Man, that Louisville team was tough. Bleed blue til I die, but that was one tough team. The game between Louisville and Houston in the final four was one of the all time greats. Miss this era of basketball.
I was a Cat fan and just 12 years old in 83. I hated this game of course, but looking at it now I can appreciate genius Coach Crum and the athletes that could get it done. I remember Crum would schedule the big dogs in the early season when other top 20 teams were beating up on the little guys. He always seemed to have post season in mind. He conditioned them to run and run some more, and play smart, much like UK in the Pitino years. It seemed Louisville was just toying with them in the 1st half, but they still controlled the pace. UK couldn't keep up. They were totally worn out by the end of regular time and had nothing left physically or mentally. They seemed helpless in OT watching the ball be stolen and dunked. Ouch!
Yes, Crum allowed the opponent to have a "false" sense of momentum. This would allow U of L to get a feel of the other team. Second half though....those practice runs paid off.
Yes ‼ It was a awesome game.And what made it even better my team won ! Just great plus I'm very familiar with Milt Wagner and Billy Thompson. Big time Rivals of Atlantic city basketball...🏀
i started following College basketball inn1980 where I became s fan of Louisville defeated UCLA. A funny thing, In my Junior high school, our team was the Wildcats. I forgot that I should have been rooting for Kentucky. Great win for the Cards. Now a Michigan grad and fan.
Growing up these games were huge. Unfortunately these days kids don’t get to see this type of atmosphere in college basketball. These were the days when Ebony & Jet magazine would annually announce the McDonald’s high school All American team and we would rush to see who was on it.
The 1959 Louisville team ended up making the Final 4 and lost to Jerry West's WVU team in the Final 4 team that also had the father of Gymnast Mary Lou Retton.
Louisville showed heart after UK tied the game at the buzzer. A lot of times a team that hits a shot like that continues on in the OT with the momentum to win the game. Of course using the 2-2-1 denial press really turned up the pressure in OT.
Incredible that this game's legend was surpassed by the "Welcome to the 21st Century" matchup between Louisville and Houston the very next weekend. Then the NC State national championship and the tragic end for Jim Valvano. Coaches vs. Cancer and the Jimmy V Classic are now far better recognized than the intensity of Kentucky & Louisville's 1983 dream game.
I've only seen bits and pieces of the opening, so it's great to see it in whole. I'd be so happy to see CBS/Turner do a pre-game show this full of substance in today's day and age, but I doubt it...
Oh yes they would have best the tards. Until Sam got hurt he was one of the best players in the country. U don't think a 7'1 Bowie along with Turpin wouldn't have made a difference your nuts
Great game! Both teams were loaded to the brim with talent, and I think it's fair to say both teams played their asses off that day at Stokley Coliseum down in Knoxville, Tennessee.
THANKS JOHN FOR THE CONFIRMATION THOSE WERE THE EARLY DAYS OF CBS NCAA TOURNAMENT COVERAGE REMEMBER WHEN BRENT MUSBERGER WOULD GET UP FROM HIS POWER CHAIR LOL AND WALK OVER TO THE BRACKET BOARD TO MOVE THE WINNER S ALONG ......
If they had the 3 point line during the Darrell Griffith era....they would have just mailed the Championship Trophy to Louisville for 4 years and saved all the trouble. But it is fun to play what-ifs.
@@Michael-dd6hl UK was whipping the Hoyas in the 1st half of that final 4. Bowie was a shell of himself that year. Go back and look at bowie b4 the injuries. They definitely have a shot in 83
Wow this was a hell of a game one of the best games I ever seen both teams played they hearts out refs did a good job at letting the boys play wish the refs called that sweet 16 game like that this year but its cool mark my words I feel we will play Kentucky again in the tourney and next time it will be for it all the ship and we will get are payback for 2012 &2014 L1C4.......
I watch this game in a little country store I bet a buddy Louisville would win and at the end of the game I started clapping I had won some money that was a mistake everyone else was for KY and they run me off about a week later I went back to the store the owner told me he felt bad about it and bought me lunch the store is closed now and when I see him now he brings it up and we just laugh about it and I never did get my money
Ths was the only true "Dream Game" in my opinion because they were playing to see who would advance in the NCAA tournament and in the end in the OT, U of L's speed and quickness took a toll on UK. Lancaster Gordon was a master playing in the passing lanes and getting his hands for pass deflections. Great U of L team and they should won the NCAA title that year but fell short against Houston and Phi Slamma Jamma.
Debunked: It would be absolutely one year later when they would meet in the NCAA tournament. The two teams played in the Regional Semi-finals in Lexington, where the Cats beat the Cards 72-67.
