Zeroed Out Redux: FBCB

[Izulde]

The current version of DDS:CB unfortunately does not play nice with a Zeroed Out dynasty and it wreaks utter havoc with DDS:PB imports, sucking the talent level of the league down to almost nil, as in, only user school draftees qualified to even appear in the draft.

But I got in the mood to try a Zeroed Out dynasty again and so I've turned to FBCB. I don't have FBB so there won't be any shifting to the pro game, which is disappointing, but I don't think I'd port it even if I did have FBB. DDS:PB is so much better than FBB, it's not even funny.

1900 start date. No conference movement, but conference prestiges update according to team performances. There's also no play-in game for the NCAA tournament. Either you make it or you don't. End of story.

Team prestiges are all at 0, obviously and ironically enough, I couldn't go back to a default distributed prestige if I wanted to, because I accidentally edited the default file to zero everyone out last time I tried this. Conference prestiges are all set to 1 on default too, for much the same reason.

I'm normally inclined to turn off early departures and because we have no pro export, it's a definite early departures off and the 5/8 scholarship rule is disabled as well.

I think the problem I ran into last time was that it got too exhausting going through each and every single freaking conference, so I may settle into a top teams focus, at least in the early going, until the conferences have more or less settled themselves out.

It's quite possible that anywhere from 20-30 years in, I'll create a human coach, maybe more and transfer into coach study mode.

But enough talking. On with the game.

1900 Season Review

With the sport of college basketball such a new phenomenon, at least on a national competitive level, it was only right that the greatest attention should be on the future. That first summer, nine elite young men were identified as the greatest potential prospects. For the purposes of this history, we will only focus on the eight high school seniors.

They were:

SF Tony Lynch - Gahr High School - Cerritos, CA
Mr. Basketball - California, High School All-American
First Top 5 Schools: CS-Fullerton, UCLA, UC-Irvine, Loyola Marymount, Long Beach State

SF Dwyane Tucker - Eustis High School - Eustis, FL
Mr. Basketball - Florida, High School All-American
First Top 5 Schools: Central Florida, Bethune-Cookman, South Florida, Stetson, UNC-Charlotte

PG Anatole Masquelin - Rennes, France
#7 Overall Prospect
First Top 5 Schools: Siena, Boston College, Maryland, Rhode Island, Buffalo

SG Clayton Savoie - Clear Lake High School - Clear Lake, IA
Mr. Basketball - Iowa, High School All-American
First Top 5 Schools: Northern Iowa, Drake, Tulsa, Michigan, Iowa State

C Toby Snider - Oakland Mills High School - Columbia, MD
Mr. Basketball - Maryland
First Top 5 Schools: Maryland, George Mason, George Washington, Maryland-East Shore, Loyola-Maryland

PG Bradley Krall - Princeton High School - Cincinnati, OH
Mr. Basketball - Ohio, High School All-American
First Top 5 Schools: Xavier, Morehead State, Butler, Kentucky, William & Mary

PF Ivan Mitchell - Astoria High School - Astoria, OR
Mr. Basketball - Oregon
First Top 5 Schools: Portland State, Washington, Oregon, Portland, Washington State

SF Ellis Hynes - Sequim Senior High School - Sequim, WA
Mr. Basketball - Washington
First Top 5 Schools: Washington, Portland State, Idaho State, Eastern Washington, Nevada

A cloudy recruiting picture was further complicated by the academic failings of Hynes, Mitchell, and Masquelin, all three of whom failed to meet the minimum academic standards needed to qualify outright for university admission. This particularly traumatized the schools in Oregon and Washington, who were in prime position to court two of the class's studs, but risked their academic ineligibility.

Of course, with the novelty of college basketball, the first preseason rankings could not be regarded as anything but the height of absurdity and so they were simply read for entertainment and laughter. For that matter, nor were the polls released by the first of December viewed with much faith in their rankings.

Finally, in January, the polls could be taken with some seriousness as the lone undefeated teams in the country were the top 3 in the poll. They were, as of January 1st:

1. Temple (7-0) (68)
2. New Hampshire (7-0)
3. Virginia Military Institute (9-0) (3)

Many considered VMI to be the real top team in the country at the time, junior SF Sheldon Furman the first national star of an elite program. Furman had a 19.6 points, 7 rebounds, 1.4 steals average through the first of the year and had been named Player of the Game in 6 of the Keydets' 9 victories to start the year. He was 7th in the nation in scoring to that point and both Sheldon and his Keydets dominated national press headlines.

By February 1st, New Hampshire was holding strong at #6 with a 14-1 record, thanks to a balanced offense that led the nation with a 49.3% shooting percentage. Temple merited just 3 votes for Top 25 consideration, while VMI plummted off the boards, falling to a 13-5 (4-4) showing. Sheldon Furman dropped as well, to an 18.2 points per game average.

The new #1 was 15-2 (6-0) Georgia Southern, who had the #2 scoring offense in the country at the time with a 70.2 points per game average. Unfortunately for the NCAA, which hoped to find stars to pair with top teams, they had to dig all the way down to #16 North Carolina A&T to discover what they sought. The Aggies, who were dominating the MEAC with a 16-3 (9-0) record, were led by PG Cedric Ribeiro, a junior who was 7th in the country, averaging 19 points a game on the nose.

Two conference losses took some of the shine off North Carolina A&T, so that they were #20 at the start of March. California now held the #1 spot, while Georgia Southern had dropped to #6. Still, although the polls were still prone to wild fluctuations, a general consensus was starting to form concerning the truly legitimate teams, who'd stayed hovering around the top of the country for much of the season. They were:

6. Georgia Southern
7. New Hampshire
10. Arkansas State

Other teams certainly floated around in the Top 25 for most of the season, but the Eagles, Wildcats and Indians all consistently hung around the Top 10 or just outside it.

As for finding the star player, the NCAA's public relations brass decided to simply wait and see what the tournament brought. March Madness was the key to finding those young men who'd capture the nation's attention. Hopefully, a freshman or sophomore would rise to the occassion, but nothing was certain in this wild first year.

