It was a Monday night in April of 1984. Two of the premier big men in the world of college basketball were going head to head for the National Championship. It was the first time that Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon met on the court, starting a rivalry that would continue for over a decade into the NBA.
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• Over the weekend, Connecticut beat Missouri and Villanova eked out Pittsburgh while Louisville lost to Michigan State to give the Big East two teams in the Final Four. The Huskies and the Wildcats are on opposite sides of the bracket, so if they both win on Saturday, they’ll be facing each other for the title game on Monday night.
• In the NIT, Notre Dame beat Kentucky to advance to the semifinals in New York. They face Penn State tonight at 9:00 on ESPN2.
• On the women’s side, Louisville upset Maryland to reach the Final Four, and the perennial powerhouses Connecticut play Arizona State at 7:00pm tonight against to see if they can return to the Women’s Final Four for the 2nd straight year. Also, South Florida advanced to the Women’s NIT Semifinals, where they will face the Hoyas’ slayer, Boston College.

• The NCAA Final Four is set: Connecticut, Villanova, Michigan State, and North Carolina. Georgetown beat the two Big East teams this season, and the last time they played North Carolina was a victory as well. The Hoyas lost to Michigan State in their only meeting back in the 1986 NCAA Tournament.
• Georgetown’s Women’s Basketball team fell to Boston College 65-56 last night, ending their postseason run in the WNIT Quarter Finals. The Lady Hoyas ended the season with a 20-14 record and will return the core of their lineup for next season.
• Alonzo Mourning will become the first player in Miami Heat history to have his jersey retired when they hoist #33 in the rafters tonight during Miami’s game against the Orlando Magic. Patrick, Dikembe, and Big John will all be there to honor Alonzo at the halftime ceremony. After his career-ending injury last season, we talked to some Georgetown and NBA experts about his legacy, and here’s what Rich Chvotkin, Dwayne Bryant, and Dave Johnson had to say: Alonzo’s Legacy

Looks like Tony will have to wait until tonight to see one of Georgetown’s Big East rivals lose - Pittsburgh, Connecticut, and Villanova all advanced to the Elite Eight last night with wins over Xavier, Purdue, and Duke, respectively.

Louisville and Syracuse play tonight with the Cardinals facing the #12 Arizona Wildcats at 7:07 and Syracuse matching up with Oklahoma at 7:27.

And in a Women’s NIT update, the Lady Hoyas beat Richmond last night to advance to the quarterfinals. They will travel to Boston College on Sunday for the game at 5:00pm.

Remember that episode of Seinfeld when Elaine and Jerry are talking about what Jerry likes about women? Elaine suggests that she always thought he was a ‘leg man.’ Jerry dismisses that notion by responding with, “Why would I be a leg man? I don’t need legs. I have legs!” I feel the same way when people talk about conference loyalty.
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Last week, the NCAA Selection Committee revealed their bracket for the 2009 NCAA Tournament. There was, as always, lots of debate about who should have gotten in but didn’t, or vice versa. But there was relatively little debate about two things that stuck out clearly in my mind: the choice of the number one seeds and the selection of Maryland as a tournament team. To me, the arguments that would justify one of the decisions would immediately undermine the arguments for the other.
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• St. John’s lost in the opening round of the CBI tournament on Wednesday and they got to share the honor of first Big East team to lose in the postseason with the Hoyas who fell to Baylor in the NIT. West Virginia was the only Big East team to lose in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
• In the second round of the Big Dance, Marquette made a surprise announcement that Dominic James was able to play after missing almost a month with a broken foot. Sadly, his 17 minutes wound up as his last in a Golden Eagles uniform as they couldn’t hold on to a two-point lead with under a minute left and fell 83-79 to Missouri. Marquette had fought back from down 16 to make it a game, but a costly turnover with five seconds left allowed Missouri to stretch the lead to four. A missed call with 2 seconds left ended all hope for any last-second heroics.
• Still alive from the Big East are five teams: Pittsburgh, Louisville, Connecticut, Syracuse, and Villanova. It is the first time in history that five teams from the same conference have made it to the Sweet Sixteen. Meanwhile, Notre Dame has advanced to the quarter finals of the NIT where they will face the Wildcats of Kentucky.

• The 2008-09 season of Georgetown Men’s Basketball is officially over, as the Hoyas fell to the Baylor Bears in the opening round of the NIT on Wednesday.
• The Lady Hoyas, meanwhile, started their postseason with two wins in the WNIT. The women defeated Winthrop on Friday night at McDonough, and then traveled to Wake Forest on Sunday whom they beat 72-61. They will play their third round game at home on Thursday against the Richmond Spiders. The game starts at 7:30, so be sure to make it out to McDonough to continue supporting the Hoyas.
• The opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament has come to a close and all #1, #2, and #3 seeds have advanced to the Sweet 16. You can check out the updated bracket here, courtesy of ESPN.com: NCAA Bracket.

Less than a week after winning their first America East Tournament Championship, earning themselves their first trip to the Big Dance, the Binghamton Bearcats lost to the Duke Blue Devils in the opening round of the tournament.

Former GU Assistant Kevin Broadus led his team to the America East regular season title as well as the conference tournament title, but his Bearcats didn’t have enough to match up with Duke. After the game, Coach Broadus said, “We know we belong here,” so just because their season has ended, don’t count them out just yet. I expect to see a lot more from BU in years to come.

I just got an email from someone at USNews.com linking me to this article written by John Thompson Jr. about March Madness and how it has evolved since 1984. Definitely worth a read, even if the Hoyas’ madness has already ended.

John Thompson: March Madness More Intense Now Than 1984, for Better and Worse