If Chiefs can do it when not WVU?

[Cuyahoga Falls Eers]

The Chiefs winning only their 2nd Super Bowl ever is a good omen for the Mountaineers.

Think about it: Kansas City Chiefs beat the Vikings for their first Super Bowl title in 1970 after losing Super Bowl I to Green Bay in 1967.

Chiefs won Sunday in 2020 over the 49ers, only their SECOND national title.

WVU won its ONLY national basketball title in 1942, when the NIT was THE national title. WVU won the NIT again in 2007, but it wasn’t THE national title by then.

The NIT began in 1938 when there was NO NCAA title game. The NIT was in Madison Square Garden in New York City, the dream venue for every college basketball team.

WVU won its NIT title in 1942, when there were 8 teams in the field. The Mountaineers were seeded 8th (last), but wound up on top. Just like the 2020 Chiefs.

WVU beat Long Island, which was so good for years that it could name the score – literally, as the 1950-51 point-shaving scandal later proved. Long Island would win, but kept the point spread below that the margin that the bookies told them to win by.

Then the Mountaineers trounced Toledo. Next came Western Kentucky, which also was quite good in those days, in a 47-45 game for the NIT title.

Coach Richard Aubrey “Dyke” Raese was the 1942 coach after six successful years at Davis High School.

Later, Dyke married Harriett Louise Wiedebusch (Monongalia County’s representative in the 1990 Ms. Senior West Virginia Pageant) and the hero of the 1942 NIT championship team was embraced by the Greer empire in Morgantown.

He became Greer Limestone president, Greer Steel and Greer Industries vice president and director of Greer’s West Virginia Newspaper Publishing Company and West Virginia Radio Corporation, which owned Morgantown’s top newspapers and radio stations.

Even Jerry West, the great player in Mountaineer history, couldn’t bring WVU a national title, a 71-70 loss in 1959 to California in the NCAA title game, but he did so well with 38 points and 15 rebounds that he became the first member of the losing team to be named NCAA Tournament MVP.

Until the mid-1950s the NIT was regarded as THE national title. Better teams chose the NIT over the NCAA.

When Al McGuire turned down an NCAA invitation in 1970 to play in the NIT, which Marquette won, the NCAA made a rule that NO school could turn down an NCAA invitation again.

In 2005, the NCAA bought the NIT, relegating the NIT forever to playing to see who is #69 in the country (68 teams in March Madness).

I know, with March Madness, it seems like the NCAA has been the prize plum forever. Not so. Not in 1942 when the Mountaineers took Manhattan and the Big Apple by storm. You know, the hicks from the sticks in the most sophisticated city in America, or so outsiders thought.

So, if the Chiefs can win their second national title, why can’t this be the year that WVU wins its second true national title?

 

[TownesVanZandt]

Attacks on OP and his thread...

Rootcanal
GregJacobs
MichiganHerd
TMarshallGrad

Nothing wrong with hope and optimism.
Any WVU fan should be hoping this is a sign no matter how outrageous it is.

This is actually the franchises third
1962 AFL Championship

Before Lamar Hunt ran from Tex Schramm and the Cowboys

 

[muthed]

The Chiefs winning only their 2nd Super Bowl ever is a good omen for the Mountaineers.

Think about it: Kansas City Chiefs beat the Vikings for their first Super Bowl title in 1970 after losing Super Bowl I to Green Bay in 1967.

Chiefs won Sunday in 2020 over the 49ers, only their SECOND national title.

WVU won its ONLY national basketball title in 1942, when the NIT was THE national title. WVU won the NIT again in 2007, but it wasn’t THE national title by then.

The NIT began in 1938 when there was NO NCAA title game. The NIT was in Madison Square Garden in New York City, the dream venue for every college basketball team.

WVU won its NIT title in 1942, when there were 8 teams in the field. The Mountaineers were seeded 8th (last), but wound up on top. Just like the 2020 Chiefs.

WVU beat Long Island, which was so good for years that it could name the score – literally, as the 1950-51 point-shaving scandal later proved. Long Island would win, but kept the point spread below that the margin that the bookies told them to win by.

Then the Mountaineers trounced Toledo. Next came Western Kentucky, which also was quite good in those days, in a 47-45 game for the NIT title.

Coach Richard Aubrey “Dyke” Raese was the 1942 coach after six successful years at Davis High School.

