Game of the Century (college basketball)
Encyclopedia
The Game of the Century in college basketball
was a historical NCAA game between the University of Houston
Cougars
and the UCLA
Bruins
played on January 20, 1968 at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas
. It was the first NCAA regular season game broadcast nationwide in prime time. It established college basketball as a sports commodity on television and paved the way for the modern "March Madness" television coverage.
s in 1964, 1965, and 1967. Houston Cougars
coach Guy V. Lewis wanted to prove his program's worth to his critics, so he decided to schedule UCLA. Houston and UCLA had met in the previous season in the semi finals of the 1967 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
. UCLA had prevailed against Houston 73–58, and won that championship.
into the game by explaining how great it would be for college basketball. Nance put advertisements in the Cougar football programs touting the game as the "Game of the Century."
The game was televised nationally via a syndication
package through the TVS Television Network
, with Dick Enberg
announcing and Bob Pettit
providing color commentary. Morgan had insisted to TVS owner Eddie Einhorn
that TVS use their broadcaster. Einhorn paid $27,000 for the broadcast rights on TVS. TVS signed up 120 stations, many of which would infuriate the networks they were affiliated with by canceling their regular programming to show the game. The basketball floor actually came from the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
.
The Bruins arrived in Houston with a 47-game, two-and-a-half-season winning streak. The Cougars were also undefeated since the last meeting between the two teams. Lew Alcindor (more famously known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
) had a scratch on the cornea of his eye, acquired on court when he got struck by Ted Henderson of Cal in a rebound battle.
The first half between the AP #1 Bruins and AP #2 Cougars closed with the Cougars up by three points. The second half saw the tension between the squads highlighted within the matchup of Houston's Elvin Hayes
and UCLA's Lew Alcindor. Hayes, a 6-foot-9 forward, was not directly matched against the 7–2 Alcindor, but he did block three of Alcindor's shots, and the crowd roared his nickname, "Big E."
With two minutes to go and the score tied by Lucius Allen
free throws at 69–69, Elvin Hayes took a shot and was fouled by Bruin reserve Jim Nielsen. Hayes, playing with four fouls in the second half, scored two free throws. The Bruins still had time to score, but an attempted basket by Lucius Allen would not drop. On the last possession, UCLA's premier All-American guard Mike Warren
committed a rare mental error deflecting out of bounds a pass meant for UCLA's star shooter Lynn Shackelford
, who was unguarded in the corner.
In the end, the Cougars pulled the upset, 71–69, ending the Bruins' 47-game winning streak.
The January 1968 cover of Sports Illustrated
depicted the game with Hayes shooting over Alcindor. Alcindor--who had sustained an eye injury at a game against Cal
a week earlier--had the worst performance of his college career. It was one of only two times in his UCLA career that he shot less than 50% from the field. Three days after he was benched by Coach Wooden during the game, Edgar Lacey
quit the Bruins team.
Neither team would lose another game for the rest of the season. The teams faced off again later that season in the 1968 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
semi finals, with the now #2 ranked Bruins getting their revenge 101-69 against the #1 ranked Cougars and advancing to defeat the North Carolina Tar Heels
78-55 for the 1968 title. Houston also lost the consolation game to Ohio State. These games were at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, on the same floor used in the Astrodome game. Houston would open their 1968-1969 season at the Sports Arena, losing to USC on the same floor.
The 1971 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
was held at the Astrodome following the success of the game and drew more than 31,000 spectators for both the semi-finals and championship. The 1982 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
was held at the Louisiana Superdome
. Eventually, most NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
Final Fours were awarded only to host cities with domed stadiums, and starting with the 1997 tournament
, only domed stadiums would be considered for the Final Four.
UCLA and Houston played again in 1969 at Pauley Pavilion
for the regular season rematch. UCLA won 100-64. UCLA would go on to win seven more NCAA championships. Guy Lewis would bring his Phi Slama Jama teams to the NCAA Final Four in 1982-1984.
