1972 NCAA University Division basketball tournament
This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2022) |
The 1972 NCAA University Division basketball tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of NCAA University Division (now Division I) college basketball. It began on Saturday, March 11, and ended with the championship game in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 25. A total of 29 games were played, including a third-place game in each region and a national third-place game.
![]() NCAA logo from 1971 to 1979 | |||||
Teams | 25 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Finals site | Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, California | ||||
Champions | UCLA Bruins (8th title, 8th title game, 9th Final Four) | ||||
Runner-up | Florida State Seminoles (1st title game, 1st Final Four) | ||||
Semifinalists |
| ||||
Winning coach | John Wooden (8th title) | ||||
MOP | Bill Walton (UCLA) | ||||
Attendance | 147,304 | ||||
Top scorer | Jim Price (Louisville) (103 points) | ||||
|
Led by longtime head coach John Wooden, the undefeated UCLA Bruins won the national title with an 81–76 victory in the final game over Florida State, coached by Hugh Durham. Sophomore center Bill Walton of UCLA was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player;[1][2][3] the first of two consecutive.
On a historically significant note, the Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns made the tournament in their first season of eligibility for postseason play; the next to achieve this feat was North Dakota State in 2009.[4] SW Louisiana also made the tournament in 1973, but due to major infractions that resulted in the basketball program receiving the NCAA death penalty (and very nearly expelled from the NCAA altogether), both appearances have since been vacated and the records expunged.
This was the last year in which the championship game was played on Saturday; it moved to Monday night in 1973.
Schedule and venues
editThe following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1972 tournament:
First round
- March 11
- East Region
- Mideast Region
- Midwest Region
- West Region
Regional semifinals, 3rd-place games, and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)
- March 16 and 18
- East Regional, WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, West Virginia (Host: West Virginia University)
- Mideast Regional, University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)
- Midwest Regional, Hilton Coliseum, Ames, Iowa (Host: Iowa State University)
- West Regional, Marriott Center, Provo, Utah (Host: Brigham Young University)
National semifinals, 3rd-place game, and championship (Final Four and championship)
- March 23 and 25
Teams
editRegion | Team | Coach | Conference | Finished | Final Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
East | ||||||
East | East Carolina | Tom Quinn | Southern | First round | Villanova | L 85–70 |
East | North Carolina | Dean Smith | Atlantic Coast | Third Place | Louisville | W 105–91 |
East | Penn | Chuck Daly | Ivy League | Regional Runner-up | North Carolina | L 73–59 |
East | Providence | Dave Gavitt | Independent | First round | Penn | L 76–60 |
East | South Carolina | Frank McGuire | Independent | Regional third place | Villanova | W 90–78 |
East | Temple | Harry Litwack | Middle Atlantic | First round | South Carolina | L 53–51 |
East | Villanova | Jack Kraft | Independent | Regional Fourth Place | South Carolina | L 90–78 |
Mideast | ||||||
Mideast | Eastern Kentucky | Guy Strong | Ohio Valley | First round | Florida State | L 83–81 |
Mideast | Florida State | Hugh Durham | Independent | Runner Up | UCLA | L 81–76 |
Mideast | Kentucky | Adolph Rupp | Southeastern | Regional Runner-up | Florida State | L 73–54 |
Mideast | Marquette | Al McGuire | Independent | Regional Fourth Place | Minnesota | L 77–72 |
Mideast | Minnesota | Bill Musselman | Big Ten | Regional third place | Marquette | W 77–72 |
Mideast | Ohio | James Snyder | Mid-American | First round | Marquette | L 73–49 |
Midwest | ||||||
Midwest | Houston | Guy Lewis | Independent | First round | Texas | L 85–74 |
Midwest | Kansas State | Jack Hartman | Big Eight | Regional Runner-up | Louisville | L 72–65 |