Later, Dyke married Harriett Louise Wiedebusch (Monongalia County’s representative in the 1990 Ms. Senior West Virginia Pageant) and the hero of the 1942 NIT championship team was embraced by the Greer empire in Morgantown.

He became Greer Limestone president, Greer Steel and Greer Industries vice president and director of Greer’s West Virginia Newspaper Publishing Company and West Virginia Radio Corporation, which owned Morgantown’s top newspapers and radio stations.

Even Jerry West, the great player in Mountaineer history, couldn’t bring WVU a national title, a 71-70 loss in 1959 to California in the NCAA title game, but he did so well with 38 points and 15 rebounds that he became the first member of the losing team to be named NCAA Tournament MVP.

Until the mid-1950s the NIT was regarded as THE national title. Better teams chose the NIT over the NCAA.

When Al McGuire turned down an NCAA invitation in 1970 to play in the NIT, which Marquette won, the NCAA made a rule that NO school could turn down an NCAA invitation again.

In 2005, the NCAA bought the NIT, relegating the NIT forever to playing to see who is #69 in the country (68 teams in March Madness).

I know, with March Madness, it seems like the NCAA has been the prize plum forever. Not so. Not in 1942 when the Mountaineers took Manhattan and the Big Apple by storm. You know, the hicks from the sticks in the most sophisticated city in America, or so outsiders thought.

So, if the Chiefs can win their second national title, why can’t this be the year that WVU wins its second true national title?

Can I get some of what you're smoking?

 

[Cuyahoga Falls Eers]

Can I get some of what you're smoking?

Sure! It's called LOVE my Mountaineers, a smoking-hot team, the youngest in the Big 12. A team that has NOT lost 2 in a row all season, for the first time in 30 years. Thumbs-up feels so much better than the middle finger! More people should try it! Come aboard. Plenty of room.

 

[sg44gold]

Last time I checked we don’t get to “draft” the best players possible.

And we can’t afford to pay “top dollar” for the best free agents available.

 

[Panhandleer]

I'll never forgive the Chiefs for beating my Vikings 50 years ago! One of the big disappointments of my teenage years! Regardless of that, I could see the comeback unfolding last night with things like Garoppolo running out of bounds on a 3rd and 17 when he could have possibly tucked it and got a first down. It showed me that KC wanted it more than SF.

 

[tOSUGrad90]

Stanford won the basketball national title in 1942, no matter how many times CFE posts otherwise.

 

[Euell]

I'll never forgive the Chiefs for beating my Vikings 50 years ago! One of the big disappointments of my teenage years! Regardless of that, I could see the comeback unfolding last night with things like Garoppolo running out of bounds on a 3rd and 17 when he could have possibly tucked it and got a first down. It showed me that KC wanted it more than SF.

You too? I recall that Vikings loss very well. Another painful loss was the NFC championship game (I think) where the Cowboys receiver (Drew Pearson maybe) got away with a blatant offensive pass interference towards the end of the game to beat the good guys.

 

[tOSUGrad90]

That "Hail Mary" was a thing of beauty, Euell! Yes, Drew Pearson did get away with a little "nudge." wink, wink

 

[TownesVanZandt]

That game stands out in my childhood.
There were a few games between the Cowboys and Vikings.

The 1971 Divisional Round when the Cowboys played in Minnesota outdoors.

 

[LAMountaineer]

You too? I recall that Vikings loss very well. Another painful loss was the NFC championship game (I think) where the Cowboys receiver (Drew Pearson maybe) got away with a blatant offensive pass interference towards the end of the game to beat the good guys.

Silly. Isn't there a NFL Rule that says Cowboys are never guilty of offensive pass interference?

 

[WVUALLEN]

Can I get some of what you're smoking?

Look a turd. Someone flush it.

 

[WVUALLEN]

Stanford won the basketball national title in 1942, no matter how many times CFE posts otherwise.

CFE lives in another realm of his own mind or lack of a mind.

If it was WVU, they would have had a banner hanging from the rafters in the Colosseum that they were national champs.

You can go to NCAA.org and see schools with Most NCAA Championships and then you can click on championships by school in the upper right corner drop down menu.

http://www.ncaa.org/champadmin/champs_listing1.html

When clicking on Stanford, we see that Stanford has won, among their many titles, 1 NCAA championship in Men's Basketball.

