I've watched just about every championship game there has been. None had more intensity ever than this one. 83 was right up there too. but this one is so close and tightly played from the opening tip. The atmosphere was breathtaking.
To me, this was the greatest upset in college basketball history. This game shaped my life as I was struggling to finish college and Villanova winning that game gave me the inspiration and the impetus to finish college and get my degree. In a bizarre way, I feel like I owe so much to 5 players who just played their hearts out on that court that night of April 1st of 85'. Dwayne and Gary McClain, Pinkney, Pressley, and of course, the wildcard wonder, Harold Jensen-just incredible clutch shooting. Rollie, may you rest in peace. Thanks again for an incredible game plan and strategic approach with the "stallball" and the end of the first half. Finally, the referees were tremendous but I thought they missed two critical calls at the end of each half. There should have been a technical foul called and possible ejection on Reggie Williams for throwing a punch at Everson at the end of the first half. And obviously, the greatest blunder was at the end of the game when the referees should have given a technical to Georgetown for slapping the ball out of bounds at the end of the game. This would have given Villanova a free throw and the ball out at half-court-terrible piece of officiating at the end of the game especially after Georgetown had been warned once already. Actually, the referees just should have let the clock run out especially after Jensen, rightfully ran away from his inbound spot because by all rights the game should have been officially over at the point. Fortunately, these blown calls did not cost "Nova" the game because Georgetown was completely outplayed and outcoached by a much lesser Villanova team that night.
I predicted that Villanova would win - and everyone...and I mean everyone...laughed right in my face, and told me I didn't know a thing about basketball.
greatest upset? it was the championship and they met two times prior, both single digit games and one a 2 poin win for georgetown in overtime championships can't really be upsets apparently for a team that beat 3 top 7 teams on their way to the championship, that beat two 2 seeds and a 1 seed, that lost to georgetown by 2 points, beating georgetown by 2 points is an upset
Georgetown played incredibly good defense. Villanove shot 78.6% from the floor. It shouldn't be possible for both statements to be true, but that's the way it was.
Sad news to report in sports. Legendary coach John Thompson passed away this morning at age 78. Coach Thompson was the head coach of Georgetown University for 27 years and led the Hoyas to three final fours in the 80's, and winning it all in 1984. He was the first African-American to win the Men's National Championship. His towering presence will truly be missed. R.I.P. Coach.
Spring break 1985. Parents wanted me to go to my grandparents for the week. Said I wasn't going unless I watched the game. I went & got to watch the game. Glad I didn't miss it!
People forget that 85 Villanova title team was composed of battle tested seniors that as underclassmen got close to the FF but ran up against Worthy/Perkins/Jordan UNC AND Phi Slama Jama in back to back Elite 8's
apparently for a team that beat 3 top 7 teams on their way to the championship, that beat two 2 seeds and a 1 seed, that lost to georgetown by 2 points, beating georgetown by 2 points is an upset
@chrisuncleahmad Nova was 19-10 going into the tournament and 24-10 going into the championship game. They were solidly over 500 and spent a large portion of the regular season ranked.
I remember this game and was on the edge of my chair and standing up and yelling all during this game. I was so happy when the game was over.The Championship Parade was great too. What a Big Upset! The next two Championships were Awesome too! 2021
Georgetown was a great team with no weakness. But the strongest part of their game was defensive rebounding. Kinda hard to utilize that when the other team is shooting near 80% from the field. That was the difference in what was still a very close game.
Referees certainly called "traveling" differently than now. A different era. No 3-pt line, no shot clock....what a different game! I remember watching this game and being devastated by the Nova win. Rollie is fun though...
Biggest upset in the history of the NCAA finals. This was a powerhouse Georgetown team that was looking to win back to back championships led by Patrick Ewing! Villanova played a perfect game to win it!! A colossal upset!
