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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Morey, Allan, author.
Title: The Final Four / by Allan Morey.
Description: 2019 edition. | Minneapolis, Minnesota : Bellwether Media, Inc.,
2019. | Series: Torque: Sports Championships | Includes bibliographical
references and index. | Audience: Grades: 3-7. | Audience: Ages: 7-12.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018001798 (print) | LCCN 2018005577 (ebook) | ISBN
9781626178632 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781648343377 (ebook)
| ISBN 9781618914835 (paperback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: NCAA Basketball Tournament--History--Juvenile literature. |
Basketball--United States--History--Juvenile literature.
Classification: LCC GV885.49.N37 (ebook) | LCC GV885.49.N37 M67 2019 (print)
| DDC 796.323/630973--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018001798
Text copyright 2019 by Bellwether Media, Inc. TORQUE and associated
logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Bellwether Media, Inc.
SCHOLASTIC, CHILDRENS PRESS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or
registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
Editor: Rebecca Sabelko Designer: Jon Eppard
Printed in the United States of America, North Mankato, MN.
WARNING
Scoring Run 4
What Is the Final Four? 6
History of the NCAA 10
Championship
Road to the NCAA 14
Championship
March Madness Brackets 20
Glossary 22
To Learn More 23
Index 24
It is April , 2017 . Gonzaga faces
North Carolina in the National
Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA )
championship game . Gonzaga leads
. There are less than two minutes
to go .
Then , North Carolina goes on a roll .
Justin Jackson hits a shot . Isaiah Hicks
drives to the hoop for a layup .
Jackson slam dunks the basketball .
North Carolina wins . They are
NCAA champs !
BASKETBALL CHAMPS
2017 was the sixth time
North Carolina won the
NCAA championship .
JUSTIN
JACKSON
Final Four is the popular name for the
NCAA basketball championship . There
is a mens and womens tournament .
The tournament is single-elimination .
When teams win , they advance to the
next round . Losing teams are removed
from the tournament . Final Four refers
to the last four teams remaining in
the tournament.
The NCAA championship is held every
year . It is played at the end of the college
basketball season . It begins in the middle
of March .
There is an incredible amount of excitement
surrounding the tournament . Fans call this
time of year March Madness . All across
the nation , people cheer on their favorite
college teams .
In 1906, the NCAA was created to
oversee the rules of all college sports .
The rst NCAA mens basketball
tournament was held in 1939 . There
were only eight teams .
In 1946 , the nal four teams met in one
location . Their games were played at
Madison Square Garden in New York
City . The idea of the Final Four began to
take form .
1939
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
FINAL FOUR
Final Four was first used
in 1975 to refer to the
NCAA championship .
Over the years , the NCAA championship
tournament has grown . It expanded to
teams in 1951 . In 1975 , there were
teams . Now , there are .
The womens rst NCAA championship
tournament was in 1982 . There were only
teams . Today , teams qualify .
UCLA
1964 , 1965, 1967, 1968,
1969, 1970, 1971, 1972,
1973, 1975, 1995
NCAA MVP
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led
the Bruins to three straight
championships. He also
won many awards.
UCONN
1995, 2000, 2002, 2003,
2004, 2009, 2010, 2013,
2014, 2015, 2016
NCAA MVP
Breanna Stewart helped
the Huskies win four
championships. She
also received the Most
Outstanding Player
award four times.
( MEN )
(WOMEN)
KAREEM
ABDUL-JABBAR
BREANNA
STEWART
Teams get into the NCAA championship
tournament in two ways . The winning team
from each of the college conference
tournaments is added .