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1972 NCAA University Division basketball tournament
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Edition of USA college basketball tournament
August 2023
March 2026
January 2022
1972 NCAA 70s logo.svg NCAA logo from 1971 to 1979 25 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, California UCLA Bruins 8th 8th 9th Florida State Seminoles 1st 1st Louisville Cardinals 2nd North Carolina Tar Heels 6th John Wooden 8th Bill Walton UCLA 147,304 Jim Price Louisville 103
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. The 34th annual edition of the tournament began on Saturday, March 11, and ended with the championship game at the Memorial Sports Arena 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.
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;https://www.si.com/vault/1972/04/03/613950/oh-johnny-oh-johnny-oh Sports Illustrated Kirkpatrick Curry Oh, Johnny, Oh, Johnny Oh! April 3, 1972 30 March 12, 2019 April 4, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160404125350/http://www.si.com/vault/1972/04/03/613950/oh-johnny-oh-johnny-oh dead https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=D9ovAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LO0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5758%2C4521416 Spokesman-Review Spokane, Washington Associated Press Super soph Bill Walton sparkles; Bruins earn another NCAA title March 26, 1972 1, sportshttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=de9VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DuEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2427%2C6615782 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon Associated Press It was the same old story-- Bruins win NCAA crown March 26, 1972 1D 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.http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=290692449 https://web.archive.org/web/20090314043507/http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=290692449 dead March 14, 2009 Woodside hits jumper with 3 seconds left to push N. Dakota St. to Summit title Associated Press ESPN 2009-03-10 2009-03-11 SW Louisiana (renamed the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1999; the school's athletic teams have been referred to as "Louisiana" since then) 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. This was also the last year the national semifinals were televised regionally on a Thursday or Friday night (The first game was televised to the Eastern and Central time zones and the second to the Mountain and Pacific time zones. Markets of participating teams were permitted to televise both games if the team of local interest was playing in the opposite window; in 1972, Louisville NBC affiliate WAVE broadcast both games live, as the Cardinals' semifinal vs. UCLA tipped off at 11:15 p.m. Eastern.).
Schedule and venues
The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1972 tournament:
First round
March 11
East Region
Alumni Hall, Jamaica, New York (Host: St. John's University)
Jadwin Gymnasium, Princeton, New Jersey (Host: Princeton University)
William & Mary Hall, Williamsburg, Virginia (Host: The College of William & Mary)
Mideast Region
Stokely Athletic Center, Knoxville, Tennessee (Host: University of Tennessee)
Midwest Region
Pan American Center, Las Cruces, New Mexico (Host: New Mexico State University)
West Region
ASISU Minidome, Pocatello, Idaho (Hosts: Idaho State University, Big Sky Conference)
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
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California (Hosts: University of Southern California, Pacific-8 Conference)
Teams