Also, according to wikipedia (not exactly a reputable source), Stanford won the 1942 NCAA championship.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Men%27s_...ionship_records

When clicking on West Virginia, we see that WVU has never won a championship in Men's Basketball.

Thus, and I never looked to see which teams played in 1942, the answer here would have to be Stanford if the only possible answers are Stanford or WVU.

The NCAA has only recognized Stanford as having won a national championship in men's basketball between the two schools.

WVU does not claim its NIT championship from the 40's as a NC.

UK does claim its NIT championship from the 40's as a NC.

 

[Cuyahoga Falls Eers]

CFE lives in another realm of his own mind or lack of a mind.

If it was WVU, they would have had a banner hanging from the rafters in the Colosseum that they were national champs.

You can go to NCAA.org and see schools with Most NCAA Championships and then you can click on championships by school in the upper right corner drop down menu.

http://www.ncaa.org/champadmin/champs_listing1.html

When clicking on Stanford, we see that Stanford has won, among their many titles, 1 NCAA championship in Men's Basketball.

Also, according to wikipedia (not exactly a reputable source), Stanford won the 1942 NCAA championship.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Men%27s_...ionship_records

When clicking on West Virginia, we see that WVU has never won a championship in Men's Basketball.

Thus, and I never looked to see which teams played in 1942, the answer here would have to be Stanford if the only possible answers are Stanford or WVU.

The NCAA has only recognized Stanford as having won a national championship in men's basketball between the two schools.

WVU does not claim its NIT championship from the 40's as a NC.

UK does claim its NIT championship from the 40's as a NC.

WVU's 1942 NIT title was recognized as THE national title that year. If you read my post, NCAA was nothing in 1942. NIT champ was more revered and respected than NCAA champ in 1942. Thumbs-up speaks better of the one doing it than a middle finger. It says a lot about YOU!

 

[sg44gold]

Ha! Ha! This is an interesting discussion. Why DON’T we claim a National Championship for 1942? The old guy has a good argument.

PS - That was during World War II. Just saying.

 

[Rootmaster]

Good grief...gotta say this at the risk of being scolded by the principal again...fakesportswriter is getting weirder and weirder. However her Google skills are getting better. Reminds me of Pride or TVZ. Particularly fluent at screaming look at me...look at me. Lol

 

[Rootmaster]

Why not extrapolate all the way...and say if the Yankees can forge a multi decade dynasty then why not the Mountaineers!

 

[Pitt4Life34]

The Chiefs winning only their 2nd Super Bowl ever is a good omen for the Mountaineers.

Think about it: Kansas City Chiefs beat the Vikings for their first Super Bowl title in 1970 after losing Super Bowl I to Green Bay in 1967.

Chiefs won Sunday in 2020 over the 49ers, only their SECOND national title.

WVU won its ONLY national basketball title in 1942, when the NIT was THE national title. WVU won the NIT again in 2007, but it wasn’t THE national title by then.

The NIT began in 1938 when there was NO NCAA title game. The NIT was in Madison Square Garden in New York City, the dream venue for every college basketball team.

WVU won its NIT title in 1942, when there were 8 teams in the field. The Mountaineers were seeded 8th (last), but wound up on top. Just like the 2020 Chiefs.

WVU beat Long Island, which was so good for years that it could name the score – literally, as the 1950-51 point-shaving scandal later proved. Long Island would win, but kept the point spread below that the margin that the bookies told them to win by.

Then the Mountaineers trounced Toledo. Next came Western Kentucky, which also was quite good in those days, in a 47-45 game for the NIT title.

Coach Richard Aubrey “Dyke” Raese was the 1942 coach after six successful years at Davis High School.

Later, Dyke married Harriett Louise Wiedebusch (Monongalia County’s representative in the 1990 Ms. Senior West Virginia Pageant) and the hero of the 1942 NIT championship team was embraced by the Greer empire in Morgantown.

He became Greer Limestone president, Greer Steel and Greer Industries vice president and director of Greer’s West Virginia Newspaper Publishing Company and West Virginia Radio Corporation, which owned Morgantown’s top newspapers and radio stations.

Even Jerry West, the great player in Mountaineer history, couldn’t bring WVU a national title, a 71-70 loss in 1959 to California in the NCAA title game, but he did so well with 38 points and 15 rebounds that he became the first member of the losing team to be named NCAA Tournament MVP.

