1988 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

Edition of USA college basketball tournament August 2023 March 2026 1988 1988 Final Four logo.png 64 Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri Kansas Jayhawks 2nd 5th 8th Oklahoma Sooners 2nd 3rd Arizona Wildcats 1st Duke Blue Devils 6th Larry Brown 1st Danny Manning Kansas 558,998 Danny Manning Kansas 163 The 1988 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 50th annual edition of the tournament began on March 17, 1988, and ended with the championship game on April 4 returning to Kansas City for the 10th time. A total of 63 games were played. Kansas, coached by Larry Brown, won the national title with an 83–79 victory in the final game over Big Eight Conference rival Oklahoma, coached by Billy Tubbs. As of 2026, this was the last national championship game to feature two schools from the same conference. Danny Manning of Kansas was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Even though the Final Four was contested 40 mi km out from its campus in Lawrence, Kansas, Kansas was considered a long shot against the top rated Sooners because Oklahoma had previously defeated the Jayhawks twice by 8 points that season—at home in Norman, Oklahoma and on the road in Kansas' Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas's upset was the third biggest point-spread upset in Championship Game history. After this upset, the 1988 Kansas team was remembered as "Danny and the Miracles." This was the first NCAA Tournament which barred teams from playing on their home courts, or in any facility in which it played four or more regular season games. The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee made this change after each of the previous two Final Fours featured a team which played its first and second-round games at home: LSU in 1986 (as a No. 11 seed) and Syracuse in 1987. The team which was arguably hurt the most by the change was North Carolina, whose Dean Smith Center hosted for the first (and as of 2023, only) time. The Tar Heels were a No. 2 seed, but with the hosting ban now in effect, they were shipped to the West, where they were routed in the regional final by top seed Arizona. Archrival Duke was the No. 2 seed in the East and won its first two games at Chapel Hill on its way to the Final Four. Arizona, now known as a prominent basketball powerhouse, made their debut in this year's Final Four, marking the 80th different school (including official NCAA vacations; 78th otherwise) to do so. This is notable because Arizona's Final Four appearance was the first by a new school since the 1983 tournament, the longest gap at that point. Schedule and venues USA 450 right 1988 first and second rounds USA green pog.svg 33.748995 -84.387982 bottom #FFFFFF Atlanta Omni Coliseum USA green pog.svg 41.676355 -86.251990 bottom #FFFFFF South Bend Edmund P. Joyce Center USA green pog.svg 39.103118 -84.512020 bottom #FFFFFF Cincinnati US Bank Arena Riverfront Coliseum USA green pog.svg 41.763711 -72.685093 top #FFFFFF Hartford XL Center Hartford Civic Center USA green pog.svg 40.810556 -96.680278 bottom #FFFFFF Lincoln Bob Devaney Sports Center USA green pog.svg 35.913200 -79.055845 right #FFFFFF Chapel Hill Dean Smith Center USA green pog.svg 33.770050 -118.193739 bottom #FFFFFF Los Angeles Pauley Pavilion USA green pog.svg 40.760779 -111.891047 top #FFFFFF Salt Lake City Jon M. Huntsman Center USA 450 right 1988 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red) USA blue pog.svg 47.606209 -122.332071 right #FFFFFF Seattle Kingdome USA blue pog.svg 42.638922 -83.291047 right #FFFFFF