50th Anniversary Of The Final Four Game That Changed History

The NCAA Men's Final Four comes to my hometown this weekend.  How apropos is it that we're hosting the game at NRG Stadium at a time in which we also are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1966 Final Four title game between Texas Western (now UTEP) and number one ranked Kentucky that changed not only history, but had a major impact of how NCAA men's basketball is played today.

The story is also depicted in the 2006 movie Glory Road.

That Final Four game played on March 19, 1966 pitted the number four ranked Miners against the Adolph Rupp coached Wildcat team that had NBA legends Pat Riley and Louie Dampier in their lineup.

It's also a point of pride for us in Houston because David Lattin, one of the starters in that historic NCAA title game is from here.  That game also marked the first time that five African-Americans started in an NCAA title game,and they were playing against a one loss Kentucky team with an all white lineup.  

While that is something we don't even think about in 2016, because the SEC and the now disbanded Texas-Arkansas based Southwest Conference were segregated and refused to recruit Black players, this was a big deal in 1966.  It was also a big deal because in addition to this seminal title game being played with the African-American Civil Rights Movement as a backdrop, there were less than complimentary stereotypes about Black basketball players at the time as well.   The Texas Western players also faced in their 27-1 title run racism from fans, other players and referees as they marched toward their date with destiny.

David Lattin, Bobby Joe Hill, Orsten Artis, Harry Flournoy and Willie Worsley shocked the world by upsetting the heavily favored Wildcats 72-65  It's also cool to note that David Lattin's grandson, Khadeem Lattin ( and whose mother BTW is WNBA Houston Comets legend Monica Lamb) playing for the Oklahoma Sooners, one of the four teams competing for the NCAA title here in Houston this weekend

 It is also fitting that during this weekend in which the Final Four returns to the Lone Star State, the 1966 NCAA championship team will be honored at halftime.on Saturday.

As I said in my 45th anniversary TransGriot post concerning that historic game, the Texas Western players that night in Cole Field House on the University of Maryland campus were playing not only for a title, they were playing for the dignity of a people.

They also ended up with their win,.changing NCAA college basketball forever.

Moni's 2016 NCAA Women's B-Ball Bracket

While I didn't have time to do my men's bracket in 2015, I definitely had a chance to do one for the women's tournament.  I started as part of Women's History Month compiling it in 2008 , and I have continued that tradition every year since.  

Since I just mentioned it, here are my 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 , 2014 and 2015 women's brackets.here

My record in picking the eventual women's NCAA champion is slightly better at 5-3, and I've also correctly picked all four women's NCAA  Final Four teams in 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2015.  Also nailed last year's NCAA women's title game.

But it's a year later.  Can I get it right again and select the four teams that will be playing for NCAA women's basketball supremacy on April and 5?   Will UConn continue their dominance of the NCAA women's basketball ranks and their 69 game winning streak? Will they make NCAA history and become the first women's team to win a fourth straight title or will there be an upset for the ages?..

We're about to find out.

Bridgeport Regional
First Round
Connecticut, Seton Hall, Mississippi State, Michigan State, South Florida, UCLA, BYU, Texas

Second Round
Connecticut, Mississippi State, UCLA, Texas

Sweet 16
Connecticut, UCLA

Bridgeport Regional Champ
Connecticut

Dallas Regional
First Round
Baylor, St John's, Florida State, DePaul, Louisville, Oklahoma State, Oregon State

Second Round
Baylor, Texas A&M, Louisville, Oregon St.

Sweet 16
Baylor, Oregon St.