Gary was one of my counselors at a Substance Abuse center in West Palm called the Watershed. I don't think it's around anymore. Dude had so much potential...And wasted it all!! He's a cool Fella though. 😎
The North Carolina Tar Heels and their 4 corner "offense" is what brought about the shot clock. I hated North Carolina in the 1970s for their boring 4 corners "offense",. It was absolutely ridiculous. they would get a lead and then just set up and pass the ball around for 5 minutes and more. That is not basketball, it doesnt take much talent to pass the ball around to your teammates for 5 minutes and more
SAME man, personally i liked the slower and methdocal basketball not this overly scoring inflated basketball we have right now, i like close up and post shots. It reminded me of football on how slow this was which i like, not really fan of fast paced ball. i like the build up and set up to the score, i wish someone would make a variation of basketball like this.
I remember this game so well. Watched it with My Dad (Nova alum) screaming the whole time. Nova was not backing down from anyone and just went for it. Wow. As for the upset magnitude, who cares. It was clearly a memorable upset for the ages. Go Cats!
I think the biggest play of the game comes at 1:07:30. Georgetown has the ball and a one point lead 54-53, and they turn it over while in the four corners with about 3 minutes to go. It’s very plausible had Martin not made that bad pass that Georgetown could have held the ball and forced Villanova to foul. That turnover started a complete turnabout.
I remember watching this game live with my stepfather he was a big Georgetown fan we went to a lot hoyas games he was so mad i was a child he broke the tv after that game i was scared i just went to bed
Brent Musburger says neither problem cheated academically to get where they are tonight. I call BS on that. They all have their essays and tests done for them. Fast forward 2023, and it is still the case. I promise that!
Most conferences had a shot clock by this point but because every conference didn't have one there couldn't be one in the tournament. I think the three pointer was also in the works at that the time of this game because it would in college play by the 86-87 season
Villanova and Georgetown played two close games during the season Villanova made 22 of 28 field goals 10 of 11 in the second half 78.1% if Villanova shoots say 70% Georgetown probably wins
@@GBU61 Yeah, that's obviously up there... but NC State was a #6 seed in a 52 seed tourney. Houston was heavily favored of course, but not the reigning National Champions in that Final. Villanova was a #8 seed in a 64 team tourney, playing against a Hoyas team with Ewing (arguably the greatest college player ever, and whose teams played in 3 Finals in his 4 years... close to a dynasty team) that had won it all the previous year. In my mind, that makes this game a bigger upset.
@@RobbieStacks90 Does this then mean that Vegas thought the Villanova win was more of an upset? I'm guessing yes, based on your Norfolk vs. Mizzou statline. (Sorry, I know zilch about sports betting) But thanks for posting!
Wild having three whole rows of prime seating behind the benches for sportswriters. I miss old Rupp Arena where the seats were all sorts of colors and simple center court design.
I like the video, but shut the audio; Brent Musberger was a terrible biased CBS sports analyst whose comment "John Thompson is starting to take this game very seriously" in the first half is absent in this presentation. Brent was also biased in radio coverage of Knicks/Spurs 1999 NBA Finals.
yup memphis won by 2 over BC. thats an insane season for one conference. also 3 of the 6 teams from the big east made the tournament had at least 10 losses and all but 1 of the 6 won at least one game in the tounament. This game for me felt like a big east tounament finals game. so physical and in your face. love it!
With shot clock and today's rules... Nova would have had zero chance against that Jaugernaut. But this allowed the biggest upset you will ever see. Just a couple years prior saw NC. St do it to Houston. Great Era of college game.
greatest upset? it was the championship and they met two times prior, both single digit games and one a 2 poin win for georgetown in overtime not to mention most of villanovas losses were single digits to some of the top seeded teams
apparently for a team that beat 3 top 7 teams on their way to the championship, that beat two 2 seeds and a 1 seed, that lost to georgetown by 2 points, beating georgetown by 2 points is an upset
Really bad sportsmanship on the part of Georgetown, ie., knocking the ball away after a basket so that the refs had to stop the clock, pulling Villanova players on top of them to try to get a cheap foul, asking the ref to wipe away sweat on the floor right when McClain was about to shoot his second foul shot to try to "ice" him (Georgetown didn't have any timeouts left), Williams punching Everson in the face at the end of the first half. Disgraceful.
