Deseret News archives: Magic outdueled Bird in title game at Special Events Center
On March 26, 1979, NCAA March Madness reached elite status ... in Salt Lake City.
Editor’s note: This story was originally published on March 26, 2025. A look back at local, national and world events through Deseret News archives. The college basketball universe was centered on the University of Utah’s campus on March 26, 1979, as one of the most consequential Final Four game was played on the Special Events Center floor.
With significant hype and a national TV audience ready, Magic Johnson’s Michigan State squad prepared to tip off against upstate Indiana State’s team, led by college legend Larry Bird. The Sycamores were undefeated. The buildup Utah is a basketball hotbed, and in 1979, all four local college teams — Utah, BYU, Utah State and Weber State — advanced to the NCAA tournament, a feat not duplicated for two-plus decades.
And Salt Lake City was host to the 1979 Final Four — March 24 and 26 at the Special Events Center, now known as the Huntsman Center. Indiana State's Larry Bird watches the Michigan State Spartans celebrate their NCAA championship on March 26, 1979, in Salt Lake City. | O.
Wallace Kasteler, Deseret News Indiana State arrived undefeated, perfect through 33 games — the streak matching both players’ uniform number. Bird would keep that number in the pros but Johnson had to accept 32 with the Lakers because 33 was already assigned to another pretty good player, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Indiana State had defeated DePaul in the March 24 semifinals 76-74, while Michigan State buried upstart Penn 101-67.