Remembering another championship game blowout

[JogginFrog]

I was excited to watch the 1990 NCAA hoops final. A stacked UNLV team faced off against a small, private school that had put together some great seasons but hadn't gotten over the hump to win a title. Maybe this would be Duke's year.

Nope. Disaster. The Blue Devils lost 103-73--the biggest blowout in NCAA final history.

After the game, Coach Mike Krzyzewski said: “We were overmatched. UNLV never let down. Just never let down. They played championship-caliber ball. They’re just better than we are. They’re more athletic than we are. There was no way we were going to beat them. We lost to the best team in the country. We could have played them 20 times and not beaten them in any.”

Probably a lot of Duke fans that spring lamented that their team was light years away from a title, despite making the championship game. They just didn't have the talent. Plus, they lost 3 seniors off an experienced roster. And they had to recruit players to play in a gym with less than half the seating capacity of their biggest rival.

But Coach K got back to work, added a top recruit in Grant Hill, and the team went 25-6 the next year, winning the ACC regular-season title. Then they got trounced again--a 22-point loss to UNC in the ACC tourney final. Clearly a small-time school would never beat the bluebloods when it mattered.

But the Blue Devils kept working. They got back to the Final Four. Their reward was a rematch with undefeated UNLV, now with a 45-game winning streak. To simulate the difficulty of playing such a dominant team, Duke prepped by practicing 5-on-7. And one year after suffering the worst defeat in finals history, Duke took down the defending champs. Full game video here. Fan celebration here. They went on to win their first title two days later against blueblood Kansas.

Duke won another title the next year, and 5 over 25 years, becoming a legendary program. But before all that, they suffered a blowout of historic proportions on the sport's biggest stage.

 

[Boomhauer]

Here’s hoping we win the title next year and 5 titles over the next 25yrs.

 

[The Bad Guy]

Time to start doing some 11 v 15 next season for some prep work.

 

[This Ain't Chopped Liver]

I was excited to watch the 1990 NCAA hoops final. A stacked UNLV team faced off against a small, private school that had put together some great seasons but hadn't gotten over the hump to win a title. Maybe this would be Duke's year.

Nope. Disaster. The Blue Devils lost 103-73--the biggest blowout in NCAA final history.

After the game, Coach Mike Krzyzewski said: “We were overmatched. UNLV never let down. Just never let down. They played championship-caliber ball. They’re just better than we are. They’re more athletic than we are. There was no way we were going to beat them. We lost to the best team in the country. We could have played them 20 times and not beaten them in any.”

Probably a lot of Duke fans that spring lamented that their team was light years away from a title, despite making the championship game. They just didn't have the talent. Plus, they lost 3 seniors off an experienced roster. And they had to recruit players to play in a gym with less than half the seating capacity of their biggest rival.

But Coach K got back to work, added a top recruit in Grant Hill, and the team went 25-6 the next year, winning the ACC regular-season title. Then they got trounced again--a 22-point loss to UNC in the ACC tourney final. Clearly a small-time school would never beat the bluebloods when it mattered.

But the Blue Devils kept working. They got back to the Final Four. Their reward was a rematch with undefeated UNLV, now with a 45-game winning streak. To simulate the difficulty of playing such a dominant team, Duke prepped by practicing 5-on-7. And one year after suffering the worst defeat in finals history, Duke took down the defending champs. Full game video here. Fan celebration here. They went on to win their first title two days later against blueblood Kansas.

Duke won another title the next year, and 5 over 25 years, becoming a legendary program. But before all that, they suffered a blowout of historic proportions on the sport's biggest stage.

I hear ya, and this is why TCU should have always put as much focus on basketball as it did football. Basketball championships are attainable for the little guy.

Basketball can too be the front door to a national brand. See Gonzaga, Duke, Baylor, Kansas, Arizona, Houston, Marquette and others. It is more inclusive.

 

[JogginFrog]

I hear ya, and this is why TCU should have always put as much focus on basketball as it did football. Basketball championships are attainable for the little guy.

Basketball can too be the front door to a national brand. See Gonzaga, Duke, Baylor, Kansas, Arizona, Houston, Marquette and others. It is more inclusive.

Just a strange time to declare that a championship is football is unfeasible.

Very few expect HC Sonny Dykes to leave to chase a title where there are more resources. He has the resources and support to do it at TCU. Very few could now convince a recruit that a title at TCU is impossible--the Frogs just made a 4-team tourney and beat an undefeated P5-champ blueblood.

TCU's size and private status is now a positive differentiator. Anyone can go to big state school and compete for a title. But the list of privates that can make a run used to be 3: ND, USC, Miami. It's now 4.

