Illinois-Michigan final would be first NCAA title game between conference foes since 'Miracle' finish in 1988

INDIANAPOLIS — It was 50-50 at halftime, but Oklahoma’s Stacey King wasn’t worried. The game was being played at his high-scoring team’s preferred pace. The Sooners were stacked. They were a No. 1 seed for a reason. Plus, they’d already beaten Kansas twice during the season. No problem, right?

Big problem. Jayhawks star Danny Manning dominated the second half. Their coach, Larry Brown, did some of his finest work, too. The game slowed to a crawl. The Sooners couldn’t handle it and started chucking up bad shots. The No. 6-seeded Jayhawks pulled off an 83-79 major upset for the national championship in 1988.

Not that King is still sore about it or anything.

“Oh, man, that’s one of the regrets of my life,” the longtime Bulls TV analyst recalled. “I wish I had a do-over. …

“We got out of character. We got frustrated. But when you get to the last game of the year and everybody is watching, sometimes it’s overwhelming to guys. We forgot what got us there.”

Basketball fans of a certain age remember that as the “Danny and the Miracles” game. It also was a showdown between conference rivals, then from the Big Eight. Believe it or not, there hasn’t been a national championship game between teams from the same conference since.

“That really surprises me,” King said.

But there will be another one if Illinois beats UConn and Michigan beats Arizona in Saturday’s national semifinals. How big that would be for the Big Ten, which hasn’t had a team win it all since 2000.

King, a serious college hoops fan, is picking both the Illini — “if they shoot it like they can and don’t go through one of those lull periods” — and the Wolverines.

And his champ?

“Michigan’s got to be the favorite, if you ask me,” he said.