I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that there are not many people that will read this will  remember what they were doing or where they were 50 years ago today. I realize a lot of you were not even born yet on March 16, 1974. But for those of us who were making college basketball history we could never forget what we were doing or where we where on Saturday, March 16th, 50 years ago. There have been countless, historic college basketball stories since 1974 but there haven’t been many that tops what a little “Bible” college from Tulsa, Oklahoma did during “March Madness” of that year.

In 1969 Oral Roberts University was playing an NAIA schedule in places like Quincy, Il and Shawnee, Ok. Five years later our D1 nationally ranked basketball team was playing the University of Kansas in the Elite Eight Mid-West finals for the opportunity to play in the Final Four. We had played in the NIT the two previous years in New York and after winning 118 games and losing only 23, the Titans (Golden Eagles) were competing with the best programs in the NCAA. We led the nation in scoring in 1970-71 averaging 104 points a game. Our teams were in the top 5 in scoring every year from 1970 to 1974. We were ranked pre-season #4 in the country in 1972-73 by the AP. During the 1973-74 season we drew more fans to our new 10,500 seat Mabee Center Arena than ANY Oklahoma basketball program. Sport Magazine and Sports Illustrated did feature articles about the ORU’s  sudden rise in the college basketball world. With the help of the president and founder, Oral Roberts, we recruited outstanding high school players from NY, Florida, Michigan, Illinois, and Tennessee. ORU basketball had arrived as a “major” player on the college basketball scene in less than FIVE years. We were the new kids on the block that none of the D1 schools in Oklahoma would play.  (Basketball fans in Tulsa were so vocal that Tulsa University was shamed into finally playing us in 1974.) Even with all those accomplishments we held our collective breath on the day the 1974 NCAA basketball field was announced. In those days there were ONLY 32 teams invited and there were only a handful of “independents”, like Oral Roberts. (Not affiliated with a conference.) We were 21-5, including wins over San Diego State, Murray State, Houston, Loyola (Il), Virginia Tech, and SIU all on the road. Our five losses were to Jacksonville, USC, Long Beach State, Oklahoma City, and  Tulsa all on the road.

On March 2nd or 3rd we received THE CALL that validated what we had done over that 4 year period, we were chosen to participate in the tournament that would decide the college basketball champion. We were so happy we didn’t care where we played or who we played. WE WERE IN! Our players and staff (picture above) believed we could play and beat anyone. We were assigned to Denton, Tx to play Syracuse in the first round. They had won 6 or 7 games in a row at the end of the season to get a bid. The winner of our game would play the Missouri Valley Champion, Louisville Cardinals. The winner of the other game between Creighton and Texas would play the Big Eight champion, Kansas. The Mid-West Regional had been awarded several years earlier to Tulsa and was to be played in the beautiful, new Mabee Center on the campus of Oral Roberts University. That’s right, if we beat Syracuse in Denton, we get to go back home and play in our own building. (This would be the last time that a school would get to play an NCAA tournament game on their home court. It was also the last year that regional games were played in arenas that did not seat 13,000 or more.) We beat Syracuse in overtime in that first round 86-82. Five days later on Thursday, March 14 we played in the Sweet Sixteen against Louisville. All we knew about Louisville was that they were good. Ironically, we did not have a game the night Tulsa played Louisville during the regular season so I went to the game. As I was sitting there in the bleachers watching the game I thought how similar our ORU team was to them. They were athletic, quick, good offensively and Denny Crum was a very good coach. I was looking in a mirror, it was like watching us in different uniforms. I knew our game with Louisville was going to be good. The game on that Thursday was a back and forth game, I don’t think either team led by more that 6 points. Behind our All-American point guard, Sam McCants, who had 30 points and Al Boswell our SG, we won in OT, again, 96-93. Kansas beat Creighton 77-61 in the other game. So on Saturday,  March 16th (50 years ago today) the upstart “Bible” school from Tulsa, Oklahoma would be playing the “mighty, blue blood” basketball power, Kansas University, for the chance to go to the Final Four and play for a National Championship. As anyone would expect Mabee Center was standing room only and NBC televised the game over about half the country. The first 10 minutes we couldn’t buy a basket and got behind by 12 or 13 points. But with about 5 minutes to go in the first half we caught fire and at half-time we were down by 2 points. The second half we played very well and with about 5 minutes to go we were ahead by 7 or 8 points. (There were no 3s back then and no shot clock so a 7 or 8 point lead with 5 or less minutes was a fairly comfortable lead.) Our center, Eddie Woods, who was our inside defensive presence and a great rebounder, fouled out with about 3 minutes left in the game, that made a huge difference. We miss handled an in bound ball. We were called for a travel on a wide open layup off a great pass by McCants. We took an ill-advised shot from 25 feet and Kansas scored on about every possession, including being perfect from the free throw line. We missed an open 15 foot shot at the buzzer in regulation that would have won it.  For the third straight NCAA tournament game we were going into OT. Kansas (one player) made every shot they took in OT and without Woods to protect the lane and rebound we could not handle the Jayhawks. We lost 93-90. (Kansas lost to Marquette in the semi-finals in Greensboro, NC.) We were criticized for not playing more conservative the last 5 minutes of the game but we had gotten where we were by playing fast and no one had criticized us before that game. We had arrived on the college basketball “big stage” in a very short period of time. I never thought we got the recognition, nationally, for what we had accomplished. The rise of the ORU basketball program in a five year period is one of the great stories in all of college basketball history. It will never be done again because the rules have changed. So, 50-years ago today, I was sitting on the bench in front of a packed arena and millions more watching on TV, watching a great basketball game between a “blue blood” and a “maverick” for the ultimate prize….a trip to the college basketball Final Four. What were you doing? *Picture on left is ORU basketball staff. (L/R Jack Sutter, Dwayne “Moose” Roe, HC Ken Trickey, Art Polk) Terry Scott was on our staff in 1974, not pictured. *Picture on right is Sam McCants against Louisville in NCAA Tournament game. Sam was named outstanding player in the Mid-West Regional even though ORU lost in finals to Kansas.