Conference Tournaments

All eyes turned to three "powerhouse" conferences that first year, all of whom boasted at least three Top 25 teams.

America East
Northeastern
New Hampshire
Maine
Binghamton

Southern
West Carolina
Georgia Southern
VMI

West Coast
San Francisco
Pepperdine
Portland

The first of the conferences to crown its champion was the Southern, which did not disappoint in a Western Carolina/Georgia Southern showdown where Georgia Southern asserted itself as the top team in the conference, winning 67-62 and punching their ticket to the Big Dance. The Eagles still had the #2 scoring offense in the country at 70.2 points a game.

Pepperdine boasted the top scoring offense in the nation, averaging 71.2 points a game and the Waves rode the tidal wave, scoring 84, 83, and 82 points in each round of the conference tournament and blowing out their opponents by an average of 28 points a game. The final was a joke, 14-16 upset-minded San Diego, having stunned top seed San Francisco, seeing their miracle hopes end with an 82-65 thrashing.

Three of the four Top 25 teams in the America East lost in the first round of the conference tournament. Only genuine heavyweight New Hampshire advanced and they ran through the field to the final, where they were unexpectedly upset 81-48 by Albany. No concern for the Wildcats' NCAA hopes, though, as they were virtually assured.

And now the real fun began. Now came the inaugural NCAA Tournament.

[rjolley]

Looking forward to reading through this. I enjoyed it the last time you did this.

BTW: If you need the non-zeroed out files, let me know. I'll send them to you.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by rjolley

Looking forward to reading through this. I enjoyed it the last time you did this.

BTW: If you need the non-zeroed out files, let me know. I'll send them to you.

Thanks. I'm excited to start this back up again. I'll stick with the zeroed default for now, but if I change my mind I'll let you know.

[Izulde]

1900 NCAA Tournament

The NCAA selection committee met in secret in New York to determine the NCAA tournament bracket and when it was released, a firestorm of controversy erupted across the nation.

While no one disputed Georgia Southern as the #1 overall seed in the tournament and few quibbled with New Hampshire as a top seed, despite their conference tournament final loss to Albany, Providence and Clemson were highly questionable #1s, if for no other reason than Pepperdine was dropped to a #2 seed.

But the greatest lightning rod of controversy wasn't the top seeds, which then and now have often been sources of debate. It was the fact that VMI didn't receive an NCAA invite. Instead, the Keydets were made the #1 overall seed in the NIT. The nation would not read and hear of Sheldon Furman's exploits at the Big Dance. Instead, the junior star would be relegated to the shorter stories and less prestigious interior of the sports pages.

The New York Times itself got in the act, columnist Francis Sledge angrily declaring, "This infant sport of college basket ball has been strangled in the crib by the serpents of the selection committee. It will take a golden Hercules to repair the damage inflicted on the sport's integrity. The NCAA tournament can now be regarded as little more than a sham, a mockery as a result of this travesty, for Virginia Military Institute and its fine player, Sheldon Furman, will not be in attendance."

Head coach Peter Crandall of VMI, a 56 year old native Marylander who'd graduate from Maryland-Eastern Shore, is said to have remarked, "Well, then I guess we'll just have to go and win the whole dad-gum thing, now won't we?"

Later historians speculate that the reason for the selection committee's puzzling demotion of VMI to the NIT was so that the lesser tournament gained national interest and following along with the superior NCAA tournament. In that sense, the tactic worked beautifully, as the second round game between VMI and the winner of UNC-Greensboro and Indiana sold out within a day of the matchups being announced and the stands were packed when the contest arrived.

I've taken the liberty of reconstructing the 1900 and subsequent NCAA tournament brackets with a computer, so please ignore the OfficialMarchMadness.com logo, the dates and the cities.



The heavy money was on Georgia Southern to win the entire tournament and there was, by and large, consensus agreement on three of the Final Four seeds.

Georgia Southern, naturally was expected to dominate its region, as was slighted Pepperdine in its bracket. New Hampshire looked poised to run through its section as well, with none of the teams believed to hold serious challenges.

The point of controversy lay in the region headed by Clemson. Nobody thought the Tigers capable of making it through, but who would emerge the winner was unclear. Early betting favored California, who'd been #1 late in the year for a few weeks and San Francisco. Alabama A&M was the choice of some, but in general, the feeling was that the committee blew that bracket's seeding entirely.

First Round
The tournament got off to precisely the thrilling start the NCAA brass hoped for, as on the first day alone, four games were decided by a single point. Lamar held off upset-minded Louisiana Tech 58-57 and Villanova barely did the same against Princeton in winning 61-60, riding junior PF David Lafountain's 19 points. Despite star guard Cedric Ribeiro's 23 points, North Carolina A&T lost to Temple 76-75, the Owls flying to victory on the wings of three players scoring 13 points or more. The Aggies' loss aggravated the NCAA leadership, who'd hoped to make a national star and popular team out of Ribeiro and the Aggies. At least the guard would be back for his senior season.

But the biggest single-point victory was UC-Riverside's 63-62 shocker over Purdue, the Highlanders carried to the sensational upset by SG Jean-Baptiste Selosse's 21 points. A senior and native of France, Selosse serviced notice to the US that yes, the French knew how to play the American game.

UC-Riverside was not the only genuine upset of the first day (9s over 8s don't count). 12th seed Colorado stunned the #5 seed Air Force Falcons 83-58, four Buffaloes in double-digit points led by junior SG and Colorado native Felix Chen's 18. The Buffs upset was all the more shocking because the Falcons were a darkhorse favorite for the region if Pepperdine fell. The combined upsets by UC-Riverside and Colorado set up a 12 v. 13 second round matchup and guaranteed that a double-digit seed was going to make the Sweet 16, a nightmare for the NCAA.

