In 1939 H.V. Porter, an official with the Illinois High School Association, penned an essay in honor of the state's prep basketball fans. "When the March madness is on him," Porter wrote, "midnight jaunts of a hundred miles on successive nights make him even more alert the next day."

At approximately the same time — March 27, 1939, in fact — Oregon met Ohio State in a rickety, dirt-floor gymnasium in Evanston, Ill., and won 46-33 for the inaugural title, thus tying the two: March Madness and the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Today the terms are interchangeable. Both originated in Illinois in 1939. The former was the brainchild of Porter, a lifelong high school administrator and coach. The latter, which began with eight teams — virtually the square root of the number of schools invited today — culminated inside Patten Gym at Northwestern University.

Ironic? Patten Gym no longer exists: The site is now part of Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering. And Northwestern is the lone major conference institution never to have been invited to the big dance.

What follows is a timeline of the key moments of the NCAA tourney. Here are the significant events and characters that took March Madness from a bubble team in the scope of American sporting events to an unquestioned No. 1 seed:

1939: The inaugural tournament is put together in three weeks and includes a pair of four-team regionals in Philadelphia and San Francisco. The entire tourney draws 15,025 fans and loses $2,531 — the last time the tourney finishes in the red.

Dr. James Naismith, the game's creator, attends the championship game at Northwestern. The halftime entertainment includes an exhibition much like the very first game in Springfield, Mass., with peach baskets instead of rims and nets. The championship trophy is the game's only casualty, as Oregon guard Bobby Anet, diving across the scorer's table for a loose ball, sends it crashing to the floor. The figurine atop the trophy is sheered off.

Oregon wins and then embarks on a 39-hour train ride home to Eugene. Patten Gym never hosts another basketball game, and is razed the following April. But the tournament is only beginning to take root.

1941: The NCAA assumes administration of the tourney from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). In exchange the NCAA promises NABC coaches complimentary tickets to the finals, a deal that lasts for decades (coaches are now permitted to buy two at face value).

1943-1945: During the war years, the champions of the NCAA and NIT (which began in 1938) meet in an exhibition at Madison Square Garden to benefit the Red Cross. The NCAA champs win all three years, including a titanic showdown in '45 between Oklahoma A&M's 7-footer, Bob Kurland, and DePaul's George Mikan. The pecking order is established.

1946: The first televised championship game. Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State), behind Bob Kurland, beats North Carolina and becomes the tourney's first repeat winner before 18,479 fans at Madison Square Garden.

1951: The field expands to 16 teams and 10 conference winners are extended automatic bids. Conference winners are mandated to accept those bids, as opposed to an offer from the NIT.

1952: Two additional regional sites are added, bringing the total to four.

1954: The first national television broadcast, as LaSalle defeats Bradley 92-76.

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1957: North Carolina needs triple overtime to win both its semifinal and championship games, the latter coming against Kansas and Wilt Chamberlain. Eleven television affiliates carry the games.

1964: UCLA, coached by John Wooden, wins its first national championship. The Bruins went on to establish one of sport's enduring dynasties, winning nine more championships in the next 11 seasons and an NCAA-record 88 consecutive games.

"This is my big argument with Billy Packer," says Einhorn. "He says the tournament got much bigger because anybody can win. Wrong. What makes any sport great is a super team. The Packers, or the Yankees. In college basketball, that super team is UCLA. The Bruin dynasty went a long way toward making the tournament what it is today."

1966: Texas Western, with an all-black starting five, defeats Adolph Rupp's Kentucky juggernaut, with its all-white starting five. Not only is the outcome a watershed moment in the civil rights era, but it also induces a change in the scheduling of the final four.

The Wildcats barely survive Duke in the second semifinal matchup, which is played on the eve of the championship game. At the next committee meeting the final four format is changed from Friday-Saturday to Thursday-Saturday.

1968: Though not an NCAA tournament game, No. 1 UCLA versus No. 2 Houston (both undefeated) is the first nationally televised prime-time college basketball game. Einhorn hires Dick Enberg to call it. The contest, which Houston won thanks to Elvin Hayes' 39 points, was played inside the Houston Astrodome and remains one of the highest rated college basketball games ever.

Prime time. National TV. A dome. It all seemed so outrageous at the time.