Dallas Regional Champ
Baylor

Lexington Regional
First Round
Notre Dame, Georgia , Miami, Stanford, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Washington, Maryland

Second round
Notre Dame, Stanford, Kentucky, Maryland

Sweet 16
Notre Dame, Maryland

Lexington Regional Champ
Notre Dame

Sioux Falls Regional
First Round
South Carolina, Kansas State, Florida, Syracuse, West Virginia, Ohio State, Tennessee, Arizona State

Second Round
South Carolina, Florida, West Virginia, Arizona State

Sweet 16
South Carolina, West Virginia

Sioux Falls Champ
South Carolina

Final Four
Connecticut, Baylor, Notre Dame,.South Carolina

Championship Game
Connecticut, Notre Dame

2016 NCAA Women's Champ
Connecticut

Moni's 2016 NCAA Men's B-Ball Bracket

I am a serious college basketball fan, and love March Madness except for replays of a certain painful to watch 1983 NCAA championship game that get nauseatingly run every year

Since 2007 I'd been putting my NCAA bracket on the blog for you TransGriot readers to peruse.  But last year my travel schedule was so jam packed full of events in March that I didn't have time to sit down long enough to post my 2015 NCAA Men's NCAA tournament bracket.   

But I did make a prediction that turned out to be way off, and the Duke alums I know made sure to remind me of it.  Oh well, that's the way the ball bounces sometimes.  It also broke my three year streak of correctly predicting the eventual men's champ.

I'm now 4-4 in the picking the NCAA men's champs, and here's my previous NCAA men's brackets for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014

But it's a new year as the Final Four will be played in my hometown this year at NRG Stadium.  But before we get to those national semifinal and national championship games on April 2 and April 4, we have several weeks of games in which the 68 teams will be whittled down to the Final Four teams that will play for the NCAA men's title.

And  now, my 2016 NCAA Men's Bracket

First Four Games
Wichita State, Florida Gulf Coast, Michigan, Southern

South Regional
First Round
Kansas, Connecticut, Maryland, California, Arizona, Miami (FL), Temple, Villanova  

Second Round
Kansas, Maryland, Arizona, Villanova

Sweet 16
Kansas, Villanova

South Champ
Kansas

West Regional
First Round
Oregon, Cincinnati, Baylor, Duke, Texas, Texas A&M, VCU, Oklahoma

Second Round
Oregon, Duke, Texas A&M, Oklahoma

Sweet 16
Oregon, Oklahoma

West Champ
Oregon

East Regional
First Round
North Carolina, USC, Indiana, Kentucky, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Xavier

Second Round
North Carolina, Kentucky, West Virginia, Xavier

Sweet 16
Kentucky, West Virginia

East Champion
Kentucky

Midwest Regional
First Round
Virginia, Butler, Purdue, Iowa State, Seton hall, Utah, Syracuse, Michigan State

Second Round
Virginia, Iowa State, Utah, Michigan State

Sweet 16
Virginia, Michigan State

Midwest Champ
Michigan State

Final Four
Kansas, Oregon, Kentucky, Michigan State

Championship Game
Kansas, Michigan State

2016 NCAA Men's Champ
Kansas

H-town Takeover Completed With 38-24 Peach Bowl Win

The H-town Takeover, as this 2015 UH Cougar season was dubbed, has so far been a smashing success in coach Tom Herman's first season.   The Coogs opened up 12-0, with the only blemish being a 20-17 loss in with all everything quarterback Greg Ward, Jr didn't play because of an injury.

They eventually captured the 2015 American Athletic Conference with a hard fought win over Navy, and claimed their first major bowl invite since the 1985 Cotton Bowl.

The H-town takeover was taking its show to the Georgia Dome in the ATL and their first ever Peach Bowl.  But their opponent in this first ever Peach Bowl trip was the 9th ranked Florida State Seminoles.

The Cougars took full advantage of being in the national spotlight by racing to a 21-3 halftime lead as the Seminole offense sputtered in the first half with four punts, a fumble and a intersection thanks to the stifling  Cougar defense as they bottled up FSU's Dalvin Cook .  

Florida State hadn't given up more than 25 points the entire year, and when they closed the gap to 24-17, the Cougars offense got it back in gear, scored 17 fourth quarter points to sprint to a 38-24 win to claim a signature Peach Bowl win and finish 13-1 for the second time in four years.  .  

The win over FSU was their first over a Top Ten program since 1979, and their third this season over a Power 5 conference school (Louisville (ACC), Vanderbilt (SEC) were the others).  

It should also do wonderful things for their recruiting, and will be interesting to see where they start off in the rankings in 2016.

So what you waiting for Big XII?  Do u and yourselves a favor and extend an invite to UH.  