Region Team Coach Conference Finished Final Opponent Score East East East Carolina Tom Quinn Southern First roundVillanovaL 85–70 East North Carolina Dean Smith Atlantic Coast Third PlaceLouisvilleW 105–91 East Penn Chuck Daly Ivy League Regional Runner-upNorth CarolinaL 73–59 East Providence Dave Gavitt Independent First roundPennL 76–60 East South Carolina Frank McGuire Independent Regional third placeVillanovaW 90–78 East Temple Harry Litwack Middle Atlantic First roundSouth CarolinaL 53–51 East Villanova Jack Kraft Independent Regional Fourth PlaceSouth CarolinaL 90–78 Mideast Mideast Eastern Kentucky Guy Strong Ohio Valley First roundFlorida StateL 83–81 Mideast Florida State Hugh Durham Independent Runner UpUCLAL 81–76 Mideast Kentucky Adolph Rupp Southeastern Regional Runner-upFlorida StateL 73–54 Mideast Marquette Al McGuire Independent Regional Fourth PlaceMinnesotaL 77–72 Mideast Minnesota Bill Musselman Big Ten Regional third placeMarquetteW 77–72 Mideast Ohio James Snyder Mid-American First roundMarquetteL 73–49 Midwest Midwest Houston Guy Lewis Independent First roundTexasL 85–74 Midwest Kansas State Jack Hartman Big Eight Regional Runner-upLouisvilleL 72–65 Midwest Southwestern Louisiana (Vacated) Beryl Shipley Southland Regional third placeTexasW 100–70 Midwest Louisville Denny Crum Missouri Valley Fourth PlaceNorth CarolinaL 105–91 Midwest Marshall Carl Tacy Independent First roundSouthwestern LouisianaL 112–101 Midwest Texas Leon Black Southwest Regional Fourth PlaceSouthwestern LouisianaL 100–70 West West BYU Stan Watts Western Athletic First roundLong Beach StateL 95–90 West Hawaii Red Rocha Independent First roundWeber StateL 91–64 West Long Beach State Jerry Tarkanian Pacific Coast Regional Runner-upUCLAL 73–57 West San Francisco Bob Gaillard West Coast Regional third placeWeber StateW 74–64 West UCLA John Wooden Pacific-8 ChampionFlorida StateW 81–76 West Weber State Gene Visscher Big Sky Regional Fourth PlaceSan FranciscoL 74–64
Bracket
* – Denotes overtime period
East region
1 y
no
high
South Carolina
53
1971 Temple Owls Temple
51
1971 Penn Quakers Penn
76
1971 Providence Friars Providence
60
1971 Villanova Wildcats Villanova
85
1971 East Carolina Pirates East Carolina
70
North Carolina
92
South Carolina
69
Penn
78
Villanova
67
North Carolina
73
Penn
59
East Regional third place
South Carolina
90
Villanova
78
Mideast region
1 y
high
no
Florida State
83
1971 none Eastern Kentucky Colonels Eastern Kentucky
81
Marquette
73
Ohio
49
1971 Minnesota Golden Gophers Minnesota#
56
Florida State
70
Kentucky
85
Marquette
69
Florida State
73
Kentucky
54
Mideast Regional third place
Minnesota#
77
Marquette
72
# - Minnesota vacated its appearance in the 1972 tournament.https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/friv/forfeits.cgi Forfeits and Vacated Games Sports-Reference.com April 30, 2024
Midwest region
1 y
high
no
1971 Southwestern Louisiana Bulldogs Southwestern Louisiana
112
Marshall
101
1971 Texas Longhorns Texas
85
Houston
74
Louisville
88
Southwestern Louisiana
84
1971 Kansas State Wildcats Kansas State
66
Texas
55
Louisville
72
Kansas State
65
Midwest Regional third place
Southwestern Louisiana
100
Texas
70
West region
1 y
high
no
Weber State
91
1971 none Hawaii Rainbow Warriors Hawaii
64
1971 Long Beach State 49ers Long Beach State
95
1971 BYU Cougars BYU
90*
UCLA
90
Weber State
58
1971 San Francisco Dons San Francisco
55
Long Beach State
75
UCLA
73
Long Beach State
57
West Regional third place
Weber State
64
San Francisco
74
Final Four
National semifinalsThursday, March 23 National Championship GameSaturday, March 25 National third-place game high
E
North Carolina
75
ME
Florida State
79
MW
Louisville
77
W
UCLA
96
ME
Florida State
76
W
UCLA
81 E
North Carolina
105
MW
Louisville
91
Announcers
Curt 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
Bill Enis and Frank Dill - Midwest Regional Final at Ames, Iowa
Charlie Jones and Elgin Baylor - West Regional Final at Provo, Utah
See also
1972 NCAA College Division basketball tournament
1972 National Invitation Tournament
1972 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
1972 National Women's Invitation Tournament
References
Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
Ncaa
NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
Category:College basketball tournaments in California
Category:Basketball competitions in Los Angeles