1975 NCAA Division I basketball tournament

The 1975 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 32 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 15, 1975, and ended with the championship game on March 31 at the San Diego Sports Arena, now known as Pechanga Arena San Diego, in San Diego, California. A total of 36 games were played, including a third-place game in each region and a national third-place game. This was the first 32-team tournament.

1975 NCAA Division I
basketball tournament

NCAA logo from 1971 to 1979
Season	1974–75
Teams	32
Finals site	San Diego Sports Arena San Diego, CA
Champions	UCLA Bruins (10th title, 10th title game, 12th Final Four)
Runner-up	Kentucky Wildcats (6th title game, 7th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Louisville Cardinals (3rd Final Four) Syracuse Orangemen (1st Final Four)
Winning coach	John Wooden (10th title)
MOP	Richard Washington (UCLA)
Attendance	183,857
Top scorer	Jim Lee (Syracuse) (119 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments «1974 1976»

UCLA, coached by John Wooden, won his 10th national title and last with a 92–85 victory in the final game over Kentucky, coached by Joe B. Hall. Richard Washington of UCLA was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

The Bruins again had an advantage by playing the Final Four in their home state. It was the last time a team won the national championship playing in its home state.

Tournament notes

• The bracket expanded to 32 teams;^[1] the previous six editions had 25 teams, and had varied between 22 and 25 from 1953 through 1974.
• With the expanded bracket, seven teams made their NCAA tournament debuts: Alabama, Central Michigan, Middle Tennessee, Montana, UNLV, Rutgers, and San Diego State. This was the most new teams since a then-record eleven new teams made the 25-team bracket in 1956.
• Alabama had previously won the Southeastern Conference in 1956, but were deemed ineligible for the tournament due to their entire starting lineup having played as freshmen, which was not allowed at the time. They had also tied Vanderbilt for the 1974 SEC title, but lost the bid because Vanderbilt was ranked higher.
• It was the last time until 2021 that Oregon State officially won an NCAA tournament game. (The Beavers won two tournament games in 1982, but those were later vacated by the NCAA.) Of the major conferences, only Nebraska, which has never won an NCAA tournament game, had a longer active winning drought.
• This was the last tournament in which third-place games were contested in each regional; the national third-place game continued through 1981.
• This was also the first NCAA tournament to allow more than one team per conference; previously, only one team from each conference was allowed.^[1] This change was in response to a number of factors:
  • The USC Trojans were ranked fifth in both major polls in 1971,^[2] their only two losses were to Pac-8 rival and top-ranked UCLA (the defending and eventual national champion), but were excluded from the 25-team NCAA tournament due to being runner-up in the conference.
  • The 1974 ACC tournament final pitted two of the three best teams in the country: North Carolina State and Maryland.^[3]
  • In 1974, the Collegiate Commissioners' Association held a tournament in St. Louis, Missouri. They invited the second-place teams from eight conferences to participate.
• The new selection criteria threatened to exclude Northeastern teams, which did not belong to conferences. To address this problem, this was the first NCAA Tournament to grant automatic bids to the winners of ECAC regional tournaments for Northeastern Division I independents organized by the Eastern College Athletic Conference, a loose sports federation of Northeastern colleges and universities; this practice continued through 1982.^[4][5]
• Finally, the national final was the last game for UCLA coaching legend John Wooden, who had announced his retirement at the press conference following the Saturday semifinal win over Louisville. Two days later, he won his tenth and final NCAA championship.^[6]
• Bob Wortman became the first person to officiate championship games in college basketball and the National Football League when he worked the UCLA-Kentucky final alongside Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame referee Hank Nichols. Wortman was the field judge for Super Bowl VI in January 1972, and later for Super Bowl XII at the same position.
  • The UCLA-Kentucky matchup was the first of six championship games officiated by Nichols (1979, '80, 82, '83, '86), who later became the NCAA's national coordinator of officiating.

Memorable games

There were two memorable games in the 1975 tournament. Number 2 ranked Kentucky upset previously unbeaten Indiana 92–90 in their regional final. The Hoosiers, coached by Bob Knight, were undefeated and the number one team in the nation, when leading scorer Scott May suffered a broken arm in a win over arch-rival Purdue. This was the only loss Indiana would suffer between March 1974 and December 1976. In the national semifinals, UCLA defeated Louisville, coached by former Wooden assistant Denny Crum, 75–74 in overtime, rallying late in regulation to force overtime and coming from behind in overtime to win on a last second shot by Richard Washington.

