1992 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

See also: 1992 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game

The 1992 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. It began on March 19, 1992, and ended with the championship game on April 6 in Minneapolis. A total of 63 games were played.

1992 NCAA Division I
men's basketball tournament

Season	1991–92
Teams	64
Finals site	H.H.H. Metrodome Minneapolis, Minnesota
Champions	Duke Blue Devils (2nd title, 6th title game, 10th Final Four)
Runner-up	Michigan Wolverines (Vacated) (4th title game, 5th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Cincinnati Bearcats (6th Final Four) Indiana Hoosiers (7th Final Four)
Winning coach	Mike Krzyzewski (2nd title)
MOP	Bobby Hurley (Duke)
Attendance	580,462
Top scorer	Christian Laettner (Duke) (115 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments «1991 1993»

Duke, coached by Mike Krzyzewski, defeated Michigan, coached by Steve Fisher, 71–51 to claim their second consecutive national championship.^[1] Bobby Hurley of Duke was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Michigan subsequently vacated its final two tournament games due to issues with the eligibility of Chris Webber found in the University of Michigan basketball scandal.

This tournament is best remembered for the East regional final pitting Duke and Kentucky at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. With 2.1 seconds remaining in overtime, Duke trailed 103–102. Grant Hill threw a pass the length of the court to Christian Laettner, who dribbled once, turned, and hit a jumper as time expired for the 104–103 win. Sports Illustrated deemed it the greatest college basketball game of all time,^[2] and ESPN ranked it No. 17 among the top 100 sports moments of the past 25 years (see ESPN25). In 2002, USA Today ranked it the greatest NCAA tournament game of all time.^[3]

The tournament also saw dark horse Cincinnati crash the Final Four and return to national prominence.

Schedule and venues

Atlanta

Boise

Cincinnati

Dayton

Greensboro

Milwaukee

Tempe

Worcester

1992 first and second rounds

Albuquerque

Kansas City

Lexington

Philadelphia

Minneapolis

1992 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1992 tournament:

First and Second Rounds

• March 19 and 21
  • East Region
    • Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina (Host: Atlantic Coast Conference)
  • Midwest Region
    • Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Hosts: Marquette University, Great Midwest Conference)
  • Southeast Region
    • Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio (Hosts: University of Cincinnati, Xavier University)
  • West Region
    • BSU Pavilion, Boise, Idaho (Host: Boise State University)
• March 20 and 22
  • East Region
    • Centrum in Worcester, Worcester, Massachusetts (Host: College of the Holy Cross)
  • Midwest Region
    • University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)
  • Southeast Region
    • Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia (Host: Georgia Tech)
  • West Region
    • ASU Activity Center, Tempe, Arizona (Host: Arizona State University)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 26 and 28
  • East Regional, Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Hosts: Temple University, Villanova University)
  • West Regional, University Arena ("The Pit"), Albuquerque, New Mexico (Host: University of New Mexico)
• March 27 and 29
  • Midwest Regional, Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Big 8 Conference)
  • Southeast Regional, Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

• April 4 and 6
  • Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota)

Teams

There were 30 automatic bids awarded to the tournament - of these, 27 were given to the winners of their conference's tournament, while three were awarded to the team with the best regular-season record in their conference (Big Ten, Ivy League and Pac-10).

Three conferences, the East Coast Conference, Great Midwest Conference, and Metro Conference, did not receive automatic bids to the tournament. This meant that the play-in games played prior to the 1991 tournament were not necessary for the 1992 tournament.^[4]

Three conference champions made their first NCAA tournament appearances: Campbell (Big South), Delaware (NAC), and Eastern Illinois (Mid-Continent). Additionally, Tulane received an at-large bid for its first appearance in the NCAA tournament.

Automatic qualifiers

Automatic qualifiers

Conference	Team	Appearance	Last bid
ACC	Duke	17th	1991
Atlantic 10	UMass	2nd	1962
Big East	Syracuse	20th	1991
Big Eight	Kansas	21st	1991
Big Sky	Montana	3rd	1991
Big South	Campbell	1st	Never
Big Ten	Ohio State	18th	1991
Big West	New Mexico State (vacated)	–	1991
CAA	Old Dominion	5th	1986
Ivy League	Princeton	18th	1991
MAAC	La Salle	11th	1990
MAC	Miami (OH)	13th	1986
MCC	Evansville	3rd	1989
MEAC	Howard	2nd	1981
Mid-Continent	Eastern Illinois	1st	Never
Missouri Valley	Southwest Missouri State	5th	1990
NAC	Delaware	1st	Never
NEC	Robert Morris	5th	1990
Ohio Valley	Murray State	6th	1991
Pac-10	UCLA	27th	1991
Patriot	Fordham	4th	1971
SEC	Kentucky	33rd	1987
Southern	East Tennessee State	5th	1991
Southland	Northeast Louisiana	5th	1991
Sun Belt	Southwestern Louisiana	3rd	1983
SWAC	Mississippi Valley State	2nd	1986
SWC	Houston	18th	1990
TAAC	Georgia Southern	3rd	1987
WAC	BYU	16th	1991
West Coast	Pepperdine	10th	1991

