In a lot of ways, 1979 is a very long time ago. Chronologically it’s 43 years ago but in terms of the NCAA tournament it’s probably more than a lifetime ago.
Duke and Kentucky had been in the 1978 Finals and Duke entered the season as the #1 team but things went off the rails for that team as Bill Foster could not deal with pressure as Mike Krzyzewski later would.
The 1979 tournament was on NBC and dsfeatured just 40 teams and no shot clock or three point shot. It was just 10 years after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrapped up his UCLA career and just three years after Bob Knight led Indiana to an undefeated national championship.