As the hours slowly crawl to an Alabama Crimson Tide Final Four game, looking back is in order. No matter what season Alabama fans first dreamed about an Alabama Final Four, for many the time has felt almost like forever.
The University of Alabama hosted NCAA Tournament Regional Semi-Final games in 1974. The Crimson Tide basketball team was not a participant. In 1974, the Big Dance was just 25 teams and the field was restricted to conference champions and independents. Alabama was 22-4 that season. The Crimson Tide and the Vanderbilt Commodores finished the SEC season at 15-3.
The Dores beat Bama twice that season by a total of three points. Those games became the tie-breaker that left the Crimson Tide out of the NCAA Tournament.
Bear with me as what follows is personal. My defense is that for fans sometimes it is impossible to view what happens to our teams as anything but personal. Having seen Alabama play every home game that 1974 season, I was sure C.M. Newton had built the Crimson Tide into an NCAA Tournament-worthy team.
I sat rather glumly in what was then Memorial Coliseum in March 1974 and watched Notre Dame play Michigan and Vandy play Marquette. I was sure that given the chance Alabama would have beaten either Michigan or Notre Dame. It was the beginning of my belief that Alabama had a very bright future in NCAA Tournament games.
Two seasons later, the Crimson Tide led Indiana late in an NCAA Regional semifinal game. The Hoosiers were not only college basketball’s best team that season, finishing 32-0, they were one of college basketball’s all-time best. Around the four-minute mark left in the game, Alabama scored to take a one-point lead. All of the remaining points in the game came from Indiana. The Hoosiers won 74-69.
