Twenty-five years ago this weekend....

[Rick Cleveland]

https://mississippitoday.org/2021/03/26/state-painted-lexington-ky-all-maroon-25-years-ago/

 

[DawgsOnTheWing]

Thanks, Guv. Great article. Big Country may epitomize the role player more than any other,,,perhaps Brandon Vincent.

 

[aTotal360]

Damn I'm getting old.

 

[Drebin]

https://mississippitoday.org/2021/03/26/state-painted-lexington-ky-all-maroon-25-years-ago/

What a great read. Thanks Rick.

 

[047Dog]

There was a WCW rasslin pay per view in Tupelo the night of the Cincinnati game. The place erupted when word of the final score started to spread around the arena.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

I was in my last year at MSU set to graduate in December. That weekend was so crazy and fun. All my friends were at my place because of my BBQ and tater salad skills. We went to campus after we won and it was off the charts. You could actually hear the cheering from my place on old 25 just past Brusky's. We all piled in the bed of my friends truck and headed to the airport and were early enough to slap hands with the players and shake hands with Coach Williams, then ride back though pouring rain.

Tied with beating Alabama that fall for the best memory while in school.

 

[wsjmsu75]

There are only three moments in MSU sports history that can match that:

1) 6-3 win over Bama in 1980 (I was there, really.)

2) Reaching the championship series in Omaha in 2013 (I was there.)

3) Beating Auburn in 2014 to get to #1 in the football polls (I was there.)

Unfortunately I did not get to attend any of the basketball tournament games in 1996.

Eta- maybe four, guess I should include SEC championship game against UT in 1998. (I was not there.)

 

[Drebin]

I was in my last year at MSU set to graduate in December. That weekend was so crazy and fun. All my friends were at my place because of my BBQ and tater salad skills. We went to campus after we won and it was off the charts. You could actually hear the cheering from my place on old 25 just past Brusky's. We all piled in the bed of my friends truck and headed to the airport and were early enough to slap hands with the players and shake hands with Coach Williams, then ride back though pouring rain.

Tied with beating Alabama that fall for the best memory while in school.

I'm a little bit older than you, so when we beat Alabama in 96 I was running around on the field after the game like I was the old football player in Varsity Blues that kept coming to high school parties in his letterman's jacket.

That said, it pales in comparison with going to the final four to me. That was a really big deal. Conventional wisdom at the time was that we had no shot against Uconn and Cincinnati was a flat-out juggernaut that year.


One thing is for sure: 1996-2000 were heady times to be a State fan.

 

[Mobile Bay]

I almost didn't go to State because of this.

When I was touring campus they drove me around campus. When we got to Suttle the lady tour guide told me that this was where they had turned over a cop car after the game.

 

[047Dog]

There are only three moments in MSU sports history that can match that:

1) 6-3 win over Bama in 1980 (I was there, really.)

2) Reaching the championship series in Omaha in 2013 (I was there.)

3) Beating Auburn in 2014 to get to #1 in the football polls (I was there.)

Unfortunately I did not get to attend any of the basketball tournament games in 1996.

I had already planned to be in NOLA over Spring Break that year. We checked into our hotel on Canal that Sunday morning and asked the parking attendant if he happened to know anyone with championship game tix. He handed us a set of tickets for $10 each. We threw our stuff into the room and hightailed it down to the Superdome. It was the greatest game i had attended. Kentucky outnumbered us 5 to 1 and their silence in the 2nd half was deafening. Many Ky fans that night in the Quarter were very complimentary and some even offered their places to stay in Lexington.

We did get ripped off though. I remember getting back to the room and watching the selection show. Our win had no impact on our seeding and it should have. The media and the committee virtually ignored the outcome.

 

[grinnindawg]

Excellent article.

One of my favorite MSU memories occurred early in the game.

2 pressing Cincy big guys pinned Wilson against the sidelines with much contact.
He lowered his shoulders pushed through both like a fullback and dribbled passed Huggins.

Huggins is screaming at the trailing ref for a foul. The ref looked at him, shrugged his shoulders and grinned.
That grin said "This is how you want to play, this is how we are going to let them play".

Not many teams stood a chance against our starting 5 as physical as that game was.
Awesome memory.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

I'm a little bit older than you, so when we beat Alabama in 96 I was running around on the field after the game like I was the old football player in Varsity Blues that kept coming to high school parties in his letterman's jacket.

That said, it pales in comparison with going to the final four to me. That was a really big deal. Conventional wisdom at the time was that we had no shot against Uconn and Cincinnati was a flat-out juggernaut that year.


One thing is for sure: 1996-2000 were heady times to be a State fan.

I was 34 in 1996. Like most everything else in my life I wait too long to get things started. I'm a habitual procrastinator but I will tell you about that later.

 

[mcdawg22]

I was there. It was incredible.

 

[Lawdawg.sixpack]

I NEED a replay of that Cincy game. The UConn game is on YouTube, along with the SEC tourney final vs Uk.

