North Carolina State-Maryland changed college basketball

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The greatest events in sports was a must-read L.A. Times’ feature in today’s paper. However, there was one small misstep: college basketball.

There is no denying that the 1992 NCAA East Region final between Duke and Kentucky was a mammoth game (Christian Laettner’s buzzer-beating shot edged Kentucky, 104-103, in overtime). But in the end, it was just a great game. Now the 1974 Atlantic Coast Conference final, that was history, and it changed history.

When North Carolina State and Maryland took the court, NC State was ranked No. 1 and Maryland fourth. Only one would go to the NCAA Tournament, which was limited to champions and worthy independents in 1974.

NC State’s only loss was to UCLA. Maryland had lost to UCLA (by a point at Pauley Pavilon to open the season), twice to NC State and once to Bobby Jones’ North Carolina team.

There were 10 future NBA draft picks in the game, including NC State’s David Thompson,Tom Burleson and Maryland’s John Lucas, Tom McMillan and Len Elmore. Additionally, the game had a future congressman (McMillan) and World Series pitcher (NC State’s Tim Stoddard) as well as Michael Jordan’s idol (the gravity-defying Thompson).

Maryland nearly won in regulation, but Lucas missed an off-balanced shot. NC State pulled it out in overtime, 103-100, and went on to win the national title, beating Bill Walton’s UCLA team in the semifinals.

All of which makes that a great game. What made it historic was how the NCAA reacted to it. The loss left Maryland out of the 25-team tournament field. A year later, the tourney was expanded to 32 and at-large teams were invited. So began the NCAA Tournament as we know it today.

-- Chris Foster