Mar

19

1946 NCAA Championship Game, Madison Square Garden

March 19, 2008 | Subscribe to this post
Posted by Elizabeth Hull in Uncategorized

3 Comments so far

1. Ron Holland on April 15, 2008 9:06 pm Edit This

   I think Carolina won its first national championship in the late 1920s.

2. Jack Hilliard on April 15, 2008 9:47 pm Edit This

   The first of Carolina’s national championships came long before the term “March Madness” became an annual rite of spring. In fact, when Carolina won the 1924 national championship with a 26-0 record, there wasn’t even an NCAA Tournament.

   The Helms Foundation voted the Tar Heels as national champions after their perfect season, since there was no post-season tournament. Carolina defeated Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Alabama en route to the Southern Conference championship.

   Cartwright Carmichael, Jack Cobb, Bill Dodderer and Monk McDonald led the UNC squad directed by first-year coach Norman Shepard. Carolina played its home games in the Indoor Athletic Center, also known as the Tin Can.

   The championship season was also Shepard’s last at the helm, as McDonald took over as head coach the following season. McDonald was the only former UNC player to coach the Tar Heels until Matt Doherty returned to Chapel Hill to take over in 2000-01.

3. Stephen Fletcher on April 16, 2008 10:35 am Edit This

   You’re right Ron, UNC won it’s first national championship in 1924. The NCAA tournament began in 1939, however, so 1946 was the first time UNC played in that tournament’s final, and 1957 was the first time UNC won the tournament.