1973-74 College Basketball Season
Originally written by Jeff Haggar
Regular Season
Sat 12/1/73, #4 Maryland @ #1 UCLA, TVS-Chesley, 11:30 pm, Al Michaels, Billy Packer
Sat 12/15/73, #1 UCLA vs #2 NC State (at St Louis), ABC, 5 pm, Keith Jackson, Bill Russell
Sat 1/5/74, #6 Marquette @ South Carolina, TVS, 1 pm, Harry Kalas, Bob Boozer
Sun 1/13/74, #3 Maryland @ #4 NC State, Chesley, 1 pm, Jim Thacker, Billy Packer
Sat 1/19/74, #1 UCLA @ #2 Notre Dame, TVS, 1 pm, Dick Enberg, Rod Hundley
Sat 1/26/74, #5 Maryland @ #4 North Carolina, Chesley, 1 pm, Jim Thacker, Billy Packer
Sat 1/26/74, #1 Notre Dame @ #2 UCLA, TVS, 11:30 pm, Al Michaels, Tom Hawkins
* Sat 2/2/74, Davidson @ #3 Notre Dame, TVS, 1 pm, ??, ??
Sat 2/16/74, #3 Notre Dame @ #14 South Carolina, TVS, 1 pm, Harry Kalas, Rod Hundley
Sat 2/23/74, West Virginia @ #2 Notre Dame, TVS, 1 pm, Harry Kalas, Rod Hundley
Sat 3/2/74, #9 Indiana @ Ohio St, TVS, 3 pm, Merle Harmon, Gary Bender
Sat 3/9/74, #1 NC State vs #4 Maryland (at Greensboro - ACC final), Chesley, 8:30 pm, Jim Thacker, Billy Packer
Sat 3/9/74, #3 UCLA @ #7 USC, TVS, 11:30 pm, Dick Enberg, Dave Gambee
- ABC (which had recently lost the NBA rights to CBS) televised the 12/15 game using their former NBA announcer crew.
- Once again, Chesley syndicated an ACC game nationally on Super Bowl Sunday (1/13).
- The NCAA tournament started the afternoon of 3/9 with a doubleheader on NBC. The ACC and Pac 8 had first round byes, and these leagues were still staging conference tournament and regular season action after the NCAA tournament started.
- The ACC title game was often syndicated outside of the ACC region in these years (and I remember watching this telecast in NY). This was one of the greatest games in college basketball history. 1974 was the last year that only one team from a conference could go to the NCAA tournament (and this OT classic featuring the #1 and #4 ranked teams played a huge role in the expansion of the NCAA tournament). Maryland turned down an NIT bid the next day.
NCAA Tournament
Sat 3/9 (first round) - doubleheader
Marquette-Ohio (at Terre Haute), NBC, 2 pm, Curt Gowdy, Tom Hawkins
Notre Dame-Austin Peay (at Terre Haute), NBC, 4 pm, Curt Gowdy, Tom Hawkins
Sat 3/9 (first round) - local
Oral Roberts-Syracuse (at Denton), TVS, 8 pm, Steve Zabriskie, Frank Hudson
Creighton-Texas (at Denton), TVS, 10 pm, Steve Zabriskie, Frank Hudson
* Note: TVS covered many other first round games as well.
Thu 3/14 (regional semis) - local
* Pittsburgh-Furman (at Raleigh), TVS, 7 pm, ??, ??
* NC State-Providence (at Raleigh), TVS, 9 pm, ??, ??
Kansas-Creighton (at Tulsa), TVS, 8 pm, Tom Hedrick, Gary Thompson
Oral Roberts-Louisville (at Tulsa), 10 pm, TVS, Tom Hedrick, Gary Thompson
* Michigan-Notre Dame (at Tuscaloosa), TVS, 8 pm, ??, ??
* Marquette-Vanderbilt (at Tuscaloosa), TVS, 10 pm, ??, ??
UCLA-Dayton (at Tucson), TVS, 10 pm, Dick Enberg, Dave Gambee
San Francisco-New Mexico (at Tucson), TVS, midnight, Connie Alexander, Dave Gambee
Sat 3/16 (regional finals) - doubleheader regionally televised
NC State-Pittsburgh (at Raleigh), NBC, 2 pm (regional), Bill O'Donnell, Billy Packer
Kansas-Oral Roberts (at Tulsa), NBC, 2 pm (regional), Jay Randolph, Pat Hernon
Marquette-Michigan (at Tuscaloosa), NBC, 4 pm (regional), Curt Gowdy, Tom Hawkins
UCLA-San Francisco (at Tucson), NBC, 4 pm (regional), Charlie Jones, Ross Porter
Sat 3/23 (Final Four)
Marquette-Kansas (at Greensboro), NBC, 1 pm, Curt Gowdy, Tom Hawkins, Ross Porter
NC State-UCLA (at Greensboro), NBC, 3 pm, Curt Gowdy, Tom Hawkins, Ross Porter
Mon 3/25 (championship)
NC State-Marquette (at Greensboro), NBC, 9 pm, Curt Gowdy, Tom Hawkins, Ross Porter
* any help on missing announcers appreciated
- This was the first year that Billy Packer broadcast an NCAA tournament game starting a streak that ran through 2008.
NIT
Sat 3/16 - first round
Md E Shore-Manhattan, CBS, 2 pm, Don Criqui, Rod Hundley
Purdue-North Carolina, CBS, 4 pm, Don Criqui, Rod Hundley
Sat 3/23 - semifinals
Purdue-Jacksonville, CBS, 1 pm, Don Criqui, Rod Hundley
Utah-Boston College, CBS, 3 pm, Don Criqui, Rod Hundley
Sun 3/24 - championship
Purdue-Utah, CBS 1 pm, Don Criqui, Rod Hundley
- CBS covered 5 games. The 3/16 doubleheader went up against the NCAA regional finals on NBC, while the 3/23 doubleheader went head to head against the NCAA Final Four.