1.
Louisville Cardinals men's basketball
–
The Louisville Cardinals mens basketball team is the mens college basketball program representing the University of Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference of NCAA Division I. The Cardinals have won three NCAA championships and have been to 10 Final Fours in 42 NCAA tournament appearances while compiling 76 tournament wins, bernard Peck Hickmans 1944 team finished with a 16–3 record and started a string of 46 consecutive winning seasons, which was an NCAA record. Hickman led Louisville to its first championship on a level by winning the NAIB Tournament in 1948. In 1956, led by All-American Charlie Tyra, the Cardinals won the NIT Championship, in 1956 his team was placed on two years probation, to include bans on postseason play, by the NCAA due to recruiting violations. In 1959, Louisville made its first NCAA Final Four appearance behind the play of All-American Don Goldstein, the Cardinals never had a losing season in Hickmans 23 seasons as head coach. He coached 11 20-win teams, appeared in five NCAA tournaments, coached six NIT appearances and finished with a 443–183 overall record, John Dromo was Hickmans assistant for 17 years and succeeded him at head coach in 1967. In four seasons as coach, Dromo led the Cardinals to a 68–23 record. A heart attack during the 1970–71 season forced Dromo to retire and his assistant, Howard Stacey, was named interim head coach for the final 20 games of the season. Denny Crum was hired as coach from his alma mater, UCLA. It was under the guidance of Crum that Louisville became a basketball power. In his first season, he guided the Cardinals to the NCAA Final Four, Overall, Crum had six Final Fours with the Louisville Cardinals. He is fifth all-time in Final Four appearances, the Cardinals won the 1980 NCAA Tournament championship by defeating UCLA 59–54. Six years later, Louisville would overcome Duke 72–69 for a second title, Crum is one of only 11 coaches to win two or more national championships. He was named National Coach of the Year in 1980,1983 and 1986 and he took the Cardinals to 23 NCAA tournaments, where they had an overall record of 43–21. While in the Metro Conference, the Cardinals won 12 regular season titles and 11 tournament championships, in its 19 years of naming a champion, the Metro had Louisville as first or second place 17 times. In 1993, Crum became the second fastest coach to reach 500 wins, Crum was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1994. He retired in 2001 with a record of 675–295 over 30 seasons. He was a member of the College Basketball Hall of Fames inaugural class in 2006, rick Pitino was hired in 2001 after four years as head coach of the Boston Celtics, and previously as head coach of Louisvilles in-state rival, Kentucky
2.
Continental Indoor Football League
–
The Continental Indoor Football League was an indoor football league based along the Midwestern United States region that played nine seasons from 2006 to 2014. It began play in April 2006 as the Great Lakes Indoor Football League and it was formed by Jeff Spitaleri, his brother Eric, and a third member, Cory Trapp, all from the Canton, Ohio area. The league was called the Ohio-Penn Indoor Football League. Initially, the league was successful, having a cumulative attendance of over 75,000 in the inaugural regular season. However, the league, like other football associations, was plagued by folding franchises. For example, the 2006 champion Port Huron Pirates were found to have been paying some of their players over the salary cap. The league also failed to return the Raiders owners emergency fund deposit, the CIFL is among several indoor football leagues that maintained a mostly regional operation, with most of its teams clustered in the Midwestern United States. Teams went back and forth between the CIFL and the regional leagues, as well as the Indoor Football League. The group also owned the Saginaw Sting, the new ownership of the league sought to help current teams brand their product better, as well as look to expand the league, but its primary goal was to have competitive franchises. The Great Lakes Indoor Football League was founded in 2005 by brothers Eric and Jeff Spitaleri, the leagues first franchise accepted was the Lehigh Valley Outlawz, who joined in late June,2005. During the leagues first season, it cost a new owner a $15,000 franchising fee, with a salary of $5,400 per team, per week. While trying to attract teams, the agreed to arena contracts before securing owners in efforts to attract owners in those specific market areas. They reached agreements with markets in Danville, Illinois, Battle Creek, Michigan, Rochester, New York, Port Huron, Michigan, Toledo, Ohio and Marion, of those markets, the league was able to sell ownership to four of them. In December, it was finalized that the league would begin with 6 teams in their inaugural season, with teach team playing a 10-game season over a 12-week span. On April 7,2006, the league held its first ever games with the Battle Creek Crunch hosting the Port Huron Pirates, the Crunch were defeated 62-22 by the Pirates, and the Raiders defeating the Revolution 71-13. The leagues first ever playoff format was a 4-team set up with the #1 seed hosting the #4 seed, and the #2 seed hosting the #3 seed. The semifinals featured a pair of games, with Port Huron and Rochester advancing to Great Lakes Bowl I. The Pirates were able shut down the Raiders offense for most of the second earning a 40-34 victory for the Port Huron
3.