 

[MSUDAWGFAN]

I had already planned to be in NOLA over Spring Break that year. We checked into our hotel on Canal that Sunday morning and asked the parking attendant if he happened to know anyone with championship game tix. He handed us a set of tickets for $10 each. We threw our stuff into the room and hightailed it down to the Superdome. It was the greatest game i had attended. Kentucky outnumbered us 5 to 1 and their silence in the 2nd half was deafening. Many Ky fans that night in the Quarter were very complimentary and some even offered their places to stay in Lexington.

We did get ripped off though. I remember getting back to the room and watching the selection show. Our win had no impact on our seeding and it should have. The media and the committee virtually ignored the outcome.

My dad taught at Western Kentucky during that time and I had asked him beforehand what he would think if we won. His answer was "You aren't going to win." Well, we did obviously. I called him at his place and told him that and he said he was in the athletic center on the treadmill and someone had come in and announced the score. He said it was really quite in there and he didn't want to cause a scene, so said he just smiled real hard. I told him I would have yelled out and he told me that I wouldn't have either. He then told me about a time that he was at a restaurant and there was a bunch of people there and there was a UK game on. Everyone there was a UK fan except one person and that person was cheering for their team pretty loudly. My dad told me he saw a woman pick up her beer and go pour it on the guy's head and told him to be quiet.

Every now and then I would always mention that game to him.

My best friend went to Duke and he had told me that they watched this team all the time since they are on the east coast. He told me I would get to hang it over his head for the rest of our lives if we won. I called him a few time (they were out on Spring break and we were too) and every time I called him he would just say something to the effect of "It's ok. They are gonna go on a run and it'll be over soon." I called him with about 30 seconds left and he just answered the phone "Oh ****." and hung up. I called again and we talked. It was so much fun.

Hard to believe that was 25 years ago.

 

[She Mate Me]

I've always enjoyed your stuff Rick. This is one of the best in my opinion. Well done from a guy probably better suited than anyone to write it.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Excellent article.

One of my favorite MSU memories occurred early in the game.

2 pressing Cincy big guys pinned Wilson against the sidelines with much contact.
He lowered his shoulders pushed through both like a fullback and dribbled passed Huggins.

Huggins is screaming at the trailing ref for a foul. The ref looked at him, shrugged his shoulders and grinned.
That grin said "This is how you want to play, this is how we are going to let them play".

Not many teams stood a chance against our starting 5 as physical as that game was.
Awesome memory.

"We lift weights too." - Eric Dampier

 

[thatsbaseball]

I wasn't in Lexington but I was in Nola. An experience I'll always cherish. What a run to the Final Four. I don't remember accomplishing a damn thing business-wise that entire period. Good times !

 

[thatsbaseball]

He was one dominant college basketball player. I told my wife I was afraid he was going to hurt a Georgia player with one of his dunks during in the SEC semi final. I swear by the end of the game when he would make a move towards the basket with the ball some of the Ga players would duck and cover their heads. LOL

 

[Rick Cleveland]

That was one of the most amazing runs I have covered in 50-plus years of this. Probably the most amazing. A team that lost to Arkansas-Little Rock and was taken to overtime by a mediocre Southern Miss team knocked off No. 1, 3 and 7 in an 8-0 run over two weeks. Great coaching. Terrific blend of talent. We have a blast three or four years ago during the reunion at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. So good to see so many of those guys again. Dontae' hadn't changed a lick. Basketball savant, he was.

 

[DAWGS1.sixpack]

I was not there for either the SEC Championship game or Lexington or the Final 4 game but it’s games like this that you know exactly where you were watching, and who you were watching with.
Great memories of a great run in basketball.
Hard to believe it’s been 25 years ago.

 

[She Mate Me]

I was at that Little Rock game. As I'm sure you'll remember they had a nice little guard named Derek Fisher who could hoop it just a little.

 

[MaroonOil]

I still to this day hate any & everything Syracuse like I do Ole Miss & UCLA basketball jerks. That was our Natty that year...

I miss the log cabin Burger King that had the ‘96 men’s basketball team picture

 

[047Dog]

I was at that Little Rock game. As I'm sure you'll remember they had a nice little guard named Derek Fisher who could hoop it just a little.

I was there for that one too. I seem to remember it being a back and forth game and didn’t they win it on a tip in at the buzzer? Sucked the life right out of the building. Made for a depressing walk back to that dorms.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

Good read!

 

[tatedog]

Yep I don't know the name of UALR player who tipped it in, but they nicknamed him "Beavis" because of his likeness to the cartoon character. Also UALR was coached by Wimp Sanderson. Seems like the road loss at South Carolina was the turning point in that season, which had started out very shakily.

 

[dawgman42]

Me too. Bought a $5 ticket off South Carolina fans. Was all over Pitino as he left the court and followed him as far back to the dressing room as a I could harassing him. Great times.

I wish I'd bought some of those 1996 SEC Tournament Champions - Kentucky Wildcat shirts. But the kids in Ecuador needed them more I suppose.