He might have had he gone pro after his junior year because he wouldn't have been drafted by the Knicks. He is a rare case of a player hurting his career by not going pro early.
I'VE SINCE HAD MISGIVINGS ABOUT CHEERING FOR VILLA NOVA INSTEAD OF GEORGETOWN HERE . IF I HAD NOT CHEERED FOR VILLA NOVA I FEEL GEORGETOWN COULD HAVE WON THIS BY 30- 35 POINTS .
Nah, he stated he was high for the Memphis state game. If you watch the game you wouldn’t call it cheating, he was embarrassingly bad and looking back knowing what we know he was obviously high.
Ewing is a rare exception of someone that hurt his career by not going pro early. If he had gone pro early he would have been crafted by Portland or houston not the knicks
I've watched just about every championship game there has been. None had more intensity ever than this one. 83 was right up there too. but this one is so close and tightly played from the opening tip. The atmosphere was breathtaking.
To me, this was the greatest upset in college basketball history. This game shaped my life as I was struggling to finish college and Villanova winning that game gave me the inspiration and the impetus to finish college and get my degree. In a bizarre way, I feel like I owe so much to 5 players who just played their hearts out on that court that night of April 1st of 85'. Dwayne and Gary McClain, Pinkney, Pressley, and of course, the wildcard wonder, Harold Jensen-just incredible clutch shooting. Rollie, may you rest in peace. Thanks again for an incredible game plan and strategic approach with the "stallball" and the end of the first half.
Finally, the referees were tremendous but I thought they missed two critical calls at the end of each half. There should have been a technical foul called and possible ejection on Reggie Williams for throwing a punch at Everson at the end of the first half. And obviously, the greatest blunder was at the end of the game when the referees should have given a technical to Georgetown for slapping the ball out of bounds at the end of the game. This would have given Villanova a free throw and the ball out at half-court-terrible piece of officiating at the end of the game especially after Georgetown had been warned once already. Actually, the referees just should have let the clock run out especially after Jensen, rightfully ran away from his inbound spot because by all rights the game should have been officially over at the point. Fortunately, these blown calls did not cost "Nova" the game because Georgetown was completely outplayed and outcoached by a much lesser Villanova team that night.
I'm an IU fan, so I got 76/81/87. But the best memory I have is the Jimmy V 1983 NCST Wolfpack beating Phi Slamma Jamma on the dunk.
I predicted that Villanova would win - and everyone...and I mean everyone...laughed right in my face, and told me I didn't know a thing about basketball.
NC State vs. Houston is right up there too.
greatest upset? it was the championship and they met two times prior, both single digit games and one a 2 poin win for georgetown in overtime
championships can't really be upsets
apparently for a team that beat 3 top 7 teams on their way to the championship, that beat two 2 seeds and a 1 seed, that lost to georgetown by 2 points, beating georgetown by 2 points is an upset
not to mention most of villanovas losses were single digits to some of the top seeded teams
Georgetown played incredibly good defense.
Villanove shot 78.6% from the floor.
It shouldn't be possible for both statements to be true, but that's the way it was.
Thanks for saving me the time to type.. lol.. was exactly what i thought i would post. Thanks!
that's what march is about
Intense game wire to wire. Nova v. Georgetown its equal.
It depends on how many shots they attempted. If you don't attempt a lot of shots, but they almost always go in, then you have a chance of winning.
