Interesting Facts about Tournament Teams in Midwest and East Bracket

We are half way through the first round of the Men’s NCAA basketball tournament and there have been no major upsets unless you count Western Kentucky University’s surprise win over the Illini.  As I watched the games yesterday, and talked to a few people, I realized that many people know very little about these institutions besides how well their athletic programs perform on a yearly basis.  So I began to do a little research on the Midwest, and East bracket’s universities and stumbled upon some interesting facts in US News and Word Reports.  Below you can read what I have found.

 

Midwest

1. Nineteen percent of students at the University of Louisville (public, founded in 1798) major in business, management, and marketing, making it the school's most popular program.

2. Sparty, the mascot of Michigan State University (public, founded in 1855), is the three-time national top collegiate mascot (2004, 2005, and 2007).

3. Hoops fans probably already know that the game's inventor, James Naismith, was the first coach of the University of Kansas (public, founded in 1866) basketball team. But did you also know that Naismith gets the credit for inventing the football helmet?

4. You won't find Wake Forest University (private, founded in 1834) in the town of Wake Forest, N.C. In 1956, the university relocated to the grounds of the former R. J. Reynolds estate in Winston-Salem.

5. Just 8 percent of the 21,000 undergrad students at the University of Utah (public, founded in 1850) live on campus.

6. The men's basketball team isn't the only sharpshooting team at West Virginia University (public, founded in 1867): The university's rifle team won the national championship this month, the team's 14th national title.

7. Oddly enough, the students of Boston College (private, founded in 1863) have nicknamed the campus's most popular dining hall "The Rat."

8. No, they're not just being fussy when they call it "The Ohio State University" (public, founded in 1870). That "the" has been an official part of the school's name in state legislation dating back to 1878.

9. In 1989, the men's basketball team from Siena College in New York (private, founded in 1937) beat Stanford in a major upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament. New York Gov. Mario Cuomo declared a "Siena Saints Day" in honor of the school's spirit.

10. "Fight On," the fight song for the University of Southern California (private, founded in 1880), was written by a USC dental student in 1922.

11. The University of Dayton in Ohio (private, founded in 1850) owns hundreds of single-family houses that serve as dorms for students. That neighborhood is affectionately referred to as "the Ghetto."

12. This spring is the 25th consecutive appearance in the NCAA men's basketball tournament for the University of Arizona (public, founded in 1885).

13. Founded in 1964, Cleveland State University (public) is the "youngest" college in this year's NCAA men's tournament.

14. This year, North Dakota State University (public, founded in 1890) is making its first appearance in the NCAA men's tournament.

15. Robert Morris University (private, founded in 1921) is one of a small number of colleges in western Pennsylvania that offer a bachelor's degree in nuclear medicine technology, which uses radioactive isotopes to diagnose diseases.

16. Alabama State University (public), a historically black college, was founded by nine former slaves in 1867.

17. Morehead State University (public, founded in 1922) was the first school in Kentucky to offer a complete degree program, the master of business administration, online.

 

East

1. The first building for the University of Pittsburgh (public) when it was founded in 1787 was originally a log cabin on the early frontier.

2. The Duke University (private, founded in 1838) "Blue Devils" team nickname finds its origins in French soldiers in World War I.

3. For nearly two decades, Villanova University (private, founded in 1842) has been ranked No. 1 by U.S.News & World Report in its category of colleges.

4. Xavier University in Cincinnati (private, founded in 1831) is No. 1 among its peer universities in the Midwest for freshman retention rate.

5. The baseball team of Florida State University (public, founded in 1851) has been to the College World Series 19 times.

6. UCLA (public, founded in 1919) has more than 359,200 living alumni.

7. The world-renowned "Hook 'em Horns" sign of the University of Texas (public, founded in 1883), created by a head cheerleader in 1955, was voted the nation's top hand signal by Sports Illustrated.

8. Back when it was known as Oklahoma A& M, Oklahoma State University (public, founded in 1890) had the first men's basketball team to win back-to-back national championships, in 1945 and 1946.

9. The University of Tennessee's (public, founded in 1794) orange and white colors—so intimidating on the basketball courts and football fields—were inspired by the daisies that grew on campus.

10. The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (public, founded in 1851) is home to the Cedar Creek Ecosystems Science Reserve, often considered the birthplace of modern ecology.

11. Virginia Commonwealth University (public, founded in 1838) has hosted 10 NCAA championship events on its campus in the past 11 years.

12. Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (public, founded in 1848) discovered vitamin A in 1913 and vitamin B in 1916.

13. The motto of Portland State University (public, founded in 1946): "Let knowledge serve the city." Sixty-five percent of its alumni live in the Portland metro area.

14. Though it was founded by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1893, American University (private) didn't really get going until 1914.

15. Students at Binghamton University in New York (public, founded in 1946) come from all 50 states and 100 countries.

16. Don't count this 16th seed out: In 1992, East Tennessee State University (public, founded in 1911) beat powerhouse Arizona in the first round of the tournament.

 

As you can see man of these facts are obscure, but they are interesting.

 

 Johnson is editor and contributor to The Sports Information Hub and can be contacted at johnsonthesportsguy@gmail.com