I won a bet about BU BB w/ a Cincinnati fan yesterday

[capecod]

A few days ago I sat on a flight out of Cincinnati next to a longtime Cincinnati Bearcat fan. He seemed quite pleased that I remembered the great Cincy teams of the early 60s & their great success.

However when I mentioned that Bradley was a thorn in the Bearcats side throughout those years, he actually denied it. BU had 'won a couple upsets'-that was all according to the CU fan. He dismissed me rather rudely(I might add) 'CU dominated the series' he stated.

So we bet (this timeframe was during my childhood in Peoria-I remember it well....although I had to look some of the details up).

We exchanged email addresses so that we could provide the 'proof' of the winner of our bet (BU vs CU);

Here is what I sent him:

Cincinnati won 7 MVC championships in their first 9 years in the Valley(beginning in 1957/58.
During that time CU went to the NCAA Final 4 for 5 straight years-winning the National Championship twice and finishing 2nd once (to Loyola).

Now here comes the BU stuff:

Cincinnati only lost 8 times in the MVC in its first 6 years in the Valley.
Six of the 8 losses were to Bradley. CU only lost 1 game in the conference on 4 occasions-each time the lost was to Bradley.

Bradley and Cincinnati played 19 times during that 9 year period(Home & Away each year + one playoff when BU tied CU for 1st in 61-62).
BU's record against Cincinnati during this time period was 9-10.

Bradley beat BOTH Cincinnati National Championship teams during the regular season.

Two of Cincy wins over BU were by 1 pt and another was by 2 pts. BU's most memorable win was the 91-90 victory in 1960 (one of the few games the CU fan would acknowledge during the plane trip).

Bradley won 2 NITs during this 9 year period and finished 2nd another time (the Braves also won the NIT the year prior to Cincy joining the Valley)

The Braves finished 2nd in the MVC 5 times during this span and tied Cincy for the conference championship another year(Cincy won a playoff game over the Braves and went on the win the NCAA tourney).


I did not mention that the only year that CU swept the series in 62/63, the Braves played without star C Joe Strawder in the first game and without LaVern Tart in the second). The Braves also played without Strawder in the playoff game the prior year for the MVC Championship.( I left these facts out since I had already won my bet).

The Cincy fan graciously conceded the bet in an email to me yesterday morning.

Just thought there maybe a few old BU fans out there that might enjoy the above story.

[tornado]

awesome - we need to get back there where we are competing again at that level

[bstall]

Minor point but it is University of Cincinnati UC not CU.

[TNel]

As a student, saw the Big O led Bearcats lose three straight to the Braves at Robertson. About 10 years ago, my wife ran into him at a mall somewhere in the Chicago area at a book signing. She bought his book and as he was signing it, she told him she and her husband were 1960 BU grads. He said, "the Fieldhouse ... what an awful place that was to play!" Wouldn't it be nice to hear that once again from opponents when they think of Carver Arena???

[capecod]

Bradley vs the Big O

As a student, saw the Big O led Bearcats lose three straight to the Braves at Robertson. About 10 years ago, my wife ran into him at a mall somewhere in the Chicago area at a book signing. She bought his book and as he was signing it, she told him she and her husband were 1960 BU grads. He said, "the Fieldhouse ... what an awful place that was to play!" Wouldn't it be nice to hear that once again from opponents when they think of Carver Arena???

The Big O scored 46 points in the famous 91-90 Braves win in the Fieldhouse. I still have a copy of the Sports Illustrated article on that game entitled- 'A Mighty Roar in Peoria'.

Also- Bradley won two of their 9 victories on the Bearcats home floor during the 9 year span that I discussed in the above post.

[capecod]

'A Mighty Roar in Peoria'

The Big O scored 46 points in the famous 91-90 Braves win in the Fieldhouse. I still have a copy of the Sports Illustrated article on that game entitled- 'A Mighty Roar in Peoria'.

Also- Bradley won two of their 9 victories on the Bearcats home floor during the 9 year span that I discussed in the above post.

Apologies to the board-I'm not sure this old Bradley BB stuff is of much interest to most; but I dug out my copy of the SI article on the Bradley victory over CU in 1960. Here is a portion of that article:

'A Mighty Roar in Peoria' Sports Illustrated 1/25/60

"The home-town folks saw a wonderful game when Bradley beat Cincinnati, the top-ranked college basketball team.

