Andrea Adelson: It says no matter how much recency bias played a role in the early rounds of voting -- two legends truly can stand the test of time. 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You think Jordan, you think dominance, and you hardly count his national championships or his scoring average or what might or might not have happened his junior year in the tournament. Bird led Indiana State to the national title game in 1979 against Michigan State and Magic Johnson in what is still the most-watched college basketball game on television. Hyper competitive at everything, but also eminently likeable. There's a reason every potentially transcendent talent to come into the game in the past three decades is compared to Jordan. View, download, and print up-to-the-minute Men's NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament brackets on ESPN.com And in terms of importance, the way he helped bring in the business side of basketball -- starting with his Air Jordan sneakers and morphing into Jordan Brand -- has made a huge impact on the sport from a marketing standpoint. 1 seed », ESPN: 172 teams that were still bracket-eligible when 2019-20 ended ». On March 19, ESPN launched SportsCenter Special: College Basketball's Greatest of All Time, a 64-player bracket celebrating the best men's and women's players ever. These are the two I would've expected to be here before we kicked all this off, and so it's no surprise to see them as the final players still standing. Borzello: Michael Jordan is synonymous with basketball over the past 40 years, and he also laid the groundwork for the modern basketball player. The ESPN Daily delivers the biggest sports news and moments every weekday. Plus, it's MJ. Bird won Player of the Year in 1979 over Magic Johnson, while Jordan won in 1984 with Patrick Ewing and Akeem Olajuwon also in college. Adelson: It is hard to go against Jordan, who remains the GOAT, period. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim reflects on the legacy of his friend and rival John Thompson Jr., and the standard the legendary Georgetown coach set for defensive basketball. That's Michael Jordan. Lew Alcindor is considered by most basketball historians to be the best college basketball player, but most of the people voting might have never seen him play at the college level. Jordan and Bird ticked every box to rack up votes throughout the tournament: historically good basketball players at both levels, most people voting watched them play throughout their careers -- and they also were both picked as the best player in a given season against stiff competition. That's a pretty important achievement in itself. Sure, few "little guys" have a player as big as Bird, but the idea of rooting for the underdog -- from Valparaiso to Butler to Florida Gulf Coast -- has transformed the way the casual fan embraces the tournament, too. But Bird's impact on college basketball and the tournament in particular is incalculable. Both players were two-time first-team All-Americans, and both won Wooden Awards in their final year in college. Borzello: Jordan, on both accounts. Oh, and Jordan is a billionaire, with the most lucrative post-playing career we've ever seen. 22 in ESPN 100, chooses Oregon, Badgers' Bowman takes leave for family reasons, Top-five senior Smith commits to Auburn, Pearl. The way in which he played the game, there was an aura about him when he was on the floor. Plenty of that has to do with the incredible season Bird had to take a smaller school so far. It is hard to separate collegiate from NBA impact, but that brand remains alive and strong in both games. Jordan and Bird represent both in the final. On the one hand, I am fairly confident North Carolina would *still* be North Carolina even without Michael Jordan because it had a storied tradition before him and continues to have a storied tradition after him. Get the latest NCAA college basketball bracketology breakdown from ESPN's Joe Lunardi. These polls are so incredibly subjective, and it is so hard to separate the college Jordan, starting to come into his own as a dominant force, and the NBA Jordan, turning his dominant force into a stranglehold on the entire league and country. Updated: October 7, 2020 | Autobid awarded to league champion or highest seed remaining. You simply know greatness. Quite fitting indeed. ESPN writers and commentators will provide daily roundtables and predictions as the bracket advances through March 31. Part of me wants to suggest that, at least a bit of this voting is more about legendary NBA careers than collegiate greatness, but that's really beside the point. Calipari: There will be a season, tourney because 'I have a really good team', NCAA approves start date for college basketball season. On March 19, ESPN launched SportsCenter Special: College Basketball's Greatest of All Time, a 64-player bracket celebrating the best men's and women's players ever. Here, writers Jeff Borzello, Andrea Adelson and David Hale break down the championship. The NCAA tournament is all about the big, bad blue bloods against the lovable, fighting underdogs. No exceptions. Jim Boeheim reflects on friend, rival John Thompson Jr. Jeff Borzello: Aside from the fact they were two transcendent basketball players at both the college and pro level, it does show that they're in the sweet spot of the voting public. Christian Laettner had a storied career at Duke, but his NBA career didn't move the needle. He's not losing. With Lew Alcindor out of the picture, this one is clear to me. Hale: I'll vote for Bird for the reasons mentioned above. He's going to win. Behind the Bracket: Lots of contenders for fourth No. View, download, and print up-to-the-minute Men's NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament brackets on ESPN.com 2020 NCAA Tournament - March Madness - Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament NCAA Tournament Bracket - 2020 The NCAA final battle with Magic Johnson is arguably the most important college basketball game ever played, a fulcrum in the history of the game that took the sport out of the small gyms and niche fan base and brought the tournament to the masses. He remains as relevant today as he did in 1982 with the power of that brand alone. Jordan is the best there ever was, no doubt. (3 East) Larry Bird vs. (2 Midwest) Michael Jordan -- VOTE HERE. Bird has better counting stats, but Jordan can match him in individual honors -- and has a ring as the tiebreaker. Bird was a part of perhaps *the* most heralded national title game in the sport's history, and though he elevated Indiana State during his career there, the program itself remains among the mid-majors still looking for a leg up on programs like North Carolina. Hale: Jordan is the answer to every basketball question, of course, but I'll throw my lot in with Larry Legend. Adelson: I spent a lot of time thinking about this question, because it is so difficult to answer. Jeff Borzello explains the plan the NCAA put in place for the college basketball seasons to begin Nov. 25. Mountain West to start 18-game slate in Dec. K-State to open season with Little Apple Classic, Introducing college basketball's 64-player greatest of all time bracket, How to watch (and vote) in ESPN College Basketball's Greatest of All Time Bracket.
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