In one of the other two major upsets, Northwestern knocked off UNC-Wilmington 73-54, making it a bad day to be a 5 seed. But the upset that had everyone in the country abuzz the next day was 15 seed Colgate sending 2 seed Western Carolina home. 57-50 was the final, the Raiders' backcourt combining for 33 points. The victory was all the more impressive because Colgate played with a short bench. Just 8 Raiders played.

The quest for winning teams' star players harvested a few other noteworthy performances that first day besides the others mentioned. High Point senior C Amadeo Ritondo further proved basketball an international game, the Italian native putting up 13 points and 17 rebounds in the victory over La Salle. California junior Chris Johnson scored 20 points in the Golden Bears' 64-30 rout of Nicholls State and Delaware senior Evan Valentine scored the same 20 points as the Blue Hens beat Valparaiso.

Day Two was a little more anti-climatic in comparison, as just two games came down to a single point: Portland's 53-52 victory over Marquette and Columbia's 57-56 squeaking past upset-intentioned Albany, conquerors of New Hampshire in the America East tournament final. But what the day lacked in thrilling finishes, it made up for in its sensational upsets.

An All-Florida and all double-digit seed second round match came about when 13th seed Florida ousted 4th seeded Pittsburgh in a barn-burning 71-69 win and 12 seed Florida International knocked off yet another Florida school, Central Florida, 59-52 as Golden Panthers senior Elliott Nail, well, nailed the Knights for 21 points.

Other dazzling upsets included 13 seed Southern Illinois's 65-57 win over 4 seed Georgia, highlighted by Saluki senior SF Louis Cork, who came uncorked for 24 points and 9 rebounds and 10 seed Pennsylvania's 81-62 triumph over 7 seed Kent State keyed by 5 Quakers in double-digit scoring. But the most stupendous underdog win of all was 14 seed Hofstra, who established the NCAA 1st round scoring record in scoring as they upset 3 seed Nevada 92-63. Pride senior Paul Piatt was nearly perfect, scoring 37 points, while Hofstra sophomore Chris Rusch netted 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Although Piatt's performance rightfully drew the most critical acclaim, other players had noteworthy games on the tournament's second day. Pepperdine sophomore Robert Rohde scored 20 points as the Waves smashed Farleigh Dickinson, Kansas sophomore Dewayne Decker also scored 20 in the Jayhawks' win over Eastern Michigan, Iowa State senior Ben Ballentine cycloned his way to 24 points in the victory against Butler and Houston senior 6th man Oscar Pond stunned with 20 points against Mercer.

First Round Scores
Binghamton 63 Oregon State 52
UC-Riverside 63 Purdue 62
Colorado 83 Air Force 58
High Point 72 La Salle 61
California 64 Nicholls State 30
San Francisco 53 Bowling Green 37
Northwestern 73 UNC-Wilmington 54
Delaware 63 Valparaiso 52
Georgia Southern 67 Montana State 58
Northeastern 68 Rider 56
Lamar 58 Louisiana Tech 57
Missouri 66 Old Dominion 46
New Hampshire 60 N.C. State 53
Colgate 57 Western Carolina 50
Villanoa 61 Princeton 60
Temple 76 North Carolina A&T 75
Providence 64 New Mexico State 52
Pepperdine 86 Fairleigh Dickinson 63
Pennsylvania 81 Kent State 62
Portland 53 Marquette 52
Clemson 61 Brigham Young 53
Alabama A&M 74 Wright State 49
Kansas 69 Eastern Michigan 55
Iowa State 68 Butler 57
Arkansas State 73 Southeast Missouri State 52
Southern Illinois 65 Georgia 57
Maine 66 Bethune-Cookman 57
Houston 74 Mercer 66
Hofstra 92 Nevada 63
Florida 71 Pittsburgh 69
Florida International 59 Central Florida 52
Columbia 57 Albany 56

Second Round
With the spate of upsets in the first round and two Sweet 16 teams guaranteed to be double-digit seeds, bookies and NCAA selectors alike regarded the second round with some trepidation. Their heartburn only increased on the third day of the tournament when 12th seed Northwestern kicked co-region favorite 4 seed San Francisco out of the tournament 65-59, despite 23 points from Dons senior Berry Rogers. 13th seeded UC-Riverside won the battle of the double-digits in Pepperdine's bracket, the Highlanders besting the Colorado Buffaloes in a nailbiting 66-64 game. Highlander junior PG Freddie Ware, who stayed in his hometown of Riverside for college, provided the pyrotechnics with 24 points.

7 seed Lamar, after barely escaping Louisiana Tech in the first round, shocked 2 seed Northeastern 65-59. The committee's lone consolation concerning the upset was that the Cardinals weren't a double-digit seed.

Happily for those siding with the favorites, top seeds Georgia Southern and New Hampshire won their second round games handily, as did now-prohibitive region favorite 3 seed California. Villanova also staved off 15 seed Colgate, ending the Raiders potential Cinderella run 55-52. At least the Sweet 16 would not be a total train wreck in the eyes of the selectors.

3 seed Binghamton made Hofstra's high-point mark a footnote in beating High Point 96-85. The Bearcats broke the record on the strength of two 20+ point scorers: sophomore Alton McAndrew with 23 points and freshman reserve Edward McCourt with 20 points. McCourt's unexpected breakout performance was impressive and gave both Binghamton fans and the NCAA hope that they'd found a true freshman to watch for the future.

The other significant statistical performance of Day 3 was New Hampshire senior Julius Trevino's 28 points in the Wildcats' 68-50 romp over the Temple Owls. In a sensational effort by a losing team's player, Delaware junior Leonel Macdougall scored 29 points in the Blue Hens' 78-68 loss to California.

If the committee and the bookies suffered some stomach upset on Day 3, by the end of Day 4, they were vomiting profusely. The second day of the second round was riddled with upset after upset, destroying brackets all across America.

Providence became the first top seed to bow out of the tournament, falling 55-51 to 9 seed Portland in one of the ugliest games to that point. Worse yet, the Pilots' victory set up a 9/13 matchup with UC-Riverside, guaranteeing that at least a 9 seed would make the Elite Eight.