Tournament seeds

East Regional – Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Duke ACC 28–2 Automatic 2 Kentucky SEC 26–6 Automatic 3 UMass Atlantic 10 28–4 Automatic 4 Seton Hall Big East 21–8 At-Large 5 Missouri Big Eight 20–8 At-Large 6 Syracuse Big East 21–9 Automatic 7 UNC Charlotte Metro 23–8 At-Large 8 Texas SWC 23–11 At-Large 9 Iowa Big Ten 18–10 At-Large 10 Iowa State Big Eight 20–12 At-Large 11 Princeton Ivy League 22–5 Automatic 12 West Virginia Atlantic 10 20–11 At-Large 13 La Salle MAAC 20–10 Automatic 14 Fordham Patriot 18–12 Automatic 15 Old Dominion CAA 15–14 Automatic 16 Campbell Big South 19–11 Automatic

Midwest Regional – Hy-Vee Arena, Kansas City, Missouri Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Kansas Big Eight 26–4 Automatic 2 USC Pac-10 23–5 At-Large 3 Arkansas SEC 25–7 At-Large 4 Cincinnati Great Midwest 25–4 At-Large 5 Michigan State Big Ten 21–7 At-Large 6 Memphis State Great Midwest 20–10 At-Large 7 Georgia Tech ACC 21–11 At-Large 8 Evansville MCC 24–5 Automatic 9 UTEP WAC 25–6 At-Large 10 Houston SWC 25–5 Automatic 11 Pepperdine West Coast 24–6 Automatic 12 Southwest Missouri State Missouri Valley 23–7 Automatic 13 Delaware NAC 27–3 Automatic 14 Murray State Ohio Valley 17–12 Automatic 15 Northeast Louisiana Southland 19–9 Automatic 16 Howard MEAC 17–13 Automatic

West Regional – The Pit, Albuquerque, New Mexico Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 UCLA Pac-10 25–4 Automatic 2 Indiana Big Ten 23–6 At-Large 3 Florida State ACC 20–9 At-Large 4 Oklahoma Big Eight 21–8 At-Large 5 DePaul Great Midwest 20–8 At-Large 6 Georgetown Big East 21–9 At-Large 7 LSU SEC 20–9 At-Large 8 Louisville Metro 18–10 At-Large 9 Wake Forest ACC 17–11 At-Large 10 BYU WAC 25–6 Automatic 11 South Florida Metro 19–9 At-Large 12 New Mexico State (vacated) Big West 23–7 Automatic 13 Southwestern Louisiana Sun Belt 20–10 Automatic 14 Montana Big Sky 27–3 Automatic 15 Eastern Illinois Mid-Continent 17–13 Automatic 16 Robert Morris NEC 19–11 Automatic

Southeast Regional – Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Ohio State Big Ten 23–5 Automatic 2 Oklahoma State Big Eight 26–7 At-Large 3 Arizona Pac-10 24–6 At-Large 4 North Carolina ACC 21–9 At-Large 5 Alabama SEC 25–8 At-Large 6 Michigan (vacated Final Four) Big Ten 20–8 At-Large 7 St. John's Big East 19–10 At-Large 8 Nebraska Big Eight 19–9 At-Large 9 Connecticut Big East 19–9 At-Large 10 Tulane Metro 21–8 At-Large 11 Temple Atlantic 10 17–12 At-Large 12 Stanford Pac-10 18–10 At-Large 13 Miami (OH) MAC 23–7 Automatic 14 East Tennessee State Southern 23–6 Automatic 15 Georgia Southern TAAC 25–5 Automatic 16 Mississippi Valley State SWAC 16–13 Automatic

Bracket

East Regional – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

	First round					Quarter-finals					Regional semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Duke	82
	16	Campbell	56
						1	Duke	75
	Greensboro
						9	Iowa	62
	8	Texas	92
	9	Iowa	98
											1	Duke	81
											4	Seton Hall	68
	5	Missouri	89
	12	West Virginia	78
						5	Missouri	71
	Greensboro
						4	Seton Hall	88
	4	Seton Hall	78
	13	La Salle	76
																1	Duke	104OT
																2	Kentucky	103
	6	Syracuse	51
	11	Princeton	43
						6	Syracuse	71
	Worcester
						3	Massachusetts	77OT
	3	Massachusetts	85
	14	Fordham	58
											3	Massachusetts	77
											2	Kentucky	87
	7	Charlotte	74
	10	Iowa State	76
						10	Iowa State	98
	Worcester
						2	Kentucky	106
	2	Kentucky	88
	15	Old Dominion	69

