The Last Greatest Upset

Looking ahead to this weekend’s NCAA games, and George Mason’s historic run to the Final Four, I remember watching the game that many observers still consider the biggest upset in tournament history, # 8 seed Villanova’s win over #1 seed Georgetown in the 1985 national championship. I remember at halftime being confident. Although Villanova had played a fantastic first half, hitting 13 of their first 18 shots, Georgetown was down by only one point at the half. I called my friends and said "We got em! They played their best, and there’s no way they can keep that up in the second half!" Well, I was right. They didn’t play the same level. They played better. In the second half, Villanova shot a staggering 90% from the floor, and hit 11 of their last 14 shots from the foul line, in putting together a game that’s still referred to as "the Perfect Upset". The only difference is that they had a really amazing team, with a couple guys who would end up in the NBA. George Mason doesn’t have anybody who’s likely to play in the pros. If Mason goes to the national championship, the only upset remotely like it would be Buster Douglas upsetting Mike Tyson – except that George Mason will have to win six fights in a row. Along with millions of other Americans, I hope they pull it off.

2 thoughts on “The Last Greatest Upset”

I remember that game and if you remember Villanova’s long time trainer had just recently passed away. I kept saying to myself during that game that, that little guy is up that pushing G’towns shots out and pushing Nova’s shots in, because they shot such a high percetage and G’town couldn’t buy buckets. I believe that guy’s ghost was helping them.

Ted…I remember the game as well…I was living in the Philly area and I was incredulous! It was a spectacle that was developing on the screen and almost seemed like it was something that was from a movie script. I remember after the game was over that the local newstations cut to the local crews where they were doing exit interviews with people coming out of bars, etc…and they were making note of how many ‘Nova stickers were on the cars, and wondering how many of those had been appplied in the last week or two as the team had climbed its way further and further in the tournament! Good stuff! Even tho I know where YOUR feelings are in the matter – it was pretty darn exciting – even for non-basketball addict – I can always appreciate a good game and great effort! (for some reason though, that towel that John Thompson always had was a reason for me to root for the underdogs!)

Rod Haxton on March 31, 2006 at 4:05 PM said:

I remember that game and if you remember Villanova’s long time trainer had just recently passed away. I kept saying to myself during that game that, that little guy is up that pushing G’towns shots out and pushing Nova’s shots in, because they shot such a high percetage and G’town couldn’t buy buckets. I believe that guy’s ghost was helping them.
John Gerbino on March 31, 2006 at 2:37 PM said:

Ted…I remember the game as well…I was living in the Philly area and I was incredulous! It was a spectacle that was developing on the screen and almost seemed like it was something that was from a movie script. I remember after the game was over that the local newstations cut to the local crews where they were doing exit interviews with people coming out of bars, etc…and they were making note of how many ‘Nova stickers were on the cars, and wondering how many of those had been appplied in the last week or two as the team had climbed its way further and further in the tournament! Good stuff! Even tho I know where YOUR feelings are in the matter – it was pretty darn exciting – even for non-basketball addict – I can always appreciate a good game and great effort! (for some reason though, that towel that John Thompson always had was a reason for me to root for the underdogs!)