More March Madness - Random Trivia Answers

• A1) Duke and North Carolina. The Blue Devils won finals over Kansas in 1991, Michigan in 1992, and Arizona in 2001 [Update: and over Butler in 2010], while the Tar Heels won finals over Michigan in 1993, Illinois in 2005, and Michigan State in 2009. Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, and Kentucky have each won twice.
• A2) Duke. The Blue Devils lost finals to Louisville in 1986, UNLV in 1990, Arkansas in 1994, and Connecticut in 1999. Kansas, Michigan, and Syracuse have all finished second twice. Duke has reached the finals seven times [Update: eight times through 2010], well ahead of Kansas (4), Florida (3), Kentucky (3), Michigan (3), North Carolina (3), and Syracuse (3).
• A3) Duke. Not surprisingly, the Blue Devils lead this category as well, with 10 appearances [Update: 11 through 2010].
• A4) North Carolina. And the Tar Heels are second with 9. Kansas is third at 7.
• A5) Nevada-Las Vegas. The UNLV Running Rebels ran the Duke Blue Devils off the court in 1990, amassing a record 103 points in a record thirty-point victory.
• A6) Maryland. With a 64-52 victory over Indiana in 2002, the Terrapins undercut Villanova's 66-point effort in 1985 in the last tournament played without a shot clock. [Update: Duke undercut Maryland with a 61-59 win over Butler in 2010.]
• A7) Oklahoma. The Sooners fell to the Kansas Jayhawks 83-79 in 1988, one year before Seton Hall and nine years before Kentucky matched their mark in OT losses.
• A8) Michigan. The Wolverines could only muster 51 points in losing to Duke in 1992, one fewer point than Indiana in 2002.
• A9) Villanova. The Wildcats were a lowly #8-seed when they upset the Georgetown Hoyas for the 1985 title.
• A10) Kansas. The Jayhawks benefitted from a couple of upsets to get by three lower-seeded teams, #11 Xavier, #14 Murray State, and #7 Vanderbilt, before upsetting #4 Kansas State, #2 Duke, and #1 Oklahoma to capture the 1988 title.
• A11) Michigan. The #6-seed Wolverines handled #11 Temple in the first round and #14 East Tennessee State in the second before upsetting #2 Oklahoma State, #1 Ohio State, and #4 Cincinnati to reach the 1992 final.
• A12) Louisiana State University and George Mason. LSU was a #11-seed when they upset #6 Purdue, #3 Memphis State, #2 Georgia Tech, and #1 Kentucky to advance out of the Southeast region in 1986. The Patriots upended #6 Michigan State, #3 North Carolina, #7 Wichita State, and #1 Connecticut to claim the East Regional in 2006.

More March Madness - Random Trivia Questions

The modern era of the Final Four was born when the NCAA enlarged the Men's Division I Basketball Tournament field to 64 teams in 1985. In the twenty-five Final Fours that have taken place since then, what schools hold the following records?

More March Madness Questions

• Q1) What two teams have won the most times [since 1985, for all twelve questions]?
• Q2) What team has been runner-up the most times?
• Q3) What team has reached the Final Four the most times?
• Q4) What team has reached the Final Four the second most times?
• Q5) What team had the highest winning score in a final?
• Q6) What team had the lowest winning score in a final?
• Q7) What team had the highest losing score in a final that didn't go to overtime?
• Q8) What team had the lowest losing score in a final?
• Q9) What was the lowest-seeded team to win the Final Four?
• Q10) What was the second lowest-seeded team to win the Final Four?
• Q11) What was the lowest-seeded team to reach the final but lose?
• Q12) What were the two lowest-seeded teams to reach the Final Four (semifinals)?

4-for-4 - Random Trivia Answers

• A1) Steve Kerr. The shooting guard helped Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls win titles from 1996 to 1998, then was traded to San Antonio Spurs, who won the 1999 championship. He added another ring with the team in 2003. Bill Russell, Sam Jones, and K.C. Jones all won a record eight consecutive titles with the Boston Celtics from 1959 to 1966 (Russell finished with a record 11 rings, one more than Sam Jones).
• A2) Al Arbour. The New York Islanders accomplished the feat from 1979-80 to 1982-83, immediately after Scotty Bowman and the Montreal Canadiens had done it. The all-time record is five in a row for Toe Blake with the Canadiens from 1955-56 to 1959-60.
• A3) Maureen Connolly. In 1953, Little Mo easily bested Julie Sampson Haywood in the Australian final, then took out Doris Hart in straight sets to capture the French, Wimbledon, and U.S. Championships.
• A4) Margaret Smith Court. She partnered with Ken Fletcher in 1963 and with John Newcombe (a shared Australian mixed doubles title), Fletcher, and Fred Stolle in 1965 before earning solo glory in 1970.
• A5) Al Oerter. In the middle of his 1956 to 1968 run, the New Yorker became the first man to surpass the 200-foot mark in 1962.
• A6) Carl Lewis. The Alabama native also won back-to-back 100m golds in 1984 and 1988, 200m gold in 1984, and 4x100m relay golds in 1984 and 1992 before capturing his ninth and final gold in the long jump in 1996. Besides Oerter and Lewis, the only other person to win individual golds in four consecutive Olympic games is sailor Paul Bert Elvstrom.
• A7) Steven Redgrave. The Brit teamed up with Matthew Pinsent for their second straight coxless pairs gold, to add to Redgrave's golds in the coxed pair in 1984 and coxless pair in 1988.
• A8) John Wooden. The Wizard of Westwood's UCLA Bruins won seven in a row from 1967 to 1973. No other team has won more than two titles in a row. Because freshmen weren't eligible to play back then, no players have won more than three in a row (Lew Alcindor, Sidney Wicks, and Henry Bibby).
• A9) Carlos Delgado. The Toronto Blue Jays first baseman remains the last person to go deep four times in a game on September 25, 2003.
• A10) Bill Madlock. The Chicago Cubs third basemen raised his average from .333 to .339 to leapfrog Ken Griffey Sr.'s .336.
• A11) Casey Stengel. Taking over late in 1949, the Old Professor led the New York Yankees to that year's championship and the next four.
• A12) Ted Williams. In 1946, the Splendid Splinter knocked a fourth inning offering by Kirby Higbie out of the park, and four innings later he did the same to Rip Sewell's famous eephus pitch.