The day before Cincinnati came to town, Coach Chuck Orsborn was putting his Bradley squad through special drills. Cincinnati was the nation's No. 1 college basketball team, with a 13-0 record as well as the top scorer and best all-round player in Oscar Robertson. Bradley is in Peoria, Ill. where, Osborn says, 'everybody is crazy about basketball and we get wonderful support.'.......(article continues speaking about Orsborn)'At 42 he is as good a basketball coach as there is in the country. He likes Peoria ("Peoria isn't so small that everyone knows what you're having for dinner")and, in fact, will gladly tell you he has the "best basketball coaching job in the country.".....

(article continues after discussing how Orsborn called a timeout and switched from a zone defense to man to man after Cincinnati rushed to a 21-12 lead):

"Immediately the game turned from a near rout into a taut contest which drove the Peorians wild. The Bradley field house was awash with noise the rest of the night....and Chet Walker had demonstrated he really could play basketball with the likes of Oscar Robertson"

"In the second half the lead changed hands 12 times. Walker and teammates Al Saunders and Bobby Joe Mason between them kept up with Oscar Robertson's rapid fire point production......"

"Suddenly there were only two minutes left to play, and Bradley was behind 84-83. Orsborn called another time out and ordered a full-court press. Bradley gained a one point lead, 89-88 with a magnificant drive and stuff shot by Walker."

Article goes on to discussing the final moments with Mike Owens two free throws with 18 seconds left to seal the victory.

The article ends with:

"After a riotous locker room session with his team, Chuch Orsborn managed his first public smile of the day. 'Now you see,' he asked, 'why this is the best coaching job in the country?' "

[Da Coach]

Thanks! That's great stuff.

[amckillip]

Is the full text of that article available anywhere? I got chills reading it...

[capecod]

link to article

Is the full text of that article available anywhere? I got chills reading it...

here is a link to the SI article(sorry I didn't realize that the link existed or I wouldn't have posted the 'short version' above

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1134331/index.htm

[Chico]

Thanks Cape Cod. Always enjoy reading any kind of history about Bradley basketball. As someone who remembers seeing games played at the Armory, I can't get enough as it brings back great memories.

[TNel]

Apologies to the board-I'm not sure this old Bradley BB stuff is of much interest to most; but I dug out my copy of the SI article on the Bradley victory over CU in 1960. Here is a portion of that article:

'A Mighty Roar in Peoria' Sports Illustrated 1/25/60

"The home-town folks saw a wonderful game when Bradley beat Cincinnati, the top-ranked college basketball team.

The day before Cincinnati came to town, Coach Chuck Orsborn was putting his Bradley squad through special drills. Cincinnati was the nation's No. 1 college basketball team, with a 13-0 record as well as the top scorer and best all-round player in Oscar Robertson. Bradley is in Peoria, Ill. where, Osborn says, 'everybody is crazy about basketball and we get wonderful support.'.......(article continues speaking about Orsborn)'At 42 he is as good a basketball coach as there is in the country. He likes Peoria ("Peoria isn't so small that everyone knows what you're having for dinner")and, in fact, will gladly tell you he has the "best basketball coaching job in the country.".....

(article continues after discussing how Orsborn called a timeout and switched from a zone defense to man to man after Cincinnati rushed to a 21-12 lead):

"Immediately the game turned from a near rout into a taut contest which drove the Peorians wild. The Bradley field house was awash with noise the rest of the night....and Chet Walker had demonstrated he really could play basketball with the likes of Oscar Robertson"

"In the second half the lead changed hands 12 times. Walker and teammates Al Saunders and Bobby Joe Mason between them kept up with Oscar Robertson's rapid fire point production......"

"Suddenly there were only two minutes left to play, and Bradley was behind 84-83. Orsborn called another time out and ordered a full-court press. Bradley gained a one point lead, 89-88 with a magnificant drive and stuff shot by Walker."

Article goes on to discussing the final moments with Mike Owens two free throws with 18 seconds left to seal the victory.

The article ends with:

"After a riotous locker room session with his team, Chuch Orsborn managed his first public smile of the day. 'Now you see,' he asked, 'why this is the best coaching job in the country?' "

"Apologies???" Capecod are you kidding me. You just awoke me from a long winter's nap. These are memories never to be forgotten. I can still see Chet driving the lane for that dunk. Thanks for the memories.

[amckillip]

here is a link to the SI article(sorry I didn't realize that the link existed or I wouldn't have posted the 'short version' above

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...4331/index.htm

Thanks capecod, I passed that along to a few of my fellow newer BU fans and everyone enjoyed reading it. What I'd give to have the opportunity to see one of those games in the Fieldhouse at BU's Heyday...