   

Hail Cougars! 2015 AAC Champs!

Had the pleasure of watching my alma mater for the first time since 2006 win a conference title in football today.  And the best part of it was it was done in The Cage, AKA TDECU Stadium.

While the pregame talk was about our all everything junior quarterback Greg Ward, Jr (who should have gotten some Heisman love) in this inaugural American Athletic Conference title game, the UH defense are no slouches either.

But it was Ward doing much of the damage in this game with his legs, rushing for 148 yards and two touchdowns as the 17th ranked Cougars raced to a 17-0 lead thanks to a Ward 47 yard TD run in the second quarter and two Temple turnovers to go up 17-3 at the half.

The Cougars pushed the lead to 24-3 on Ward's second touchdown, and then the 20th ranked AAC East Division Champs turned up their defense to help the Owls get back into the game

They closed to 24-13 with 5:11 to play before the Cougar defense stiffened and Temple failed on a 4th and 3 with 1:58 left on the UH 19 yard line.   Two first down later and the Cougars would be happily accepting the American championship trophy at midfield.

The Cougars not only moved to 12-1 on the season, as the highest ranked champion in the Group of Five conferences, they punched their ticket to a New Year's Eve bowl game which is according to chatter will be either the Peach Bowl or Fiesta Bowl.

Congrats UH Cougars for an outstanding season, and I need to pick up my championship t-shirt.

UH Cougars Are AAC West Division Champs!

After being upset last week 20-17 by UConn with their all world quarterback Greg Ward, Jr on the sidelines for much of it, my fave college football team came into this matchup at TDECU Stadium with number 15 ranked Navy with a lot on the line.  

The chance for an undefeated season were gone, but the Coogs still had much to play for Friday afternoon. The Cougars were not only playing for the AAC West Division title and hosting the inaugural American Athletic Conference Championship Game, they were also playing to keep their hopes alive for a New Years Six bowl game.

The Coogs took the opening kickoff, marched efficiently down the field to score and take a 7-0 lead they would never relinquish against a talented Navy squad determined to make their own history with their Heisman Trophy candidate senior quarterback Keenan Reynolds.

Navy quickly answered, but UH took a page out of the Midshipmen playbook by executing long clock eating drives and capping them off with touchdowns, helped immensely by going 16 for 19 on third down and going 2 for 2 on fourth down to forge a 24-14 lead at halftime.

But it was the Cougar defense stepping up big once again by forcing a critical turnover on Navy's opening drive of the third quarter and converting it into a touchdown that gave them a 31-14 lead.

But Navy didn't quit.  They fought until the final whistle. but UH was just too good on offense and prevailed 52-31 to clinch the AAC West Division title, move to 11-1 on the season and ensure the AAC Championship game would be held in H-town.

They will face AAC East Division Champ Temple (10-2) on December 5, and I'm hoping I can get tickets for that game.  I'm also hoping they make more history by winning the AAC title and getting that spot in a New Year's Six bowl game.

Popping My NCAA Women's Tournament Colllar

The NCAA Women's Final Four will be kicking off in Tampa this weekend, and I get to gloat a little bit before it starts.

For the fourth time in TransGriot history and for the first time since 2012, I correctly predicted all four women's Final Four teams (Connecticut, South Carolina, Maryland and Notre Dame) that ended up in Tampa.

Will I get the champion right, too.   We'll see when the fun starts on April 5 with the semifinal games.

Connecticut will take on Maryland, and Notre Dame will battle South Carolina for the other berth in the April 7 NCAA women's title game.

Can Maryland do what only Stanford has done this season and derail UConn's bid to threepeat?   Can South Carolina and Notre Dame rebound from previous losses to UConn and shock them in the title game? Or will UConn roll to their 10th title?

We'll see who is cutting down the net on April 7.

Moni's 2015 NCAA Women's B-Ball Bracket

As part of Women's History Month I started compiling in 2008 a women's NCAA tournament bracket, especially since I have a lot of women's sports fans and I think it's only fair that the NCAA women's ballers get the same kind of love I give the men.

Giving them more love this year because I got squeezed for time in doing my men's bracket.