Louisville, Kentucky
–
Louisville is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 30th-most populous city in the United States. It is one of two cities in Kentucky designated as first-class, the other being the states second-largest city of Lexington, Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County. Louisville was founded in 1778 by George Rogers Clark and is named after King Louis XVI of France, making Louisville one of the oldest cities west of the Appalachian Mountains. Sited beside the Falls of the Ohio, the major obstruction to river traffic between the upper Ohio River and the Gulf of Mexico, the settlement first grew as a portage site. It was the city of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Its main airport is also the site of United Parcel Services worldwide air hub, since 2003, Louisvilles borders have been the same as those of Jefferson County because of a city-county merger. The official name of this consolidated city-county government is the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government, the citys total consolidated population as of the 2014 census estimate was 760,026. However, the total of 612,780 excludes other incorporated places and semiautonomous towns within the county and is the population listed in most sources. As of 2014, the MSA had a population of 1,269,702, the history of Louisville spans hundreds of years, and has been influenced by the areas geography and location. The rapids at the Falls of the Ohio created a barrier to river travel, the first European settlement in the vicinity of modern-day Louisville was on Corn Island in 1778 by Col. George Rogers Clark, credited as the founder of Louisville. Several landmarks in the community are named after him, two years later, in 1780, the Virginia General Assembly approved the town charter of Louisville. The city was named in honor of King Louis XVI of France, early residents lived in forts to protect themselves from Indian raids, but moved out by the late 1780s. In 1803, explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark organized their expedition across America in the town of Clarksville, Indiana at the present-day Falls of the Ohio opposite Louisville, Kentucky. The citys early growth was influenced by the fact river boats had to be unloaded and moved downriver before reaching the falls. By 1828, the population had swelled to 7,000, the city grew rapidly in its formative years. Louisville was a shipping port and slaves worked in a variety of associated trades. The city was often a point of escape for slaves to the north, during the Civil War, Louisville was a major stronghold of Union forces, which kept Kentucky firmly in the Union. It was the center of planning, supplies, recruiting, and transportation for numerous campaigns, by the end of the war, Louisville had not been attacked, although skirmishes and battles, including the battles of Perryville and Corydon, took place nearby
4.
Kentucky
–
Kentucky, officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state located in the east south-central region of the United States. Kentucky is one of four U. S. states constituted as a commonwealth, originally a part of Virginia, in 1792 Kentucky became the 15th state to join the Union. Kentucky is the 37th most extensive and the 26th most populous of the 50 United States, Kentucky is known as the Bluegrass State, a nickname based on the bluegrass found in many of its pastures due to the fertile soil. One of the regions in Kentucky is the Bluegrass Region in central Kentucky. In 1776, the counties of Virginia beyond the Appalachian Mountains became known as Kentucky County, the precise etymology of the name is uncertain, but likely based on an Iroquoian name meaning the meadow or the prairie. Kentucky is situated in the Upland South, a significant portion of eastern Kentucky is part of Appalachia. Kentucky borders seven states, from the Midwest and the Southeast, West Virginia lies to the east, Virginia to the southeast, Tennessee to the south, Missouri to the west, Illinois and Indiana to the northwest, and Ohio to the north and northeast. Only Missouri and Tennessee, both of which border eight states, touch more, Kentuckys northern border is formed by the Ohio River and its western border by the Mississippi River. The official state borders are based on the courses of the rivers as they existed when Kentucky became a state in 1792, for instance, northbound travelers on U. S.41 from Henderson, after crossing the Ohio River, will be in Kentucky for about two miles. Ellis Park, a racetrack, is located in this small piece of Kentucky. Waterworks Road is part of the land border between Indiana and Kentucky. Kentucky has a part known as Kentucky Bend, at the far west corner of the state. It exists as an exclave surrounded completely by Missouri and Tennessee, Road access to this small part of Kentucky on the Mississippi River requires a trip through Tennessee. The epicenter of the powerful 1811–12 New Madrid earthquakes was near this area, much of the outer Bluegrass is in the Eden Shale Hills area, made up of short, steep, and very narrow hills. The Jackson Purchase and western Pennyrile are home to several bald cypress/tupelo swamps, located within the southeastern interior portion of North America, Kentucky has a climate that can best be described as a humid subtropical climate. Temperatures in Kentucky usually range from daytime summer highs of 87 °F to the low of 23 °F. The average precipitation is 46 inches a year, Kentucky experiences four distinct seasons, with substantial variations in the severity of summer and winter. The highest recorded temperature was 114 °F at Greensburg on July 28,1930 while the lowest recorded temperature was −37 °F at Shelbyville on January 19,1994, due to its location, Kentucky has a moderate humid subtropical climate, with abundant rainfall
5.
