--- description: Princeton’s near-upset of Georgetown in a 1989 first-round game made sure Cinderella would always get invited to the ball title: NCAA Tournament 2014: Princeton & Georgetown Game Saved March Madness image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc012d89baec88834/6986866135ba6fe9adc0112d/alonzo-mourning-georgetown-princeton-march-madness-ncaa.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [College Basketball](/tag/college-basketball/) ## College Basketball Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch the Game That Saved March Madness  by [Sean Gregory](/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Mar 20, 2014 3:41 PM CUT  Georgetown's Alonzo Mourning (center) versus Princeton's Matt Lapin (33) and Kit Mueller (00) at Providence Civic Center, in Providence, R.I., on March 17, 1989. Georgetown's Alonzo Mourning (center) versus Princeton's Matt Lapin (33) and Kit Mueller (00) at Providence Civic Center, in Providence, R.I., on March 17, 1989.Manny Millan  by [Sean Gregory](/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Mar 20, 2014 3:41 PM CUT On St. Patrick’s Day night, 1989, the top-seeded Georgetown Hoyas—the most dominant and polarizing college basketball team in America—[faced](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/longform/princeton-georgetown/index.html "undefined") the 16th-seeded Princeton Tigers in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Hoyas had just rolled through the powerful Big East. The Tigers barely won the lightly-regarded Ivy League. While watching that year’s selection show, many Princeton players had just one wish: please, don’t make us play Georgetown. First game on the board: Georgetown vs. Princeton, in Providence. For the Princeton players, jitters soon turned into joy. For college basketball fans, March Madness would soon change, forever, for the better. A David vs. Goliath classic attracted what was then ESPN’s largest-ever audience for a college hoops game. The first two days of the opening round, which tip off today, have become a shared national ritual. And it might never have happened were it not for that one night, a quarter century ago, in Providence. 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