In 2007, both Guy Lewis and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor) were inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
was a historical NCAA game between the University of Houston
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
Cougars
Houston Cougars men's basketball
The Houston Cougars men's basketball team represents the University of Houston in Houston, Texas in U.S. NCAA Division I men's basketball competition. The university is a member of Conference USA...
and the UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
Bruins
UCLA Bruins men's basketball
The UCLA Bruins men's basketball program, established in 1920, owns a record 11 Division I NCAA championships. UCLA teams coached by John Wooden won 10 national titles in 12 seasons from 1964 to 1975, including 7 straight from 1967 to 1973. UCLA went undefeated a record 4 times, in 1964, 1967,...
played on January 20, 1968 at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. It was the first NCAA regular season game broadcast nationwide in prime time. It established college basketball as a sports commodity on television and paved the way for the modern "March Madness" television coverage.
History
The UCLA Bruins were the dominant NCAA men's basketball program of the era, winning NCAA Men's Division I Basketball ChampionshipNCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
s in 1964, 1965, and 1967. Houston Cougars
Houston Cougars
Houston Cougars is the name given to the sports teams of the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was created by early physical education instructor of the university and former head football...
coach Guy V. Lewis wanted to prove his program's worth to his critics, so he decided to schedule UCLA. Houston and UCLA had met in the previous season in the semi finals of the 1967 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
1967 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1967 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1967, and ended with the championship game on March 25 in Louisville, Kentucky...
. UCLA had prevailed against Houston 73–58, and won that championship.
The game
Ted Nance, the sports information director for the University of Houston, put the schedule together. UCLA sports information director J.D. Morgan talked Bruin head coach John WoodenJohn Wooden
John Robert Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row — as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games...
into the game by explaining how great it would be for college basketball. Nance put advertisements in the Cougar football programs touting the game as the "Game of the Century."
The game was televised nationally via a syndication
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
package through the TVS Television Network
TVS Television Network
The TVS Television Network, or TVS for short, was a syndicator of American sports programming. It was one of several "occasional" national television networks that sprang up in the early 1960s to take advantage of the establishment of independent television stations and relaxation of the AT&T...
, with Dick Enberg
Dick Enberg
Richard Alan "Dick" Enberg is an American sportscaster. He currently provides play-by-play for telecasts of San Diego Padres baseball on 4SD, following a long career calling various sports for such networks as NBC, CBS, and ESPN...
announcing and Bob Pettit
Bob Pettit
Robert Lee "Bob" Pettit Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the NBA, all with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks . He was the first recipient of the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970...
providing color commentary. Morgan had insisted to TVS owner Eddie Einhorn
Eddie Einhorn
Eddie Einhorn is minority owner and Vice Chairman of the Chicago White Sox.Einhorn produced the nationally syndicated radio broadcast of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship in 1958...
that TVS use their broadcaster. Einhorn paid $27,000 for the broadcast rights on TVS. TVS signed up 120 stations, many of which would infuriate the networks they were affiliated with by canceling their regular programming to show the game. The basketball floor actually came from the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena
The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena is a multi-purpose arena, in the University Park neighborhood, of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park. It is located next to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, just south of the campus of the University of Southern California.-History:The Los Angeles...
.
The Bruins arrived in Houston with a 47-game, two-and-a-half-season winning streak. The Cougars were also undefeated since the last meeting between the two teams. Lew Alcindor (more famously known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a retired American professional basketball player. He is the NBA's all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points. During his career with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers from 1969 to 1989, Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships and a record six regular season...
) had a scratch on the cornea of his eye, acquired on court when he got struck by Ted Henderson of Cal in a rebound battle.
The first half between the AP #1 Bruins and AP #2 Cougars closed with the Cougars up by three points. The second half saw the tension between the squads highlighted within the matchup of Houston's Elvin Hayes
Elvin Hayes
Elvin Ernest Hayes is a retired American basketball player and radio analyst for Houston Cougars men's basketball, where he played college basketball...
and UCLA's Lew Alcindor. Hayes, a 6-foot-9 forward, was not directly matched against the 7–2 Alcindor, but he did block three of Alcindor's shots, and the crowd roared his nickname, "Big E."