West Regional – Albuquerque, New Mexico

	First round					Quarter-finals					Regional semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	UCLA	73
	16	Robert Morris	53
						1	UCLA	85
	Tempe
						8	Louisville	69
	8	Louisville	81
	9	Wake Forest	58
											1	UCLA	85
											12	New Mexico State#	78
	5	DePaul	73
	12	New Mexico State#	81
						12	New Mexico State#	81
	Tempe
						13	Southwest Louisiana	73
	4	Oklahoma	83
	13	Southwest Louisiana	87
																1	UCLA	79
																2	Indiana	106
	6	Georgetown	75
	11	South Florida	60
						6	Georgetown	68
	Boise
						3	Florida State	78
	3	Florida State	78
	14	Montana	68
											3	Florida State	74
											2	Indiana	85
	7	LSU	94
	10	BYU	83
						7	LSU	79
	Boise
						2	Indiana	89
	2	Indiana	94
	15	Eastern Illinois	55

# — New Mexico State vacated its appearance in the 1992 NCAA tournament due to sanctions from the Neil McCarthy scandal. Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with New Mexico State removing the wins from its own record.

Southeast Regional – Lexington, Kentucky

	First round					Quarter-finals					Regional semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Ohio State	83
	16	Mississippi Valley State	56
						1	Ohio State	78
	Cincinnati
						9	Connecticut	55
	8	Nebraska	65
	9	Connecticut	86
											1	Ohio State	80
											4	North Carolina	73
	5	Alabama	80
	12	Stanford	75
						5	Alabama	55
	Cincinnati
						4	North Carolina	64
	4	North Carolina	68
	13	Miami (OH)	63
																1	Ohio State	71
																6	Michigan	75OT
	6	Michigan	73
	11	Temple	66
						6	Michigan	102
	Atlanta
						14	East Tennessee State	90
	3	Arizona	80
	14	East Tennessee State	87
											6	Michigan	75
											2	Oklahoma State	72
	7	St. John's	57
	10	Tulane	61
						10	Tulane	71
	Atlanta
						2	Oklahoma State	87
	2	Oklahoma State	100
	15	Georgia Southern	73

Midwest Regional – Kansas City, Missouri

	First round					Quarter-finals					Regional semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Kansas	100
	16	Howard	67
						1	Kansas	60
	Dayton
						9	UTEP	66
	8	Evansville	50
	9	UTEP	55
											9	UTEP	67
											4	Cincinnati	69
	5	Michigan State	61
	12	Southwest Missouri State	54
						5	Michigan State	65
	Dayton
						4	Cincinnati	77
	4	Cincinnati	85
	13	Delaware	47
																4	Cincinnati	88
																6	Memphis State	57
	6	Memphis State	80
	11	Pepperdine	70
						6	Memphis State	82
	Milwaukee
						3	Arkansas	80
	3	Arkansas	80
	14	Murray State	69
											6	Memphis State	83OT
											7	Georgia Tech	79
	7	Georgia Tech	65
	10	Houston	60
						7	Georgia Tech	79
	Milwaukee
						2	USC	78
	2	USC	84
	15	Northeast Louisiana	54

Final Four – Minneapolis, Minnesota

Main article: 1992 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game

	National semifinals					National Championship Game
	E1	Duke	81
	W2	Indiana	78
						E1	Duke	71
						SE6	Michigan#	51
	SE6	Michigan#	76
	MW4	Cincinnati	72

# — signifies Michigan's final two games, in the 1992 Final Four, were vacated on November 7, 2002, as part of the settlement of the University of Michigan basketball scandal due to Chris Webber’s ineligibility. Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with the removal of any Michigan wins from all records.

Announcers

• Jim Nantz/Billy Packer/Curry Kirkpatrick – Southeast Regional at Lexington, Kentucky; Final Four at Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Dick Stockton and Al McGuire/Greg Kelser (afternoon session of first round only) – First & Second Round at Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Midwest Regional at Kansas City, Missouri
• Verne Lundquist and Len Elmore – First & Second Round at Cincinnati; East Regional at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Greg Gumbel and Quinn Buckner – First & Second Round at Atlanta, Georgia; West Regional at Albuquerque, New Mexico
• James Brown and Bill Raftery – First & Second Round at Worcester, Massachusetts
• Tim Ryan and Digger Phelps – First & Second Round at Dayton, Ohio
• Sean McDonough and Bill Walton – First & Second Round at Boise, Idaho
• Brad Nessler and Ann Meyers – First & Second Round at Tempe, Arizona
• Mel Proctor and Dan Bonner – First & Second Round at Greensboro, North Carolina

See also

• 1992 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament
• 1992 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament
• 1992 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 1992 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 1992 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament
• 1992 National Invitation Tournament
• 1992 National Women's Invitation Tournament
• 1992 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 1992 NAIA Division II men's basketball tournament
• 1992 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 1992 NAIA Division II women's basketball tournament

References

1. 1992 NCAA Basketball National Championship Game on YouTube
2. Matthew Waxman = 16 Greatest Games Sports Illustrated (On Campus), March 10, 2004
3. Mike Douchant – Greatest 63 games in NCAA Tournament history. The Sports Xchange, published in USA Today, March 25, 2002
4. "NCAA eliminates play-in for 1992 tournament". United Press International. September 9, 1991. Retrieved May 24, 2023.