Game For The Ages: 2016 Men's Basketball Final Quiz

Answer: Big East Conference

Until 1975, Villanova competed as an independent program, not aligned with any conference. That year it became a member of the Eastern Athletic Association, popularly known as the Eastern Eight, along with Pittsburgh, Penn State, West Virginia and four others.

In 1980, the Wildcats moved into the Big East, established to be a primarily basketball league which would compete at a national level without big time football programs driving the athletic departments. Georgetown, St. Johns and Syracuse were other charter members.

The 1980s were the heyday of the Big East. The conference routinely sent six or more teams to the NCAA tournament, and in 1985, three big east teams made the Final Four, with Villanova winning it all.

Answer: Jay Wright

Jay Wright, in his fifteenth season as coach at Villanova, finally led the wildcats back to the top of college basketball, 31 years after their previous championship of 1985. This was his second appearance in the Final Four. In 2009, Wright's team lost to North Carolina 83-69 in a semi-final game at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. Carolina went on to win the 2009 title, 89-72 over Michigan State. Wright's record at Villanova in those first fifteen seasons was 354 wins and 157 losses, a .693 winning percentage.

The other three coaches also led their teams into 2016's final four: Boeheim-Syracuse; Williams-North Carolina; Kruger-Oklahoma.

Answer: NRG Stadium - Houston, Texas

The 2016 Final Four in Houston was held in the massive NRG Stadium, the multi-purpose home turf of the Houston Texans, a National Football League team. Attendance for the final game of the NCAA tournament was 74,310.

Answer: Villanova 77, North Carolina 74

The 77-74 victory in the championship game marked only the second Villanova win in seven meetings against Carolina in NCAA tournament history. The game was close all the way, with Villanova fortunate to be trailing by only five at the break. North Carolina, normally an average long range shooting team, was on fire from the outside in the first half, hitting over 50% of its three point attempts.

As usual it was Villanova's dogged defense that kept them in the game and kept Carolina outside even as their shooters cooled off. Villanova led by as many as ten points well into the second half before Carolina's late run and the frantic final moments.

Answer: Kris Jenkins

It was Jenkins who sank the game-winning three pointer, a clutch long range shot which left his hand with less than a second to go and swished through the hoop with no time remaining on the clock. Well documented in all the post-game interviews is the final play which led to the shot. Jenkins inbounded the ball to Ryan Arcidiacono with 4.7 seconds left and the score tied at 74. Arcidiacono dribbled past Ochefu's mid court screen and got some open space.

His first two options were a shot or a pass to Hart coming off another screen down low on the right.

Instead, as the North Carolina defense collapsed onto him, he heard Jenkins, who who had been forgotten by Carolina's defenders, coming behind him yelling for the ball. He unselfishly dished the ball back to Jenkins, and the rest is HISTORY!

Answer: Phil Booth

Reserve sophomore guard Phil Booth came up huge for Villanova. He logged 25 minutes off the bench, shot 6-7 from the field (2-2 from three point range), and 2-2 from the foul line, for a total of twenty points. In the previous five games leading up to the final, he scored only 27 points, and his season average was 7.0.

He also had a steal and a blocked shot, played tenacious defense without committing a foul, and sank a key jump shot to break a 'Nova scoring drought with three minutes to play.

In general, the Villanova bench soundly outplayed North Carolina's more heralded reserves.

Answer: Ryan Arcidiacano

The man they call "Arch," the spark plug from Neshaminy High School in Philadelphia, capped a magnificent four year run at point guard for Villanova by directing the team to the title and earning the MOP award. His shooting was excellent for the two games: 11-15 field goals, including 5-7 three pointers, and a perfect five of five from the free throw line; but that barely begins to describe his value to the team. Mention also must go to North Carolina's Marcus Paige, who courageously and almost single-handedly brought his team back from ten points down with five minutes left in the final.

His incredible double-pump off balance three point basket tied it with 4.7 seconds to go, and surely would have earned him the Most Outstanding Player had North Carolina gone on to win in overtime.

Answer: largest margin of victory in a Final Four game

The record they set came in their 44 point obliteration of a strong, previously confident Oklahoma team in the semi-finals (the score was 95-51). In this contest, the Wildcats faced probable player of the year Buddy Hield and a Sooner squad which rolled into the semis having taken out number one seeded Oregon in their previous game. Field dropped 37 points on the stunned Ducks, and was the clear star of the tournament to this point.

It was just one of those games. Everything went right for Villanova and wrong for Oklahoma. 'Nova led by a not insurmountable 42-28 at the half, and the Sooners came out after the break with renewed determination and cut it to nine.

However, Villanova continued their near flawless execution and hot shooting, and ramped up the defense.

They shut down Hield completely and pulled away. Villanova did use a short roster with only eight players seeing significant time in all tournament games, but because of the complete rout of Oklahoma, even the super cautious coach Wright got all his end-of-bench guys into this game. The previous record wins were the 36 point win by Ohio State vs. St. Josephs in 1961 (95-69) and the 34 point win by Michigan State vs. Penn in 1979 (101-67).

Answer: second

It was Villanova's second title, matching the heart-pumping and equally amazing 1985 upset of Georgetown. In that game, the heavily favored Hoyas were the defending champion, led by future NBA hall of fame center Patrick Ewing. Villanova prevailed 66-64, shooting a then record 78.8% from the field in playing what became known as "the perfect game." The win is widely regarded as one of the biggest upsets in US college sports history.

The 1985 Villanova squad was coached by Rollie Massimino.

Answer: Philadelphia, PA

The championship parade kicked of from 20th and Market Street in downtown Philadelphia on Friday, April 8th, just four days after Villanova's amazing final game victory. Villanova is located in Radnor Township, a suburb a few miles northwest of the city.

The university is part of the Big 5, a unique local grouping that has the five Division One schools in or near Philadelphia, all with great basketball traditions, compete for an unofficial city title each year. The rivalries are historically intense, going all the way back to the 1960s.

The other schools are Temple University, Saint Joseph's University, LaSalle University, and University of Pennsylvania. Tobacco Road: where North Carolina Tarheel fans go to drown their sorrows.