<span><span>This book tells the story of the groundbreaking eight-team tournament that was the brainchild of the National Association of Basketball Coaches and only nominally supported by the NCAA itself. Eventually, the University of Oregon’s team of remarkable young men, all of them from the Pacific Northwest, would win that first championship, one that was witnessed by the man who invented basketball, James Naismith. The game unfolded in a turbulent, pivotal month when, among other things, it was becoming increasingly apparent that Hitler's belligerence would draw Europe and perhaps the world into another war . . . soon.</span></span>