For those old enough to remember, it is hard to believe it was 30 years ago that the basketball world was introduced to the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird rivalry.

A new book by Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports titled “When March Went Mad: Magic, Bird and the Game That Transformed Basketball” will refresh people’s memory of the March 26, 1979, encounter that resulted in a 75-64 Michigan State victory over Bird’s previously undefeated Indiana State Sycamores in the championship game of the NCAA tournament. The game is still the highest-rated (24.1) college basketball game ever, and because of the proliferation of cable and satellite television, it’s one of those records that has stood the test of time.

“These guys were exact opposites but fundamentally the same,” Davis said. “That’s what makes it so compelling. They were big guys who could pass, and they both wore the number 33. One was black; one was white. Bird was an intensely shy person; Magic was the life of the party.”

The 1979 NCAA tournament was dynamic in so many ways. It was the first year that all the teams were seeded in the bracket, and the Johnson-Bird finale helped transform the tournament from the UCLA-dynasty days to an event where individuals were introduced to the sporting public on a grand stage.

Neither Johnson nor Bird agreed to be part of this publication, but Davis interviewed 98 people, who knew them before, after and during their Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame careers.

Davis chronicles how close the world came to never seeing Larry Bird play college basketball. Bird originally signed to play at Indiana for Bob Knight, but left campus after being overwhelmed by its size. He played AAU basketball and worked for the street department in his hometown where the duties included garbage pick-up, snow removal and mowing lawns.

Bill Hodges, then a 35-year-old assistant at Indiana State, convinced Bird to visit Indiana State. Eventually, he built a trusting relationship with Bird.

When then-Sycamores coach Bob King developed a brain aneurism five days before the start of Bird’s senior season, Hodges was named interim coach. Bird was a driving force behind that, because Hodges didn’t have the experience for the job.

Indiana State was picked to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference that season, but it never lost a game until the NCAA final against Michigan State.

Hodges’ story is also detailed in the book. After Bird went to play for the Boston Celtics, Indiana State never achieved that level again. Hodges got divorced, lost his job within three years and was at the point of a nervous breakdown. He bounced around the coaching profession and eventually settled in Roanoke, Virginia, where he is a high-school history teacher.

Johnson’s development included being a part of the public-school bus program that swept the nation in the 1970s. Johnson grew up wanting to play at the predominantly African-American and basketball-dominant Sexton High School in his hometown of Lansing, Michigan.

But districting forced him to be bused to the predominantly white Everett High School, which had little basketball history. It took Johnson out of his comfort zone, but his personality made him the most popular kid in school. He eventually led Everett to a state championship his senior year.

When it came time to choose where he would attend college, Johnson picked Michigan State over Michigan, which was more of a traditional power. Part of the reasoning was he wanted to go to a program and make it successful.

Johnson was only a sophomore when he led the Spartans to their first basketball national title.

Both men went on to star in the NBA, and their rivalry continued as the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics met in the 1984, 1985 and 1987 NBA finals.

They also became friends and were teammates on the 1992 U.S. Olympic Basketball Team, which was given the moniker “The Dream Team.”