Basketball
–
Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, after rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s
6.
Downtown Louisville
–
Downtown Louisville is the largest central business district in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the urban hub of the Louisville, Kentucky Metropolitan Area. Its boundaries are the Ohio River to the north, Hancock Street to the east, York and Jacob Streets to the south, as of 2000, the population of Downtown Louisville was 2,575. The five main areas of the Central Business District consist of, of the 16 buildings in Kentucky over 300 feet,12 are in Downtown Louisville. In addition, it is the center of local and regional government, a glassed-in skywalk called the Louie Link stretches six city blocks and links together the Kentucky International Convention Center, Fourth Street Live. Three hotels, and 2,300 hotel rooms, Downtown Louisville is the oldest part of the city of Louisville, whose initial development was closely tied to the Ohio River. The largest early fort, Fort Nelson, was built in 1781 near what is today the corner of 7th, many early residents lived nearby after moving out of the forts by the mid-1780s, although little remains of the earliest structures. Early plans of the city, such as William Popes original plan in 1783, the earliest streets, Main, Market and Jefferson retain their original names from the plan, while the smaller Green Street is now known as Liberty. Main Street was the initial commercial hub for nearly a century. By 1830 Louisville passed Lexington as Kentuckys largest city, with a population over 10,000, the steamboat era saw the opening of the Louisville and Portland Canal just west of downtown, and local commerce picked up further with the founding of banks and manufacturing. Most of Louisvilles population was packed into downtown, which by this time stretched as far south as Prather Street, many still-remaining buildings reveal what the area was like at this time, with narrow, two to four-story buildings packing the streets. The area and the city continued to grow during the railroad era, railroads lead to a diminished role for the river in transportation, further reducing the importance of downtown in favor of areas on what was then the edge of the city, along rail lines. In 1886, the first skyscraper, the Kenyon Building, was completed on Fifth Street, the development of three large suburban parks and the electrified streetcar lead to the first true movement to the suburbs at this time. Some of downtowns business and industry followed people toward these areas, but by the 1920s the commercial center of Louisville was still nearby, at 4th and Broadway, dubbed the magic corner by the Herald-Post. The riverfront area of downtown was still being improved, such as with the building of what is now George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge across the Ohio at Second Street in 1929. After World War II, suburbanization increased and downtown began to decline as interstate highways further reduced the importance of its central location, since the 1970s, downtown has been the subject of both urban renewal and historic preservation efforts. While many new buildings have built, it has sometimes been at the expense of older landmarks. Many buildings sat totally or mostly vacant at this time, many riverfront industrial sites were abandoned or saw limited use, many were eventually redeveloped into Louisville Waterfront Park. Other issues in the 1970s through the early 1990s included a theater district on Jefferson Street that had become dubbed the porno district
7.