Pontiac Pontiac Silverdome USA blue pog.svg 33.520661 -86.802490 bottom #FFFFFF Birmingham Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex BJCC Arena USA blue pog.svg 40.833989 -74.097086 bottom #FFFFFF E. Rutherford Izod Center Meadowlands Arena USA red pog.svg 39.099727 -94.578567 bottom #FFFFFF Kansas City Hy-Vee Arena Kemper Arena The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1988 tournament: First and Second Rounds March 17 and 19 East Region Dean Smith Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Host: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) Midwest Region Edmund P. Joyce Center, South Bend, Indiana (Host: University of Notre Dame) Southeast Region Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia (Host: Georgia Tech) West Region Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah (Host: University of Utah) March 18 and 20 East Region Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut (Host: University of Connecticut) Midwest Region Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, Nebraska (Host: University of Nebraska–Lincoln) Southeast Region Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio (Hosts: University of Cincinnati, Xavier University) West Region Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, California (Host: UCLA) Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) March 24 and 26 East Regional, Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey (Hosts: Seton Hall University, Big East Conference) Southeast Regional, BJCC Coliseum, Birmingham, Alabama (Host: Southeastern Conference) March 25 and 27 Midwest Regional, Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan (Hosts: University of Detroit Mercy, Midwestern Collegiate Conference) West Regional, Kingdome, Seattle, Washington (Host: University of Washington) National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) April 2 and 4 Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Big 8 Conference) Teams thumb|150px|A ticket from the tournament's Final Four Region Seed Team Coach Conference Finished Final opponent Score East East 1 Temple John Chaney Atlantic 10 Regional Runner-up2 DukeL 63–53 East 2 Duke Mike Krzyzewski Atlantic Coast National semifinals6 KansasL 66–59 East 3 Syracuse Jim Boeheim Big East Round of 3211 Rhode IslandL 97–94 East 4 Indiana Bob Knight Big Ten Round of 6413 RichmondL 72–69 East 5 Georgia Tech Bobby Cremins Atlantic Coast Round of 3213 RichmondL 59–55 East 6 Missouri Norm Stewart Big Eight Round of 6411 Rhode IslandL 87–80 East 7 SMU Dave Bliss Southwest Round of 322 DukeL 94–79 East 8 Georgetown John Thompson Big East Round of 321 TempleL 74–53 East 9 LSU Dale Brown Southeastern Round of 648 GeorgetownL 66–63 East 10 Notre Dame Digger Phelps Independent Round of 647 SMUL 83–75 East 11 Rhode Island Tom Penders Atlantic 10 Sweet Sixteen2 DukeL 73–72 East 12 Iowa State Johnny Orr Big Eight Round of 645 Georgia TechL 90–78 East 13 Richmond Dick Tarrant Colonial Sweet Sixteen1 TempleL 69–47 East 14 North Carolina A&T Don Corbett Mid-Eastern Round of 643 SyracuseL 69–55 East 15 Boston University Mike Jarvis ECAC North Round of 642 DukeL 85–69 East 16 Lehigh Fran McCaffery East Coast Round of 641 TempleL 87–73 Midwest Midwest 1 Purdue Gene Keady Big Ten Sweet Sixteen4 Kansas StateL 73–70 Midwest 2 Pittsburgh Paul Evans Big East Round of 327 VanderbiltL 80–74 Midwest 3 NC State Jim Valvano Atlantic Coast Round of 6414 Murray StateL 78–75 Midwest 4 Kansas State Lon Kruger Big Eight Regional Runner-up6 KansasL 71–58 Midwest 5 DePaul Joey Meyer Independent Round of 324 Kansas StateL 66–58 Midwest 6 Kansas