Greg Hansen’s Guide to the 2023 NCAA Tournament(s) — Part 1

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. Looking for Part 2? Read it here.

97 games later, it’s all just still a bunch of madness

March Madness has taught me one thing while covering 97 NCAA Tournament games over a half-century (that’s 1972-2022): Always be ready to book a flight home on a moment’s notice. There is no such thing as the unexpected. Cinderella rules.

Here’s how it has gone, decade by decade:

1975: Of all places, Pullman, Washington, was a first-round site for two games. John Wooden’s last UCLA team against Michigan, followed by then-unknown Montana coach Jud Heathcote, coaching against my alma mater, Utah State. Montana, then the equivalent of today’s No. 15 seed, sent the Aggies home, forcing cancellation of my flight (and hopes) of a Sweet 16 in Portland.

I was covering Utah State for the school newspaper. The Aggies’ assistant coach, Jim Harrick (the future head coach of UCLA’s 1995 national champions), introduced me to Wooden when Utah State and the Bruins shared the same breakfast buffet at the Holiday Inn in Pullman. (In fact, all four teams stayed at the same Holiday Inn. That would never happen today.) Wooden pulled up a chair and dined with us.

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.

1995: Arizona was sent to Dayton, Ohio, to play 12th-seeded Miami of Ohio in the first round. Miami is 50 miles from Dayton. It was madness. The sellout crowd was a sixth man and more. Arizona still might have won, but the club’s inside force, Ben Davis, was serving an NCAA suspension, decreed six days earlier, for receiving extra benefits. Center Joseph Blair could barely walk on a sprained ankle. Homeward bound again — and subsequently stuck in Denver for a night before a flight to Tucson could be arranged.

2005: Assigned to play at the Allstate Arena near Chicago, the Wildcats met the nation’s No. 1 overall seed, Illinois. A boisterous crowd of 16,957 — about 16,857 of them Illini fans — created the greatest “homecourt” advantage I’ve experienced in covering 97 NCAA Tournament games. Arizona led by 15 with 4:04 remaining. During a lengthy TV timeout, I began research on the best way to get to St. Louis for the Final Four. Then came a world-class collapse and overtime loss.

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.

There’s a lot of crying during the month of such fine madness.

How did the term March Madness originate?

In 1939, the first NCAA Tournament was won by the “Tall Firs” of Oregon. Hence, the shady outline of fir trees on the Ducks’ home court, Matthew Knight Arena.

However, no one referred to the ’39 NCAA Tournament as March Madness. Instead, it was part of an essay printed in the 1939 Illinois High School Sports Association magazine. The IHSA used the term to describe the popular Illinois state basketball tournament.

In 1973, it became a registered trademark and has since been commonly used for men’s college basketball (and more recently the NCAA adopted it for use with the women’s tournament).

If it’s not the best nickname in sports history, what is?

Tucson's hoops mecca has a long tourney history

The seven most-used arenas for the men’s NCAA Tournament:

• 129 games: University of Dayton Arena — Dayton, Ohio

• 83 games: Municipal Auditorium — Kansas City

• 81 games: Huntsman Center — Salt Lake City

• 77 games: Madison Square Garden — New York

• 63 games: Greensboro Coliseum — Greensboro, North Carolina

• 60 games: RCA Dome — Indianapolis

• 59 games: McKale Center

From 1974-2011, McKale was the place to be for the coveted first weekend of NCAA Tournament games. John Wooden and Bob Knight coached there. Bill Walton and Tim Duncan played there. Georgetown’s John Thompson and UNLV’s Jerry Tarkanian coached against each other there. And on and on.

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.

Say it ain’t so.

The NCAA has staged eight women’s tournament games at McKale, played in 1998 and 2022. Host Arizona went 3-1 in those games. The UA men’s team has played just one NCAA Tournament game at McKale, losing to UTEP in 1987.

The most oft-used arena for NCAA women’s tournament games is Stanford’s Maples Pavilion (76 games), followed by Tennessee’s Thompson-Boling Arena (74) and UConn’s Gampel Pavilion (72).

