Nemelka recalls BYU's NIT championship 50 years ago in New York City - 25 Mar

Link: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865650827/Nemelka-recalls-BYUs-NIT-championship-50-years-ago-in-New-York-City.html

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I am going to have to check again on my genealogy to see if Stan Watts was in our family tree. So far nothing, my parents would have told me about him and BYU during that 1966 NIT Tournament. I just turned 10 years old at that time in Northern Calif. I didn’t watch any NCAA Tournaments until I went to BYU 1979. Maybe my parents might know about it when we go to their place on Easter Sunday. Wow, Bobby Knight throwing big rants on BYU calling us dirty, funny but sad. And Howard Cosell broadcasting the game, wow again. I will be watching the game Tuesday and hopefully Thursday night for the NIT Championship. And add 2016 NIT Championship next to that 1966 in the MC would be cool.

Dew: I was a student at BYU in 1966 and remember the whole thing. The three games that BYU played in were on wide screen TV in the Wilkinson Center Ballroom. It was like a home game there, students packed the place. I believe that it was eight teams in the NIT that year, not 14, as stated in the news story. At least as far as I know, because to my knowledge there were no preliminary games.

Txcoug1492: That must of been fun being in the Wilkenson Center Ballroom watching together as a big family (1966). Well, that 1981 when Danny Ainge went coast to coast to win the game against ND was something too. I was in that building too and everything went crazy with celebration all over the campus.

It was a 14 team tournament. BYU was seeded number 1 and I believe Wichita number 2. Twelve teams played in 6 first round games. The two top seeded teams sat out the first round and then played winners of first round games.If you were seeded 1 or 2 you only had to win 3 games otherwise you had to win 4.