Greatest Basketball Programs of all time tournament, round 1: North Carolina v. NC State, Indiana v. Ohio State

When Joel and I first came up with the idea to have this tournament with Hammertime Sports, I was thrilled! Being given the chance to compare great programs with a rich basketball history is a dream come true, and I have 4 teams that have plenty of basketball history to brag about.

They won before, will they win again?!?!

Interesting parings here with a HUGE rivalry with UNC and State, and a Big 10 battle for the ages.  It is only right that this turns into an ACC, Big 10 match up! Lets get started!

UNC: Phil Ford, James Worthy, Michael Jordan, Tyler Hansbrough, Lennie Rosenbluth

This was rough, as UNC has such a rich history of Tar Heel greats.  Just missing the list was Jamison, Perkins, Ed Cota, and Montross. Heck, add Vince Carter to that list and you have a team that could probably win a lot of games in this tournament too!  But we had to have five, and here is why these are the guys.

 Phil Ford is an obvious pick.  The second leading scorer in Heels history, Ford also won the US a Gold Medal starting for his country as a sophomore in college (this was when the US used only college players though, but still a sophomore PG!).  All-American in '76, '77, and '78, he was named player of the year in 1978.  

Worthy ended up being the #1 overall pick after his junior year, but before that he won a nation title, shared player of the year honors with Ralph Sampson, won the NCAA tournament most outstanding player award, and averaged 14 and 7 for his career.  Before MJ became MJ for UNC, Worthy was better.  Then came MJ, and as my Dad used to tell me, the only person ever who could hold Michael to less than 20 points was Dean Smith.  Need I say more?

Psycho T averaged 20 and 8 for his career, and was a national player of the year and a 4-time All-American selection. He holds the NCAA record for made free-throws and holds 41 school records, including most points and most rebounds.  The lesser known of the team, Rosenbluth, averaged 26 and 10 (WOW) for UNC in the 50's.  He lead the Heels to an undefeated season in 1957 and no other player at Carolina has had a higher scoring average, or as many 40-point games (5).

Ford will run this offence to perfection, and with Rosenbluth and Jordan at the wing, scoring will not be in short supply for this UNC team.  Worthy and Hansbrough will hold down the fort in the middle, as Psycho T never backs down from a challenge.

NC State: Thurl Bailey, Tommy Burleson, Chris Corchiani, Rodney Monroe, and David Thompson

David Thompson invented the alley-oop?
I think not!  

This was a pretty easy team to select, and I confirmed I was not missing anything with a co-worker who is a avid State fan (thanks Seth).  Bailey was the leader of the State team that made the miracle run in 1983.  He led the team in points and rebounds that year.  Burleson played with David Thompson when State beat UCLA in 1974.  Speaking of Thompson, any shock the inventor of the alley-oop is on the team?

Corchiani and Monroe played together in the early 90's and were nicknamed "Fire and Ice" (for all my Game of Thrones fans).  Monroe was the ACC's Player of the Year in 1991 after averaging 27 points per game. He broke David Thompson's school scoring record at NC State and is 4th on the ACC's all-time scoring list with 2,551 career points

Solid team

Ohio State: Aaron Craft, Jim Jackson, Jerry Lucas, Clark Kellogg, John Havlicek

Clark Kellogg is a BEAST

Although I would consider myself a Michigan man, even I am appreciative of this line up.  Start with Craft, who although he is still at Ohio State, is one of the best defensive point guards EVER.  He is already the schools leader all time in steals (208) and assists (579), and is the single season leader in steals (98) and single game leader in assists (15).  These numbers will only get more impressive his senior year.

Other than that, Havlichek is one of the best to ever play the game, Kellogg was a 6'8" 230-pound beast inside with hops, handles, and a great post game, and Jackson was a versatile guy and an All-American 3 times.  Then there is Jerry Lucas.  He was the AP Player of the Year in '61 & '62, was a first team All-American 3 times, and final four most outstanding player twice.  He is OSU's all time rebounding leader, and arguably the best player to play for the buckeyes.  This guy is the real deal.

Indiana:  Isaiah Thomas, Scott May, Steve Alford, Calbert Cheaney, Alan Henderson

This is the ultimate history team.  Thomas, the best Hoosier to put on the uniform (and a great Piston as well) leads this team of studs into this tournament.  Leading the Hoosiers to back-to-back Big 10 titles in '80 and '81, Thomas played great in the 1981 championship game, leading all scorers with 23 points, going on to be honored as the Outstanding Player of the tournament.  He was also an All-American.

Steve Alford, still has the same hair
style

May was a stud. An undefeated season, four Big Ten Championship rings and an NCAA title are just a few of his accomplishments.  1976 Player of the Year, 2-time All-American, and Gold medal winner for team USA, yeah stud fits.  Alford, the new coach at UCLA, is the second leading scoring in Hoosier history with 2,438 points, and in 1986 and 1987 he was named as an All-American and the Big Ten player of the year.

Cheaney was named an All-American and All-Big Ten three time from 1991-1993.  In his senior season in 1993 he became only the second player for Indiana to win the National Player of the Year award.  Henderson was the last member of this roster for me, but seeing he is the only Indiana University player to rank in the school's top five in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and steals, and he recorded 50 double-doubles in those four years and was also named an All-American in 1995, he has every right to be at the top of the list.

Well, that was fun...now on to the match ups!

UNC v. NCSU

David Thompson is LONG!

Aside from UCLA v. Michigan, this is the only "Duh" of the tournament.  Corchiani does an okay job at disrupting Ford, but there is way too much Worthy and Jordan on this one.  Jordan finishes with 18 points and Worthy throws in 19 and 10.  David Thompson caused somewhat of a match up issue, but Hansbrough stood firm inside and the heels collectively hold Thompson to a modest 16 and 12 night.  Ultimately it comes down to the scoring of the Heels, too much for the pack to handle.

UNC 88, NCSU 70

Ohio State v. Indiana

What an exciting match up!  Will Havlicek outperform Cheaney?  Can Craft frustrate Thomas?  Will May and Henderson be able to match the skill and intensity of Lucas and Kellogg?  Can Jackson out shoot dead eye Alford?  Depending on any of these match ups the outcome could be different.  Here is how I see it playing out:

Got to get around this Isaiah...

Craft irritates the snot out of Thomas and forces 5 turnovers.  Cheaney and Havlicek basically cancel each other out, both scoring 16 points on decent shooting efforts.  The battle inside keeps it close as Kellogg struggles to score on May, and Alford makes up for the Thomas mistakes and hits 6 3's.  In the end, too much tradition in Indiana and too much Alford, he hits a game winner off a relocation from Cheaney.

Indiana wins, 71-69 over Ohio State