How Pac-12 teams have fared in the Big Dance

In order of victories, here’s how Pac-12 men’s teams stack up in March Madness (and yes, it is possible to have more losses than years in the tournament. For the tournament’s first 40 years, consolation games were played):

• UCLA: 51 years — Record: 113-44

• Arizona: 36 years — Record: 58-35

• Utah: 29 years — Record: 38-32

• USC: 20 years — Record: 17-22

• Cal: 19 years — Record: 20-19

• Oregon State: 18 years — Record: 15-21

• Stanford: 17 years — Record: 23-16

• Oregon: 17 years — Record: 26-16

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• Washington: 17 years — Record: 19-18

• ASU: 16 years — Record: 14-17

• Colorado: 15 years — Record: 11-17

• WSU: 6 years — Record: 6-6

And here is how Pac-12 women’s team have done in the NCAA Tournament:

• Stanford: 35 years — Record: 99-32

• Washington: 19 years — Record: 21-19

• Utah: 18 years — Record: 10-18

• UCLA: 17 years — Record: 21-17

• Oregon: 17 years — Record: 17-17

• ASU: 17 years — Record: 21-17

• USC: 16 years — Record: 29-14

• Cal: 14 years — Record: 13-14

• Colorado: 14 years — Record: 17-14

• Oregon State: 12 years — Record: 16-12

• Arizona: 9 years — Record: 12-9

• WSU: 3 years — Record: 0-3

How Tucsonans have fared in NCAA Tournament games

Twenty-three players from Tucson-area high schools — 16 men and seven women — have participated in NCAA Tournament games. Here’s how the men have fared:

• Sean Elliott — Cholla (Arizona): 236 points in 10 games. High of 31 in the 1988 Final Four against Oklahoma.

• Bryce Cotton — Palo Verde (Providence): 36 points in one game, against North Carolina in 2014.

• Lafayette Lever — Pueblo (ASU): 26 points in three games.

• Roger Johnson — Tucson (Arizona): 15 points in one game, 1951 against Kansas State.

• Bob Honea — Marana (Arizona): 15 points in one game, 1951 against Kansas State.

• Mark Brown — Santa Rita (Utah State): five points in one game, 2004.

• Jack Howell — Tucson (Arizona): four points in one game, 1951.

• Bill Kemmeries — Tucson (Arizona): four points in one game, 1951.

• Fern Tonella — Salpointe (Davidson): two points in one game, 2002.

• Matt Korcheck — Sabino (Arizona): two points in three games, 2014-15.

Seven former Tucson prep players appeared in NCAA games but did not score: Sunnyside’s Deron Johnson (1991); Sahuaro’s David Haskin (1986); Salpointe’s John Ash (2000); Rincon’s Andy Brown (1994); Amphi’s Anas Fellah (2003); Catalina Foothills’ Matt Brase (2005); and Santa Rita’s D.J. Shumpert, (2009);

Here’s how women’s basketball players from Tucson have fared in NCAA Tournament games:

• Kate Engelbrecht— Catalina Foothills (ASU): 50 points in 13 games, high of 12 against Florida State, 2008.

• Sybil Dosty — Salpointe Catholic (ASU and Tennessee): 35 points in 11 games, 2006-09.

• Jessica Arnold — Palo Verde (Arizona): 23 points in two games, high of 15 against Oklahoma in 2005.

• Paula Pyers — Santa Rita (USC): six points in five games, 1984-86.

• Jamee Swan — Marana (Colorado): four points in one game, 2014.

• Alyssa Brown — Sahuaro (UNLV): three points in two games, 2022.

• Julie Brase — Catalina Foothills (Arizona): three points in three games, 1999-2003.

(For added perspective, UA guard Aari McDonald scored 149 points in six NCAA Tournament games in 2021.)

Greg Hansen’s Guide to the 2023 NCAA Tournament(s) — Part 2

Longtime Star columnist Greg Hansen on a familiar face awaiting the Arizona women's team in Maryland, ASU's frequency in the First Four, UA outlooks for both teams in the NCAA Tournament and more.