The 1986 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men’s NCAA Division I college basketball….which began on March 13, 1986, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in Dallas, Texas.
The Louisville Cardinals team was coached by Denny Crum…..as they won the national title with a 72–69 victory in the final game over Duke….who was coached by Mike Krzyzewski….in a game where the Cardinals’ C Pervis Ellison was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player….as Louisville became the first team from outside a power conference to win the championship since the expansion to 64 teams …..and it remains one of only two teams to do so…..with the 1990 UNLV team being the other.
The 1986 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament was the first tournament to use a shot clock limiting the amount of time for any one offensive possession by a team prior to taking a shot at the basket….for beginning with the 1986 tournament, the shot clock was set at 45 seconds….which it would remain until being shortened to 35 seconds beginning in the 1994 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament….and further shortened to 30 seconds (the same as NCAA women’s basketball) starting with the 2016 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament. The 1986 tournament was also the last to not feature the three-point shot.
Louisville coach Denny Crum was a college basketball coach from 1958 to 2001….with the last 30 years from 1971 to 2001 being as head coach of the Louisville Cardinals….where his Cards team won two national championships in 1980 and 1986….as seen in this video herewith…..as Coach Crum ended his college basketball Hall of Fame and Basketball Hall of Fame career with 675 wins verses 295 losses for a .695 career winning percentage.
Duke’s Coach K has his Duke Blue Devils in the Sweet 16’s in the East Region of 2018 NCAA Tournament….which is going on as I write this commentary….as this college coaching legend is at the helm in his 44th year of coaching…..and his 38th year leading Duke….who has amassed an incredible record of 1099 wins against 337 losses…..for an incredible .765 career winning percentage.
When you consider the careers of these two college coaching legends….that makes this video worth watching by any fan of college basketball…..as it is just one more “nugget of gold” in our ImaSportsphile treasure chest of memories.