The 13 seed Salukis of Southern Illinois continued their Cinderella run, flattening Maine 73-59 and this time the hero was junior Keven Sandoval, who shredded the Black Bears for 23 points. 6 seed Houston punched out 3 seed Arkansas State by nearly the same margin, 73-59. The Cougars were led by senior Thomas Spradlin's 22 points. 12 seed Florida International bested 13 seed Florida 67-59 on the wings of senior Saul Santacruz and his 20 points, overcoming 28 points from Gators junior John Standard.

But the biggest upset was also the biggest upset of the entire tournament so far. In a relatively high-scoring, back and forth game, the 10 seed Pennsylvania Quakers eliminated heavy pre-tournament favorite Pepperdine 77-74. Senior Quaker Daniel Frawley exploded for 27 points and the Waves just had no answer. Gamblers around the nation tore their hair in frustration as the #1 offense in the country failed to reach even the Sweet 16.

All the other higher seeds advanced, including, ironically enough, top seed Clemson and the Tigers occupied the most intact bracket, where all 3 of the region's top seeds made it to the second weekend.

No other shining stars dotted the fourth day landscape other than the players mentioned, but it's worth noting that the Hofstra Pride, so prolific in the first round, scored an abymsal 43 points versus Columbia.

Second Round Scores
Binghamton 95 High Point 86
UC-Riverside 66 Colorado 64
California 78 Delaware 68
Northwestern 65 San Francisco 59
Georgia Southern 71 Missouri 62
Lamar 65 Northeastern 59
New Hampshire 68 Temple 50
Villanova 55 Colgate 52
Portland 55 Providence 51
Pennsylvania 77 Pepperdine 74
Clemson 63 Iowa State 54
Alabama A&M 76 Kansas 48
Houston 73 Arkansas State 59
Southern Illinois 73 Maine 56
Columbia 66 Hofstra 43
Florida international 67 Florida 59

Sweet 16
5 double-digit teams in the Sweet 16. A guaranteed minimum of a 9 seed in the Elite Eight. Pepperdine out of the tournament. It was a precarious second weekend for the selection committee's legitimacy indeed. A wrong result here and there and they'd be the laughingstock of the land.

Things started off with a mass of near-heart attacks as the 12 seed Northwestern Wildcats gave the top seed Clemson Tigers everything they could handle, but in the end, Clemson rode junior Matt Helm's 19 points and escaped with a 59-57 win.

No such thrills came in the other top seed/double-digit seed matchup of the day as New Hampshire firmly squashed Florida International 64-48. Julius Trevino continued to cement his reputation as one of the tournament's best players, scoring 28 points in the win.

7 seed Villanova continued to be Lady Lucky's favorite, winning their third straight narrow victory, 68-67 over 6 seed Columbia and California and Alabama A&M had every bit as good a game as their 3 vs. 2 matchup suggested, the highly favored Golden Bears, winning 63-59. Senior Alex Miller was the game's leading scorer, carrying California to victory with 18 points. For one day at least, crises were averted.

All of Friday's joy for the powerbrokers was snuffed out on Saturday as a nightmare of epic proportions unfolded. Just one higher seed survived.

13 seed UC-Riverside played the Cinderella to perfection, knocking out 9 seed Portland 67-58, Freddie Ware again the lead scorer with 17 points. Far worse, 10 seed Pennsylvania stunned 3 seed Binghamton 72-60, guaranteeing that a double-digit seed would make the Final Four in the tournament's inaugural year. As with the Highlanders' Ware, the Quakers were again highlighted by Daniel Frawley's 17 points.

And then the most terrible thing of all happened. Top seed Georgia Southern, the toast of the country, fell 72-68 to the 13 seed Southern Illinois Salukis. It was a disaster of epic proportions and utterly destroyed that side of the tournament bracket. Not even 6 seed Houston's dramatic 67-64 victor over 7 seed Lamar, captained by Thomas Spradlin's 20 points, could raise the brass's spirits. Now they had to pray for the Cougars to win the next two games, because 3 of the potential championship game teams were now double-digit seeds.

It was enough to drive the selectors insane.

Sweet 16 Scores
Clemson 59 Northwestern 57
California 63 Alabama A&M 59
New Hampshire 64 Florida International 48
Villanova 68 Columbia 67
UC-Riverside 67 Portland 58
Pennsylvania 72 Binghamton 60
Southern Illinois 72 Georgia Southern 68
Houston 67 Lamar 64

Elite Eight
Fever gripped the nation and radios everywhere switched on to listen to the compelling storylines and games remaining in the tournament. Of the pre-tournament favorites, only California and New Hampshire remained. How long could Villanova's luck hold? Could Houston prevent a double-digit seed championship entry? Which of the two stars, Pennsylvania's Daniel Frawley or UC-Riverside's native Freddie Ware, would carry his double-digit team to the Final Four? Could Clemson continue to make the selection committee look good by knocking off the heavyweight California Golden Bears?

The last question was answered first, as California destroyed Clemson 73-45, freshman Todd Dansby slashing the Tigers for 25 points. Dansby averaged 11.3 points during the regular season and the NCAA whipped itself into a frenzy with the idea of promoting Dansby and the Golden Bears in the years to come.

Villanova's luck finally did run out, as New Hampshire held up its end of the bargain in a battle of Wildcats, winning 70-60. Julius Trevino led all scorers with 18 points and the junior cemented his place as one of the tournament's top players.

Many were already calling the California/New Hampshire tilt the real championship, but the other half of the Final Four still had yet to be determined.

Freddie Ware and the UC-Riverside Highlanders won the double-digit seed contest 61-54 over Pennsylvania. Ware was the game's top scorer with 19 points and he called his hometown school's improbable run to the Final Four, "the greatest dream ever to come true."

