Final minutes of the Utah/UNC 1998 Final Four Game.

Utah defeated North Carolina in the 1998 Final Four, taking them to their first national championship game since the 1940s.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Utah
• Utes
• North
• Carolina
• Tar
• Heels
• Final
• Four
• college
• basketball

[UncleFooFoo68]

@cschnei08 I hear ya! This game still bothers me to this day. My favorite team still and Carter and Jamison were so fun to watch!

[Lorenshyne]

Van Horn last year and Andre Miller and Doleac. What a team. UNC stacked as aways.

[charismatic9904]

@cschnei08 Dont forget the 3 point specialist shammond williams. Plus Ndiaye. Back to back final 4's we made in 97 and 98 and got beat. To this day both still kill me.

[cschnei08]

This game made me sick to my stomach. That UNC team was my favorite and I was sure they were gonna win it all. I can't say enough about Utah being able to hold them down to just 59 points. That UNC team had Jamison, Carter, Haywood, and Cota and Utah still beat them.

[ajgree6]

@walterlv01 The whole system is unfair, especially to the smaller schools. They should be held in higher regard when they do win because it's harder for them to accomplish, IMO. The NCAA needs some overhaul. All the defending I'm doing is moot if Calipari does get in trouble. Also the chances of winning a title are 50/50 at best with constant flux at the roster. He really needs a few of his freshman to return each year. BTW, I loved Jasper when he was at UK. Glad to see him doing well at UNLV.

[ajgree6]

@walterlv01 was overall pretty clean but the NCAA unfairly went after him because they didn't like the type of players he brought in. The 1990 and 91 UNLV teams are two of the best teams ever. The advantage of being at a "bigger" program is you have more resources to prevent something like that from happening. One needs the right people above you. UK has been in trouble before (late 80's) but it's a different now. The UMass, Memphis and UNLV's of the world don't have those type of resources.

[ajgree6]

@walterlv01 Kinda think that stuff about Calipari is somewhat overblown. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. You gotta look at his previous violations. He hasn't been named in any report although I don't think it's just bad luck. Camby took money from an agent and Cal reported it. The thing at Memphis was unfortunate. The NCAA had already cleared Rose although I think standards were loose at that program. He's on par with Tark as far as being "dirty." I'm of the belief that Tark

[walterlv01]

@ajgree6 UNLV fan, actually. Went to UNLV from 1995-99 and the conference tournament was/is here every year so I saw those Utah teams pretty regularly. Calipari will definitely win a lot there but enjoy it - he will get run out of town under a cloud of investigations and violations within 10 years. He has a pretty proven track record when it comes to that. But college basketball is better overall when UK is good and a national factor. Maybe the best fan base in the sport.

[ajgree6]

@walterlv01 1999 was another Elite 8 Kentucky team, as was the 2005 team (the latter of which I do remember). You are right about the 2000 teams. I remember that was a severely bad rebuilding year for UK, which has become the standard at UK 5 out of the last 6 seasons. I think Calipari will win a lot here but he's unorthodox in some of his methods, specifically defense and encouraging his best players to declare for the draft. Color me impressed with your NCAA tourney trivia knowledge. Ute fan??

[ajgree6]

@walterlv01 I did not know that. I really don't remember the 2003 match up. I do agree with Nantz, however, that it does seem a little more than ironic that Utah was paired with Kentucky--especially on Kentucky's best years. 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998 were all final four years (two championships) and 2003 had an undefeated record in conference, heading into the tournament with that 16 game winning streak #1 overall seed but was upset in the Elite 8 and D-Wade w/ Marquette. Very interesting...