ISU was undefeated and Larry Bird was a great player. And I had hopes ISU would complete its mythical and magical undefeated season. But, alas, Michigan State was the better team and as great as Bird was, Magic Johnson could do things as a 6'9 player that I never saw anybody that tall could do.

I knew ISU would not have sniffed being undefeated if they had competed in the Big 10 as MSU did. Gonzaga likely would not have gone undefeated in a P-5 conference this year. Like Gonzaga, ISU had a tough semifinal game defeating Arkansas 73-71 (like Gonzaga had a tough time with UCLA). Better players usually win the games, Villanova/Georgetown an exception.