Until the mid-1950s the NIT was regarded as THE national title. Better teams chose the NIT over the NCAA.

When Al McGuire turned down an NCAA invitation in 1970 to play in the NIT, which Marquette won, the NCAA made a rule that NO school could turn down an NCAA invitation again.

In 2005, the NCAA bought the NIT, relegating the NIT forever to playing to see who is #69 in the country (68 teams in March Madness).

I know, with March Madness, it seems like the NCAA has been the prize plum forever. Not so. Not in 1942 when the Mountaineers took Manhattan and the Big Apple by storm. You know, the hicks from the sticks in the most sophisticated city in America, or so outsiders thought.

So, if the Chiefs can win their second national title, why can’t this be the year that WVU wins its second true national title?

LOL. Drink your milk and go to bed.

 

[Pitt4Life34]

Sure! It's called LOVE my Mountaineers, a smoking-hot team, the youngest in the Big 12. A team that has NOT lost 2 in a row all season, for the first time in 30 years. Thumbs-up feels so much better than the middle finger! More people should try it! Come aboard. Plenty of room.

Homerville on fire like a couch

 

[Pitt4Life34]

I'll never forgive the Chiefs for beating my Vikings 50 years ago! One of the big disappointments of my teenage years! Regardless of that, I could see the comeback unfolding last night with things like Garoppolo running out of bounds on a 3rd and 17 when he could have possibly tucked it and got a first down. It showed me that KC wanted it more than SF.

What is it with these like ratios haha

 

[Pitt4Life34]

That game stands out in my childhood.
There were a few games between the Cowboys and Vikings.

The 1971 Divisional Round when the Cowboys played in Minnesota outdoors.

If you were alive then you’re a bigger tool than I thought you were.

 

[TownesVanZandt]

Greggy comes in waving a plastic sword at ghost

What a loser

 

[WVUALLEN]

WVU's 1942 NIT title was recognized as THE national title that year. If you read my post, NCAA was nothing in 1942. NIT champ was more revered and respected than NCAA champ in 1942. Thumbs-up speaks better of the one doing it than a middle finger. It says a lot about YOU!

WVU does not claim its NIT championship as a NC. You claim it but the alma mater doesn't. Interesting.

WVU does not have a banner hanging from the rafters in the Colosseum that say they were national champs.

The NCAA has only recognized Stanford as having won a national championship in men's basketball between the two schools.

 

[WVUALLEN]

Ha! Ha! This is an interesting discussion. Why DON’T we claim a National Championship for 1942? The old guy has a good argument.

PS - That was during World War II. Just saying.

Problem is CFE was like 42 then so his memory of things are a bit off.

 

[Pitt4Life34]

Greggy comes in waving a plastic sword at ghost

What a loser

Look at the weirdo guys. Ghost is my favorite movie. I’m super sensitive if you couldn’t tell haha.

 

[TownesVanZandt]

Greggy looking for help...

What a pussy..

 

[tOSUGrad90]

WVU's 1942 NIT title was recognized as THE national title that year. If you read my post, NCAA was nothing in 1942. NIT champ was more revered and respected than NCAA champ in 1942. Thumbs-up speaks better of the one doing it than a middle finger. It says a lot about YOU!

No, the 1942 NIT champ was not "more revered and respected." This is a Mountaineer myth spread by those desperate for validation. All that you have to do is look at the respective participants of the two tournaments to see how wrong that that your propaganda is. Kansas and Kentucky are the two blood blood programs that played in either tournament, and both played in the NCAA Tournament, which was won by Stanford, the true basketball National Champion of 1942.

 

[TownesVanZandt]

NIT was played in by the private schools.

Look at the payday.

NIT paid more for awhile. Don't know what year that changed.

The NCAA was mainly played in by the large land grant universities that didn't need the large payout.

Some of what CFE said is correct.

 

[TownesVanZandt]

http://www.sportshistoryweekly.com/stories/march-madness-ncaa-nit-college-basketball,697

Hosting its games at New York City’s prestigious Madison Square Garden (MSG), the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) was historically a more glamorous basketball event than the NCAA’s post-season tourney known today as 'March Madness'. Though, by the 1970’s, that hierarchy would flip and the NIT would drop to second class status.

Founded in 1938 by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association, the NIT held its championships at “The Garden”, the Mecca of college basketball in the 1930’s and 1940’s and the country’s premier venue for showcasing and recruiting basketball talent.

