Topic: UNC-Charlotte 49er's came ever so close to winning the 1977 men's NCAA Tourney.

[The E-Man]

UNC Charlotte 49er's 1977 men's basketball team came so close to winning an NCAA championship. (Charlotte lost to Marquette in the semi final four  game, 51-49. Marqeutte ended up winning it all.) If Charlotte can do it, why can't the Herd?   
In their first year in the Sun Belt, the 49ers tallied what is still the best season in school history. They swept the regular season and tournament titles, earning the program's first NCAA Tournament berth. The ensuring NCAA tournament run is still one of the most successful ever for a first-time participant. After beating Central Michigan in the first round 91–86, the 49ers dispatched Syracuse 81–59 to advance to the Elite Eight. The 49ers then took out heavily favored Michigan by a score of 75–68 to advance to the program's first and only Final Four—the first time that a first-time participant had ever advanced that far. Charlotte would fall to eventual champions Marquette in the national semifinals 51–49. The 49ers would then lose to UNLV in the third place game. Their final record was 28-5, still a school record for wins in a season.

Despite the loss of the two leaders of the Final Four team from the previous season, Lee Rose guided the 49ers to a fifth consecutive twenty win season in 1977–1978. Rose would then leave to coach at Purdue for the 1978–1979 season. Rose's .800 winning percentage at Charlotte remains the highest in school history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_49ers_men%27s_basketball#Final_Four

[jocktalker]

Recruiting a player like Cornbread Maxwell would be a good start. The 49ers erected a great Cinderella story that year.

[BHFIOHIO]

They played at the Field House and my foggy memory is that the Herd gave a fair accounting...don't actually remember what yr but Maxwell was on the team

[mu79grad]

They played at the Field House and my foggy memory is that the Herd gave a fair accounting...don't actually remember what yr but Maxwell was on the team

According to the Herdzone archives, MU played UNCC at the Field House on March 3, 1977 and UNCC beat MU by the score of 84-80. After the recent Charlotte game I was talking with a Charlotte fan and he was reminiscing about their NCAA Tournament run and he was lamenting how the refs had cost them a win in their semi-final game against Marquette.  It reminded me of how the 1971-1972 Herd team had a game stolen by the refs against Marquette as well.  No bias on each of our parts, of course!