Hail to the victors! The NCAA basketball champions 1939-1997.

After 60 annual appearances, the NCAA Basketball Tournament remains the premier amateur basketball tournament in the world. A thrilling 64-team spectacle highlighted by a glamorous Final Four, it showcases the greatest players and coaches in college basketball.

Checking out the 60 championship games that have been played since 1939, one is immediately struck by the solid block of type that sets off the years between 1964 and 1975. One name and one college jumps out at you: "John Wooden" and "UCLA."

During those years, John Wooden won 10 championships and 38 straight games against the finest college teams in the country - without ever really being extended. He won one game by 5 points, another by 6 points, and the other eight by at least 10 points - including 3 by over 20 and 1 by 30 points!

Considering the quality of the teams and the intensity of the competition, it is rather remarkable that only six of the games were decided by one point - although six of the championships went into overtime, with one of them going into triple overtime.

That, of course, was the historic confrontation between a smart, medium-sized North Carolina team coached by Frank McGuire, and a Kansas team starring the greatest offensive force in basketball history - Wilt Chamberlain.

What kind of game was it? All strategy - McGuire triple-teaming the pachyderm and Kansas refusing to do much shooting from outside. It took just 47 shots in the 55 minutes of playing time (the regular game plus the three overtime periods). Carolina shot 45 times. Final score: 54-53, Carolina.

That would make a pretty good half for an NBA game in 1998. But for Kansas in 1957? No way. They had scored 80 points on 57 shots in the semifinals against San Francisco and 81 points on 62 shots against Oklahoma City in the Regional Finals.

It was intriguing to check back on the title game in 1952. There was Kansas and McGuire again, this time with McGuire coaching St. John's. The big Kansas man this time was Clyde Lovellette, but the coach was the legendary Phog Allen.

The Phog refused to be intimidated by St. John's double-team on Lovellette. He had the big man put up 25 of his team's 63 shots. Lovellette hit on 12 of them and added 9 free throws for a game-high 33 points - leading the Jayhawks to a handsome 80-63 victory.

ABOUT THE COACHES

A lot of college basketball's legendary coaches appear among both the winners and losers, beginning and ending with John Wooden and including Hank Iba, Adolph Rupp, Nat Holman, Phog Allen, and Pete Newell.

Among the elite in the current generation (since 1977) are four legends-in-waiting, starting with Dean Smith and Bob Knight and including Mike Krzyzewski and Rick Pitino, [TABULAR DATA OMITTED] although Rick will have to win his next title in the pros.

Among the coaches with multiple appearances in the finals are Wooden with 10 (all of which he won), Adolph Rupp with 5 (he won 4), Bob Knight with 3 (he won all), and Dean Smith with 5 (he was 2-3).

Obviously, the hottest young prospect has to be Mike Krzyzewski. Back in the saddle after a physical breakdown, the Z man has made 5 championship appearances over a nine-year period (1986-1994), winning 2 and losing 3.

His match-up with Jerry Tarkanian in 1990 produced two records. It was the only time a team (Tarkanian's UNLV) scored over 100 points and won by 30 points. Final score: 103-73.

FINAL FOUR TRIVIA

* The first public basketball game (March 1892) pitted students vs teachers at what is now Springfield College (MA). The students won 51, with a teacher named Amos Alonzo Stagg scoring the only point for the faculty.

* The all-time TV rating for a college game matched Michigan State and Indiana State in 1979. It featured the greatest shoot-out since the O.K. Corral - Magic Johnson vs Larry Bird.

* Eddie Sutton is the only coach to bring four different teams - Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Oklahoma state - to the NCAA tournament.

* Three coaches ended their college careers by winning the NCAA title - John Wooden (UCLA 1975), Al McGuire (Marquette, 1977), and Larry Brown (Kansas, 1988).

* Five coaches have both played and coached In The Final Four - Vic Bubas (NC State player, Duke coach), Dick Harp (Kansas player and coach), Bob Knight (Ohio State player, Indiana coach), Bones McKinney (North Carolina player, Wake Forest coach), and Dean Smith (Kansas player, North Carolina coach).

* Only one U.S. president has attended the Final Four. President Bill Clinton showed up in Charlotte in 1994 to see his favorite team, the Arkansas Razorbacks, beat Duke for the championship.

* Bob Bender, head coach at Washington, is the only player to have competed in two championship games for different schools - Indiana in 1976 and Duke in 1978.

* Only three active coaches have won at least two championships: Bob Knight (Indiana), Denny Crum (Louisville), and Mike Krzyzewski (Duke).