Here's my 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 women's brackets.   I have only a 4-3 record in picking the eventual NCAA women's champion, but bear in mind I have correctly picked all four Women's Final Four teams in 2008, 2009 and 2012.

The Road to Tampa Bay starts March 20 , and who will be the team cutting down the nets on April 7?

Despite Geno Auriemma trying to downplay it, I and everybody else in America believes it'll be UConn getting their 3-peat, but they will have to work for it.

But then again, that's why we're playing this tournament.

Albany Region

First Round
Connecticut, Rutgers, Texas, California, LSU, Louisville, Iowa State, Kentucky

Second Round
Connecticut, Texas, Louisville, Kentucky

Elite Eight
Connecticut, Kentucky

Albany Region Champions
Connecticut

Spokane Region

First Round
Maryland, Princeton, Mississippi State, Duke, Gonzaga, Oregon State, Pittsburgh, Tennessee

Second Round
Maryland, Duke, Oregon State, Tennessee

Elite Eight
Maryland, Tennessee

Spokane Region Champions
Maryland

Oklahoma City Region
First Round
Notre Dame, DePaul, Oklahoma, Stanford, Washington, Iowa, Northwestern, Baylor

Second Round
Notre Dame, Stanford, Iowa, Baylor

Elite Eight
Notre Dame, Baylor

Oklahoma City Region Champions
Notre Dame

Greensboro Region

First Round
South Carolina, Nebraska, Ohio State, North Carolina, Texas A&M, Arizona State, Oklahoma State, Florida State

Second Round
South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas A&M, Florida State

Elite Eight
South Carolina, Texas A&M

Greensboro Region Champion
South Carolina

Final Four Teams
Connecticut, Maryland, Notre Dame, South Carolina



Championship Game
Connecticut, Notre Dame

2015 NCAA Champion
Connecticut

Moni's 2015 NCAA Men's B-Ball Prediction

I absolutely love March Madness except when they show video of a certain 1983 NCAA title game,. 

Since 2007 I have posted my NCAA men's brackets for the whole world to see.

Because my schedule has been so packed full of events combined with breaking news that had a must write about priority, just wasn't able to sit down long enough to put together my 2015 NCAA bracket post before the First Four games started on Tuesday.

Oh well, with all the upsets yesterday my 2015 bracket would have been trashed anyway.  And darn it, I'll be out of town when the South Regional Final happens at NRG Stadium March 29

And assuming our stupid azz GOP controlled state legislature doesn't pass any hate legislation, the NCAA Men's Final Four is scheduled to return to NRG Stadium in 2016.

Just in case you're curious, here's the brackets for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014

All I have time to do unfortunately is predict who will win the men's NCAA title this year when they cut down the nets in Indianapolis on April 6

That team will be undefeated Kentucky

Yep, I'm predicting that they will run the table, get those six tourney wins they need  and finish as the first undefeated.team since Indiana did so back in 1976.   Ironically this year's title game will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Will the Cats do it?   We'll see as the 2015 edition of the NCAA tourney unfolds.

It's NCAA Conference Moving Day!

July 1 is the day in NCAA collegiate athletics that schools get to move to their new conferences for the 2014-15 academic year.

One of the schools moving to a new conference today is the University of Louisville, who leaves the American for the upper crust digs of the Atlantic Coast Conference. 

The ACC welcomes the Cards into their conference ranks as their 15th member with a ceremony at Fourth Street Live! in downtown Louisville starting at 5 PM EDT.

While I'm going to miss seeing them in the American, can't be too mad at U of L   I've had a ringside seat during my time in the city to see how the school and AD Tom Jurich has worked to be in the position to make their program an attractive one and build the facilities.   The payoff of that investment was the Cards being asked to join a better and more nationally ranked power conference like the ACC.

When I was a Coog, we were a nationally ranked kicking butt member of the dearly departed Southwest Conference.  We went to three consecutive Final Fours and a Cotton Bowl, and I'd love to see them playing at that Top 25 level again in all sports.  Maybe with that burnt orange wearing UH hater Deloss Dodds gone into retirement, the new football stadium opening next month, and the upcoming renovation at Hofheinz Pavilion, we'll eventually get that Big XII invite that has been denied us. 