Both games made USA Today's 2002 list of the greatest NCAA tournament games of all time, with the former at #8 and the latter at #28.^[7]

Schedule and venues

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1975 tournament:

First round

• March 15
  • East Region
    • Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina (Host: University of North Carolina at Charlotte)
    • The Palestra, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Hosts: University of Pennsylvania, Ivy League)
  • Mideast Region
    • Memorial Coliseum, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky)
    • Memorial Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Host: University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa)
  • Midwest Region
    • Lubbock Municipal Coliseum, Lubbock, Texas (Host: Texas Tech University)
    • Mabee Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma (Host: Oral Roberts University)
  • West Region
    • WSU Performing Arts Coliseum, Pullman, Washington (Host: Washington State University)
    • ASU Activity Center, Tempe, Arizona (Host: Arizona State University)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 20 and 22
  • East Regional, Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island (Host: Providence College)
  • Mideast Regional, University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)
  • Midwest Regional, Pan American Center, Las Cruces, New Mexico (Host: New Mexico State University)
  • West Regional, Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Oregon (Hosts: University of Portland, West Coast Athletic Conference)

National semifinals, 3rd-place game, and championship (Final Four and championship)

• March 29 and 31
  • San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California (Host: San Diego State University)

Teams

Region	Team	Coach	Conference	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	Boston College	Bob Zuffelato	Independent	Regional Fourth Place	North Carolina	L 110–90
East	Furman	Joe Williams	Southern	Round of 32	Boston College	L 82–76
East	Kansas State	Jack Hartman	Big Eight	Regional Runner-up	Syracuse	L 95–87
East	La Salle	Paul Westhead	East Coast	Round of 32	Syracuse	L 87–83
East	New Mexico State	Lou Henson	Missouri Valley	Round of 32	North Carolina	L 93–69
East	North Carolina	Dean Smith	Atlantic Coast	Regional third place	Boston College	W 110–90
East	Penn	Chuck Daly	Ivy League	Round of 32	Kansas State	L 69–62
East	Syracuse	Roy Danforth	Independent	Fourth Place	Louisville	L 96–88
Mideast
Mideast	Central Michigan	Dick Parfitt	Mid-American	Regional third place	Oregon State	W 88–87
Mideast	Georgetown	John Thompson	Independent	Round of 32	Central Michigan	L 77–75
Mideast	Indiana	Bob Knight	Big Ten	Regional Runner-up	Kentucky	L 92–90
Mideast	Kentucky	Joe B. Hall	Southeastern	Runner-up	UCLA	L 92–85
Mideast	Marquette	Al McGuire	Independent	Round of 32	Kentucky	L 76–54
Mideast	Middle Tennessee State	Jimmy Earle	Ohio Valley	Round of 32	Oregon State	L 78–67
Mideast	Oregon State	Ralph Miller	Pacific-8	Regional Fourth Place	Central Michigan	L 88–87
Mideast	UTEP	Don Haskins	Western Athletic	Round of 32	Indiana	L 78–53
Midwest
Midwest	Cincinnati	Gale Catlett	Independent	Regional third place	Notre Dame	W 95–87
Midwest	Creighton	Tom Apke	Independent	Round of 32	Maryland	L 83–79
Midwest	Kansas	Ted Owens	Big Eight	Round of 32	Notre Dame	L 77–71
Midwest	Louisville	Denny Crum	Missouri Valley	Third Place	Syracuse	W 96–88
Midwest	Maryland	Lefty Driesell	Atlantic Coast	Regional Runner-up	Louisville	L 96–82
Midwest	Notre Dame	Digger Phelps	Independent	Regional Fourth Place	Cincinnati	L 95–87
Midwest	Rutgers	Tom Young	Independent	Round of 32	Louisville	L 91–78
Midwest	Texas A&M	Shelby Metcalf	Southwest	Round of 32	Cincinnati	L 87–79
West
West	Alabama	C. M. Newton	Southeastern	Round of 32	Arizona State	L 97–94
West	Arizona State	Ned Wulk	Western Athletic	Regional Runner-up	UCLA	L 89–75
West	Michigan	Johnny Orr	Big Ten	Round of 32	UCLA	L 103–91
West	Montana	Jud Heathcote	Big Sky	Regional Fourth Place	UNLV	L 75–67
West	UNLV	Jerry Tarkanian	West Coast	Regional third place	Montana	W 75–67
West	San Diego State	Tim Vezie	Pacific Coast	Round of 32	UNLV	L 90–80
West	UCLA	John Wooden	Pacific-8	Champion	Kentucky	W 92–85
West	Utah State	Dutch Belnap	Independent	Round of 32	Montana	L 69–63

