Reliving some memorable regular-season games

While NCAA Tournament games tend to be the most-remembered, here are a handful of nontourney matchups that stand out.

The court stood in the middle of the Astrodome, which touted itself as the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” and even the fans who shelled out the big bucks for the best seats in the house needed binoculars to see the action 40 yards away. It was called “The Game of the Century,” and on Jan. 20, 1968, it lived up to the billing.

No. 1 UCLA led by Lew Alcindor — later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — played No. 2 Houston and star Elvin Hayes in the sport’s first nationally televised primetime game. The teams went back and forth until Hayes made two late free throws to help the Cougars end the Bruins’ 47-game winning streak. UCLA gained its revenge with a 101-69 victory in a national semifinal in March.

“There were 52,000 at the game, but now you’d think there were 200,000 people there that night,” Hayes said years later. “Everywhere I go, I run into people who remember so much about it.”

As the AP Top 25 celebrates its 75th anniversary, it is worth reflecting on some of the great regular-season games that shaped the poll. There have been 43 games pitting the nation’s top two teams, most recently Gonzaga’s victory over UCLA on Nov. 23, 2021.

Seven of the 1-2 matchups have been for the national title and a further eight played in the Final Four, though those had no bearing on the poll because they were played after the final rankings were released. For the purposes of this exercise, that also eliminates seminal games like Magic Johnson and Michigan State against Larry Bird and Indiana State in the 1979 NCAA title game, or Texas Western’s all-Black lineup facing Kentucky for the 1966 crown.

Rather, here are some of the great regular-season games that AP voters would have had to consider:

■ MICHIGAN 80, PRINCETON 78 — Dec. 30, 1964

In the finals of the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden, Princeton star (and future U.S. senator) Bill Bradley poured in 41 points to give the unranked Tigers a 12-point lead over the No. 1 Wolverines. But after Bradley fouled out with less than 5 minutes to go, Cazzie Russell rallied Michigan to victory. The teams met again in the NCAA semifinals, with Michigan winning 93-76.

■ NOTRE DAME 71, UCLA 70 — Jan. 19, 1974

The top-ranked Bruins had

won 88 in a row, a streak that might never be matched, before coach Digger Phelps and the second-ranked Fighting Irish pulled off the upset. John Shumate and Gary Brokaw led the way against mighty UCLA star Bill Walton. The Bruins won a rematch at Pauley Pavilion a week later.

■ CHAMINADE 77, VIRGINIA 72 — Dec. 23, 1982

With all due respect to recent No. 16 seeds that triumphed in the NCAA tournament, this remains the biggest upset in college basketball history. The Silverswords, an NAIA school of fewer than 900 students, had just lost to Wayland Baptist a couple of days before stunning Ralph Sampson and the topranked Cavaliers.

■ UNLV 112, ARKANSAS 105 — Feb. 10, 1991

No. 2 Arkansas led by 10 at halftime over the top-ranked Runnin’ Rebels inside deafening Barnhill Arena before the trio of Larry Johnson, Greg Anthony and Stacey Augmon silenced Razorbacks fans. Jerry Tarkanian’s team beat Nolan Richardson’s bunch at its own game, turning “40 Minutes of Hell” into a hellish night for the Razorbacks.

■ KENTUCKY 99, LSU 95 — Feb. 15, 1994

It became known as the “Mardi Gras Miracle,” at least by those in Kentucky, and for years it was the biggest comeback in college basketball history. The Rick Pitino-coached Wildcats, who were ranked 11th, trailed by 31 points with 15 minutes left before Walter McCarty, Jeff Brassow and Travis Ford led them on a 62-27 charge for the miraculous victory over Dale Brown’s unranked Tigers. LSU missed 11 of its 12 free-throw attempts in the final 12 minutes.

■ DUKE 85, NORTH CAROLINA 84 — Feb. 9, 2012

It wouldn’t be a “great games” list without one matchup along Tobacco Road. The fifth-ranked Tar Heels had won a school-record 31 in a row at home, and they had the Blue Devils down by 10 with a 2:30 to go. But No. 10 Duke’s Austin Rivers capped an unlikely rally with a swished a 3-pointer over 7-footer Tyler Zeller at the buzzer.

■ KANSAS 109, OKLAHOMA 106, 3OTs — Jan. 5, 2016

Rarely do opposing players get standing ovations at Allen Fieldhouse, but that’s exactly what the Sooners’ Buddy Hield received after a 46-point performance against Kansas. His eight 3-pointers kept second-ranked Oklahoma within striking distance of the topranked Jayhawks, but Perry Ellis and Co. proved to be too much at the end.

MUTHERSBAUGH/TIMES-NEWS VIA AP 2012 SCOTT Duke’s Austin Rivers lets fly the winning 3-pointer to cap off a rally that stunned host North Carolina in February 2012. The Blue Devils’ win is one of the intense rivalry’s most-remembered games.

AP 1982 It was a true David vs. Goliath moment when previously unknown Chaminade, an NAIA school, shocked Ralph Sampson and topranked Virginia in December 1982 in what arguably is college basketball’s biggest upset.

SAM PIERSON JR./HOUSTON CHRONICLE VIA AP 1968 Houston star Elvin Hayes celebrates with fans after the Cougars ended UCLA’s 47-game winning streak with a 71-69 upset in the Astrodome in January 1968.

AP 1974 Notre Dame’s Adrian Dantley (left) and his teammates got the best of Bill Walton and UCLA in January 1974, ending the Bruins’ 88-game winning streak.