The University of Houston deserves that sitting in the largest city in Texas, and I hope UH is paying attention to how Louisville made it happen for themselves since they were in similar dissed circumstances back in the day.

Speaking of conference moves, the Big Ten welcomes former ACC charter member Maryland and the AAC's Rutgers into their ranks.  

On top of that with the entry of these two schools this fall, the Big Ten scrapped the Leaders and Legends Divisions and went to the more logical geographic divisional setup. 

Should be interesting to see what these two schools bring to the Big Ten table besides the Washington DC and New York-northern New Jersey TV markets, especially when basketball season kicks off. 

As for the American (AKA the old Big East) which is the Coogs current conference home, we get reunited with some old C-USA foes in East Carolina, Tulane and Tulsa this fall with Navy joining in 2015.  

Our crosstown rivals Rice in C-USA will also get some new conference members in Old Dominion, which is moving up from the FCS level and Western Kentucky, with Charlotte scheduled to join C-USA after an FCS transition in 2015.

This is the 2014 edition of NCAA conference moving day.   We'll see how well it plays out for all the schools involved this fall.    It also brings up the question, will there be another round of conference shuffling soon?   
   

The Kentucky Basketball Hatetrix Reloaded

When I lived in Kentucky from 2001-2010, one of the more entertaining events for me next to Derby Week was watching the annual December basketball hatefest between the Kentucky Wildcats and Louisville Cardinals.

From the time I moved there in September 2001 until I left in May 2010 to come back to Texas I had the rabid fanbases of Cats and Cards Nations trying to get me to publicly declare whether I was a UK or Louisville fan.

They wanted me to choose to take either the blue Wildcat pill or the red Cardinal pill, but I managed to stay neutral during that time.

To be honest, the wall to wall coverage of that annual rivalry game is one of the things about the state I miss.

When I was setting up my 2014 NCAA men's tourney brackets, I noted the way they were set up, if both teams won their opening round games it would lead to a potential Sweet 16 clash between the current (Louisville) and last (Kentucky) NCAA champions to be played in Indianapolis. 

After the Wildcats narrow 78-76 tournament win yesterday over previously unbeaten Wichita State and defending NCAA champ Louisville knocking St. Louis out of the tournament with their 66-51 win to advance, we can take the word 'potential' out of that last paragraph and deal with the reality that the Kentucky basketball hatetrix has been reloaded.

It's Battle of the Bluegrass, Part II at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.  This time they are playing for higher stakes than just bragging rights as they did December 28 at Rupp Arena.  The Cats fans are already reminding the Cards fans of the 73-66 result of that December game, while the Cards fans are firing back it's all about what happens this Friday.   

And what it's all about is a trip to the NCAA tournament Elite Eight at their bitter basketball rival's expense. 

The bitterly disappointed loser will have a hour and a half long lament filled drive down I-65 south from Indianapolis back to Kentucky while the winner stays in Circle City and plays for a possible trip to the Jerrydome and the Final Four.

The Kentucky Basketball Hatetrix will ensure this is not going to be a quiet week along I-64 or at any job locations, homes, sports bars or churches in Louisville, Lexington or anywhere else in Kentucky this week.  

Moni's 2014 NCAA Women's B-Ball Bracket

Since it's Women's History Month and I do have a lot of women's sports fans who peruse this blog, ever since 2008 I have been posting on TransGriot an NCAA Women's basketball tournament bracket in honor of it. 

And frankly, the other reason I do so is to show the women NCAA ballers some love, too.  

The road to Nashville begins for 64 teams this Saturday with the Final Four being played April 6-8.  I'm only 3-3 in picking the women's NCAA champs, and you can see my results for 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.

But bear in mind TransGriot readers I have picked the women's Final Four teams correctly in 2008, 2009 and 2012.   

Prairie View A&M has to be wondering who they pissed off on the NCAA selection committee.  For the third consecutive year, winning the SWAC women's tournament championship gets them an opening round game against the number one overall seed.   In 2012 and 2013 they opened tournament play against Baylor and now they face an unbeaten UConn. In 2011 they opened tournament play against number one regional seeded Baylor. 

