1951 NCAA basketball tournament

Edition of US college basketball tournament August 2023 March 2026 January 2022 1951 16 Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota Kentucky Wildcats 3rd 3rd 4th Kansas State Wildcats 1st 2nd Illinois Fighting Illini 2nd Oklahoma A&M Aggies 4th Adolph Rupp 3rd No winner selectedNote 1 a a 110,645 Don Sunderlage Illinois 83 The 1951 NCAA basketball tournament involved 16 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 13th annual edition of the tournament began on March 20, 1951, and ended with the championship game on March 27, at Williams Arena, located on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. A total of 18 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game. Kentucky, coached by Adolph Rupp, won the national title with a 68–58 victory over Kansas State, coached by Jack Gardner. This NCAA tournament was the first with a 16-team field and the first with automatic bids for conference champions, of which there were 10.1951 NCAA tournament: Bracket, scores, stats, records NCAA.com https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2020-05-27/1951-ncaa-tournament-bracket-scores-stats-records 2026-02-24 www.ncaa.com en Only the championship and third place games were held in Minneapolis, while the semifinals were held in the respective regional sites; similar to previous years. A true "Final Four" (semifinals and final at same location) debuted the following year. The twelve-team National Invitation Tournament (NIT) was held the previous week in New York City at Madison Square Garden, with its championship on Saturday, Mach 17. Four teams competed in both tournaments, including NIT champion BYU;https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XDdPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=M04DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6375%2C3526479 Deseret News Salt Lake City, Utah Miller Hack BYU smashes Dayton in finale, 62-43 March 18, 1951 C1https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EBpQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wgsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6695%2C6075956 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon Associated Press Grimsley Will Brigham Young cops invitational hoop title, 62-43 March 18, 1951 1Bhttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XzdPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=M04DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6661%2C4218289 Deseret News Salt Lake City, Utah Miller Hack BYU gets nod in NCAA cage opener March 18, 1951 A11 they lost in the quarterfinal round, by ten points to Kansas State.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YjdPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=M04DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6551%2C4814583 Deseret News Salt Lake City, Utah Miller Hack Kansas State dumps cold Cougars, 64-54 March 24, 1951 A5https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HDozAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0uUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6980%2C3213091 Spokesman-Review Spokane, Washington Associated Press Kansas State whips BYU, 64-54 March 24, 1951 10 The three other teams were Arizona, North Carolina State, and St. John's. Locations The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1951 tournament: First round March 20 Madison Square Garden, New York, New York (Host: Metropolitan New York Conference) Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University) March 21 and 22 Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference) Regionals March 22 and 24 East Regional, Madison Square Garden, New York, New York (Host: Metropolitan New York Conference) March 23 and 24 West Regional, Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference) Championship Game March 27 Williams Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Hosts: University of Minnesota, Big Ten Conference) Teams Region Team Coach Conference Finished Final Opponent Score East East Columbia Lou Rossini Ivy League Sweet SixteenIllinoisL 79–71 East Connecticut Hugh Greer Yankee Sweet SixteenSt. John'sL 63–52 East Illinois Harry Combes Big Ten Third PlaceOklahoma A&MW 61–46 East Kentucky Adolph Rupp Southeastern ChampionKansas StateW 68–58 East Louisville Peck Hickman Independent Sweet SixteenKentuckyL 79–68 East NC State Everett Case Southern Regional Fourth PlaceSt. John'sL 71–59 East St. John's Frank McGuire Metro NY Regional third placeNC StateW 71–59 East Villanova Alex Severance Independent Sweet SixteenNC StateL 67–62 West West Arizona Fred Enke Border Sweet SixteenKansas StateL 61–59 West BYU Stan Watts Mountain States Regional Fourth PlaceWashingtonL 80–67 West Kansas State Jack Gardner Big 7 Runner-upKentuckyL 68–58 West Montana State Brick Breeden Independent Sweet SixteenOklahoma A&ML 50–46 West Oklahoma A&M Henry Iba Missouri Valley Fourth PlaceIllinoisL 61–46 West San Jose State Walt McPherson Independent Sweet SixteenBYUL 68–61 West Texas A&M John Floyd Southwest Sweet SixteenWashingtonL 62–40 West Washington Tippy Dye Pacific Coast Regional third placeBYUW 80–67 Bracket East Region – New York City no First roundMarch 20 Regional SemifinalMarch 22 Regional FinalMarch 24 Third Place New York City Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh, North Carolina New York City Illinois 79 Columbia 71 NC State 67 Villanova 62 Kentucky 79 Louisville 68 St John's 63 Connecticut 52 Illinois 84 NC State 70 Kentucky 59 St John's 43 Illinois 74 Kentucky 76 St John's 71 NC State 59 West Region – Kansas City, Missouri no First roundMarch 21 Regional SemifinalMarch 22 Regional FinalMarch 24 Third Place Kansas State 61 Arizona 59 BYU 68 San Jose State 61 Oklahoma A&M 50 Montana State 46 Washington 62 Texas A&M 40 Kansas State 64 BYU 54 Oklahoma A&M 61 Washington 57 Kansas State 68 Oklahoma A&M 44 Washington 80 BYU 67 National Finals – Minneapolis, Minnesota auto no National ChampionshipMarch 27 Kentucky 68 Kansas State 58 no Third place gameMarch 27 Illinois 61 Oklahoma A&M 46 Source:1951 NCAA basketball tournament https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/postseason/1951-ncaa.html College Basketball Reference 4 April 2018 Notes Note 1 a a Despite what some NCAA publications have printed many years later—that Kentucky's Bill Spivey won the 1951 award—no official vote occurred after the game and no player was officially presented as the winner.Tournament MVPs https://www.newspapers.com/image/251954569 Stevens Point Journal Stevens Point, Wisconsin April 8, 2003 12 Newspapers.com August 31, 2024 1951 – None selectedNCAA Men's Tournament Final Four MVPs https://www.newspapers.com/image/201158315 The Philadelphia Inquirer Philadelphia, Pennsylvania April 8, 2003 E03 Newspapers.com August 31, 2024 1951: None selected A news article printed by the Lexington Herald-Leader on April 7, 1951, titled "What Happened To NCAA's MVP Award?" detailed this mysterious divergence of precedent.Ashford Ed What Happened To NCAA's MVP Award? https://www.newspapers.com/image/685466890 Lexington Herald-Leader Lexington, Kentucky April 7, 1951 6 Newspapers.com August 31, 2024 Reporter Ed Ashford wrote, "For 11 consecutive years a most valuable player was chosen after the NCAA basketball tournament. However this year, for some unexplained reason, no poll was taken and there was no MVP honored. Whether the authorities just forgot about it or decided to eliminate balloting for the honor is not known. If a poll had been taken, it is likely that Kentucky would have garnered its third MVP award in the last four years. Alex Groza won the honor in 1948 and 1949 while Bill Spivey and Shelby Linville would have been strong contenders for the award this year." References Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament NCAA NCAA Basketball Tournament NCAA basketball tournament