Trivia Question

[tornado]

No prize....just the prestige of being the winner.......

Here is a question about college basketball......

The NCAA Tournament began in 1939 with Oregon winning over Ohio State.
In those days the NIT was every bit as prestigious of a post season tournement, and numerous times, teams went to both as they were held separately. As an example, Bradley finished 2nd nationally in both the NCAA and NIT post season tournies in 1950.

BUT the very FIRST major, NATIONAL postseason collegiate basketball tournament was the 1938 NIT, held entirely at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Which teams played in the VERY first game of the very first major, national postseason tournament? Who won, and what was the score?

[MacabreMob]

Cheating...

From the nit.org site:

Tournament Results (1930's)
1938 (6 teams) - Bradley, Colorado, Long Island, New York Univ., Oklahoma A&M, Temple. Quarterfinals-Temple beat Bradley, 53-40. NYU beat Long Island, 39-37. Semifinals-Temple beat Oklahoma A&M, 56-44. Colorado beat NYU, 48-47. Championship-Temple beat Colorado, 60-36. Third place-Oklahoma A&M beat NYU, 37-24.

[MacabreMob]

Guess I should say...

It looks like Bradley/Temple may have been the 1st game played.

[tornado]

Indeed, when the tipoff went up on the very first national tournament game, it was Bradley and Temple.
Unfortunately Bradley lost to Temple.
BU went into the post season NIT 18-1, and fell behind by 22 points early. By halftime, the Braves seemed out of it but they staged a furious rally in the 2nd half to cut the lead into single digits.
They lost 53-40, but with virtually the entire team returning, the "Famous Five" had something they could build on.

The following year, in 1938-39 they had an even better season, pasting quality teams such as Louisville 71-26, and New Mexico 55-35.
They even beat Oregon AT OREGON 52-39, with Oregon going on to win the NCAA in March of 1939.
They finished in the 1939 NIT for the second year in a row, losing to the eventual champion.
But this time in the semifinals.
Bradley then beat St. John's for 3rd place, and their FIRST National Tournament Final Four Finish!

[Braves4Life]

Great Info

I pride myself on knowing BU history, but I did not know this.

Thanks for the great info T & Mac