Last year I picked Baylor to repeat in what was Brittney Griner's senior season but Shoni Schimmel and Louisville had other ideas.

My fellow Taurus (we share the same May 4 birthday) her little sis Jude and her Cardinal teammates merrily bombed away from the three point line and fearlessly drove the lane with attitude against my imposing Houston homegirl Griner as the Cards shocked the basketball world and escaped with an 82-81 upset victory that trashed my bracket and ended Baylor's repeat bid. 

The Cardinals rode the wave of that ginormous Sweet 16 upset and the subsequent takedown of number 2 seeded Tennessee all the way to the NCAA title game that UConn won 93-60 to capture their 8th NCAA women's title.

Well, Shoni's back for her senior season along with her little sis and Da Ville.  The Cardinals are not only motivated by that title game thumping, but like the menz are pissed off about their seeding.  They are also playing to get to their home arena the KFC Yum Center.  

Defending champs UConn enter this tournament undefeated  (34-0) and the number one overall seed.  UConn is not only determined to repeat and win their 9th NCAA title, this Huskies team wants to join the others in UConn women's b-ball history as the fifth to do so with a zero in the loss column.  

Stanford has been an NCAA elite women's basketball powerhouse.  They have made it to eleven Final Fours, were runners up in 2008 and 2010 but unlike UConn and Tennessee only have titles won in 1990 and 1992 to show for it.   My Houston homegirl Chiney Ogwumike wants to change that in her senior season and win a title for the Cardinal in the 21st Century. 

The Cardinal also feel along with some women's basketball media pundits they deserved a number one seed in this tournament.

Notre Dame is minus the graduated Skylar Diggins but are still dangerous as their undefeated 32-0 record proved.  The Irish lady ballers romped through their inaugural season in the ACC and also enter this tournament as a number one seed. 

The Irish, like Louisville are trying to make it back to their home arena for the Elite Eight round   They not only want to make it to their third NCAA final in the last four years, but this time take the championship trophy home, especially if it's at UConn's expense.

The Irish have beaten UConn seven out of the last nine times they played them, but one of those two losses was to the Huskies in last year's national semifinal game. 

Dawn Staley has been quietly building South Carolina into a national power, and was rewarded with the regular season SEC women's title. They were upset in the SEC women's tournament but still earned a number one seed for their 27-4 season long body of work.   

Will UConn, the current queens of the NCAA women's hardwoods continue to reign and execute the repeat as an unbeaten squad?  Can the Irish make that trip down I-65 south to cap a perfect season by cutting down the nets in Music City?   Can Louisville also make that short trip down I-65, make it to the final again but this time send Shoni Schimmel out as an NCAA champion? 

Or will another women's team on the rise like South Carolina or on a roll like USC crash the Music City party?    

We'll see who will be cutting down the nets at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville April 8.

Lincoln Regional

1st Round
Connecticut, Georgia, NC State, Nebraska, Gonzaga, Texas A&M, De Paul, Duke

Sweet 16
Connecticut, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Duke

Elite 8
Connecticut, Texas A&M

Lincoln Regional Champion
Connecticut

Notre Dame Regional

1st round
Notre Dame, Arizona State, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Syracuse, Kentucky, California, Baylor

Sweet 16
Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Kentucky, Baylor

Elite 8
Notre Dame, Baylor

Notre Dame Regional Champion
Notre Dame

Louisville Regional

1st Round
Tennessee, USC, Texas, Maryland, Iowa, Louisville, LSU, West Virginia

Sweet 16
Tennessee, Maryland, Louisville, West Virginia

Elite 8
Tennessee, Louisville

Louisville Regional Champion
Tennessee

Stanford Regional

1st Round
South Carolina, Oregon State, Michigan State, Florida, Penn State, Florida State, Stanford

Sweet 16
South Carolina, North Carolina, Penn State, Stanford

Elite 8
South Carolina, Stanford

Stanford Regional Champion
South Carolina Final Four Teams
Connecticut, Tennessee, Notre Dame, South Carolina

Championship Game
Connecticut, Notre Dame

2014 NCAA Champ
Connecticut