Thomas Spradlin was every bit as good as advertised, raining 22 points down on 13 seed Southern Illinois as Houston trounced the Salukis 74-54 and saved the collective bacon of the selectors. While California/New Hampshire was the marquee matchup, the UC-Riverside/Houston tilt promised a matchup of stars that generated a lot of interest.

Final Four
Ware vs. Spradlin. 6 seed vs. 13 seed. Houston vs. UC-Riverside.

Trevino and his New Hampshire Wildcats against the Golden Bears. 1 vs. 3 in a matchup of favorites living up to their billing. The one the press called "the real championship game".

Houston was a cautious favorite over UC-Riverside, while California and New Hampshire was split 50/50. The Golden Bears seemed the deeper team, but Trevino was the type of high-wattage star capable of carrying his school to a national title.

What followed were two of the most exciting games of the tournament, every bit worthy of being the Final Four matchups.

First, UC-Riverside and Houston. Four players on each team broke double digits in scoring and Thomas Spradlin was sensational with 23 points and 9 rebounds. But the Highlanders countered the Cougar star with 11 points and 10 rebounds from first round French hero Jean-Baptiste Selosse and Riverside native Freddie Ware won Player of the Game with a spectacular 15 point, 8 assist, 7 rebound, steal and block performance and in the end, the Highlanders pulled out the 78-76 upset, sending a 13 seed to the championship game.

New Hampshire and California changed leads again and again. The final score, with the winner getting the championship berth by a single point, wasn't as high as the other Final Four matchup, but it had just as memorable a star. Julius Trevino rose above them all in this low-scoring scrum, scoring 20 points to send his Wildcats into the title game, 57-56.

Championship Game
Despite the presence of a 13 seed in the title game, the NCAA had a lot to be happy about. An all-California championship was averted by New Hampshire's victory over the Golden Bears and they had two legitimate stars in UC-Riverside's Freddie Ware and New Hampshire's Julius Trevino. While Ware was the only underclassman of the two and a junior at that, Trevino's unchallenged status as the tournament's top scorer versus Ware's great story as a local hero playing for his hometown school made for a sensational storyline that captivated the newspapers and, in consequence, the national public.

A 1 seed versus a 13 seed also created a David and Goaliath matchup that played well in the press, particularly given Ware's local boy story. And so one side, you had lovers of favorites, the bookies and the NCAA. On the other side, there was everyone else, who pulled for the underdog Highlanders and Ware to complete the miracle.

New Hampshire knew Freddie Ware's appeal and so they spent the entire game shutting him down. He finished with just 3 points. Conversely, the Highlanders attacked Julius Trevino and held the Wildcats star to 8 points on a dismal 2 for 10 shooting. With both stars effectively neutralized, it was left for someone else to step up.

That someone was UC-Riverside junior Kenneth Armentrout, an unheralded starter who took advantage of the defensive brawl to break out with a double-double of 14 points, 10 rebounds and a block. He proved the differencemaker as New Hampshire couldn't muster any offense without Trevino.

The Highlanders pulled off the miracle, slaying New Hampshire 59-46 and spoiling Julius Trevino's final game.

The NCAA wept, for its first champion... was a 13 seed.

[Izulde]

1900 Season Epilogue

The immediate question in the wake of UC-Riverside's unbelievable upset national championship was the following: How likely was it for the Final Four teams to return and so lay the foundation for a dynasty? Based on my research, the following capsules seem to have been the consensus for each team.

UC-Riverside Highlanders
The good news is the defending champions return local hero and Big West Player of the Year Freddie Ware and Big West 2nd Team player Kenneth Armentrout, the hero of the championship game. The bad news is they lose French Big West 1st Teamer Jean-Baptiste Selosse and Dexter Rambo, their #2 and #3 point producers. If they can find someone to fill in those gaps, they could return, but right now, it's looking iffy.
Outlook: Cloudy

New Hampshire Wildcats
Losing America East 1st Team Julius Trevino to graduation absolutely kills the Wildcats. They also graduate Jarek Soucek, Mark Bergmann and 6th man Boyce Keeler. All told, that's 3 starters, 38.8 points a game and New Hampshire's best two rebounders all going out the door. They'll be lucky just to make it back to a postseason tournament, let alone make another championship game appearance. This 30 win season will probably the high mark for the Wildcats for a long, long time to come.
Outlook: Nonexistant

Houston Cougars
Houston's going to be hit hard by graduation as well, losing Conference USA 1st Team Oscar Pond and Conference USA 2nd Team and tournament hero Thomas Spradlin. On the bright side, Wilbert Rodarte, sophomore PG, was named to the Conference USA 2nd Team and has the skills to step up next year and be the offensive star that Spradlin was. The Cougars have some other nice pieces returning and should contend for a successful Conference USA title defense. A return trip to the Final Four seems unlikely, however.
Outlook: Slim

California Golden Bears
The Bears graduate a stellar Pac-10 1st Team backcourt in Heath Riggle and Alex Miller, but Pac-10 Freshman of the Year Todd Dansby returns, along with Pac-10 2nd Team PF Devon Marler. Genaro Bell, a freshman who redshirted this year, could also make some noise next season. Like Houston, a run at conference title defense should happen, but losing that backcourt will prevent a repeat Final Four run.
Outlook: Unlikely

The VMI Question
And what of VMI, who inspired a nation's fury when they were left out of the NCAAs? They just barely squeaked by UNC-Greensboro 59-57 in the second round of the NIT and were blown out 77-52 by Iowa in the third round despite Sheldon Furman's 15 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists.

3 seed Alcorn State went on to upset 1 seed UNC-Asheville 65-59 in the NIT championship, the Braves winning the first-ever NIT championship behind four players in double-digit scoring. Alcorn State, contrary to VMI's anger, were not only happy to be in the NIT, but thrilled to be able to hang the championship banner in the rafters.

