The forgotten Oklahoma team that nearly broke College Basketball

[OUHoops]

https://sports.vice.com/en_us/artic...lege-basketball/?utm_source=vicesportstwitter

 

[Sooner04]

Cool article. Weinreb is a fine writer. He references the original interview he did with Billy a few years ago on Grantland, and in that particular article he made mention of being in the stands the night we walloped Penn State in Happy Valley.

For the past three decades, I have witnessed a myriad of Penn State teams distort the tempo to compete in a sport at which they seem doomed to perpetual mediocrity. I have seen them overachieve by lulling opponents into a false sense of security — I have apologized profusely and repeatedly for this game in particular10 — but I have also seen them brush up against absolute truth, as was the case on December 1, 1987, in State College, Pennsylvania. The final score was 93-59, and I vaguely remember the home fans booing the opponent out of the gym for unsportsmanlike practices.

Absolute truth. I love that.

 

[skyvue]

Good story. I think the '88 team is less "forgotten" than he claims, but otherwise a nice job.

 

[scrybe]

Everyone who was alive in 1987-88 and who knew anything about college basketball realized that the Sooners were the the best team in the land. The Kansas team that beat OU in the NT game was later dubbed "Danny and the Miracles." It should have been "Danny and the Miracle-Working Officials." KU needed those Zebras, or some other kind of miracle, to beat our Sooners that day.

 

[OrlandoSooner]

I still love that team!

 

[skyvue]

Everyone who was alive in 1987-88 and who knew anything about college basketball realized that the Sooners were the the best team in the land. The Kansas team that beat OU in the NT game was later dubbed "Danny and the Miracles." It should have been "Danny and the Miracle-Working Officials." KU needed those Zebras, or some other kind of miracle, to beat our Sooners that day.

Manning gets too much credit from national observers for that upset win. He did what he always did against us; it was the role players who played over their heads and were the difference (and I'll agree that there were a few questionable calls along the way).

 

[1390]

Everyone who was alive in 1987-88 and who knew anything about college basketball realized that the Sooners were the the best team in the land. The Kansas team that beat OU in the NT game was later dubbed "Danny and the Miracles." It should have been "Danny and the Miracle-Working Officials." KU needed those Zebras, or some other kind of miracle, to beat our Sooners that day.

Became a fan that year..28 years later that loss hurts as much as any I've endured..

 

[OUSKINS]

Everyone who was alive in 1987-88 and who knew anything about college basketball realized that the Sooners were the the best team in the land. The Kansas team that beat OU in the NT game was later dubbed "Danny and the Miracles." It should have been "Danny and the Miracle-Working Officials." KU needed those Zebras, or some other kind of miracle, to beat our Sooners that day.

I dunno man, they only shot one more FT than we did and the fouls called were pretty even 18 vs. 16

I do NOT believe that FT's attempted or fouls called are always a great judge of the fairness of officiating.... but it is one way to help measure if there are glaring inequities. One thing about the box score from that game that really sticks out is how well everyone shot that night for both teams....one exception.... Ricky Grace went 4-14 from the field.

 

[OUSKINS]

And BTW, the tournament is a great spectacle and is wonderful for the fans-- however it is an awful way to determine a champion. A number of great college basketball teams have gotten lost in time a bit because of the one-and-done nature of the tourney.

 

[Sooner04]

Milt F. Newton
Chris F. Piper
Kevin F. Pritchard

 

[152219]

Milt F. Newton
Chris F. Piper
Kevin F. Pritchard

Wasn't Newton a McDonald's AA?

 

[DenverSooner]

Good story. I think the '88 team is less "forgotten" than he claims, but otherwise a nice job.

Certainly not by us older guys. I was a student then and Billy Tubbs is the reason I am a basketball fan.

 

[coolm]

I still hurt from that KU loss.

 

[ocugolfsooner]

Certainly not by us older guys. I was a student then and Billy Tubbs is the reason I am a basketball fan.

I watched a program on ESPN last year that was devoted to "College Basketball in the 80's" and I was expecting to get to hear about some of the great OU teams in the 80's, notably the 88 team. They went the entire program without even mentioning OU, it was all Big East/ACC. So maybe they have been largely forgotten outside of these parts for the simple fact that they didn't win that championship. Sad.

 

[skyvue]

I watched a program on ESPN last year that was devoted to "College Basketball in the 80's" and I was expecting to get to hear about some of the great OU teams in the 80's, notably the 88 team. They went the entire program without even mentioning OU, it was all Big East/ACC. So maybe they have been largely forgotten outside of these parts for the simple fact that they didn't win that championship. Sad.

That was an idiotic program, then. I wonder what fool wrote it?

Man, did I get more than my fill of Big East hype living here in NYC. I was thrilled every time Coach Tubbs took down a Big East school (and he beat more than his share).

Funny how, when the Big East got three teams in the Final Four (St. John's, Georgetown and Nova) in 1985, the media went berserk (even though St. John's got almost a free pass, given the upsets that occurred in their region).

But when the Big 8 had three teams in the Elite Eight and two in the Final Four (they might have had three, if KSU and KU hadn't had to face each other in the round of eight), it was barely mentioned (or so I perceived it at the time).

 

[cvangild]

Easily the best OU team of all time....and I don't think that will ever change. If OU/KU had played a 7 game series for the NC, OU wins the series 4-1.

I was a soph in HS during that game....and I admit I cried after that loss. It still stings!!!

 

[OUhoopsfan]

The game that really made me think that team was something special was the 109-61 beat down of Virginia in Hawaii in December. Seems like OU was in the 20's before UVA scored. Complete domination.

 

[Northbase]

Good article. That one still hurts. What a great great team.

 

[sanguinetti]

anyone who forgot about that team isn't a college hoops fan. or is too young to remember.

you always have to remember that ESPN didn't really gain purchase to writing the history of sports until the 90's with Nebraska and FSU football......anything that happened before that was inimical to it's purpose.

 

[Big Old Booger]

Easily the best OU team of all time....and I don't think that will ever change. If OU/KU had played a 7 game series for the NC, OU wins the series 4-1.

I was a soph in HS during that game....and I admit I cried after that loss. It still stings!!!

I was a junior in HS and I cried too. Like a baby. It was ours for the taking.