…in the Blah, Blah, Blah fact checking department.

Ken,

I have not researched this and know you are just reporting what I have seen elsewhere but I don’t see how UCLA and UK could have been Nos. 1 and 2 before the 1975 NCAA Tournament as IU was undefeated until losing to UK in the Mideast Regional Final and had beat UK by 24 during the regular season.

I am just wondering whether they continued weekly polling back then and UCLA and Nos. 1 and 2 reflected poll after the Regional Finals.

I have enjoyed reading your web site throughout the season!

Quint

Quint is exactly right. To be clear, I wasn’t just reporting what I heard elsewhere. I did the research myself, using the trusty NCAA Record Book. The book has a section labeled "Final Season Polls." That section has two sub-headings. One labeled "Final Regular Season Polls" which (I assumed) contains the pre-tournament AP and coaches polls, and another labeled "Final Post-Tournament Polls" which contains the silly post-tournament coaches polls that have been issued since 1994. That seems obvious enough, right?

Not so fast.

I wasn’t around for the ’75 season, but I’ve learned enough to know that the ’75 IU regular season was more impressive than the ’76 campaign. And as you would guess, the Hoosiers were #1 headed into the ’75 tourney. During portions of the ’70s, the AP issued polls during the tournament. But these polls hold no special distinction in the NCAA Record Book, so color me duped.

To be correct, the last time before tonight that the pre-tournament #1 and #2 met in the finals was forty years ago – 1965, UCLA and Michigan. Rare, indeed.