Larry Brown Big Eight Champion1 OklahomaW 83–79 Midwest 7 Vanderbilt C. M. Newton Southeastern Sweet Sixteen6 KansasL 77–64 Midwest 8 Baylor Gene Iba Southwest Round of 649 Memphis StateL 75–60 Midwest 9 Memphis State Larry Finch Metro Round of 321 PurdueL 100–73 Midwest 10 Utah State Rod Tueller Pacific Coast Round of 647 VanderbiltL 80–77 Midwest 11 Xavier Pete Gillen Midwestern Round of 646 KansasL 85–72 Midwest 12 Wichita State Eddie Fogler Missouri Valley Round of 645 DePaulL 83–62 Midwest 13 La Salle Speedy Morris Metro Atlantic Round of 644 Kansas StateL 66–53 Midwest 14 Murray State Steve Newton Ohio Valley Round of 326 KansasL 61–58 Midwest 15 Eastern Michigan Ben Braun Mid-American Round of 642 PittsburghL 108–90 Midwest 16 Fairleigh Dickinson Tom Green ECAC Metro Round of 641 PurdueL 94–79 Southeast Southeast 1 Oklahoma Billy Tubbs Big Eight Runner Up6 KansasL 83–79 Southeast 2 Kentucky (Vacated) Eddie Sutton Southeastern Sweet Sixteen#6 VillanovaL 80–74 Southeast 3 Illinois Lou Henson Big Ten Round of 326 VillanovaL 66–63 Southeast 4 BYU LaDell Andersen Western Athletic Round of 325 LouisvilleL 97–76 Southeast 5 Louisville Denny Crum Metro Sweet Sixteen1 OklahomaL 108–98 Southeast 6 Villanova Rollie Massimino Big East Regional Runner-up1 OklahomaL 78–59 Southeast 7 Maryland (Vacated) Bob Wade Atlantic Coast Round of 322 KentuckyL 90–81 Southeast 8 Auburn Sonny Smith Southeastern Round of 321 OklahomaL 107–87 Southeast 9 Bradley Stan Albeck Missouri Valley Round of 648 AuburnL 90–86 Southeast 10 UC Santa Barbara Jerry Pimm Pacific Coast Round of 647 MarylandL 92–82 Southeast 11 Arkansas Nolan Richardson Southwest Round of 646 VillanovaL 82–74 Southeast 12 Oregon State Ralph Miller Pacific-10 Round of 645 LouisvilleL 70–61 Southeast 13 1987 men Charlotte 49ers Charlotte Jeff Mullins Sun Belt Round of 644 BYUL 98–92 Southeast 14 UTSA Ken Burmeister Trans America Round of 643 IllinoisL 81–72 Southeast 15 Southern Ben Jobe Southwest Athletic Round of 642 KentuckyL 99–84 Southeast 16 1987 men Chattanooga Mocs Chattanooga Mack McCarthy Southern Round of 641 OklahomaL 94–66 West West 1 Arizona Lute Olson Pacific-10 National semifinals1 OklahomaL 86–78 West 2 North Carolina Dean Smith Atlantic Coast Regional Runner-up1 ArizonaL 70–52 West 3 Michigan Bill Frieder Big Ten Sweet Sixteen2 North CarolinaL 78–69 West 4 UNLV Jerry Tarkanian Pacific Coast Round of 325 IowaL 104–86 West 5 Iowa Tom Davis Big Ten Sweet Sixteen1 ArizonaL 99–79 West 6 Florida Norm Sloan Southeastern Round of 323 MichiganL 108–85 West 7 Wyoming Benny Dees Western Athletic Round of 6410 Loyola MarymountL 119–115 West 8 Seton Hall P.J. Carlesimo Big East Round of 321 ArizonaL 84–55 West 9 UTEP Don Haskins Western Athletic Round of 648 Seton HallL 80–64 West 10 Loyola Marymount Paul Westhead West Coast Round of 322 North CarolinaL 123–97 West 11 St. John's Lou Carnesecca Big East Round of 646 FloridaL 62–59 West 12 Florida State Pat Kennedy Metro Round of 645 IowaL 102–98 West 13 Southwest Missouri State Charlie Spoonhour Mid-Continent Round of 644 UNLVL 54–50 West 14 Boise State Bobby Dye Big Sky Round of 643 MichiganL 63–58 West 15 North Texas State Jimmy Gales Southland Round of 642 North CarolinaL 83–65 West 16 Cornell Mike Dement Ivy League Round of 641 ArizonaL 90–50 Kentucky and Maryland were later stripped of their NCAA tournament wins due to ineligible players. Bracket East Regional – East Rutherford, New Jersey Regional semifinals Regional Finals 1 Hartford Hartford Chapel Hill Chapel Hill Temple 87 16 Lehigh 73 8 Georgetown 66 9 LSU 63 5 Georgia Tech 90 12 Iowa State 78 4 Indiana 69 13 Richmond 