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
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.

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

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 (Hosts: Princeton University, Ivy League)
    • 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 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

* – 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			East Regional third place
					Villanova	67
	Villanova	85							South Carolina	90
	East Carolina	70							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			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

	Quarterfinals				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

	Quarterfinals				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

	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
						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

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. March 10, 2009. Archived from the original on March 14, 2009. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
5. "Forfeits and Vacated Games". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 30, 2024.