The 18,000+ seats at MSG filled up with nightly double and triple-headers that generated windfall gate receipts for the arena and for the teams. The NIT’s success inspired the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) to launch their own post-season contest in the American heartland.

Spearheaded by Harold Olsen, head coach at Ohio State University, eight teams representing eight national regions took to the court on March 17, 1939. With 5,000 fans in attendance at the Final in Northwestern’s Patten Gymnasium, the Oregon Webfoots defeated Olsen’s Buckeye’s 46-33 to hoist the competition’s first trophy.

Though many of the seats were given away and the tournament lost $2,500, the NABC felt confident that their collegiate championship had great potential to become a preeminent sporting attraction.

The second year saw the Indiana Hoosiers prevail over the Kansas Jayhawks 60-42. No longer in the red, the series now showed a profit of $9,500 and the NABC handed over the administration of the games to the NCAA. The battle lines between the NCAA and the NIT were drawn.

But next to the NIT, the NCAA still fell short on attendance and earnings. In New York, schools were compensated for their expenses and given a large percentage of the tournament profits. Meanwhile, the NCAA could barely meet the costs of its invitees.

The winner of the NIT was also generally regarded as the “true” national champion. Local schools like St. John’s, NYU, LIU and City College of NY (CCNY) had produced many of the top players, coaches and teams in the early decades of college basketball.

But that test came in 1943 when the NCAA moved its East Regional and the Final to MSG. A year earlier, an official close to the Red Cross had also suggested that the NIT and NCAA go head-to-head for a national championship. The Red Cross at the time was deeply involved in charity games to raise funds for the war effort.

On April 1, 1943, 18,000 fans packed MSG to watch the NCAA winner, Wyoming, defeat its NIT counterpart, St. John’s. The NCAA would win two more of these faceoffs and reign supreme in three of the Red Cross “mythical national championships”.

Money and prestige kept the NCAA in New York until revelations emerged of game-fixing activities and mob influence. In 1951, authorities uncovered a point-shaving scandal that went back years and which involved mostly, but not exclusively, New York area schools.

The NIT’s reputation was badly damaged and the NCAA decided to abandon ‘Gotham’, forever stripping New York of hosting an NCAA Final. The following year, the collegiate association also doubled its field from 8 to 16 teams and implemented a new policy that widened the invitations to include not just automatic champions, but at-large bids and “also-rans” (conference losers).

Representing an increasing number of university athletic departments, the NCAA grew in influence and was able to dictate stricter terms to its participants and independents. It also ran negative campaigns disparaging the big-city, off-campus, privately-run model of the NIT.

By the early 1960’s, the NCAA had outmaneuvered its rival for first dibs in invitations. The NIT was left powerless and even if teams refused to abide by the arrangements and opted for the NIT, they risked being sanctioned or reprimanded by the NCAA.

Relegated to the NIT after being denied a post-season berth at the national collegiate championship, North Carolina State University’s David Thompson referred to the NIT in 1975 as “a loser’s tournament”. The label stuck and over time, it became euphemistically branded as the ‘consolation’ tournament.

Even court battles couldn’t hold back the NCAA juggernaut, which was increasingly fueled by the popularity of ‘March Madness’ and lucrative prime-time television contracts that the NIT lacked. By 2005, the decades-old battle between the two tournament associations was over when the NCAA settled all litigation and took over the NIT.

 

[tOSUGrad90]

Stanford, Kentucky, Kansas, Colorado, Illinois, Penn State, Rice (private), and Dartmouth (private Ivy League school) played in the NCAA Tournament.

West Virginia (public), Long Island, CCNY (public), Rhode Island (public), Creighton, Toledo (public), Western Kentucky State (public), and West Texas State (public) played in the NIT.

No, the NIT was NOT "more revered and respected" than the NCAA Tournament. Not in 1942, and not now.

Stanford = 1942 basketball National Champion

 

[TownesVanZandt]

According to history WVU was before the cutoff.
What is wrong with a WVU fan pushing that on a WVU message board...


Go over to the TCU message board Killer frogs and they claim they have 3 legit NC in Football.
That goes unchecked...

 

[tOSUGrad90]

It's called propaganda, which is exactly what you spew as you desperately seek validation here for WVU as a make-believe Texas fan. Google that.

