Kentucky was well on its way to its eighth National Championship this time last year, but we weren’t focusing on that.
Its coach, John Calipari, could almost add a title to his impressive coaching resume. Six of his UK players were just months away from NBA stardom. But Twitter and Facebook zeroed in on Anthony Davis’ signature unibrow, instead — and all the memes and picture captions that came with it.
Social media has undeniably molded the way we consume college basketball’s grand finale. The sheer number of viewers watching the Final Four makes it the perfect topic of social media attention; according to @TwitterSports, over 35,000 tweets per minute were posted as Davis and his teammates cut down the nets last year. And with Davis’ eyebrow forever etched into our collective memory of last year’s champion, it’s hard to envision a time where social media and the Final Four weren’t perfect partners.
Those tweetless tournaments surely missed out on something special. So, with help from Basketball Hall of Fame curator and historian Matt Zeysing, we’ve re-imagined the social media-free Final Fours of years gone by, projecting what the Twitter uproars and the Facebook posts would’ve looked like for the four best Final Four moments of the traditional media era:
Honorable Mention:
Keith Smart’s 1987 buzzer beater beats Syracuse, John Wooden’s 10th and Final championship in 1975, Villanova upsets Georgetown in 1985
4) George Mason’s 2006 run to the Final Four:
Our first moment just made our cut — Twitter was founded during the Elite Eight of the 2006 Tournament. Luckily for the fledgling company, it dodged the content overload that would’ve accompanied the Patriots’ improbable Final Four run.
Led by current Miami coach Jim Larrinaga, this ragtag group from the Colonial Athletic Association upended college basketball royalty in the tournament’s first weekend. They beat six-seeded Michigan State and three-seeded North Carolina in Dayton, Ohio before moving back home to Washington, D.C. for the next round. There, they upset top-seeded UConn in an overtime thriller for a trip to the Final Four.
The Patriots’ tournament run ended in Indianapolis against the eventual national champion Florida Gators, but we still remember their underdog run.
“The underdog factor would’ve been huge if social media were around,” said Zeysing. “For the most part, people had no idea about this team, and that means they’d want to tell everyone on Twitter and Facebook about two things: how surprised they were about that run, or how they picked George Mason in their brackets.”
3) Lorenzo Charles slams an airball to give NC State the 1983 Championship
The recent topic of ESPN’s 30-for-30 special, “Survive and Advance,” isn’t just a great Cinderella team story. It also would’ve made for a great social media moment if it existed 30 years ago.
“That NC State team was kind of emblematic of the underdog story,” said Zeysing. “Their run had everything that epitomizes March Madness and I think Twitter and other outlets would’ve recognized that.”
NC State’s championship opponent would’ve only increased social buzz. No. 1 overall seeded Houston — nicknamed “Phi Slama Jama” – out-dunked No. 2 Louisville — nicknamed the “Doctors of Dunk” for a shot at the title. The two teams played an above the rim style which, as evidenced by FGCU’s “Dunk City” fame this year, translate perfectly to Twitter.
Phi Slama Jama featured future NBA stars in Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, but star power wasn’t enough to overcome destiny. In Albuquerque, NM, Lorenzo Charles leapt to slam home a 30-foot desperation heave by guard Dereck Whittenburg with two seconds left. By doing so, he secured an upset victory for the Wolfpack and the first national championship for a team that had lost 10 games during the regular season.
The 1983 Final Four was a major television event. According to Nielsen, the Houston-Louisville semifinal was seen by 14.8 million households and the final was seen by 18.6 million households — both ratings records. That attention, combined with Wolfpack coach Jim Valvano’s. gif-able post game dash for a hug, would’ve made 1983’s Final Four a can’t miss social media moment.
“If you were reading Twitter then, you would’ve read a lot of ‘no way is NC State cutting down the nets tonight,'” said Zeysing. “And of course, whenever you’re surprised with sports, social media is often an outlet.”
2) Magic vs. Bird, 1979
The legendary rivalry between the NBA greats was built on the foundation laid by the 1979 Championship game. And if social media existed, everyone would’ve been talking about the first matchup between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
The hype began before the tournament did. Bird fractured his thumb against New Mexico State in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, but still managed to dominate throughout the tournament. In his national semifinal game against DePaul, his 35 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists launched the Sycamores onto college basketball’s biggest stage.
There, he met its biggest star. Social media couldn’t capture Magic Johnson’s brilliance — ESPN wasn’t even around yet. But his raze dazzle style was perfect for the upcoming highlight reel era, and even better suited for 140 characters or less, Zeysing said.
“If it made such a big difference in the mainstream media,” said Zeysing, “imagine what it would’ve been like with Twitter around.”
The game could never match the hype. Bird struggled against the Spartans’ zone, and up 14 points with 18 minutes left, Magic Johnson famously turned to the Michigan State and shouted “We’re Number One” (a moment that would’ve been ripe for social media reaction). However, blowouts can make for the most interesting social moments. As was the case with Alabama’s boring victory over Notre Dame in college football, basketball fans still would’ve commented.
Zeysing thinks those comments would’ve been more about the significance of the game itself and less about the score discrepancy.
“Even then, you had the sense that these two guys were going to do special things,” Zeysing said. “Even then, you would’ve tweeted that you hoped to see these guys square off again.”
1) Chris Webber’s Phantom “Timeout” vs. UNC, 1993
Our top spot is also our most polarizing one. Can’t you imagine the Twitter backlash that accompanied Webber’s huge gaffe?
Webber averaged 19.2 points and 11.3 rebounds on a star-studded Wolverines team during their ’93 tourney run. But in its second championship game in as many years, he essentially handed the game to North Carolina after calling a timeout that his team didn’t have.
The subsequent technical foul put the Tarheels at the line and them gave possession in a two-point game with 11 seconds left. When Michigan lost, it also signaled the end of the Fab Five’s two-year run at Michigan, which garnered as much attention as any other group in basketball history.
Combine it all together, and you get a moment that just screams for someone to tweet about it.
“You would’ve had so much reaction from all sides,” said Zeysing. “Michigan fans would’ve badmouthed him to no end. Tarheels fans would’ve been calling him a saint. It would’ve been pandemonium.”
In today’s tweet-about-it climate, one would think the backlash would have been inescapable for Webber. His feed would’ve exploded. It’s fair to assume he would’ve pulled a Manziel, deleting his social media accounts because of all the haters.
Then again, tools like Twitter and Facebook are just that: tools. And if Webber wanted to quiet the reaction, he could’ve used another social tool today’s athletes frequent: Instagram.
“What people don’t know is that days later, Chris got a letter from President Clinton telling him to keep his head up,” Zeysing said. “It’s not hard to envision him Instagram-ing that letter to tell everyone else to shove it.”