The reason for sweet 16 highlights is that in those days CBS only did 1 game on Thursday and Friday night from the sweet 16 and more often than not at least 1 of those games was on a tape delayed basis.
daniel anderson If you lived in the TV market of one of the participating schools you would then get the game live via your CBS affiliate if on CBS. If ESPN had the game(and they had games in the sweet 16 from 1982-87) you could possibly get the game on a local station if they chose to pick it up. Those ESPN games were NCAA production games. It was also the same for the 1st round on Thursday and Friday. ESPN also did ALL Sweet 16 games in 1980 and 1981. Again these were NCAA productions games so there was the option of a local station in the markets of the schools picking up the games. This all ended in 1988 when CBS started doing the entire sweet 16 and 1991 for the 1st round when CBS got the whole tourney.
That was pretty ballsy by Coach Crum to put on a full court press- could have led to a lot of easy hoops for KY but it worked well for the Cards. This was back when college roundball was really great- now you have all these jackasses running around with long har and tattoos wearing pajamas and clown shoes with nowhere near the skill level of these guys from back in the 70s and 80s. Even the TV coverage was more professional back then...
The final four match came in 2012. Although since the Cards have been sanctioned harshly, and maybe the game doesn't appear on the record anymore. Such sanction seems empty in the internet era
Kentucky didn't want no parts of Louisville it leads me to believe if they would have been playing all those years Louisville will lead the series. Denny Crum greatest Louisville Cardinals coach ever! Ls up Go Cards!
+Chris Kreager It would not have been nearly as exciting as Louisville vs Houston match up. Both were the most athletic teams in the country, and it made it one of the best Final Four games of all-time.
They had slightly different teams in 1984 but they played in 1984 and Kentucky won in Lexington by 9. But like I said they were different teams in 1984 than 1983.
In the 1st half when the cameraman got in the way, why is Billy Packer so insistent on Joe Hall receiving a T? As an Indiana fan, I absolutely loathed Joe Hall, but he was completely justified in pointing out the interference by the cameraman. Packer was always so quick to call for coaches to receive T's. What an unprofessional weasel.
BUT JOHN PAULSON I SAW THE GEORGETOWN - FRESNO STATE GAME LIVE FROM PROVO UTAH AT THE MARRIOTT CENTER ON THE BYU CAMPUS AT 11:45 PM EST AND WAS IN NEW YORK. CITY ON CBS I REMEMBER BECAUSE I HAD A SONY WATCHMAN UNDER MY COVERS AND THE GAME ENDED ABOUT 2AM AND I CHEERED AT EVERY MADE HOYAS BASKET AND HAD TO DO IT VERRRRY QUIETLY AND THE NEXT DAY IN 8TH GRADE HISTORY CLASS I WAS SOOOO SLEEPY ME AND A FEW CLASSMATES WERE IN THE SAME STATE ...... WHAT IM SAYING JOHN IN NYC THE THURSDAY LATE NIGHT GAME WAS LIVE !!!!!!!!!!!!!! GTOWN WON BY THE WAY 59-40!!!!!
A let's keep it real theory: Rupp not wanting to play a Louisville program that started to recruit Black players in the 60s. (such as Wes Unseld and Butch Beard!) The beef, for whatever reason post-Rupp, continued! As for this game, as tough as Louisville was, a Sam Bowie presence for Kentucky would have mattered........A LOT!!!!!!! And the committee was deliberate when pairing these squads in the region.....and in Knoxville, to boot!
Rupp and UK had a policy for decades not to schedule any in-state schools in any sport. Joe B. kept this up. UOL winning this game shattered that policy. Unfortunately, the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville still has it.
Rupp recruited Unseld and Beard. The reason they did not attend UK was the fear that in Oxford, Miss., which had riots over James Meredith's enrollment, they would face danger, as they would in other SEC towns. Rupp's great mistake was not leaving the backward SEC. Tulane left the conference in '63 so it could recruit black players and Kentucky should have too.
Although UL won the original Dream Game, few could've predicted the dominance that has transpired SINCE that game. *UK has posted a 28-12 record against the Cards. *UK has a perfect 3-0 record against UL in NCAA Tournament games played between the schools in 1984, 2012, and 2014. *UK has enjoyed winning records against their two Hall of Fame coaches: 13-6 vs. Crum and 12-6 vs. Pitino. *UK has a 10-8 record against UL in games played at Freedom Hall and the Yum! Center. The 'Cats are 16-4 against UL in Rupp, with two of those losses coming during probation and Billy Gillispie's first season. *UK has enjoyed three four-game winning streaks during the series and four three-game winning streaks. Conversely, UL's largest winning streak is two games.
