Tonight, we will welcome to the college basketball championship pantheon a new champion. Not only a new titlist for 2019, but a school that has never before won a national title in basketball. Either Virginia or Texas Tech will climb their first summit of collegiate hoops' elite tonight in Minneapolis. (Granted, Virginia has won the 1980 and 1992 NITs behind Ralph Sampson and Bryant Stith, respectively, but I don't count those as national titles.)
But the final NCAA game of the year brings back more than my Kansas Jayhawks winning it all in thrilling fashion in 2008, more than hearing the song "One Shining Moment" (by the way, how did CBS find enough highlights in 2011 to fill that video after UConn's 53-41 debacle win over Butler?). I remember 1986 and 2003.
And the scary connections between those two Final Fours. This gets weirder the more I research it.
For reference, in 1986, Louisville defeated Duke. In 2003, Syracuse topped my beloved Jayhawks. Those would appear to be two normal classics if not for the fact that there were so many connections between the two that--for the sake of the zeitgeist's balance--it had to happen.
Drum roll, please...
Case 1; semifinal opponents and sites: In the 1986 national semifinals, Louisville defeated a team from Louisiana (LSU) in the state of Texas (Final Four in Dallas). In the 2003 national semifinals, Syracuse defeated a team from Texas (Texas) in the state of Louisiana (Final Four in New Orleans).
Case 2; Semifinal point spread: In 1986, Louisville beat LSU by 11 (score of 88-77). In 2003, Syracuse beat Texas by 11 (95-84).
Case 3; Finals points spread: In 1986, Louisville beat Duke in the title game, 72-69, for a three-point victory. In 2003, Syracuse topped Kansas by a triple, 81-78.
Case 4; finals winners' points divisibility: In 1986, Louisville scored 72, which is divisible by 9. In 2003, Syracuse scored 81, which is divisible by 9.
Case 5; offensive rebounding: Both Louisville and Syracuse each had 11 offensive rebounds in each title game. Check out the stat line here for Louisville and here for Syracuse.
Case 6; flipped total rebounding margin: In 1986, Louisville had a plus-15 rebounding edge over Duke (38 to 23), while in 2003, Syracuse had a minus-15 rebounding deficit (34 to 49) against Kansas to balance things out between the Cardinals and Orangemen at zero.
Case 7; blocked shots: In 1986 against Duke, Louisville blocked seven Blue Devil shots. In 2003, Syracuse swatted away seven Kansas Jayhawk attempts.
Case 8; nicknames: Louisville has been the Cardinals for a long time. Even though Syracuse is now the Orange, that change wasn't made until 2004, so in 2003, the SU sports teams were still known as the Orangemen. Hmmm, "Cardinals" and "Orangemen"... both names are nine letters long.
Case 9; the coaches, exhibit A: Denny Crum coached the 1986 Louisville champs, while Jim Boeheim captured his only title with Syracuse in 2003. Each coach's name ends with the letter "m".
Case 10; the Most Outstanding Players, exhibit A: They were both freshmen. In 1986, it was Louisville's Pervis Ellison. In 2003, it was the Orangemen's Carmelo Anthony.
Case 11; the Most Outstanding Players, exhibit B: Both Ellison and Anthony have seven letters in their last names.
Case 12; combined shooting stats of the non-Most Oustanding Player starting teammates: This should seriously make your jaw drop. In 1986, the other starters other than MOP Pervis Ellison were Herbert Crook, Jeff Hall, Billy Thompson, and Milt Wagner. They shot a combined 15 of 27 from the field. In 2003, Anthony's fellow starters were Kueth Duany, Craig Forth, Gerry McNamara, and Hakim Warrick. And they shot a combined--you guessed it--15 of 27 from the field. [SERIOUSLY, WHAT ARE THE ODDS OF THAT HAPPENING?]
Case 13; the NIT connection: And lastly, the spookiest snippet of them all. The 1986 Louisville championship team had come off a disappointing 1984-85 team that was invited to the 1985 NIT. There they got to the final four of that hoedown, but stumbled toward the end. Finishing out their season in the third-place consolation game, they lost to Tennessee, 100-84.
The 2003 champion Orangemen were one season removed from the 2002 NIT, where they fizzled at the end and landed in the third-place consolation game, losing to Temple, 65-64.
Both teams.
Lost in the NIT consolation game the previous year before their NCAA title.
To teams that began with "T" and ended with "E" (Tennessee, Temple).
Cue Twilight Zone music in 3...2...1.
And enjoy the game tonight. Because you don't know what connections it might have to some other year.