With two minutes to go and the score tied by Lucius Allen
Lucius Allen
Lucius Oliver Allen, Jr. is a former professional basketball player. Prior to his NBA career, he became an All-American as part of two of legendary coach John Wooden's UCLA NCAA Championship teams, 1967 and 1968...
free throws at 69–69, Elvin Hayes took a shot and was fouled by Bruin reserve Jim Nielsen. Hayes, playing with four fouls in the second half, scored two free throws. The Bruins still had time to score, but an attempted basket by Lucius Allen would not drop. On the last possession, UCLA's premier All-American guard Mike Warren
Michael Warren (actor)
Michael Warren is an American TV actor and former college basketball player, best known for playing Officer Bobby Hill on the NBC television series Hill Street Blues.-College basketball career:...
committed a rare mental error deflecting out of bounds a pass meant for UCLA's star shooter Lynn Shackelford
Lynn Shackelford
Lynn Shackelford is a retired American professional basketball player.A 6'5" forward, Shackelford played college basketball at the UCLA under legendary coach John Wooden....
, who was unguarded in the corner.
In the end, the Cougars pulled the upset, 71–69, ending the Bruins' 47-game winning streak.
Aftermath
Up to that point only NCAA post-season games had been broadcast nationally, so there was much skepticism regarding where the broadcast would take the non-profit organization's policy. The broadcast drew a vast television audience in addition to the 52,693 fans who had filled the Astrodome for its first basketball game. Each school received $125,000 for the game, four times the 1968 NCAA tournament payout of $31,781.The January 1968 cover of Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
depicted the game with Hayes shooting over Alcindor. Alcindor--who had sustained an eye injury at a game against Cal
California Golden Bears
The California Golden Bears is the nickname used for 29 varsity athletic programs and various club teams of the University of California, Berkeley...
a week earlier--had the worst performance of his college career. It was one of only two times in his UCLA career that he shot less than 50% from the field. Three days after he was benched by Coach Wooden during the game, Edgar Lacey
Edgar Lacey
Edgar Eddie Lacey was an American basketball player who won two NCAA championships at UCLA, then played one season in the American Basketball Association with the Los Angeles Stars....
quit the Bruins team.
Neither team would lose another game for the rest of the season. The teams faced off again later that season in the 1968 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
1968 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1968 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8, 1968, and ended with the championship game on March 23 in Los Angeles, California...
semi finals, with the now #2 ranked Bruins getting their revenge 101-69 against the #1 ranked Cougars and advancing to defeat the North Carolina Tar Heels
North Carolina Tar Heels
The North Carolina Tar Heels are the athletic teams for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the Tar Heel State...
78-55 for the 1968 title. Houston also lost the consolation game to Ohio State. These games were at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, on the same floor used in the Astrodome game. Houston would open their 1968-1969 season at the Sports Arena, losing to USC on the same floor.
The 1971 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
1971 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1971 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1971, and ended with the championship game on March 27 in Houston, Texas...
was held at the Astrodome following the success of the game and drew more than 31,000 spectators for both the semi-finals and championship. The 1982 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
1982 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1982 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1982, and ended with the championship game on March 29 in New Orleans, Louisiana...
was held at the Louisiana Superdome
Louisiana Superdome
The Mercedes-Benz Superdome, previously known as the Louisiana Superdome and colloquially known as the Superdome, is a sports and exhibition arena located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA...
. Eventually, most NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
Final Fours were awarded only to host cities with domed stadiums, and starting with the 1997 tournament
1997 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1997 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1997, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in Indianapolis, Indiana...
, only domed stadiums would be considered for the Final Four.
UCLA and Houston played again in 1969 at Pauley Pavilion
Pauley Pavilion
Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams...
for the regular season rematch. UCLA won 100-64. UCLA would go on to win seven more NCAA championships. Guy Lewis would bring his Phi Slama Jama teams to the NCAA Final Four in 1982-1984.
In 2007, both Guy Lewis and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor) were inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.