Midwest | Southwestern Louisiana (Vacated) | Beryl Shipley | Southland | Regional third place | Texas | W 100–70 |
Midwest | Louisville | Denny Crum | Missouri Valley | Fourth Place | North Carolina | L 105–91 |
Midwest | Marshall | Carl Tacy | Independent | First round | Southwestern Louisiana | L 112–101 |
Midwest | Texas | Leon Black | Southwest | Regional Fourth Place | Southwestern Louisiana | L 100–70 |
West | ||||||
West | BYU | Stan Watts | Western Athletic | First round | Long Beach State | L 95–90 |
West | Hawaii | Red Rocha | Independent | First round | Weber State | L 91–64 |
West | Long Beach State | Jerry Tarkanian | Pacific Coast | Regional Runner-up | UCLA | L 73–57 |
West | San Francisco | Bob Gaillard | West Coast | Regional third place | Weber State | W 74–64 |
West | UCLA | John Wooden | Pacific-8 | Champion | Florida State | W 81–76 |
West | Weber State | Gene Visscher | Big Sky | Regional Fourth Place | San Francisco | L 74–64 |
Bracket
edit* – Denotes overtime period
East region
editQuarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||
North Carolina | 92 | ||||||||||
South Carolina | 69 | ||||||||||
South Carolina | 53 | ||||||||||
Temple | 51 | ||||||||||
North Carolina | 73 | ||||||||||
Penn | 59 | ||||||||||
Penn | 76 | ||||||||||
Providence | 60 | ||||||||||
Penn | 78 | East Regional third place | |||||||||
Villanova | 67 | ||||||||||
Villanova | 85 | South Carolina | 90 | ||||||||
East Carolina | 70 | Villanova | 78 |
Mideast region
editQuarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||
Minnesota# | 56 | ||||||||||
Florida State | 70 | ||||||||||
Florida State | 83 | ||||||||||
Eastern Kentucky | 81 | ||||||||||
Florida State | 73 | ||||||||||
Kentucky | 54 | ||||||||||
Kentucky | 85 | Mideast Regional third place | |||||||||
Marquette | 69 | ||||||||||
Marquette | 73 | Minnesota# | 77 | ||||||||
Ohio | 49 | Marquette | 72 |
# - Minnesota vacated its appearance in the 1972 tournament.[5]
Midwest region
editQuarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||
Louisville | 88 | ||||||||||
Southwestern Louisiana | 84 | ||||||||||
Southwestern Louisiana | 112 | ||||||||||
Marshall | 101 | ||||||||||
Louisville | 72 | ||||||||||
Kansas State | 65 | ||||||||||
Kansas State | 66 | Midwest Regional third place | |||||||||
Texas | 55 | ||||||||||
Texas | 85 | Southwestern Louisiana | 100 | ||||||||
Houston | 74 | Texas | 70 |
West region
editQuarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||
UCLA | 90 | ||||||||||
Weber State | 58 | ||||||||||
Weber State | 91 | ||||||||||
Hawaii | 64 | ||||||||||
UCLA | 73 | ||||||||||
Long Beach State | 57 | ||||||||||
San Francisco | 55 | West Regional third place | |||||||||
Long Beach State | 75 | ||||||||||
Long Beach State | 95 | Weber State | 64 | ||||||||
BYU | 90* | San Francisco | 74 |
Final Four
editNational semifinals Thursday, March 23 | National Championship Game Saturday, March 25 | ||||||||
E | North Carolina | 75 | |||||||
ME | Florida State | 79 | |||||||
ME | Florida State | 76 | |||||||
W | UCLA | 81 | |||||||
MW | Louisville | 77 | |||||||
W | UCLA | 96 | National third-place game | ||||||
E | North Carolina | 105 | |||||||
MW | Louisville | 91 |
Announcers
editCurt Gowdy, Tom Hawkins, and Jim Simpson (Final Four only) - First Round at Pocatello, Idaho (Long Beach State-BYU); East Regional Final at Morgantown, West Virginia; Final Four at Los Angeles, California
- Jim Simpson and Bill Enis - First Round at Knoxville, Tennessee (Marquette-Ohio)
- Jay Randolph and Pat Hernon - Mideast Regional Final at Dayton, Ohio
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Kirkpatrick, Curry (April 3, 1972). "Oh, Johnny, Oh, Johnny Oh!". Sports Illustrated. p. 30.
- ^ "Super soph Bill Walton sparkles; Bruins earn another NCAA title". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 26, 1972. p. 1, sports.
- ^ "It was the same old story-- Bruins win NCAA crown". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 26, 1972. p. 1D.
- ^ "Woodside hits jumper with 3 seconds left to push N. Dakota St. to Summit title". ESPN. Associated Press. March 10, 2009. Archived from the original on March 14, 2009. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
- ^ "Forfeits and Vacated Games". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 30, 2024.