The Big Dance: The Story of the NCAA Basketball Tournament

The NCAA basketball tournament has evolved into one of the most prominent annual sporting events in the United States, but its colorful, far-reaching history proves too big for veteran sports writers Wilner (Harvard Beats Yale 29-29) and Rappoport to handle. Only a few pages are devoted to the tournament%E2%80%99s humble eight-team beginnings in 1939; instead, Wilner and Rappoport rely on dozens of smaller stories divided into chapters such as %E2%80%9CGreat Performances,%E2%80%9D %E2%80%9CThe Coaching Giants,%E2%80%9D %E2%80%9CClassic Confrontations,%E2%80%9D and %E2%80%9CTourney Blunders.%E2%80%9D Highlights include North Carolina%E2%80%99s back-to-back triple-overtime wins in the 1957 semifinal and national championship games; the evolution of UCLA%E2%80%99s dynasty, which won 10 national titles in 12 seasons between 1964 and 1975; major upsets by North Carolina State in 1983 and Villanova two years later; and a condensed history of the women%E2%80%99s tournament. Similar in format and style to Rappoport%E2%80%99s The Little League That Could, this selective account shoots and misses with dull copy (%E2%80%9CHow would you describe one of college basketball%E2%80%99s legendary coaches? A winner.%E2%80%9D) and little attribution. However, in a perceptive epilogue the duo addresses the potential expansion of the tournament field beyond%C2%A068 teams, TV%E2%80%99s role in Selection Sunday, and eliminating campus sites in favor of domed stadiums. This book serves as a nice primer for the 2012 tournament, but is far from a definitive history of the event. Photos. (Feb.)