The point of the original post was that a massive loss can be a stepping stone. It's just very difficult to win it all. You need a ton to go right. In the interview with Grant Hill linked above, he said a key to Duke knocking off UNLV in '91 was getting them in the semi, when they had a week to prepare instead of a day, as in '90. A quick turnaround makes it very tough to beat a team with top talent. The Frogs can relate.

But in reality, 1990 Duke had already ascended to blueblood status. The better comp for 2022 TCU (minus the blowout final) is 1978 Duke, which reached the title game a year after going 2-10 in the ACC. That season proved a title was possible and led to the hiring of Coach K. It took him 11 seasons and 3 trips to the final before he won his first.

Maybe it'll take TCU one year. Maybe 13 years, like it did for Duke after '78. Maybe more. But a title is more possible now than at any time since 1938.

And I'm with you that the Frogs should win a title in basketball, too.

 

[This Ain't Chopped Liver]

Just a strange time to declare that a championship is football is unfeasible.

Very few expect HC Sonny Dykes to leave to chase a title where there are more resources. He has the resources and support to do it at TCU. Very few could now convince a recruit that a title at TCU is impossible--the Frogs just made a 4-team tourney and beat an undefeated P5-champ blueblood.

TCU's size and private status is now a positive differentiator. Anyone can go to big state school and compete for a title. But the list of privates that can make a run used to be 3: ND, USC, Miami. It's now 4.

The point of the original post was that a massive loss can be a stepping stone. It's just very difficult to win it all. You need a ton to go right. In the interview with Grant Hill linked above, he said a key to Duke knocking off UNLV in '91 was getting them in the semi, when they had a week to prepare instead of a day, as in '90. A quick turnaround makes it very tough to beat a team with top talent. The Frogs can relate.

But in reality, 1990 Duke had already ascended to blueblood status. The better comp for 2022 TCU (minus the blowout final) is 1978 Duke, which reached the title game a year after going 2-10 in the ACC. That season proved a title was possible and led to the hiring of Coach K. It took him 11 seasons and 3 trips to the final before he won his first.

Maybe it'll take TCU one year. Maybe 13 years, like it did for Duke after '78. Maybe more. But a title is more possible now than at any time since 1938.

And I'm with you that the Frogs should win a title in basketball, too.

I appreciate the thread and your Duke history and decided to take advantage and make a point about TCU and basketball. It has always made sense that TCU go all in on basketball to be nationally visible and I have always been annoyed that TCU has not treated it equal to football for that purpose. And for our enjoyment as students, alumni and fans. It is easier to win at basketball. You gave me an opening with your analogy so I took advantage of it.

I don’t think it is impossible to win a championship in football. I still think the 2014 team could have won it all, but I may be biased. But, it is much more difficult than basketball because of facilities, money, roster size and recruiting disadvantage, and other resources—it needs a ”perfect storm.” Basketball—TCU can be on equal footings if it chooses to compete, even more than equal because of the DFW recruiting base.

A championship is not the be-all. Just be good to really good in both football and basketball. This season showed that making the playoff brings the wanted visibility, similar to the Rose Bowl. And in basketball, just making the tournament nearly every year and advancing some brings visibility too. Look at Gonzaga, we all now know that school.

Basketball can bring much FUN for TCU fans—we just are not familiar enough with it, haha. The basketball
team plays many more games than the football team and the March Madness tournament draws in the entire country every year in the bracket games.

By the way, I much respect your smart, and polite, contributions on this forum.

 

[JogginFrog]

I appreciate the thread and your Duke history and decided to take advantage and make a point about TCU and basketball. This is not the first time I make this point. It has always made sense that TCU go all in on basketball to be nationally visible and I have always been annoyed that TCU has not treated it equal to football for that purpose.

Fair play--I've seen enough KF.c basketball threads highjacked with football comments to appreciate one going the other way. (Have we ever had a hoops thread with "guard" in the title that wasn't met with a response about football?) Growing up, the only season tix my family had were college basketball. But your vision exceeds mine--until the Schollmeier makeover and Jamie's arrival, the idea that TCU could compete for a title in basketball seemed ludicrous. So glad to see the improvement in the team and in KF.c's collective hoops awareness. Miles to go, but have to agree--it's possible.

 

[This Ain't Chopped Liver]

Miles to go, but have to agree--it's possible.

Mike Miles is go, ha. The Horned Frogs have the fun, good, and mature veteran team this year. A treat; all but one baller stayed with us. Let’s simply hope they stay clear of injury and if they do they have it in them to make a deep tournament run.

Everyone enjoy it, let’s maximize the potential this season.