 

[TownesVanZandt]

It's called propaganda, which is exactly what you spew as you desperately seek validation here for WVU as a make-believe Texas fan. Google that.

Read the story..

It is called history. Are you that upset by it.

NIT had a much larger stage with more money until the NCAA took it from them in 1943
After WVU won it.

 

[tOSUGrad90]

Read the participants in each tournament. Your first propaganda piece was public vs. private, which I destroyed with facts, but you keep spinning. Stanford is the true 1942 basketball champion, and it eats you alive, WVpride304. But you're a Texas fan, right?

 

[TownesVanZandt]

You obviously don't know your basketball history

The NCAA went after some of those NYC schools soon after that.

Those NYC schools had much bigger names back then because there was no television.

The large land grant schools like Kansas and others made the move to change the tournament.

 

[TownesVanZandt]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nat_Holman

 

[tOSUGrad90]

You obviously aren't a Texas fan, TVS/WVpride304. No Texas fan would spend all day and night on a message board trying to prove that another school was a national champion. Allen--one of the biggest genuine WVU fans on here--destroyed your desperate argument when he pointed out that WVU doesn't even recognize the 1942 NIT championship as the true national championship.

 

[tOSUGrad90]

I don't click on your Google links, WVpride304. For somebody who claims to be a great sports historian, you do a lot of Google searches. LOL

 

[TownesVanZandt]

I never said they won the NCAA NC.

The won the NIT Championship

Who knows if WVU turned down an invite from the NCAA.
At that time the NIT was considered a bigger stage

I can use your same logic and say why would an Ohio State fan care.
You aren't even in the same conference...

Your standing on this message board would be a lot less than mine

 

[TownesVanZandt]

DePaul gave their NCAA spot away in 1944 for the NIT..

Learn your history.
Ohio State fan should know this

https://www.ozy.com/the-huddle/the-nit-was-awesome-until-the-ncaa-ruined-basketball/83025/

In 1944, the Ohio State men’s basketball team suffered a devastating late regular season loss to DePaul University and its star, college hoop’s first great big man, 6-foot-9 George Mikan. After the game, the Buckeyes sat in the locker room, dejected that they likely had come up short in their bid for one of the eight spots in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament.

At the time it was the only postseason option for Big Ten teams, and tournament organizers selected only one team per district. DePaul’s head-to-head win made it the favorite in the district. Ray Meyer, the head coach at DePaul, noticed the demeanor of Ohio State’s players and pulled aside their coach to let him know that they could have the NCAA slot. He’d rather send his Blue Demons to the National Invitation Tournament.

Today that decision would seem like lunacy. The NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament — aka March Madness — is attended by hundreds of thousands of fans; millions more watch on TV. The NIT is seen widely as a consolation prize for teams shut out of an NCAA invitation. But in the late 1930s and ’40s, DePaul was far from the only team to prefer the NIT. When fielding its roster, tournament organizers had a simple goal: Put the nation’s best teams in a single elimination competition — no matter where the selected schools were located.

In those years, the NIT was a more prestigious tournament than the NCAA,” Meyer wrote in his autobiography Coach. “It was played in New York, while the NCAA was played on scattered campuses in smaller towns. The schools took home thousands of dollars as their share of the gate receipts for playing in Madison Square Garden. In the NCAA eliminations, they were lucky to make expenses. So the NIT meant a lot more to a struggling private school like DePaul.”

The NIT also is the senior competition, organized in 1938 as a six-team affair by entrepreneurial New York City sportswriters. That first year the Temple University Owls won all three of their games, prevailing in the final over the University of Colorado Buffaloes 60-36. Inspired by the inaugural NIT, the NCAA launched its own spring tilt the following year. They had seen how successful a college basketball tournament could be and wanted a piece of the action.

By the time DePaul ascended as a regional power, the NIT fielded eight teams (it currently has a 32-team format). In the 1944 final the Chicago squad bowed 47-39 to New York’s St. John’s University, which recorded its second straight NIT title. The following year, DePaul had its moment of glory, topping Bowling Green 71-54 as the bespectacled Mikan was named tournament MVP.

“It was a national championship,” confirms Doug Bruno, current head coach of the DePaul women’s team who also played under Meyer from 1968 to 1973. “It was Madison Square Garden. It was the mecca of college basketball. It’s what everyone had their eyes on. The NCAA — yes, they had a tournament, but it was really an afterthought tournament at that point.”