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Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. The 1999 NCAA Tournament was the first tourney I taped in its entirety, or at least all of the games that were broadcast in Chicago. By the summer of 1998 I had quit playing high school basketball, which meant I could work summer jobs and earn some money. Prior to this tournament I decided to go to Best Buy and buy a giant pack of VHS tapes. I believe I bought eight VHS tapes for like $20 bucks, which I think was a good deal back then. After I got my own VCR in the summer of 1996, I would record parts of the 1997 and 1998 NCAA Tournaments. However, I would always run out of tapes and have to tape over things, though I would never dub over the Final Four and title games. Now with a little cash to spend, I recorded the first day of the 1999 NCAA Tournament. As I was a junior in high school, I would usually convince my parents to let me take off one of the two days of the first round. This year I decided to go to school on the Thursday and take off the Friday. Thus, I was in class when these games took place.
What's interesting about these two sets of games are where each programs were at the time. Valparaiso was coming off a Sweet Sixteen run during the 1998 NCAA Tournament, when Homer Drew's #12-seeded Crusaders shocked Ole Miss on a buzzer-beating three by his son Bryce and then beat Florida State in the second round. As for this Maryland team, it was lead by junior-college star Steve Francis, who would go one and done, though key members of its 2002 title team, specifically Juan Dixon and Lonny Baxter, were contributors in this game. As for Oklahoma State and Syracuse, both teams were a year away from deeper runs. Oklahoma State would defeat Syracuse but lose in the second round to Auburn before reaching the Elite Eight of the 2000 NCAA Tournament. Syracuse would advance to the Sweet Sixteen of the 2000 NCAA Tournament, losing to eventual national champion Michigan State during a very underrated tournament game. Some key players include Desmond Mason and Doug Gottlieb for Oklahoma State and Jason Hart, Etan Thomas and former Illini Ryan Blackwell for Syracuse. :-)
What's interesting about these two sets of games are where each programs were at the time. Valparaiso was coming off a Sweet Sixteen run during the 1998 NCAA Tournament, when Homer Drew's #12-seeded Crusaders shocked Ole Miss on a buzzer-beating three by his son Bryce and then beat Florida State in the second round. As for this Maryland team, it was lead by junior-college star Steve Francis, who would go one and done, though key members of its 2002 title team, specifically Juan Dixon and Lonny Baxter, were contributors in this game. As for Oklahoma State and Syracuse, both teams were a year away from deeper runs. Oklahoma State would defeat Syracuse but lose in the second round to Auburn before reaching the Elite Eight of the 2000 NCAA Tournament. Syracuse would advance to the Sweet Sixteen of the 2000 NCAA Tournament, losing to eventual national champion Michigan State during a very underrated tournament game. Some key players include Desmond Mason and Doug Gottlieb for Oklahoma State and Jason Hart, Etan Thomas and former Illini Ryan Blackwell for Syracuse. :-)
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