Don’t adjust your sets, you read it right. This is footage from the NCAA Final of 1940! Indiana took the title from Kansas (15 years before Wilt Chamberlain joined them), with a 60-42 victory. Here are some features of the 1940 tournament, which was a long way from the March Madness we experience today:
- Eight teams were involved;
- Eight games were played in total, as third place game was also played;
- Marvin Huffman of Indiana was named the tourney’s Most Outstanding Player;
- Indiana were not troubled the whole way, winning each of their games by 24, 9 and 18 points respectively;
- Top scorer for the tournament was Kansas’ Howard Engleman, with a total of 39 points;
- Players were forced to play in total silence, with not even their feet making a noise;*
- There was a “dead zone” in the centre of the court where players were temporarily blinded by strong lights;*
- Players were forced to shoot under-arm on free throws at risk of being called pansies if they didn’t;*
* Some of these facts are not entirely true — I’ll let you decide what sounds legit. Roll the film!
Check out footage from the NCAA in 1942 and 1949 here.
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