@@robertridley9279 I know they only attempted 10 shots in the second half
Sad news to report in sports. Legendary coach John Thompson passed away this morning at age 78. Coach Thompson was the head coach of Georgetown University for 27 years and led the Hoyas to three final fours in the 80's, and winning it all in 1984. He was the first African-American to win the Men's National Championship. His towering presence will truly be missed. R.I.P. Coach.
John and Rollie will assemble two teams for their rematch. I wonder who will get Kobe
RIP to them all
Dumbest and most incompetent coach ever.
Spring break 1985. Parents wanted me to go to my grandparents for the week. Said I wasn't going unless I watched the game. I went & got to watch the game. Glad I didn't miss it!
People forget that 85 Villanova title team was composed of battle tested seniors that as underclassmen got close to the FF but ran up against Worthy/Perkins/Jordan UNC AND Phi Slama Jama in back to back Elite 8's
apparently for a team that beat 3 top 7 teams on their way to the championship, that beat two 2 seeds and a 1 seed, that lost to georgetown by 2 points, beating georgetown by 2 points is an upset
@@MickeyMouse-lm6zj I mean they were barely over .500 before the tournament.
@chrisuncleahmad Nova was 19-10 going into the tournament and 24-10 going into the championship game. They were solidly over 500 and spent a large portion of the regular season ranked.
I remember this game and was on the edge of my chair and standing up and yelling all during this game. I was so happy when the game was over.The Championship Parade was great too. What a Big Upset! The next two Championships were Awesome too!
2021
I was 14 when this game was played and it established my love of March Madness!
I was home on spring break for this. I remember St. John's was briefly #1 that year.
Georgetown basketball was the original fab 5 in the 80's. They rocked every Nike shoe that came out and started trendsetting for the community
They said Nova would have to play a nearly perfect game to overcome Hoya Paranoia.
So they did.
Georgetown was a great team with no weakness. But the strongest part of their game was defensive rebounding. Kinda hard to utilize that when the other team is shooting near 80% from the field. That was the difference in what was still a very close game.
@@stephaniegormley9982 Villanova would let have been able to play that way with a shot clock
Referees certainly called "traveling" differently than now. A different era. No 3-pt line, no shot clock....what a different game! I remember watching this game and being devastated by the Nova win. Rollie is fun though...
Biggest upset in the history of the NCAA finals. This was a powerhouse Georgetown team that was looking to win back to back championships led by Patrick Ewing! Villanova played a perfect game to win it!! A colossal upset!
no shot clock, no 3 pointers, just a lot of seniors playing great basketball, very entertaining.
tbh i dont care what everyone say i like this basketball more. Low scoring but every score you make is valuable.
Gary was one of my counselors at a Substance Abuse center in West Palm called the Watershed. I don't think it's around anymore. Dude had so much potential...And wasted it all!! He's a cool Fella though. 😎
Greatest upset in championship history for college basketball. Unbelievably well coached game and best clutch shooting ever given the circumstances.
I love this old school ball. No shot clock, no 3 point line. Rollie Massimino was just brilliant.
The North Carolina Tar Heels and their 4 corner "offense" is what brought about the shot clock. I hated North Carolina in the 1970s for their boring 4 corners "offense",. It was absolutely ridiculous. they would get a lead and then just set up and pass the ball around for 5 minutes and more. That is not basketball, it doesnt take much talent to pass the ball around to your teammates for 5 minutes and more
@@loyevangelists I agree, I hated that 'slow down" nonsense.
SAME man, personally i liked the slower and methdocal basketball not this overly scoring inflated basketball we have right now, i like close up and post shots. It reminded me of football on how slow this was which i like, not really fan of fast paced ball. i like the build up and set up to the score, i wish someone would make a variation of basketball like this.
No shot clock is the only reason villanova won
@@zt1053 i like no shot clock it lessens the game more and it makes it more low scoring
I remember this game so well. Watched it with My Dad (Nova alum) screaming the whole time. Nova was not backing down from anyone and just went for it. Wow. As for the upset magnitude, who cares. It was clearly a memorable upset for the ages. Go Cats!
