Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. After watching Utah knock off Arizona and North Carolina, I begrudgingly accepted the Utes, which were up 10 points at one point either late in the first half or early in the second half against Kentucky. Unfortunately, Utah would not be able to hold on as Kentucky would get great play from Jeff Sheppard, Scott Padgett and Wayne Turner, a very underrated point guard, to win its second title in three games. On this championship Monday, I remember betting a kid at my high school five bucks that Utah would win against Kentucky. I was convinced Utah was a team of destiny, but Kentucky would prove to be destiny's darling, winning an unlikely championship during Head Coach Tubby Smith's first season. 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. I am not going to lie. I did not learn my lesson from the Elite Eight game against Arizona, once again giving Utah no shot against a North Carolina team with Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter and Shammond Williams. To my surprise, Utah played another great game. While not as dominant as against the Wildcats, the Utes led this game pretty comfortably by double digits from what I can remember. By the end of this "upset," I had to give Utah it's fair due. This team could play, as evident by beating Arizona and North Carolina, which would have been a Final Four rematch from 1997. Ultimately, the 1998 NCAA Tournament was when my 16-year-old self realized that Rick Majerus was a fantastic coach. Overall, this was a darn good Utah team with future pros in Andre Miller, Michael Doleac and Hanno Mottola. 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. This is a very underrated Final Four game. At the time I was tired of Kentucky, which had made its third-straight Final Four, this time under first-year Head Coach Tubby Smith after Rick Pitino had left for the Boston Celtics following the 1997 NCAA Tournament. Personally, I didn't think this was the greatest Kentucky team, though I expected the Wildcats to beat Stanford, which had a miracle finish to defeat Rhode Island in the Elite Eight. To the credit of the Cardinal, this game was very competitive, going to overtime. I remember Jeff Sheppard, the father of current Houston Rockets guard Reed, hitting a huge three during the extra five minutes to put Kentucky ahead for good. Looking back, this Stanford team was really good with point guard Arthur Lee, shooting guard Kris Weems, late small forward Peter Sauer, power forward Mark Madsen, center Tim Young, and the Collins' twins coming off the bench. I will also remember CBS introducing this Final Four with The Rolling Stones' song, "Gimme Shelter." 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. This game still upsets me all these years later. I am not going to lie. As a huge Arizona fan at the time, I was overlooking Utah, which had barely gotten by #10 seed West Virginia in the Sweet Sixteen. Honestly, the Arizona Wildcats might have overlooked the Utes as well on this Saturday afternoon. Andre Miller had a triple double for Utah, and Arizona was down by as much as 20 points in the second half. This was a true shocker, one that left me upset for quite a few days. I remember going to my friend Sean's house after this game to hang out. I was quite mad when he said something to this effect: "Why do you care so much? Do you think those guys on the team would care if you got a B on a test?" While I didn't quite grasp what Sean was saying at the time, I know do. I was taking the loss too seriously. Still, this was a hard way to go out for Arizona seniors Miles Simon, Michael Dickerson and Bennett Davison. A repeat would not be in the cards for the Cardiac Cats of 1997. Note: I did not start recording full NCAA Tournaments until 1999; thus, my 1998 collection is sparse, with the exception of Arizona games and the Final Four. Also, I apologize for any tracking issues as these games were digitized from old VHS tapes.  

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. I remember watching this game on a Thursday night, with Gus Johnson on the call. The game was played at the Arrowhead Pond, home of the Los Angeles Clippers. I remember Johnson talking about how Arizona point guard Mike Bibby was playing in pain, as he had a root canal performed earlier in the week. From the game, I remember Arizona guard Miles Simon talking trash back and forth with Maryland guard Sarunas Jaskivicius, who would play for the Indiana Pacers in the early 2000s. Overall, Arizona controlled this chippy game, though Maryland had a few runs that made me worried. While not playing its best ball, Arizona would beat Maryland, avenging the Terps' defeat of Illinois in the prior round, and be one win away from returning to the Final Four. With Utah next, the Wildcats were in great shape, or at least I thought to myself. Note: I did not start recording full NCAA Tournaments until 1999; thus, my 1998 collection is sparse, with the exception of Arizona games and the Final Four. Also, you'll see in the screenshot an up-close look at Maryland's Obinna Ekezie, a brute of a power forward for the Terps. Apparently, Ekezie's son is a top high school prospect who is looking to reclassify and play college basketball next season, possibly for the Arkansas Razorbacks. 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. This game still stings nearly 30 years later as Illinois got in a hole against Maryland before rallying back. The game went to the final minute, with the Terps pulling it out. I was disappointed as Illinois was so close to the Sweet Sixteen, where it would have played my favorite team at the time, the defending champion Arizona Wildcats. It wasn't meant to be for this 1997-98 Illinois team, which helped set the foundation for a very successful run in program history. Under second-year Head Coach Lon Kruger, this Illini team started five seniors in the late Matt Heldman, Kevin Turner, Brian Johnson (the brother of future Illini Lucas), Jerry Hester and Jarrod Gee, and finished tied for a share of the Big Ten championship. Also on this team was freshman Sergio McClain, who came off the bench. Note: I did not start recording full NCAA Tournaments until 1999; thus, my 1998 collection is sparse, with the exception of Arizona games and the Final Four.