Since The University of Memphis men's basketball team received the first-ever No. 1 seed in the program's history, March Madness has broken out across the city.
Not only do the Tigers have - theoretically - the fourth easiest road to the Final Four, they also have their best chance to capture the first ever NCAA championship in the school's history.
So there is good reason for a little madness. The last time the Tigers fought their way to the NCAA semifinal, most of the current U of M student body had yet to be born.
The year was 1985, and the seasons were a little shorter - as were the shorts.
The name on the jerseys still read 'Memphis,' but it was followed proudly by 'State.'
Conference USA had yet to even be dreamed about.
Instead, The U of M ruled the Metro Conference, carrying their conference dominance into the NCAA Tournament.
The '85 Tigers finished with a school-record 31 wins, and scored wins over Pennsylvania, UAB, Boston College and Oklahoma before losing in the Final Four to Villanova 52-45.
It is a record that has not seen any competition until this season's Tigers finished the regular season 30-3.
But besides the obvious comparisons of win totals, there are a lot more similarities between the two historic teams.
Take, for instance, that the '85 Tiger team breezed through the regular season with only three losses finishing at 24-3.
This season's Memphis squad finished with a solid regular season performance, losing only three games themselves.
And just like the 21st century Tigers, the '85 squad would continue their winning streak straight into the Metro Conference Tournament championship game, defeating Florida State 90-86 in overtime.
Besides a win in the conference championship game in 1987, Memphis would fail to win a conference tournament until this season's C-USA championship.
But numbers are numbers, and championship-caliber teams are carried by players.
And there may be no better comparison than 1985 Metro Conference Player of the Year Keith Lee and the 2006 C-USA Player of the Year Rodney Carney.
Both are top-10 all-time scoring leaders for Memphis and each carry a long list of accolades that include All-American honors and all-conference selections.
But the two may be most similar when it comes to leadership.
Lee led his team to four straight NCAA appearances, and in his senior year led Memphis to its first Final Four appearance since 1973.
Much like Lee, Carney is the only present Tiger to play in an NCAA Tournament game.
In 2004, Carney scored 26 points and helped Memphis defeat South Carolina in the Tigers' first NCAA tournament victory since 1995.
But building bridges between teams separated by more than a decade may be a bit of a stretch.
No one can accurately predict how far Memphis will make it this year, but should the Tigers find their way to the Final Four championship game, history may repeat itself again.
Starring directly across at Memphis from the Minneapolis bracket, Villanova looms with a No. 1 seed of their own.
Since beating Memphis in 1985, Villanova has yet to reproduce their Final Four success as well.
Maybe there are more comparisons to the present and 1985, but until the brackets are filled and the nets are cut, Final Four success will continue to remain history for The U of M.