All-Americans

Player of the Year
PG Saul Santacruz (SR) - Florida International* - 12.3 PPG 7.2 APG 4.9 RPG 1.1 SPG
Freshman of the Year
PG Frank Gaffney - Chicago State - 13.1 PPG, 1.7 SPG
Coach of the Year
Don Bowyer - California*

1st Team All-Americans
PG Saul Santacruz (SR) - Florida International*
SG Cecil Burns (SR) - Gonzaga
SF Jose Treece (SR) - Boise State
PF Wilson Neubauer (SR) - Colorado State
C Simon Bartholomew (SR) - Washington

2nd Team All-Americans
PG Nick Graham (SR) - Appalachian State
SG Paul Piatt (SR) - Hofstra*
SF Sheldon Furman (JR) - VMI
PF Regis Gonse (SR) - Maine*
C Frank Deluna (JR) - Harvard

3rd Team All-Americans
PG Stephen Weinstein (SR) - Pittsburgh*
SG Blake Varela (JR) - East Carolina
SF Mervin Brown (SR) - Albany*
PF Trenton Mowery (SR) - Georgia Southern*
C Robert Rohde (SO) - Pepperdine*

Freshman All-Americans
PG Frank Gaffney - Chicago State
SG Jon Proctor - Elon
SF Charles Barber - Southern Utah
PF Chris Hamel - Southeast Missouri State*
C Gaylord Moseley - Purdue*

* - denotes NCAA Tournament school

The outlook for building stars and schools, if the 1900 All-American list was any indication, looked bleak. With the exception of Rohde at Pepperdine and two of the freshmen, no NCAA tournament school had an All-American underclassman and of those that did, only Pepperdine advanced beyond the first round. Still, the Waves would be a compelling storyline in 1901 and of course, nobody forgot Furman and the infamous VMI snub that turned out not so bad an omission in the end.

1900 Recruiting Results
Much to the great relief of the NCAA, all of the 5* freshman prospects qualified after a second examination. Moreover, in every case but one, one of the player's top 5 schools landed him. The lone exception? Frenchman Anatole Masquelin, whose struggles with the English-language test scared every school off except tiny Wofford, who'd gone 5-24 (4-12) the year before, finishing dead last in the Southern Conference. The Terriers' steal sent shockwaves through the college basketball world and schools vowed not to let such prestigious international players hie it to such inferior programs.

A list of the 1900 High School All-Americans and 5* players and where they ended up:

PG Bradly Krall		Princeton HS		Cincinnati, OH		Kentucky(4)
SF Dwayne Tucker	Eustis HS		Eustis, FL		Central Florida*(1)
SG Clayton Savoie	Clear Lake HS		Clear Lake, IA		Northern Iowa(1)
SF Tony Lynch		Gahr HS			Cerritos, CA		UC-Irvine(3)
C  Tyree Washington	Killian Senior HS	Miami, FL		Miami
SG Jude Jauregui	Mahopac HS		Mahopac, NY		Hartford
SG Don Rashid		Lake City HS		Coeur D'Alene, ID	Arkansas-Pine Bluff
PF Frankie Arias	Kutztown Area HS	Kutztown, PA		Villanova*
PG Daniel Hesson	Pinellas Park HS	Largo, FL		Bethune-Cookman*
PG Bud Irving		Mt. Greylock HS		Williamstown, MA	Marist
PF Steve Lafountain	Pickens County HS	Reform, AL		Troy State
PF John Nelson		Holly Area Senior HS	Holly, MI		Michigan State
SF Alberto Hidalgo	Bartlett HS		Bartlett, TX		McNeese State
C  Jeffrey Cosgrove	Pennsbury HS		Fairless Hills, PA	Stony Brook
PF Marc Roberge		Kailua HS		Kailua, HI		USC
C  Bud Stebbins		Irving HS		Irving, TX		TCU
SF Tony Dahl		New London HS		New London, CT		Morehead State

Other 5* Prospects
PG Anatole Masquelin	Rennes, France					Wofford(UL)
C  Toby Snider		Oakland Mills HS	Columbia, MD		Maryland(1)
PF Ivan Mitchell	Astoria HS		Astoria, NY		Washington(2)
SF Ellis Hynes		Sequim Senior HS	Sequim, WA		Idaho State(3)

* - 1900 NCAA Tournament School
(#) - Where the winning school was originally ranked in the 5* player's Top 5 schools
UL - Unlisted in original Top 5 Schools

Top 25 Recruiting Classes

 1900 Recruiting Rankings

 #    Team                     Best Player                Rating
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1.   Central Florida*         SF Dwayne Tucker           *****
 2.   Utah                     C  Edwin Davis             *****
 3.   Villanova*               SF Isaac Valle             ****
 4.   Washington               PF Ivan Mitchell           *****
 5.   USC     		       PF Marc Roberge            ****
 6.   Wofford                  PG Anatole Masquelin       *****
 7.   Northern Iowa            SG Clayton Savoie          *****
 8.   UC Irvine                SF Tony Lynch              *****
 9.   Idaho State              SF Ellis Hynes             *****
 10.  Northern Illinois        C  Harold Cruz             ****
 11.  Montana State            PF Gregory Keeling         ****
 12.  Maryland                 C  Toby Snider             *****
 13.  Kentucky                 PG Bradly Krall            *****
 14.  Oakland                  SG Sandy Kearse            ****
 15.  Troy State               PF Steven Lafountain       ****
 16.  Jacksonville State       SF Clifford Denney         ****
 17.  South Alabama            SF Sidney Coughlin         ****
 18.  Alabama                  PF Casey Standifer         ****
 19.  Western Kentucky         PF Marcus Hill             ****
 20.  Cincinnati               PF Giovanni Amoroso        ****
 21.  Louisville               SG Vance Jones             ****
 22.  Santa Clara              SF Charles Carey           ****
 23.  Appalachian State        PG Russell Loggins         ***
 24.  Eastern Washington       PG Murray Copenhaver       ***
 25.  Rice                     PF Clyde Gerlach           ****

It was with immense satisfaction that the NCAA noted Central Florida and Villanova with the #1 and #3 classes respectively. Although they would have preferred more tournament schools in the Top 25 classes than just the Knights and the Wildcats, at least Villanova made the Elite Eight last season and so had dynastic potential, even if they were quite lucky to get as far as they did.

