One of my favorite things about StateFansNation is the blog’s ability to archive items for future use. Over the last couple of years we have chronicled special rankings and lists that we have included NC State that would be interesting for you.
Since tonight is the NCAA Championship, I thought that today would be a great time to add a couple of new links to some of the old ones that are listed below:
* CBS: 1983 Started March Madness
* SI: State is Origin of Final Four’s Greatness
* Wolfpack Dominates Comeback List
* 63 Greatest Tournament Games of All-Time
* The 1983 championship listed at number ten in the Top ten moments we will not forget.
Recently, I’ve run across:
* NC State & Jimmy V – CBS’s #2 Most Memorable Moment in NCAA Tournament History
* 1973 / 1974 Wolfpack – #5 Starting Five of All-Time
There weren’t a handful of players in history that were better college basketball players than David Thompson. In 1973, sophomore Thompson led his starting five (Thompson, 7-foot-4 Tom Burleson, 5-foot-7 Monty Towe, Rick Holdt, and Joe Cafferky) to an undefeated season. NCAA probation kept them from competing in the tournament. The probation (some of which was for the illegal recruiting of Thompson) paid off the next year. In 1974, Thompson, Burleson, and Towe were joined by rebounding forward Tim Stoddard and guard Moe Rivers. Stoddard would go on and pitch in the major leagues for 13 years. The Wolfpack would win the NCAA championship, needing to get past a great Maryland team (Tom McMillen, Len Elmore, and John Lucas) 103-100 in the ACC Final. In the national semifinal game, NC State had to play UCLA, which entered the game hoping to win its 39th NCAA tournament game in a row! Thompson scored 28 points, added 10 rebounds, and State rallied from 11 points down in the second half. The game went to two overtimes before NC State came out on top. After defeating Marquette, it was the Wolfpack cutting down the nets.
