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John GasawayESPN Insider
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- ESPN Insider College Basketball Staff
- First started covering College Hoops in 2004
- Has written for Basketball Prospectus and The Wall Street Journal
PHILADELPHIA — With North Carolina’s 20-point win over St. Peter in the East Regional Finals, the stage is now set for what may be the ultimate meeting of the rivals. The Tar Heels meet Duke in a national semifinals.
Meetings between rivals in the Final Four are rare, but have been known to happen. Even in the national title fight, such collisions happen from time to time.
Here’s an overview of the games in which conference rivals went head-to-head in the Final Four.
2016 Semifinals: #1 North Carolina 83, #10 Syracuse 66
The Orange and the Tar Heels weren’t exactly old rivals when they met in the 2016 Final Four. After all, Syracuse only joined the ACC in 2013-14. Still, expectations were high as Jim Boeheim’s group took on top seed UNC. Michael Gbinije and Malachi Richardson had just upset Midwest Region No. 1, Virginia, and it didn’t seem far-fetched to think this team could do the same to another ACC power. Instead, Joel Berry dished out 10 assists and the Tar Heels won easily before falling to Villanova in the title game.
2001 Semifinals: #1 Duke 95, #3 Maryland 84
On paper, the Terrapins entered the 2001 NCAA tournament as a 21-10 No. 3 seed. In reality, Gary Williams’ team had played 29-4 Duke hard three times and won once, while the two losses combined for four points. A close fight was expected for the fourth meeting of these rivals, but the Blue Devils – who conveniently reversed a 22-point deficit in the first half – won the fifth of what ended up six straight tournament games by double digits. Shane Battier had 25 points against the Terps and Duke won the title against Arizona. Juan Dixon, Lonny Baxter and Maryland would win their own national championship the following year.
2000 Semifinals: #1 Michigan State 53, #8 Wisconsin 41
Michigan State defeated the Badgers on consecutive Saturdays in February in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament and eventually the Final Four. Still, it’s been an amazing run for Wisconsin to make it this far. Dick Bennett’s team upset top-seeded Arizona 66-58 in the round of 32 and then defeated higher-seeded LSU and Purdue. That magic was lost against the Spartans, who took 20 points from Morris Peterson to post a perfect 4-0 record against the Badgers. MSU rolled on with a 13-point win over Florida to capture the national title.
1989 Semifinals: #3 Michigan 83, #1 Illinois 81
Michigan lost two regular-season games to Nick Anderson, Kenny Battle and Illinois, averaging 14 points. But the Wolverines gained momentum under newly installed caretaker coach Steve Fisher in the Southeast Regional. Michigan crushed Virginia at 37 in the Elite Eight and set up a third meeting with the Fighting Illini. This time, the Wolverines came out on top behind 28 points from Glen Rice and a game-winning put-back with two seconds remaining from Sean Higgins.
1988 Finals: #6 Kansas 83, #1 Oklahoma 79
Stacey King, Harvey Grant, Mookie Blaylock and the Sooners won 21 of 22 from late January through to the national semifinals. That run included two eight-point wins over KU, a fact that didn’t matter the third time these two met. Danny Manning recorded one of the greatest individual title game performances in event history with 31 points, 18 rebounds and five steals.
1987 Semifinals: #2 Syracuse 77, #6 Providence 63
The brothers were the surprise of the 1987 bracket. Billy Donovan, Indiana transfer Delray Brooks and the rest of Rick Pitino’s shooters took advantage of the new 3-point line and defeated top seed Georgetown by 15 points in the regional finals. Then PC faced off against Rony Seikaly, Derrick Coleman and the Syracuse Zone. The brothers were 5 of 19 from beyond the arc, and the Orange advanced to a national title game where they lost to Indiana on Keith Smart’s game winner.
1985 Semifinals: #1 Georgetown 77, #1 St. John’s 59
The two No. 1 seeds split during the regular season, with each winning on the other’s home ground. The second game was played at Madison Square Garden, where John Thompson famously unveiled his own version of Lou Carnesecca’s Lucky Sweater. The Hoyas won “the sweater game” and then repeated the feat two more times. Georgetown defeated St. John’s in the Big East tournament title game and then again in the national semifinals. Reggie Williams put on 20 for the Hoyas while Chris Mullin was limited to just eight shots from the field.
1985 Finals: #8 Villanova 66, #1 Georgetown 64
It’s called the perfect game: Villanova shot 22 of 28 from the ground en route to a stunning riot from defending champions Georgetown. Perhaps the result shouldn’t have been so stunning. The Wildcats played the mighty Hoyas hard throughout the Big East season, losing twice for a total of nine points. In the title game, Dwayne McClain had 17 and Ed Pinckney 16 against Patrick Ewing and a Georgetown defense that had held their 37 previous opponents at 39.8% shots from the ground.
1981 Semifinals: #2 North Carolina 78, #1 Virginia 65
Dean Smith and the Tar Heels had lost 2-0 to Ralph Sampson and the top-seed Cavaliers in the ACC game, including a heartbreaking one-point loss at Chapel Hill. The national semifinals were on a very different script, with UNC’s Al Wood walking off with 39 points while Sampson was pinned to the ground in a 3-of-10 shooting. The Heels lost to Indiana in the title game while the Hoos won the final game for the men’s third-place finish of the DI Tournament.
1976 Final: Indiana 86, Michigan 68
The Hoosiers are known throughout history as the last men’s team to record a perfect Division I season en route to an NCAA tournament title. It wasn’t easy for Bob Knight’s team, however. Proof of that is IU’s two regular-season wins over Johnny Orrs Wolverines this year. The first came by six points in Ann Arbor, while the game went into overtime at Bloomington before Indiana prevailed. In contrast, the Hoosiers had a much easier time in the national title game, defeating Michigan by 18 points behind Scott May and Kent Benson by 51 points combined. (Note that the teams were not seeded until the 1979 tournament.)