along with some very good years of Ohio University and UB hoops ...

you could add Ohio's 1994 Pre-Season NIT championship to this discussion. we beat, among others, Ohio State and Virginia on the way to that title in NYC. it's just a shame for us Ohio fans that we couldn't win more than one MAC championship while Gary Trent and Jeff Boals were playing in Athens. But we ran into Ball State, EMU, and Miami a few too many times during those years.

The MAC has a very rich history. I remember looking at all the banners in the Convo in Athens and lots were before my time in Athens. One of my early memories of OU, before I decided to attend OU was Dave Jamerson (NBA lottery pick) having a big game vs a top ranked Depaul team in the 1980's. Depaul was once a top ten program under Ray Meyer Sr as coach when they had games on WGN Superstation early days of cable tv. Depaul one of those programs that older generations remember being good.

(01-09-2022 08:07 PM)Jerry Weaver Wrote:  

(01-08-2022 01:54 PM)Luckeyone Wrote:  

(01-08-2022 09:55 AM)BSU Wrote:  In 1990, BSU lost to UNLV by 2 points in the Sweet 16. UNLV had Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony and Stacey Augmon. After beating us, UNLV cruised to the National Championship, beating Duke by 30. We had beaten a good Oregon State team (led by Gary Payton) and Louisville team to earn the chance to play one of college basketball’s best teams ever. Man, if we would have beaten UNLV that day…

In those days, BSU packed U Gym (7K) every game, and in ‘91, when we started playing in what would become Worthen, we packed the house every game with 10K+. It was electric.

In Dec 1988, Majerus’ 2nd year, with a team that would eventually be 29-3, we beat a highly ranked (and favored) Purdue team in Muncie by 15. We lost to Illinois in the 2nd round of the ‘89 tournament (UI eventually made the final 4 that year). That BSU team is who nearly beat UNLV in the 1990 tournament. We had a legitimate 2-deep talented roster (many transfers) who some felt could play with literally anybody.

Surrounding Muncie are small towns with some of the biggest HS gyms in the world. New Castle 10K, Anderson 9K, Muncie Central 7.5K, and on and on. When Thompson played Kemp in ‘88, we only had one class of basketball in Indiana. One champion. Basketball passion was off the charts from the mid 1900s to the 1990’s around Muncie, Indiana.

That was a great post!!! Thanks for sharing some of the great tradition at BSU. I believe BSU should always have a great team in the conference because of local recruiting and facilities!

Today EMU and BSU square off…..keep your eye on Farrakhan, he is a PRO.

Unfortunately Lucky, Bumbalough from the aforementioned New Castle, kicked our ass. Noah is a pro prospect and Luke is not but we got beat today.

LOL - yes Bumbalough can shoot it!!