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Throwback Thursday: 1986 UNC-UVA

Back in 1986, ACC foes North Carolina and Virginia met in the NCAAs and fought out an epic game. Neither team was expected to make the Finals as neither team was Syracuse or Hopkins (the #1 and #2 seeded teams). Hop and Cuse had made the NCAA Finals for the past three years, and the #1 and #2 seeds had made the finals for a decade straight, but UNC and UVA threw a wrench into the plan of continued domination, and neither top seed made the Finals.

UNC edged Johns Hopkins 10-9 in OT in one semifinal, and Virginia took down Syracuse 12-10 in the other semifinal. This was the first year where semifinal games were played at neutral sites. Coincidence? Probably, but a neat historical note either way. This was also the first time two schools from the same conference faced off for a D1 title.

The game was broadcast on ESPN, and back then they called themselves the “total sports network,” which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Doesn’t ESPN stand for “everything sports programming network”? Why not say that? But I digress… anyway, it was the 80s.

You get the FULL game from LaxSchool, and the action starts around the 13:30 mark, but the pre game stuff is great, and well worth watching.

Spoiler Alert: UNC wins in OT 10-9. Watch the game… it’s AWESOME!