They were brilliantly coached. Breaking the full court press like that was amazing.
Harold Jensen. A Name Which Will Live In Infamy. Big East was King, what a privilege to grow up during that era.
The 1980s was the pinnacle of college basketball. The Big East was king and the ACC was right there with them.
Actually the big 10 won more championships than either conference in the 80s. Big 10 won 3 while big east and acc both won 2
The 3 Big East teams that went to the Final Four beat 3 ACC teams in the Elite 8
Georgetown got dirty when the chips were down.
I think the biggest play of the game comes at 1:07:30. Georgetown has the ball and a one point lead 54-53, and they turn it over while in the four corners with about 3 minutes to go. It’s very plausible had Martin not made that bad pass that Georgetown could have held the ball and forced Villanova to foul. That turnover started a complete turnabout.
I remember watching this game live with my stepfather he was a big Georgetown fan we went to a lot hoyas games he was so mad i was a child he broke the tv after that game i was scared i just went to bed
This game was incredible
Brent Musburger says neither problem cheated academically to get where they are tonight. I call BS on that. They all have their essays and tests done for them. Fast forward 2023, and it is still the case. I promise that!
Patrick Ewing was a midrange jumper from Jordan and this fairytale game from Villanova from winning 3 out of his four collegiate seasons
No way villanova would have played that way with a shot clock
Princeton did pretty well against the Hoyas despite the shot clock.
@@raygordonteacheschess5501 That Georgetown team was nowhere near as good as this one.
No Shot Clock, No Three Point Line, Clock doesn't stop on a made basket in the final minute. Completely different game
It's possible that this game caused them to make all those rules.
free from gimmicks
Most conferences had a shot clock by this point but because every conference didn't have one there couldn't be one in the tournament. I think the three pointer was also in the works at that the time of this game because it would in college play by the 86-87 season
@@zt1053It was all but formally announced that there would be a shot clock the next season. And yes the three pointer came in 1986-87.
The perfect game
Villanova and Georgetown played two close games during the season Villanova made 22 of 28 field goals 10 of 11 in the second half 78.1% if Villanova shoots say 70% Georgetown probably wins
Proverbs 11:24
There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.
Greatest upset ever. Villanova TAKE DOWN of the reigning Nat'l Champs. Love it.
I think the NC State over Houston was a bigger upset. Villanova had played Georgetown tough both previous times.
@@GBU61 Yeah, that's obviously up there... but NC State was a #6 seed in a 52 seed tourney. Houston was heavily favored of course, but not the reigning National Champions in that Final. Villanova was a #8 seed in a 64 team tourney, playing against a Hoyas team with Ewing (arguably the greatest college player ever, and whose teams played in 3 Finals in his 4 years... close to a dynasty team) that had won it all the previous year. In my mind, that makes this game a bigger upset.
NC State over that Houston team was more of an upset without question. Nova played Gtown very close that same year twice.
@@SeyePhi Yeah, again that's a huge upset. I wonder if there is a way to look back and see the Vegas odds on both games? Ha. That'd be fun.
@@RobbieStacks90 Does this then mean that Vegas thought the Villanova win was more of an upset? I'm guessing yes, based on your Norfolk vs. Mizzou statline. (Sorry, I know zilch about sports betting) But thanks for posting!
Harold Jensen
2:20 “it didn’t look pretty” bro that was a dime and a jelly 💀😭
Man not having that score displayed constantly must've been infuriating for you folks back in the day
Remember it well...what Villanova didn't do decided the game... they didn't miss.
Wild having three whole rows of prime seating behind the benches for sportswriters. I miss old Rupp Arena where the seats were all sorts of colors and simple center court design.
Let’s go nova, champs 2021! Let’s have another upset!
