March Madness

I'd just gotten back to the post office and barely opened up this week's Sports Illustrated when the first of a handful of e-mails binged on my laptop mentioning a story and photo in the new SI about the Utah-Dartmouth (sorry, Dartmouth-Utah) NCAA championship game in 1943-44. You can find the story here.

From the story:

Awaiting the Utes was a Frankenstein monster of a team, pieces of several collegiate squads stitched together into a terrifying whole. The Navy had converted the Dartmouth campus into a training base, making it home to such basketball stars as Cornell's Bob Gale, Fordham's Walter Mercer and NYU's Harry Leggat, as well as future NBA guard Dick McGuire, who after playing in 16 games as a St. John's freshman received his orders from the Navy and immediately suited up for the Indians. Dartmouth's only loss all season had come to the country's best military team, before McGuire arrived in Hanover. In addition Dartmouth supplied a star of its own, big man Aud Brindley, whose 13 field goals had helped defeat Ohio State in the East Regional final.

Utah ended up winning the game in overtime, 42-40. As SI notes, times were different. Utah actually chose to play in the NIT instead of the NCAA that winter, but after losing to St. John's in the NIT, the Utes got a second chance to play in the NCAA and made the most of it.

Speaking of basketball, USA Today had a basketball-centered story a few days ago about Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who I remember playing against Dartmouth as a Harvard forward. The story begins this way:

WASHINGTON — Arne Duncan loves basketball. And why wouldn't he?
It helped him get to Harvard.

It's how he found his wife.

It even played a role in his becoming Secretary of Education.

Still on the subject of basketball, the Dartmouth women's team was one of 33 winners nationwide of the "Pack the House" Challenge when it drew 1,619 fans for its game against Harvard. Find a story here.

Staying on the hardwood, Ivy League champion Cornell takes on Temple today at 12:30. If you aren't near a TV or can't get it in your region, the CBS March Madness on Demand is a great way to catch every game if your connection is fast enough.

I'm also looking forward to Vermont's game against Syracuse at 9:30 tonight. I covered the Catamounts' overtime victory against the Orange five years ago and while I don't see anything like that happening this time around, do keep an eye on UVM's Marqus Blakely, the best player you never heard of. (Unless, of course, you've heard of him ;-)

Since it's been all basketball (including a little bit of proud Dartmouth hoop history today), it's time for a little proud Green gridiron history before I let you go. How about a reminder of Dartmouth's national rankings over the years?

Dartmouth in the Major College Polls
1936 (7-1-1) – AP ranking No. 13
1937 (7-0-2) – AP ranking No. 7
1938 (7-2-0) – AP ranking No. 20
1943 (6-1-0) – AP ranking No. 16
1970 (9-0-0) – AP ranking No. 14 (Coaches ranking No. 13)

Dartmouth in the I-AA Polls
1990 (7-2-1) – NCAA Poll No. 17
1996 (10-0-0) – Sports Network ranking No. 17

Bonus question: In addition to 1970 and 1996, what other seasons has Dartmouth been undefeated?

1925 – 8-0
1962 – 9-0
1965 – 9-0

The 1925 team won the national championship. (Alabama also has a claim to that year's title.) Double-bonus question. Who won the title the year before and the year after?

Notre Dame won the crown in 1924 and Alabama was selected national champion in 1926 (along with Stanford and Lafayette.)