American Legion
–
In addition to organizing commemorative events, volunteer veterans operating through The American Legion support activities and provide assistance at Veterans Administration hospitals and clinics. The Legion is active in issue-oriented United States politics and its primary political activity is lobbying on behalf of interests of veterans and service members, including support for veterans benefits such as pensions and the Veterans Health Administration. The veterans organization has historically promoted Americanism and opposed communism in the United States. American veterans who served at least one day of active duty during wartime. Members must have been discharged or still serving honorably. United States Merchant Marines who served from December 7,1941, Veterans who served during the following wars are eligible, Veterans of World War I were also eligible during their lifetimes, the last American World War I veteran, Frank Buckles, died in 2011. Membership peaked for The American Legion right after World War II, after the Korean War, there were 2.5 million Legionnaires. As baby boomers joined, membership increased to 3.1 million in 1992, however, membership has slowly been decreasing since then. In 2013, the Legion reported 2.3 million members, the aftermath of two American wars in the second half of the 19th century had seen the formation of several ex-soldiers organizations. In Southern politics the UCV maintained a more dominant position as a bulwark of the Democratic Party which dominated there. The conclusion of the brief Spanish–American conflict of 1898 ushered in another soldiers organization and they lobbied government to strengthen the military. Its officers were at 10 Bridge Street, New York City, in 1917, when war was declared the legion had 23,000 members skilled in 77 professions pledged to fight. Their pledge cards were shared with the government and ultimately used to two regiments of air mechanics. The legion was discorporated in 1917, the need for an organization for former members of the AEF was pressing and immediate. Cautionary voices were raised about an apparent correlation between disaffected and discharged troops and the Bolshevik uprisings taking place in Russia, Finland, Germany and this situation was a particular matter of concern to Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. eldest son of the 26th President. One day in January 1919, Roosevelt had a discussion at General Headquarters with a mobilized National Guard officer named George A. White, Roosevelt and White advocated ceaselessly for this proposal until ultimately they found sufficient support at headquarters to move forward with the plan. General John J. Pershing issued orders to a group of 20 non-career officers to report to the YMCA headquarters in Paris on February 15,1919, the selection of these individuals had been made by Roosevelt. They were joined with a number of regular Army officers Pershing selected himself, the session of reserve and regular officers was instructed to provide a set of laws to curb the problem of declining morale
8.
DuPont Manual High School
–
DuPont Manual High School is a public magnet high school located in the Old Louisville neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky, USA and serving students in grades 9–12. It is a part of the Jefferson County Public School District, duPont Manual is recognized by the United States Department of Education as a Blue Ribbon School. Manual opened in 1892 as a manual training school. It was the public high school in Louisville. Manual merged with its rival, Male High School, into a school from 1915 to 1919. Manual permanently merged with the Louisville Girls High School in 1950 and moved into their Gothic-style three-story building, in 2004, after conducting a poll, Louisvilles Courier-Journal newspaper listed Manual as one of Louisville residents ten favorite buildings. As a coeducational school, Manual experienced a decline in discipline, in 1984, Manual became a magnet school, allowing students from throughout the district to apply to five specialized programs of study, or magnets. Manual and Male High School have the oldest football rivalry in the state, Manuals football team has won five state titles and claims two national championships. In the 1980s and 1990s Manual became a prominent academic school and has included several times in lists of Americas top high schools in Redbook. The Victorian building was built on the corner of Brook and Oak Streets by the firm of Clark and Loomis, after Manual moved out of the building it was used as a Middle School until 1974 when it was converted to apartments. Manuals first principal, Henry Kleinschmid, was a favorite of du Pont but was unpopular with the school board, which conspired to replace him in 1895. Despite a summer of controversy and protest from the du Pont family, Manual was initially a three-year school with some general academic classes and an emphasis on mechanical and industrial training. In order to accommodate newly added French and Latin classes, Manual was expanded to a school in 1901. In 1911, Manual became the first school in Kentucky to serve lunches to students, in 1913, Louisville Public Schools announced a plan to merge Manual and its rival Male High School into Louisville Boys High so that the two schools could share a new $300,000 facility. The plan took effect in 1915, industrial training classes continued at the old Manual building. Parents objected to their children having to travel between the two buildings and the consolidation did not save the school board any money, so they voted to end the experiment in 1919. The new building became Males home for the next 70 years and Manual returned to its old building at Brook, in 1923 an expansion added new laboratories, a cafeteria, and the largest gym ever built in Louisville at the time. The addition eventually burned and had to be destroyed in 1991, Manuals enrollment numbers, which had hovered around 400 since the 1890s, soared from 429 in 1919 to 1,039 in 1925
9.