4-for-4 - Random Trivia Questions

Today is the fourth day of the fourth month of the year, so let's ponder some athletes and sports teams that went 4-for-4.

4-for-4 Questions

• Q1) Who was the last NBA player to win four championship rings in four seasons?
• Q2) Who was the last NHL coach to lead his team to four Stanley Cups in four seasons?
• Q3) Who was the first female tennis player to win the Grand Slam?
• Q4) Including singles and doubles, who has won the most tennis Grand Slams?
• Q5) What American won the Olympic discus four straight times?
• Q6) What American won the Olympic long jump four straight times?
• Q7) In 1996, what British rower became the fourth athlete to win a gold medal in four consecutive Olympics?
• Q8) Who was the only coach to win four NCAA Final Four championships in four seasons?
• Q9) Who was the last Major League Baseball player to go 4-for-4 in a game, with four home runs?
• Q10) What player won the 1976 National League batting title by going 4-for-4 in the last game of the season?
• Q11) Who was the last Major League Baseball manager to win four World Series in four years?
• Q12) Who was the only Major League Baseball hitter to go 4-for-4 in an All Star Game?

March Madness - Random Trivia Answers

• A1) Coppin State. This year's madness began on Tuesday with Mount St. Mary's play-in win over Coppin State, which rode a hot streak into the event despite 20 losses and finished with the wrong kind of blackjack.
• A2) Kansas. In 1988, the Jayhawks captured a championship despite losing 11 of their 38 games.
• A3) Elvin Hayes. The Pro Basketball Hall of Famer pulled in 222 boards for Houston in 13 games for an average of 17.1 rebounds per game, including a record 97 in 1968.
• A4) Christian Laettner. The Duke forward netted 407 points over a record 23 games from 1989 to 1992. He also holds the career marks for free throws made and attempted (142 for 167).
• A5) Glen Rice. During Michigan's 1989 title run, the school's all-time leading scorer accounted for 184 of his team's 540 points.
• A6) Austin Carr. The Notre Dame guard netted 61 points in an opening round blowout of Ohio in 1970 and finished his tournament career with a record 41.3 average. Princeton Rhodes Scholar Bill Bradley holds the Final Four record, dropping 58 points on Wichita State in 1965 during the discontinued consolation game.
• A7) Ohio. In both 1961 and 1962 Cincinnati held off cross-state rival Ohio State for the crown.
• A8) Indiana State. Larry Bird and the Sycamores lost a historic final to Magic Johnson and the Michigan State Spartans in 1979. UNLV was undefeated until Duke avenged their previous year's loss in the 1991 semifinals. No other recent team has entered the tournament undefeated.
• A9) "One Shining Moment". David Barrett's tune was originally supposed to follow the 1987 Super Bowl but was cut due to time constraints. A nimble switch from "The ball is kicked" to "The ball is tipped" and a tradition was born a few months later. I don't understand why Barrett left "feel the wind in your face" in the lyrics though.
• A10) False. In 2008, eight days after this quiz was initially posted, all four #1 seeds reached the Final Four. Previously, the closest year was 1993 with three #1 seeds and a #2 seed. On the women's side, all the top seeds reached the semifinals in 1989.
• A11) False. Allison Feaster led Harvard to a 71-67 upset of Stanford in the opening round in 1998 when two Cardinal starters were out with injuries.
• A12) Georgia. Both teams lost their semifinal games to the eventual tournament champion. In 2004, Connecticut became the first university to win both tournaments in the same season.

March Madness - Random Trivia Questions

By the time you read this, the first two rounds will be mostly over, but the games will continue on into April Absurdity, ending on Monday the 7th. Unexpected upsets, Cinderella stories, and the win or go home format will keep basketball fans (and non-fans who are entered in Final Four pools) on the edges of their seat the whole way (well, except for the painful wait while teams travel twice). How much do you know about the NCAA Division I basketball championship tournament?

March Madness Questions

• Q1) What team reached the tournament with the most regular season losses?
• Q2) What team won the tournament with the most regular season losses?
• Q3) Who is the all-time leading career rebounder in the NCAA Final Four Tournament?
• Q4) Who is the all-time leading career scorer in the NCAA Final Four Tournament?
• Q5) Who scored the most points in a tournament?
• Q6) Who scored the most points in a tournament game?
• Q7) What was the only state to be the home of both participants in the finals?
• Q8) What was the last undefeated team to lose their perfect season in the finals?
• Q9) What is the Final Four theme song, which CBS accompanies tournament highlights with after the championship game?
• Q10) True or false: the Final Four has never consisted of the four #1 seeds.
• Q11) True or false: a #16 seed has never beaten a #1 seed in either the men's or women's Final Four tournament.
• Q12) What was the first college to have both its men's and women's basketball teams reach the Final Four in the same season?