As I did not record the entire 1997 NCAA Tournament, and did not begin doing so until the 1999 NCAA Tournament, I will be relying solely on YouTube to review these games.
Within yesterday's post on my "Recollections of the 1997 NCAA Tournament," I basically listed all of the games from the 1997 NCAA Tournament that I found on YouTube and plan to cover.
Here are the games that I will be reviewing beginning tomorrow and throughout the coming weeks.
1997 NCAA Tournament, First Round
Coppin State vs. South Carolina
Fairfield vs. North Carolina
Georgetown vs. UNC-Charlotte
1997 NCAA Tournament, Second Round
UT-Chattanooga vs. Illinois
Stanford vs. Wake Forest
1997 NCAA Tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Iowa State vs. UCLA
Texas vs. Louisville
1997 NCAA Tournament Elite Eight
UCLA vs. Minnesota
Providence vs. Arizona
Louisville vs. North Carolina
1997 NCAA Tournament Final Four
Arizona vs. North Carolina
Minnesota vs. Kentucky
Arizona vs. Kentucky
As you can see, there are some great games on this list.
Of course, I wish there were more games from the 1997 NCAA Tournament on YouTube.
With that said, here are some games from the 1997 NCAA Tournament that I would love to review, with a quick reason why!
1997 NCAA Tournament First Round
- #8 Indiana vs. #9 Colorado -- This East regional game featured Chauncey Billups prior to him getting drafted in the 1997 NBA Draft.
- #5 California vs. #12 Princeton -- California featured future NFL star Tony Gonzalez off the bench while Princeton was one year removed from a major tournament upset and one year away from an amazing tournament run.
- #5 Maryland vs. #12 College of Charleston -- This Southeast regional game was the first major upset of the 1997 NCAA Tournament, just hours before the South Carolina-Coppin State game.
- #4 Arizona vs. #13 South Alabama -- We almost had a College of Charleston-South Alabama second round game (and no Arizona national championship) during this first-round scare in which parts of the game are on YouTube.
- #6 Illinois vs. #11 USC -- I recorded this game at the time, but later recorded over it. As an Illinois alum, I would love to re-watch this game.
- #3 Georgia vs. #14 UT-Chattanooga -- I have no idea how this game is not on YouTube as UT-Chattanooga would become the first #14 seed to reach the Sweet Sixteen since Cleveland State in 1986.
- #7 Marquette vs. #10 Providence -- As a Marquette fan through my brother and his wife (both alums), I would love to see this game, which seems on the surface to be terrible seeding based on what Providence did in this tournament.
- #2 Duke vs. #15 Murray State -- Did you know that Duke barely survived this first-round game, winning by just three points? The Blue Devils would get bounced by Providence in the second round.
- #4 Clemson vs. #13 Miami (Ohio) -- This Midwest Regional game is interesting as Clemson would go onto the Sweet Sixteen in 1997, and Miami Ohio would do the same in 1999. I would love to see this game to see how Redhawks star Wally Szczerbiak played before busting out two years later.
- #6 Iowa State vs. #11 Illinois State -- The Redbirds did not receive enough attention in Chicago at the time, even though they had a great team around star Rico Hill and would reach several tournaments in this stretch under current Pittsburgh coach Kevin Stallings.
- # 5 Boston College vs. #12 Valparaiso -- This West regional game took place one year before Bryce Drew's big moment in the 1998 NCAA Tournament. I would love to see this game to see how Drew fared on this night.
- #4 St. Joseph's vs. #13 Pacific -- I remember St. Joseph's as a controversial (but deserved) #1 seed in 2004 but forgot that they were a high-seed in 1997, when they reached the Sweet Sixteen. I would love to learn more about this team.
1997 NCAA Tournament Second Round
- #1 North Carolina vs. #9 Colorado -- Dean Smith became the all-time winning coach (at the time) in Division-I with this second-round victory following a first-round scare.
- # 6 Louisville vs. #3 New Mexico -- The Cardinals pulled off this one-point upset en route to an Elite Eight appearance.
- #10 Texas vs. #15 Coppin State -- How the heck is this game not on YouTube? After stunning South Carolina in the first round, Coppin State fell by just one point to Texas.
- #4 Arizona vs. #12 College of Charleston -- The Wildcats needed another second-half comeback to escape the tournament's opening weekend.
- #10 Providence vs. #2 Duke -- Providence took it to Duke this game, which I would love to see, even though this was not the strongest Blue Devils team (much better teams were on the way in 1998 and 1999).
- #1 Kentucky vs. #8 Iowa -- This game was much closer than I expected at the time, as the Wildcats won by just six points. Iowa had some underrated teams during this time in college basketball.
- #4 St. Joseph's vs. #5 Boston College -- Like I said earlier, I just want to see this St. Joe's team.
1997 NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
- #4 Arizona vs. #1 Kansas -- This was the biggest upset of the 1997 NCAA Tournament and needs to be on YouTube in its full entirety.
- #14 UT-Chattanooga vs. #10 Providence -- This was the Cinderella game of the Sweet Sixteen, with the Mocs giving Providence its toughest game in the 1997 NCAA Tournament before the classic against Arizona in the Elite Eight.
- #1 Minnesota vs. #4 Clemson -- This game was out-of-control, witnessing wild swings and going two overtimes. How is it not on YouTube?
- #2 Utah vs. #6 Stanford -- Both teams would make the 1998 Final Four. I would love to see how this Utah victory went down.
If I am able to get my hands on any of these games, or if they magically appear on YouTube, I promise that I will review them in their entirety.
With all that said, there is still enough for me to provide a thorough analysis of the 1997 NCAA Tournament, beginning with tomorrow's "Wednesday Watch" of Coppin State vs. South Carolina.
In the meantime, I suggest that fans watch the following video for a great summary of the 1997 NCAA Tournament.