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East region

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Finals
	Syracuse	87
	La Salle	83*
					Syracuse	78
					North Carolina	76
	North Carolina	93
	New Mexico State	69
									Syracuse	95
									Kansas State	87*
	Kansas State	69
	Penn	62
					Kansas State	74			East Regional third place
					Boston College	65
	Boston College	82							North Carolina	110
	Furman	76							Boston College	90

Mideast region

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Finals
	Indiana	78
	UTEP	53
					Indiana	81
					Oregon State	71
	Oregon State	78
	Middle Tennessee	67
									Indiana	90
									Kentucky	92
	Central Michigan	77
	Georgetown	75
					Central Michigan	73			Mideast Regional third place
					Kentucky	90
	Kentucky	76							Oregon State	87
	Marquette	54							Central Michigan	88

Midwest region

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Finals
	Maryland	83
	Creighton	79
					Maryland	83
					Notre Dame	71
	Notre Dame	77
	Kansas	71
									Maryland	82
									Louisville	96
	Cincinnati	87
	Texas A&M	79
					Cincinnati	63			Midwest Regional third place
					Louisville	78
	Louisville	91							Notre Dame	87
	Rutgers	78							Cincinnati	95

West region

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Finals
	UCLA	103
	Michigan	91*
					UCLA	67
					Montana	64
	Montana	69
	Utah State	63
									UCLA	89
									Arizona State	75
	Arizona State	97
	Alabama	94
					Arizona State	84			West Regional third place
					UNLV	81
	UNLV	90							Montana	67
	San Diego State	80							UNLV	75

Final Four

	National semifinals Saturday, March 29					National Championship Game Monday, March 31
	E	Syracuse	79
	ME	Kentucky	95
						ME	Kentucky	85
						W	UCLA	92
	MW	Louisville	74*
	W	UCLA	75			National third-place game
						E	Syracuse	88*
						MW	Louisville	96

Announcers

Curt Gowdy, Billy Packer, Jim Simpson and Jerry Lucas (Final Four only) - First Round at Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Marquette-Kentucky); West Regional Final at Portland, Oregon; Final Four in San Diego, California

• Jim Simpson and Tom Hawkins- First Round at Tempe, Arizona (Arizona State-Alabama); East Regional Final in Providence, Rhode Island
• Charlie Jones and Jerry Lucas- First Round at Lexington, Kentucky (Indiana-UTEP)
• Jay Randolph and Ross Porter - Midwest Regional Final at Las Cruces, New Mexico

See also

• 1975 NCAA Division II basketball tournament
• 1975 NCAA Division III basketball tournament
• 1975 National Invitation Tournament
• 1975 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 1975 National Women's Invitation Tournament

References

1. "'At large' spots set in NCAA cage playoffs". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. August 21, 1974. p. 13.
2. "Both wire service polls agree-- UCLA is best club in country". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 16, 1971. p. 2B.
3. Bill Free – This Overtime Lasts 25 Years Archived 2008-09-12 at the Wayback Machine The 1974 team left it all out on the floor. Baltimore Sun, hosted at University of Maryland Terrapins athletic site, February 20, 1999
4. Varsity Pride: ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
5. "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Beginnings of the Big East". Archived from the original on December 17, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
6. Maffei, John (July 6, 2013). "Sports site No. 3: San Diego Sports Arena". U-T San Diego. MLIM Holdings. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
7. Mike Douchant – Greatest 63 games in NCAA Tournament history. The Sports Xchange, published in USA Today, March 25, 2002