With a year under their belts, conference prestiges could now be assigned and so they were, the first inital powerhouse conferences named. Strangely enough, despite the presence of the NCAA Champion UC-Riverside Highlanders, the Big West remained a 1 prestige conference.

5 Prestige Conferences - 1901 Season
America East
-New Hampshire (National Runner-Up)
-Northeastern (NCAA Round 2)
-Binghamton (Sweet 16)
-Maine (NCAA Round 2)
-Albany (NCAA Appearance)
Big 12
-Kansas (NCAA Round 2)
-Iowa State (NCAA Round 2)
-Missouri (NCAA Round 2)
-Colorado (NCAA Round 2)
Big East
-Providence (NCAA Round 2)
-Villanova (Elite 8)
-Pittsburgh (NCAA Appearance)
Big 10
-Purdue (NCAA Appearance)
-Northwestern (Sweet 16)
Conference USA
-Marquette (NCAA Appearance)
-Houston (Final Four)
Ivy League
-Columbia (Sweet 16)
-Pennsylvania (Elite 8)
-Princeton (NCAA Appearance)
West Coast Conference
-Pepperdine (NCAA Round 2)
-San Francisco (NCAA Round 2)
-Portland (Sweet 16)

The Big 10's elite conference credentials were highly suspect, but it would have to wait for next year to see if they were downgraded, as many felt they should be.

Team prestiges, too, began to shake out, though with just one season to base data off of, the highest prestige was only 23, naturally falling to defending champion UC-Riverside, runners-up New Hampshire second with 18.

1901 Head Coach Movement
The conference prestige designations created major fallout and some shocking head coach movements, such as NCAA Coach of the Year Don Bowyer jumping ship from Final Four entrant California to Big East school Miami. The Pac-10 rated as a 2 prestige conference, so the change wasn't wholly surprising. UC-Riverside head coach Homer Myers was so disgusted as the NCAA's undercutting of the Big West that he accepted a job offer from UW-Milwaukee. Although the Highlanders recovered by hiring Thomas Whitlow, one of Myers's assistants on the NCAA championship team, the blow was a devastating one.

The same conference ratings caused Elite Eight entry Clemson to lose Andrew Hemphill, who took the Liberty head job. Central Florida head coach Jeff Fielding left an NCAA tournament team and the #1 recruiting class in the country to take the job at Illinois, though the chance to move to a powerhouse conference was only part of the reason. Fielding was a Midwest native who wanted to come back to the region. Also, Bowyer's success in leading the Golden Bears to the Final Four led all of California's assistants to be hired as head coaches, including James Tuttle, who returned to Berkeley to take over the head coach position, much as Whitlow did at UC-Riverside.

All but one of the head coach changes occurred because of retirements or the power coaches moving up to power conferences. The lone head coach to get the axe was Middle Tennessee State's Denis Santillan, fired after a 9-20 season. New Hampshire assistant Brian Grimsley, who ironically was fired from the Wildcats staff, made a safe landing in signing up as the new Blue Raiders head coach.

Houston, New Hampshire and California all found their coaching staffs plundered, either their head coaches leaving elsewhere, their assistants getting head coaching jobs elsewhere or both. It was a fitting testament to the importance and dangers of having a Final Four school.

Arizona State
Nelson Peters (Houston - Assistant)

California
James Tuttle (California - Assistant)

Centenary
James Coon (New Hampshire - Assistant)

Central Florida
Daniel Hicks (California - Assistant)

Clemson
George Marrufo (California - Assistant)

Cleveland State
Dudley Cash (Houston - Assistant)

Illinois
Jeff Fielding (Central Florida - Head Coach)

Liberty
Andrew Hemphill (Clemson - Head Coach)

Miami
Don Bowyer (California - Head Coach)

Middle Tennessee State
Brian Grimsley (New Hampshire - Assistant)

Troy State
Raphael Thorp (Northeastern - Assistant)

UC-Riverside
Thomas Whitlow (UC-Riverside - Assistant)

UW-Milwaukee
Homer Myers (UC-Riverside - Head Coach)

Recruiting Outlook
Unlike last season, when there were 8 5* freshman prospects, a disappointing 3 5* prospects showed up in the 1901 class.

PG Gary Marlowe - Nashua-Plainfield HS - Nashua, IA
Mr. Basketball - Iowa, All-American
First Top 5 Schools: New Hampshire, Villanova, Colorado, Missouri, Northwestern

PF Evan Tremblay - North Arlington HS - No Arlington, NJ
Mr. Basketball - New Jersey
First Top 5 Schools: Rutgers, Princeton, Columbia, St. John's, Hartford

SF Zulekha Lakhani - Gallup HS - Gallup, NM
Mr. Basketball - New Mexico
First Top 5 Schools: New Hampshire, Houston, Providence, Purdue, San Francisco

With New Hampshire in the running for 2 of the 3 5* recruits, it became extremely imperative for the Wildcats to capitalize on their 1900 runner-up season if they hoped to have any sort of sustained success.

Evan Tremblay committed early to Rutgers, saying it was his dream to play for the Scarlet Knights. It was an even greater coup for Rutgers because Tremblay was considered the #1 player in his class by the major scouting services. Lakhani and Marlowe ranked #2 and #3 overall respectively.

