TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Forty years ago, Indiana State and Larry Bird took the college basketball nation by storm, riding an undefeated 33-0 record into the NCAA championship game against Magic Johnson and Michigan State.
It remains the highest-rated basketball game — college, Olympics or pro — in television history. Some 35.1 million tuned in to watch. No hoops game at any level has come close since.
A decade ago, Seth Davis of The Athletic wrote a book about that night entitled “When March Went Mad, the Game that Transformed Basketball.”
“It’s a rare example of something that was a big deal at the time and actually has grown in significance over the years, because we can see all the dominoes that have fallen into place,” Davis told MI Live.