The Road to Madness: How the 1973-1974 Season Transformed College Basketball

The NCAA men's basketball tournament is one of the iconic events in American sports. In this fast-paced, in-depth account, J. Samuel Walker and Randy Roberts identify the 1973-74 season as pivotal in the making of this now legendary postseason tournament. In an era when only one team per conference could compete, the dramatic defeat of coach John Wooden's UCLA Bruins by the North Carolina State Wolfpack ended a decade of the Bruins' dominance, fueled unprecedented national attention, and prompted the NCAA to expand the tournament field to a wider range of teams. Walker and Roberts provide a richly detailed chronicle of the games that made the season so memorable and uncover the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that set the stage for the celebrated spectacle that now fixes the nation's attention every March.

J. Samuel Walker is a prize-winning historian and author of books on the history of American foreign policy, nuclear energy, and college basketball. His most recent book is ACC Basketball: The Story of the Rivalries, Traditions, and Scandals of the First Two Decades of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Randy Roberts is distinguished professor of history at Purdue University and an award-winning author. He has written thirteen books on sports history, the most recent of which is Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X (with Johnny Smith).