1901 Preseason Top 25

 Top 25 Poll

 #    School                        FPV   Record  Points  Previous
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1.   West Virginia                 (68)  0-0     1791    NR
 2.   Texas Southern                      0-0     1674    NR
 3.   James Madison                 (1)   0-0     1638    NR
 4.   San Francisco                 (1)   0-0     1520    NR
 5.   Winthrop                      (1)   0-0     1508    NR
 6.   Louisiana Tech                      0-0     1403    NR
 7.   Minnesota                     (1)   0-0     1398    NR
 8.   Grambling                           0-0     1269    NR
 9.   Pepperdine                          0-0     1175    3
 10.  Arkansas-Pine Bluff                 0-0     1123    NR
 11.  Nicholls State                      0-0     1074    NR
 12.  Louisville                          0-0     985     NR
 13.  Northern Iowa                       0-0     923     NR
 14.  Boise State                         0-0     794     NR
 15.  Oregon State                        0-0     645     NR
 16.  Campbell                            0-0     644     NR
 17.  Temple                              0-0     620     19
 18.  Vanderbilt                          0-0     536     NR
 19.  Southern Utah                       0-0     417     NR
 20.  Northwestern                        0-0     374     NR
 21.  UC Irvine                           0-0     361     NR
 22.  William & Mary                      0-0     327     NR
 23.  Illinois-Chicago                    0-0     311     NR
 24.  Gonzaga                             0-0     165     NR
 25.  Kansas                              0-0     154     NR

The opening polls were largely considered just as worthless as the 1900 beginning polls were. Many college basketball watchers predicted it would be at least another few years before the pollsters had any real idea just what they were doing when it came to picking preseason favorites.

That said, San Francisco was considered a legitimate pick and the pollsters and close observers alike viewed the Dons as the team to beat for the 1901 national championship.

[Radii]

Izulde, how did you make that bracket? Looks real nice.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Radii

Izulde, how did you make that bracket? Looks real nice.

Thanks.

I downloaded this jpg of a blank bracket:
http://www.officialmarchmadness.com/08bracket.jpg

From there, I opened up the jpg in Paint and used the Text Tool, 10 point Times New Roman font, to enter in the seedings and the names.

[Izulde]

The polls were still prone to heavy swings and drew much criticism when teams who hadn't even played a game were still in the Top 25 as of December 1st. Moreover, the pollsters continued to stubbornly hold West Virginia up as #1 in the country, even though the Mountaineers had already lost a game and had nothing to recommend them at their top spot.

With a full of month games in December, by January much of the problem was sorted out and rightful teams arranged themselves in a more lucid pecking order. West Virginia still hung around the Top 25 at #22 despite a 5-5 record, but many believed the problem would correct itself in due time. What was fascinating to note was that on many of the top teams in the country, the freshmen and the junior college transfers were making huge impacts and contributions, frequently leading their teams in scoring. In fact, the influence of the newcomers was so great, at the start of January, 7 of the top 10 point scorers in the country were either true freshman or juco transfers, led by #1 scorer freshman SF Clay Ryan of Loyola-Maryland with 22.1 points a game. This impact was felt to a lesser extent in rebounding as well, where 4 of the 15 players averaging 10 rebounds a game or more were true freshman or juco transfers. This boded well for the future, particularly in the case of the freshmen and even more happily for the NCAA, Alcorn State, the previous year's NIT champion and California, a Final Four team, looked quite strong. Thus, there was hope for the beginnings of a dynasty as well.

The Big Ten made strong moves to strengthen its legitimacy as a power conference, grabbing the two remaining 5* players in January. Gary Marlowe signed with Sweet 16 Big Ten team Northwestern, while Zuleka Lakhani committed to NCAA tournament member Purdue. It was a fantastic double coup for a conference eager to prove its validity as a powerhouse.

The NCAA was even more delighted come February 1st, as California was once again the #1 team in the country, unanimously so. The Golden Bears, despite losing head coach Don Bowyer to Miami, were doing wonderfully, posting a 19-3 record and running the same system under Bowery assistant [bJames Tuttle[/b]. They were doing so well, in fact, that they boasted the country's highest-scoring offense at 76.8 points a game. Georgia Southern was ranked #4 and already had a second-straight 20 win season locked up at 20-3.

By March 1st, Alcorn State had taken over as #1 in the polls, mostly due to unheralded freshman Corey Laureano, who'd been a 1* prospect and ranked #637 in the country. He was averaging 15 points a game, leading the Braves in scoring. 1900 powerhouses Pepperdine and California ranked #4 and #5 respectively, however, still giving hope for a marketable dynasty. Clay Ryan still led the nation in scoring at 21.9 points a game and his Loyola-Maryland team was 20-9 (11-6). The Greyhounds lost in the third round of the NIT in 1900 and they looked to again be a bubble team this season.

The initial powerhouse conferences were faring pretty badly just before the conference tournament season in terms of their Top 25 membership. It broke down like this:

America East
None
Big 12
None
Big East
#25 Pittsburgh
Big Ten
None
Ivy League
#16 Yale
West Coast Conference
#14 Pepperdine

In fact, the conference with the most Top 25 teams on the eve of the conference tournaments was a 1 prestige league. The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference boasted #1 Rider, #20 Canisius and #22 Clay Ryan-led Loyola-Maryland. Now whether this happenstance was due to the fickle nature of the pollsters or the inepitude of the NCAA in assigning power ratings to conferences, no one was really sure. But it would remain a controversy for the rest of the season.

Conference Tournaments

The conference tournaments has always been an exciting scramble for an automatic bid into the Big Dance and it was no different in the NCAA's second year of existence. In some cases, the regular season champion repeated as the tournament champion: Western Carolina (Southern Conference), Murray State (Ohio Valley), Oakland (Mid-Continent), Coastal Carolina (Big South), Eastern Washington (Big Sky), Utah (Mountain West) and Binghamton (America East).

There were also monumental upsets, the biggest one in the West Coast Conference tournament, where #8 seed St. Mary's, the lowest seed in the tournament, stunned top seed Pepperdine in the first round and ran the table to an improbable tournament championship and automatic bid. The result so angered the Waves that they petitioned the league for a ban on the WCC's tournament hereafter. Voting on the measure was to take place following the 1901 NCAA Tournament.

It promised to be another fascinating tournament, a story-rich field that would crown another champion. But who else besides those mentioned would get in? Where would everyone be placed?

The answers to that... came on Selection Sunday.