I like the video, but shut the audio; Brent Musberger was a terrible biased CBS sports analyst whose comment "John Thompson is starting to take this game very seriously" in the first half is absent in this presentation. Brent was also biased in radio coverage of Knicks/Spurs 1999 NBA Finals.
8 seed over 1 seed what a upset
World's Greatest Drag Race 10 brought me here
Memphis just squeaked by Boston College, otherwise we would have had an all Big East Final Four
yup memphis won by 2 over BC. thats an insane season for one conference. also 3 of the 6 teams from the big east made the tournament had at least 10 losses and all but 1 of the 6 won at least one game in the tounament. This game for me felt like a big east tounament finals game. so physical and in your face. love it!
Boston Colloge would not have beaten Oklahoma
Ed Pinckney looks like a 7 foot Dave Chappelle.
no shot clock and no 3-pointers. totally different game.
With shot clock and today's rules... Nova would have had zero chance against that Jaugernaut. But this allowed the biggest upset you will ever see. Just a couple years prior saw NC. St do it to Houston. Great Era of college game.
30:10 Unbelievable
Getting scorers great shots wins
greatest upset? it was the championship and they met two times prior, both single digit games and one a 2 poin win for georgetown in overtime
not to mention most of villanovas losses were single digits to some of the top seeded teams
apparently for a team that beat 3 top 7 teams on their way to the championship, that beat two 2 seeds and a 1 seed, that lost to georgetown by 2 points, beating georgetown by 2 points is an upset
Really bad sportsmanship on the part of Georgetown, ie., knocking the ball away after a basket so that the refs had to stop the clock, pulling Villanova players on top of them to try to get a cheap foul, asking the ref to wipe away sweat on the floor right when McClain was about to shoot his second foul shot to try to "ice" him (Georgetown didn't have any timeouts left), Williams punching Everson in the face at the end of the first half. Disgraceful.
WOW!
1:13:30
Still wish Ewing would've won a ring in the NBA.
He might have had he gone pro after his junior year because he wouldn't have been drafted by the Knicks. He is a rare case of a player hurting his career by not going pro early.
I want the ncaa to go back to a 45 second clock so we can get even more upsets in the tournament.
Last year with no shot clock
04/01/1985 - 39 years ago
at the end they kept running in easy but it was too late
Reggie Williams was such a dirty player. Loved that Villanova beat them.
I'VE SINCE HAD MISGIVINGS ABOUT CHEERING FOR VILLA NOVA INSTEAD OF GEORGETOWN HERE .
IF I HAD NOT CHEERED FOR VILLA NOVA I FEEL GEORGETOWN COULD HAVE WON THIS BY 30- 35 POINTS .
*Why didn't they at least foul at the last possession???*
The real competition was who could sweat more, Ewing or Thompson.
Gary McLain was high during the game
Nah, he stated he was high for the Memphis state game. If you watch the game you wouldn’t call it cheating, he was embarrassingly bad and looking back knowing what we know he was obviously high.
Patrick Ewing !!!
27 frethrows to 8
Željko Obradović brought me here...
*155 Likes and 0 Dislikes*
The only way Villanova could have won is by playing a near perfect game..which they did.
Ewing went 1/3 with NCAA titles and its great and awesome he got 1... but I wish he wouldve won one more 🏆🏆
This game is the microcosm of Ewing's career - good but not good enough. He then went to the Knicks to save the NBA and didn't win anything.
He was also on a perennial awful Knicks franchise. He had a star studded NBA career.
Olympic gold with Dream Team 1992
Nba had already been saved by bird and magic
Unfortunately a guy named Rodman got in the way.
Ewing is a rare exception of someone that hurt his career by not going pro early. If he had gone pro early he would have been crafted by Portland or houston not the knicks
Georgetown was a dirty team. Great team yes. But very chippy.
It makes me sick to watch Georgetown play,they where a bunch of thugs,just sad that John Thompson never taught his players class nor sportsmanship
And that tradition continues to this day.
Show your face 🚀