Muhammad Ali
–
Muhammad Ali was an American professional boxer and activist. He is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated figures of the 20th century. From early in his career, Ali was known as an inspiring, controversial, Cassius Clay was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, and began training as an amateur boxer when he was 12 years old. At age 18, he won a medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. At age 22 in 1964, he won the WBA, WBC, Clay then converted to Islam and changed his name from Cassius Clay, which he called his slave name, to Muhammad Ali. He set an example of pride for African Americans and resistance to white domination during the Civil Rights Movement. He was eventually arrested, found guilty of draft evasion charges, Alis actions as a conscientious objector to the war made him an icon for the larger counterculture generation. Ali is regarded as one of the leading heavyweight boxers of the 20th century and he remains the only three-time lineal heavyweight champion, having won the title in 1964,1974, and 1978. Between February 25 and September 19,1964, Ali reigned as the heavyweight champion. He is the boxer to be named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year six times. Nicknamed The Greatest, he was involved in historic boxing matches. Notable among these were the first Liston fight, the Fight of the Century, Super Fight II, the Thrilla in Manila versus his rival Joe Frazier, and The Rumble in the Jungle versus George Foreman. At a time when most fighters let their managers do the talking, Ali thrived in and indeed craved the spotlight, as a musician, Ali recorded two spoken word albums and a rhythm and blues song, and received two Grammy Award nominations. As an actor, he performed in films and a Broadway musical. Additionally, Ali wrote two autobiographies, one during and one after his boxing career, as a Muslim, Ali was initially affiliated with Elijah Muhammads Nation of Islam and advocated their black separatist ideology. He later disavowed the NOI, adhering initially to Sunni Islam and later to Sufism, after retiring from boxing in 1981, Ali devoted his life to religious and charitable work. In 1984, Ali was diagnosed with Parkinsons syndrome, which his doctors attributed to boxing-related brain injuries, as the condition worsened, Ali made limited public appearances and was cared for by his family until his death on June 3,2016, in Scottsdale, Arizona. Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. was born on January 17,1942, in Louisville and he had a sister and four brothers
10.
Indiana Pacers
–
The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first established in 1967 as a member of the American Basketball Association and they play their home games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The team is named after Indianas history with the Indianapolis 500s pace cars, the Pacers have won three championships, all in the ABA. The Pacers were Eastern Conference champions in 2000, the team has won nine division titles. Five Hall of Fame players – Reggie Miller, Chris Mullin, Alex English, Mel Daniels, in early 1967, a group of six investors pooled their resources to purchase a franchise in the proposed American Basketball Association. For their first seven years, they played in the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum, in 1974, they moved to the plush new Market Square Arena in downtown Indianapolis, where they played for 25 years. Early in the Pacers second season, former Indiana Hoosiers standout Bob Slick Leonard became the head coach. Leonard quickly turned the Pacers into a juggernaut and his teams were buoyed by the great play of superstars such as Mel Daniels, George McGinnis, Bob Netolicky, Rick Mount and Roger Brown. The Pacers were – and ended – as the most successful team in ABA history, in all, they appeared in the ABA Finals five times in the leagues nine-year history, a feat that was never bettered by any other ABA franchise. The Pacers were one of four ABA teams that joined the NBA in the ABA–NBA merger in 1976, for the 1976–77 season the Pacers were joined in the merged league by the Denver Nuggets, New York Nets, and San Antonio Spurs. The league charged a $3.2 million entry fee for each former ABA team, as a result of the merger, the four teams dealt with financial troubles. Additionally, the Pacers had some financial troubles which dated back to their days in the ABA. The new NBA teams also were barred from sharing in national TV revenues for four years, the Pacers finished their inaugural NBA season with a record of 36–46. Billy Knight and Don Buse represented Indiana in the NBA All-Star Game, however, this was one of the few bright spots of the Pacers first 13 years in the NBA. During this time, they had only three non-losing seasons and only two playoff appearances, a lack of continuity became the norm for most of the next decade, as they traded away Knight and Buse before the 1977–78 season even started. They acquired Adrian Dantley in exchange for Knight, but Dantley was traded in December, while the Pacers second-leading scorer, the early Pacers came out on the short end of two of the most one-sided trades in NBA history. In 1980, they traded Alex English to the Nuggets in order to reacquire former ABA star George McGinnis, McGinnis was long past his prime, and contributed very little during his two-year return
11.
NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
–
The tournament was created in 1939 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and was the idea of Ohio State University coach Harold Olsen. Played mostly during March, it has one of the most famous annual sporting events in the United States. The tournament teams include champions from 32 Division I conferences, and 36 teams which are awarded at-large berths, the 68 teams are divided into four regions and organized into a single-elimination bracket, which pre-determines, when a team wins a game, which team it will face next. Each team is seeded, or ranked, within its region from 1 to 32, after an initial four games between eight lower-ranked teams, the tournament occurs during the course of three weekends, at pre-selected neutral sites across the United States. The Final Four is usually played during the first weekend of April and these four teams, one from each region, compete in a pre-selected location for the national championship. The tournament has been at least partially televised since 1969, currently, the games are broadcast by CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV under the trade-name NCAA March Madness. Since 2011, all games are available for viewing nationwide and internationally, such as in the Philippines, as television coverage has grown, so too has the tournaments popularity. Currently, millions of Americans fill out a bracket, attempting to predict the outcome of all 67 games of the tournament. With 11 national titles, UCLA has the record for the most NCAA Mens Division I Basketball Championships, the University of Kentucky is second, with eight national titles. The University of North Carolina is in place, with six titles, while Duke University. The University of Connecticut is sixth with four national titles, the University of Kansas and University of Louisville are tied with three championships. During that time Villanova, Michigan, UNLV, Duke, Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland, Syracuse, the NCAA has changed the tournament format several times since its inception, most often representing an increase of the number of teams. This section describes the tournament as it has operated since 2011, for changes during the course of its history, and to see how the tournament operated during past years, go to Format history, below. A total of 68 teams qualify for the tournament played during March, thirty-two teams earn automatic bids as their respective conference champions. Of the 32 Division I all-sports conferences, all 32 currently hold championship tournaments to determine which team receives the automatic qualification. The Ivy League was the last Division I conference that did not conduct a tournament, through the 2015–16 season, if two or more Ivies shared a regular-season championship, a one-game playoff was used to decide the tournament participant. Since 2017, the league conducts their own postseason tournament, the committee also determines where all sixty-eight teams are seeded and placed in the bracket. The tournament is divided into four regions and each region has at least sixteen teams, the committee is charged with making each of the four regions as close as possible in overall quality of teams from wherever they come from
12.
National Collegiate Athletic Association
–
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a non-profit association which regulates athletes of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations, and individuals. It also organizes the programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The organization is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2014, the NCAA generated almost a billion dollars in revenue. 80 to 90% of this revenue was due to the Division I Mens Basketball Tournament and this revenue is then distributed back into various organizations and institutions across the United States. In August 1973, the current three-division setup of Division I, Division II, under NCAA rules, Division I and Division II schools can offer scholarships to athletes for playing a sport. Division III schools may not offer any athletic scholarships, generally, larger schools compete in Division I and smaller schools in II and III. Division I football was divided into I-A and I-AA in 1978. Subsequently, the term Division I-AAA was briefly added to delineate Division I schools which do not field a football program at all, in 2006, Divisions I-A and I-AA were respectively renamed the Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision. Inter-collegiate sports began in the US in 1852 when crews from Harvard University, as other sports emerged, notably football and basketball, many of these same concepts and standards were adopted. Football, in particular, began to emerge as a marquee sport, the IAAUS was officially established on March 31,1906, and took its present name, the NCAA, in 1910. For several years, the NCAA was a group and rules-making body, but in 1921, the first NCAA national championship was conducted. Gradually, more rules committees were formed and more championships were created, a series of crises brought the NCAA to a crossroads after World War II. The Sanity Code – adopted to establish guidelines for recruiting and financial aid – failed to curb abuses, postseason football games were multiplying with little control, and member schools were increasingly concerned about how the new medium of television would affect football attendance. The complexity of problems and the growth in membership and championships demonstrated the need for full-time professional leadership. Walter Byers, previously an executive assistant, was named executive director in 1951. Byers wasted no time placing his stamp on the Association, as college athletics grew, the scope of the nations athletics programs diverged, forcing the NCAA to create a structure that recognized varying levels of emphasis. In 1973, the Associations membership was divided into three legislative and competitive divisions – I, II, and III, five years later in 1978, Division I members voted to create subdivisions I-A and I-AA in football. Until the 1980s, the association did not offer womens athletics, instead, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, with nearly 1000 member schools, governed womens collegiate sports in the United States
