NCAA Basketball FanHouse

Ranking the Ten Cities Who Are Fighting For Five Final Fours

Shiloh Carder — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:21:00 EST

Filed under: March Madness, NCAA Basketball Fans, Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Minnesota, New Orleans, Phoenix, St. Louis

The NCAA is set to announce the host cities for the 2012 through 2016 Final Fours. Ten cities have put in bids for the event ... meaning half will go home disappointed.

Ranking the field:

1-Indianapolis: This is NCAA headquarters and they love having the Final Four here. Since the 2010 Final Four will be held in Indy, expect the new Lucas Oil Field to get the 2015 or 2016 event.

2-New Orleans: The NCAA loves N'Awlins (four previous trips) and it will have been at least a decade since the last one at the Superdome (2003). The dome seems to be in fine shape and they are also trying to land a Super Bowl in the (somewhat) near future. I think the NCAA gets this done in 2013 or 2014.

3-Phoenix: I think that Phoenix/Glendale is the next great stop for sporting events. The Super Bowl was a huge success a the new stadium and I think the Final Four would love to grab some of that. I see the 2012 or 2013 Final Four getting awarded here.

4-San Antonio: San Antonio has become a bit of a great place to have a Final Four. They have had three of them from 1998 to 2008. I think the love affair could continue with the 2016 event. However, one strike against the Alamodome could be that they have been there quite a bit of late.

5-North Texas: The new digs and the potentially amazing capacity makes this very, very attractive. Imagine over 100,000 watching the NCAA Championship game! It could happen. The strike against it could be the fact that this means over-Texas-ing this event (San Antonio in '08, Houston in '11 and now Dallas?). If Dallas pulls this off, it could steal San Antonio's bid down the road.

6-Atlanta: This is a close race that I think Atlanta could win. Why? Well, there is that "over-Texas-ing" the Final Four thing I mentioned earlier. Atlanta has been great for the tournament and gets the rabid SEC and ACC fanbases drooling. The only problem is they just held a Final Four there (2007 and 2003) and the committee may think it is too soon to go back.

7-Detroit: Detroit hosts the upcoming Final Four and it would be interesting to see if they'd already get a committment to get another one. I don't think they will ... at least not not right now.

8-St. Louis: I think St. Louis is a perfect place to hold the event. The problem may lie with this little spat between the NFL's Rams and the city (they want a knew building). If, by August, the Gateway City can calm the NCAA's nerves on this ... they could sneak up and grab one of those Texas Final Fours.

9-Houston: This isn't a knock on Houston. They are already set to host the 2011 Final Four ... the last site already set. I just don't think they will turn right around and award them another one in the five years afterwards. Not to mention the fact that Texas cities San Antonio and Dallas would be more apt to get one ... as would nearby New Orleans.

10-Minneapolis: I love Minneapolis as a host city for a Regional Final and all ... I just don't think the HHH Metrodome is sexy enough to warrant them getting a Final Four with all the newer buildings out there.

Okay, by my guess ... that would mean Phoenix (2012), North Texas (2013), New Orleans (2014), Indianapolis (2015) and San Antonio (2016) get rewarded Final Fours.

Ranking the Ten Cities Who Are Fighting For Five Final Fours originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:21:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Houston's Robert McKiver Goes Off for 52

Michael David Smith — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:27:00 EST

Filed under: Conference USA Basketball, Houston

With March just around the corner, Houston is still on the NCAA Tournament bubble. But if the Cougars get there, guard Robert McKiver is a player everyone will want to watch.

McKiver scored 52 points in Wednesday night's 95-67 win over Southern Mississippi, the highest scoring total any NCAA Division I player has had so far this season.

"I was feeling it," McKiver said. "I was just feeling good out there.

"When I get it going like that, I'm in the zone. My teammates were telling me, 'Oh, you have this many points,' but I didn't really know how many points I had, even though nobody will believe that.

"I knew when I got to about 47 (that he was close to 50) because my teammates were telling me, but before that I really didn't know."

McKiver's line was 17-of-34 from the field, including 7-of-17 from beyond the arc, and 11-of-12 from the line. He also had five assists.

The 52 points represented a Hofheinz Pavilion record, eclipsing the record of 44 points, which was owned by two players, including Indiana State's Larry Bird in 1977.

