New Frontier

For this first time in college basketball history, a team has won more than 37 games in a single season. Today, the Memphis Tigers have set a record, surpassing a couple of Duke teams and a UNLV team that had finished their seasons at 37. Today was 38. Monday, the Tigers will be playing to extend that record with a 39th that will make them champions.*

For the first time in my lifetime one of the two teams of which I am a fan for life is in the NCAA basketball championship game.** Memphis got to the Final Four in 1985 and lost in the semi-finals and Texas did the same in 2003 (I was at that one), but we are over that hump. Hopefully there is one more hurdle left in the legs of these high-flying Tigers.

As far as I can remember, this is the first time that one of the CBS commentators served as the arena announcer for the starting line-up. Good job, Jim Nantz, but what's the deal with that?

*None of those previous 37-game-winners won the national championship so this guarantees nothing for Memphis other than the milestone, itself. Of course, if Memphis had stopped at 37 like those teams did, that would have guaranteed a non-championship. At 38, there's a chance!
** Michigan is not one of my "fan for life" teams, but in 1989 - before I went to Texas or was a Longhorn fan - they won a surprising national championship with both of my older brothers enrolled, so they were certainly one of two family squads. In short, this isn't completely new to me so hopefully I won't be overwhelmed by the pressure and excitement of the first Monday in April.