72 6 Missouri 80 11 Rhode Island 87 3 Syracuse 69 14 North Carolina A&T 55 7 SMU 83 10 Notre Dame 75 2 Duke 85 15 Boston University 69 1 Temple 74 8 Georgetown 53 5 Georgia Tech 55 13 Richmond 59 11 Rhode Island 97 3 Syracuse 94 7 SMU 79 2 Duke 94 1 Temple 69 13 Richmond 47 11 Rhode Island 72 2 Duke 73 1 Temple 53 2 Duke 63 Midwest Regional – Pontiac, Michigan Regional semifinals Regional Finals 1 South Bend South Bend Lincoln Lincoln Purdue 94 16 Fairleigh Dickinson 79 8 Baylor 60 9 Memphis 75 5 DePaul 83 12 Wichita State 62 4 Kansas State 66 13 La Salle 53 6 Kansas 85 11 Xavier 72 3 NC State 75 14 Murray State 78 7 Vanderbilt 80 10 Utah State 77 2 Pittsburgh 108 15 Eastern Michigan 90 1 Purdue 100 9 Memphis 73 5 DePaul 58 4 Kansas State 66 6 Kansas 61 14 Murray State 58 7 Vanderbilt 80OT 2 Pittsburgh 74 1 Purdue 70 4 Kansas State 73 6 Kansas 77 7 Vanderbilt 64 4 Kansas State 58 6 Kansas 71 Southeast Regional – Birmingham, Alabama Regional semifinals Regional Finals 1 Atlanta Atlanta Cincinnati Cincinnati Oklahoma 94 16 Chattanooga 66 8 Auburn 90 9 Bradley 86 5 Louisville 70 12 Oregon State 61 4 BYU 98OT 13 Charlotte 92 6 Villanova 82 11 Arkansas 74 3 Illinois 81 14 UTSA 72 7 Maryland 92 10 UC Santa Barbara 82 2 Kentucky 99 15 Southern 84 1 Oklahoma 107 8 Auburn 87 5 Louisville 97 4 BYU 76 6 Villanova 66 3 Illinois 63 7 Maryland 81 2 Kentucky 90 1 Oklahoma 108 5 Louisville 98 6 Villanova 80 2 Kentucky 74 1 Oklahoma 78 6 Villanova 59 Kentucky was later stripped of its two NCAA tournament wins due to an ineligible player. Maryland also vacated its appearance in the 1988 tournament due to usage of ineligible players.https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/friv/forfeits.cgi#:~:text=A%20forfeit%20changes%20a%20school's,original%20loss%20into%20a%20win.&text=A%20vacated%20game%20is%20expunged,opponent's%20record%20is%20not%20changed. Forfeits and Vacated Games Sports-Reference.com May 24, 2024https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-06-sp-1878-story.html Associated Press Maryland Gets 3-Year Penalty : College basketball: NCAA cites university for 18 violations and orders it to return money earned from 1988 tournament. Los Angeles Times March 6, 1990 May 24, 2024 Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with Maryland and Kentucky removing the wins from their own records. West Regional – Seattle, Washington Regional semifinals Regional Finals 1 Los Angeles Los Angeles Salt Lake City Salt Lake City Arizona 90 16 Cornell 50 8 Seton Hall 80 9 UTEP 64 5 Iowa 102 12 Florida State 98 4 UNLV 54 13 Southwest Missouri State 50 6 Florida 62 11 St. John's 59 3 Michigan 63 14 Boise State 58 7 Wyoming 115 10 Loyola Marymount 119 2 North Carolina 83 15 North Texas State 65 1 Arizona 84 8 Seton Hall 55 5 Iowa 104 4 UNLV 86 6 Florida 85 3 Michigan 108 10 Loyola Marymount 97 2 North Carolina 123 1 Arizona 99 5 Iowa 79 3 Michigan 69 2 North Carolina 78 1 Arizona 70 2 North Carolina 52 Final Four – Kansas City, Missouri National semifinals National Championship Game E2 Duke 59 MW6 Kansas 66 SE1 Oklahoma 86 W1 Arizona 78 MW6 Kansas 83 SE1 Oklahoma 79 Game summaries #eee Final FourApril 2 Box Score Kansas Jayhawks 66 Duke Blue Devils 59 38–27 28–32 Danny Manning 25 Danny Manning 10 Kevin Pritchard 5 Danny Ferry 19 Danny Ferry 12 Quin Snyder 5 Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri 16,392 Booker Turner, Jim Burr, Larry Lembo Kansas advances to Championship Game #eee Final FourApril 2 Box Score Arizona Wildcats 78 Oklahoma Sooners 86 27–39 51–47 Sean Elliott 31 Tom Tolbert 13 Steve Kerr 5 Mookie Blaylock/Harvey Grant 21 Harvey Grant 10 