McKiver sounded awed at having done something no other Houston player had accomplished.

"A lot of people don't know how much tradition we have here," he said. "Not to sound corny, but we've had so many great players come through here - Otis Birdsong, Michael Young, Elvin Hayes, Clyde Drexler, Hakeem Olajuwon. We have a lot of tradition here, and it's an honor."

Houston's Robert McKiver Goes Off for 52 originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:27:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remembering the Houston-UCLA 'Game of the Century' 40 Years Later

Shiloh Carder — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 04:39:00 EST

Filed under: UCLA Basketball, Conference USA Basketball, Pac-10 Basketball, Houston, Los Angeles

Nowadays, we come across a so-called "the game of the century" seemingly every year (didn't the Patriots have a few of them in the past NFL season?) that it has become cliche. Even the people giving that moniker know it.

However, on January 20, 1968 ... exactly 40 years ago today ... we had the actual thing. #1 UCLA, led by Lew Alcinder, against #2 Houston, with Elvin Hayes in the middle, in Houston's Astrodome in front of 52,629 fans. UCLA was riding a 47-game winning streak (spanning over two-plus seasons) that included a win over Houston in the 1967 Final Four. That was Houston's last defeat heading into this contest.

Not only was this a great game (Hayes hit two free throws to give the Cougars the 71-69 win) but it may have been one of the most important college basketball games ever. This was the first NCAA hoops game to be broadcast nationally in prime time. Up to that point, only postseason games were televised nationally and there was quite a buzz about the non-profit NCAA putting a regular season game out there like this.

In some ways, it birthed "March Madness". Sure, Magic vs Bird helped turn it into the spectacle that it is today, but this game fathered the idea that there could be a madness part of the tournament. People wanted to see games like this. It also put the thought of having basketball games in football/basketball domed stadiums ... something so radical at the time. Because of the success of this game, the Final Four went to the Astrodome in 1971, then the 1982 Final Four went to the Louisiana Superdome. Since 1996, every Final Four has been held in a domed-stadium.

As for the game, Hayes dominated Alcindor (that's Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the layperson). Alcindor shot a woeful 4-of-18 from the field and scored just 15 points. The Big E dumped 39 points on the Bruins and grabbed 15 boards in the win.

UCLA would get its revenge in the Final Four that season ... beating Houston 101-69 ... and moving on to win another NCAA tournament.

Remembering the Houston-UCLA 'Game of the Century' 40 Years Later originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sun, 20 Jan 2008 04:39:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Best Starting Five Ever? Houston With Akeem and Clyde

Michael David Smith — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 11:50:00 EST

Filed under: Florida Basketball, UCLA Basketball, Indiana Basketball, March Madness, Houston, Los Angeles, Florida, Indiana

We established last night that no team can top Florida (well, no college team). But now let's go into the history books: Is this Florida lineup the best starting five in college basketball history?

You can certainly make that case. The Gators are, after all, the first team in history to win two national titles with the same group of starters, Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer, Taurean Green, and Lee Humphrey. That's why Dan Shanoff gives them his vote.

Elliott Kalb presents a list of the top 10 starting fives of all time prior to Florida, and although he doesn't say where he would put Florida within that list, he calls Bob Knight's Indiana team with Scott May, Quinn Buckner, Bobby Wilkerson, Kent Benson and Tom Abernethy the best group of starters ever.

Kalb's No. 2 was UCLA with Lew Alcindor, and before I really started looking into it, I just assumed that team would have to be the best starting five ever. But then I took a closer look at those five starters. After Alcindor, the tallest player in the Bruins' starting lineup was the 6-foot-5 Lynn Shackelford. As great as UCLA was with Alcindor at the helm, I just don't think there's any way the rest of the Bruins could have matched up with bigger, more athletic teams.

So my vote goes to Phi Slamma Jamma, the Houston team of Akeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Larry Micheaux, Alvin Franklin and Michael Young. Yeah, I know they never won a title. But those guys were incredible: Do you realize that Drexler and Olajuwon weren't even the team's leading scorers? (Young was.) Would they beat the Gators five-on-five? I'd love to see that game.

Best Starting Five Ever? Houston With Akeem and Clyde originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Tue, 03 Apr 2007 11:50:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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