Longtime Star columnist Greg Hansen on his personal history of covering the NCAA Tournament, the origins of March Madness, Tucson ties to the tourney and more.
Greg Hansen The Star's longtime columnist on his personal history of covering the NCAA Tournament, the origins of March Madness, Tucson ties to the tourney and more.
1985: Lute Olson’s first Arizona NCAA Tournament team was sent to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to play Alabama. The Wildcats shot a historically low 29%, scored just 41 points and exited in the first round. On the way to the postgame news conference, I bumped into UA associate athletic director Bob Bockrath, who had just gotten off a pay phone in the lobby at The Pit. He was arranging for a next-day flight home to Tucson. Now the NCAA handles all flight arrangements.
2015: Arizona’s best crack at a return to the Final Four — Sean Miller’s most talented team — shot 55% from the field and made 28 of 30 foul shots. How do you lose such a game when 19,125 pro-UA fans at LA's Staples Center stand and cheer for 40 minutes? This is how: Wisconsin shot 78% in the second half, a record for Arizona opponents in the NCAA Tournament. I walked into the UA dressing room 10 minutes after the game, and point guard T.J. McConnell was crying.
NCAA Tournament games were last played at McKale Center in 2011. Why did it stop? Former UA athletic director Greg Byrne and ex-UA coach Sean Miller decided that by hosting NCAA games, it would diminish the Wildcats’ chances of playing first- and second-round games in the West region.The NCAA has staged eight women’s tournament games at McKale, played in 1998 and 2022. Host Arizona went 3-1 in those games.
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