Ricky Grace 8 Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri 16,392 Oklahoma advances to Championship game 1988 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game Announcers Television CBS Sports Jim Nantz & James Brown served as studio hosts. Brent Musburger and Billy Packer – first round (Florida–St. John's) at Salt Lake City, Utah; second round at Hartford, Connecticut and Chapel Hill, North Carolina; West Regional at Seattle, Washington; Final Four at Kansas City, Missouri Tim Brant and Bill Raftery – First (UNLV–SW Missouri State) and Second Rounds at Los Angeles, California; East Regional at East Rutherford, New Jersey Dick Stockton and Billy Cunningham – second round at Lincoln, Nebraska and Salt Lake City, Utah; Southeast Regional at Birmingham, Alabama Verne Lundquist and Tom Heinsohn – second round at Cincinnati, Ohio and South Bend, Indiana; Midwest Regional at Pontiac, Michigan Tim Ryan and Curry Kirkpatrick – second round at Atlanta, Georgia ESPN and NCAA Productions John Saunders (NCAA Tournament Today) and Bob Ley (NCAA Tournament Tonight) served as studio hosts and Dick Vitale served as studio analyst. Mike Gorman and Ron Perry – first round (Temple–Lehigh, Georgia Tech–Iowa State) at Hartford, Connecticut Bob Carpenter and Dan Belluomini – first round (Indiana–Richmond, Georgetown–LSU) at Hartford, Connecticut Ralph Hacker and Bucky Waters – first round (Duke–Boston University, Missouri–Rhode Island) at Chapel Hill, North Carolina Bob Rathbun and Dan Bonner – first round (Syracuse–North Carolina A&T, SMU–Notre Dame) at Chapel Hill, North Carolina Fred White and Larry Conley – first round (Oklahoma–Chattanooga, Louisville–Oregon State) at Atlanta, Georgia Mike Patrick and Bob Ortegel – first round (Brigham Young–Charlotte, Auburn–Bradley) at Atlanta, Georgia Tom Hammond and Mike Pratt – first round (Kentucky–Southern, Illinois–UTSA) at Cincinnati, Ohio Mick Hubert and Jack Givens – first round (Villanova–Arkansas, Maryland–UC Santa Barbara) at Cincinnati, Ohio Eddie Doucette and John Laskowski – first round (Purdue–Fairleigh Dickinson, Kansas State–La Salle) at South Bend, Indiana Wayne Larrivee and Jim Gibbons – first round (DePaul–Wichita State, Baylor–Memphis State) at South Bend, Indiana Ron Franklin and Quinn Buckner – first round (Pittsburgh–Eastern Michigan, N.C. State–Murray State) at Lincoln, Nebraska John Sanders and Gary Thompson – first round (Kansas–Xavier, Vanderbilt–Utah State) at Lincoln, Nebraska Pete Solomon and Derrek Dickey – first round (Arizona–Cornell) at Los Angeles, California Phil Stone and Lynn Shackelford – first round (Iowa–Florida State, Seton Hall–UTEP) at Los Angeles, California Ted Robinson and Bruce Larson – first round (North Carolina–North Texas) at Salt Lake City, Utah Frank Fallon and Bruce Larson – first round (Michigan–Boise State) at Salt Lake City, Utah Frank Fallon and Irv Brown – first round (Wyoming–Loyola Marymount) at Salt Lake City, Utah See also 1988 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament 1988 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament 1988 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament 1988 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament 1988 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament 1988 National Invitation Tournament 1988 National Women's Invitation Tournament 1988 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament 1988 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament References Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Tournament NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament