1972 NCAA University Division Basketball Tournament

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.

1972 NCAA University Division
Basketball Tournament

NCAA logo from 1971 to 1979
Season	1971–72
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	Louisville Cardinals (2nd Final Four) North Carolina Tar Heels (6th Final Four)
Winning coach	John Wooden (8th title)
MOP	Bill Walton (UCLA)
Attendance	147,304
Top scorer	Jim Price Louisville (103 points)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments «1971 1973»

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.

In 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.

Locations

Round	Region	Site	Venue	Host
First Round	East	Jamaica, New York	Alumni Hall	St. John's
	East	Princeton, New Jersey	Jadwin Gymnasium	Princeton
	East	Williamsburg, Virginia	William & Mary Hall	William & Mary
	Mideast	Knoxville, Tennessee	Stokely Athletic Center	Tennessee
	Midwest	Las Cruces, New Mexico	Pan American Center	NMSU
	West	Pocatello, Idaho	ASISU Minidome	Idaho State
Regionals	East	Morgantown, West Virginia	WVU Coliseum	West Virginia
	Mideast	Dayton, Ohio	University of Dayton Arena	Dayton
	Midwest	Ames, Iowa	Hilton Coliseum	Iowa State
	West	Provo, Utah	Marriott Center	BYU
Final Four		Los Angeles, California	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena	USC

For the second time, the city of Los Angeles and the LA Memorial Sports Arena hosted the Final Four. To date, this is the last Final Four to be held in the city, although the city and region continue to host games to this day. The tournament saw five new venues and three new host cities used for the first time. For the first time, the tournament came to the campus of Iowa State University and the Hilton Coliseum, then in its first year of operation. The first games held in the state of Tennessee were held this year at the Stokely Athletic Center on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. For the third time, games were held in the state of Virginia, this time at William & Mary Hall on the campus of the College of William & Mary.

Games were held at the brand-new Marriott Center, then the largest basketball arena in the country, on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, replacing the Smith Fieldhouse. And at Idaho State University in Pocatello, games were held in the two-year-old Minidome, having previously been played at Reed Gym in 1957. To date, this is the last time games were held at either the Hilton Coliseum or at Jadwin Gymnasium on the campus of Princeton University, the only Ivy League gymnasium other than the Palestra used in the tournament.

Teams

Region	Team	Coach	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	East Carolina	Tom Quinn	First round	Villanova	L 85–70
East	North Carolina	Dean Smith	Third Place	Louisville	W 105–91
East	Penn	Chuck Daly	Regional Runner-up	North Carolina	L 73–59
East	Providence	Dave Gavitt	First round	Penn	L 76–60
East	South Carolina	Frank McGuire	Regional Third Place	Villanova	W 90–78
East	Temple	Harry Litwack	First round	South Carolina	L 53–51
East	Villanova	Jack Kraft	Regional Fourth Place	South Carolina	L 90–78
Mideast
Mideast	Eastern Kentucky	Guy Strong	First round	Florida State	L 83–81
Mideast	Florida State	Hugh Durham	Runner Up	UCLA	L 81–76
Mideast	Kentucky	Adolph Rupp	Regional Runner-up	Florida State	L 73–54
Mideast	Marquette	Al McGuire	Regional Fourth Place	Minnesota	L 77–72
Mideast	Minnesota	Bill Musselman	Regional Third Place	Marquette	W 77–72
Mideast	Ohio	James Snyder	First round	Marquette	L 73–49
Midwest
Midwest	Houston	Guy Lewis	First round	Texas	L 85–74
Midwest	Kansas State	Jack Hartman	Regional Runner-up	Louisville	L 72–65
Midwest	Southwestern Louisiana (Vacated)	Beryl Shipley	Regional Third Place	Texas	W 100–70
Midwest	Louisville	Denny Crum	Fourth Place	North Carolina	L 105–91
Midwest	Marshall	Carl Tacy	First round	Southwestern Louisiana	L 112–101
Midwest	Texas	Leon Black	Regional Fourth Place	Southwestern Louisiana	L 100–70
West
West	BYU	Stan Watts	First round	Long Beach State	L 95–90
West	Hawaii	Red Rocha	First round	Weber State	L 91–64
West	Long Beach State	Jerry Tarkanian	Regional Runner-up	UCLA	L 73–57
West	San Francisco	Bob Gaillard	Regional Third Place	Weber State	W 74–64
West	UCLA	John Wooden	Champion	Florida State	W 81–76
West	Weber State	Gene Visscher	Regional Fourth Place	San Francisco	L 74–64

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							North Carolina	92
							South Carolina	69
		South Carolina	53
		Temple	51
												North Carolina	73
												Penn	59
		Penn	76
		Providence	60
							Penn	78
							Villanova	67
		Villanova	85
		East Carolina	70

	East Regional Third Place
	South Carolina		90
	Villanova		78

Mideast region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							Minnesota	56
							Florida State	70
		Florida State	83
		Eastern Kentucky	81
												Florida State	73
												Kentucky	54
							Kentucky	85
							Marquette	69
		Marquette	73
		Ohio	49

	Mideast Regional Third Place
	Minnesota		77
	Marquette		72

Midwest region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							Louisville	88
							Southwest Louisiana	84
		Southwest Louisiana	112
		Marshall	101
												Louisville	72
												Kansas State	65
							Kansas State	66
							Texas	55
		Texas	85
		Houston	74

	Midwest Regional Third Place
	Southwestern Louisiana		100
	Texas		70

West region

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

UCLA

90

Weber State

58

Weber State

91

Hawaii

64

UCLA

73

Long Beach State

57

San Francisco

55

Long Beach State

75

Long Beach State

95

BYU

90*

	West Regional Third Place
	Weber State		64
	San Francisco		74

Final Four

	National 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 Saturday, March 25
						E	North Carolina	105
						MW	Louisville	91

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

1. Kirkpatrick, Curry (April 3, 1972). "Oh, Johnny, Oh, Johnny Oh!". Sports Illustrated. p. 30.
2. "Super soph Bill Walton sparkles; Bruins earn another NCAA title". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 26, 1972. p. 1, sports.
3. "It was the same old story-- Bruins win NCAA crown". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 26, 1972. p. 1D.
4. "Woodside hits jumper with 3 seconds left to push N. Dakota St. to Summit title". ESPN. Associated Press. 2009-03-10. Retrieved 2009-03-11.