Welcome To Classic CU

CU's Jim Ranglos, Melvin Coffman, Bob Jeangerard and Bob Yardley, taken during the 1954-55 season in CU's Carlson Gymnasium.

Long before the terms Final Four and March Madness became synonymous with the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship, 24 schools vied for berths in the National Collegiate Basketball Championships. The country was divided into the Eastern Region (13 teams, five "play-in" games) and the Western Region (11 teams, three "play-ins"). In Colorado's bracket, Bradley won its play-in game, 69-65 over Oklahoma City and it's regional quarterfinal, 81-79 over SMU to get to one national quarterfinal; CU received the only western bye and defeated Missouri Valley champ Tulsa, 69-59, to earn the right to line up against Bradley with the winner to join Iowa, LaSalle and eventual champion San Francisco in Kansas City the following weekend.

Here's a recap of CU's 93-81 win over Bradley that March night in Manhattan, Kan., the last time CU advanced to what is now known as the NCAA Final Four (keyed in by CU student assistant Luke Rogers):

March 12, 1955

By Chet Nelson
Rocky Mountain News Sports Editor

MANHATTAN, Kan. - Bob Jeangerard delivered a 20 point spree to lead Colorado's Buffs to a convincing 93-81 victory over Bradley Saturday night and propel the Buffs into the semifinals of the NCAA basketball tournament at Kansas City next week.

Jeangerard's deadly shooting sent the Big Seven champs away to an 8-point lead and they were in virtual command throughout the final period. Unheralded Jim Ranglos, a reserve throughout the regular season, came off the bench early to thwart the Braves with his devastating play off the board and big Burdie Haldorson potted 23 points to maintain his customary average for the Buffs.Tom Harrold, who tallied 18 points, and Charlie Mock joined in to implement a fine team performance with their usual smooth ball handling.

Colorado, avenging a 76-64 defeat by Bradley in its opening NCAA game last year, established a new team scoring record. The old record was made when the Buffs beat Oklahoma, 91-82, at Boulder in their third league game this season.
And so the Golden Buffs set their sights on Kansas City and a meeting Friday night with the winner of the San Francisco - Oregon State game. In Friday's other contest Iowa, Big Ten titlist, meets La Salle, defending NCAA champion.

Jeangerard, who made 12 of 24 shots from the floor and added five free throws, came on the floor Saturday night with his injured thumb, jammed in Fridays' 65-59 uphill triumph over Tulsa, well bandaged. But the 6-3 senior was off on his warm-up shots in practice, ripped the tape off his right hand - and this action turned out to be just what the doctor ordered.
While Colorado was applying the breaks to the helter skelter Bradley fast break with Ranglos and Haldorson gobbling up rebounds off the defensive boards, the Buffs punctured the Braves' desperate court press in the first half when Jeangerard hit the target repeatedly with 1-hand push shots from 12 to 15 feet out.

Then in the second half when Bradley, which had jammed the post in covering Haldorson, thus leaving Jeangerard open, loosened up in the middle, the Buffs tossed high lob passes in for Burdie, who broke under for lay ups. Colorado's ability to control the ball also was a factor since it gave the Buffs more opportunity to capitalize on opportunities from the free throw line and eventually led to four Bradley players fouling out while the Buffs remained intact.

Colorado hit on 29 of 66 field goal attempts for a 43.9 percentage. Bradley scored 32 of 76 attempts for 32.1 percent. The buffs converted 33 out of 37 from the free throw line and Bradley 17 out of 24. Little Stan Albeck, 135-pound sparkplug, was the "big man" for the Braves in the first half with 14 points. He finished with 18. Harvey Babetch dominated the point-making in the final half with 18 to give him 22 all told before fouling out with 2:08 left after Jerry Hansen went out with 7:20 remaining, followed by Albeck with 3:45 left. Dick Peterson joined them on the bench with 1:50 left. After Bradley took a 7-2 lead at the outset, Jeangerard fired the Buffs into a 12-11 lead and they never surrendered it.

At this point, four minutes after play started, Ranglos came off the bench and Colorado winged to a 38-26 lead. The Braves cut it down to four points with three straight fielders, but Jeangerard again caught fire and sparked CU to a 49-41 halftime lead.

Contrary to the general pattern of the Buffs this season, they and Coach Bebe Lee were pretty much on the "rocking chair throughout the second half with only Babetch causing any worry. Colorado's margin remained at seven points or more and the Braves made only mild gestures. They finally became stampeded after the score stood 67-59.

The Buffs then hit seven straight points to lead by 15 with five minutes left and they kept ahead by 12 or more the rest of the way Colorado appeared fresh all the way and the helter skelter efforts of the Braves took nothing out of the Buffs, physically.

Probably the biggest cheer of the night from a noisy CU rooting section came when Coach Lee lifted his regulars in the final minute and dispatched a team of reserves into action.

COLORADO (93)
Jeangerard 12-24 5-6 29, Ranglos 3-8 4-5 10, Haldorson 7-14 9-12 23, Harrold 4-10 10-15 18, Mock 2-7 2-4 6, Coffman 0-0 0-0 0, Yardley 1-1 0-0 2, Hannah 0-0 1-2 1, Mansfield 1-1 2-3 4, Peterson 0-0 0-0 0, Grant 0-0 0-0 0, Mowbray 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-66 33-47 93.

BRADLEY (81)
Babetch 7-9 8-9 22, Gower 3-6 0-2 6, Peterson 5-12 2-2 12, Albeck 6-15, 4-6 16, Utt 6-18 3-4 15, Hansen 2-6 0-0 4, Dickman 1-4 0-0 2, Kent 2-6 0-0 4, Burnham 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-76 17-23 81.

Halftime-Colorado 49, Bradley 41. Rebounds-Colorado 47 (Ranglos 19, Haldorson 10), Bradley 46 (Utt 11, Peterson 10). Total Fouls-Colorado 13, Bradley 27.
Attendance-7,500.

Note: San Francisco beat Colorado in the national semifinal, 62-50, as the Dons were led by Bill Russell's 24 points. CU came back and beat Iowa, 75-54, in the now defunct third place game.