1988 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game

See also: 1988 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

The 1988 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game was the final round of the 1988 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and determined the national champion for the 1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The game was played on April 4, 1988, at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, and featured the Southeast Regional Champion, #1-seeded Oklahoma versus the Midwest Regional Champion, #6-seeded Kansas, both from the Big Eight Conference.

1988 NCAA Tournament Championship Game

National championship game
Kansas Jayhawks Oklahoma Sooners Big Eight Big Eight (26–11) (31–6) 83 79 Head coach: Larry Brown Head coach: Billy Tubbs
AP: NR Coaches: NR AP: 4 Coaches: 4
1st half 2nd half Total Kansas Jayhawks 50 33 83 Oklahoma Sooners 50 29 79
Date	April 4, 1988
Venue	Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri
MVP	Danny Manning, Kansas
Favorite	Oklahoma by 8
Referees	John Clougherty, Tim Higgins & Ed Hightower
Attendance	16,392
United States TV coverage
Network	CBS
Announcers	Brent Musburger (play-by-play) Billy Packer (color)
← 1987 1989 →

The game remains, as of 2025, the last time two teams from the same conference played for the National Championship. Kansas's upset of Oklahoma was the third-biggest point-spread upset in the national title game in NCAA Tournament history. After the win, the 1988 Kansas team was remembered as "Danny and the Miracles" due to Danny Manning's excellence throughout the tournament, including a double-double in the national championship game with 31 points and 18 rebounds.

Participating teams

Kansas Jayhawks

Main article: 1987–88 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team

Danny Manning, a senior forward, was named the Big Eight Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year for the third consecutive season.

• Midwest
  • (6) Kansas 85, (11) Xavier 72
  • (6) Kansas 61, (14) Murray State 58
  • (6) Kansas 77, (7) Vanderbilt 64
  • (6) Kansas 71, (4) Kansas State 58
• Final Four
  • (MW6) Kansas 66, (E2) Duke 59

Oklahoma Sooners

Main article: 1987–88 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team

• Southeast
  • (1) Oklahoma 94, (16) Chattanooga 66
  • (1) Oklahoma 107, (8) Auburn 87
  • (1) Oklahoma 108, (5) Louisville 98
  • (1) Oklahoma 78, (6) Villanova 59
• Final Four
  • (SE1) Oklahoma 86, (W1) Arizona 78

Starting lineups

Kansas	Position		Oklahoma
Kevin Pritchard	G		Ricky Grace
Jeff Gueldner	G		Mookie Blaylock
Chris Piper	F		Harvey Grant
Milt Newton	F		Dave Sieger
†Danny Manning	C		Stacey King
† 1988 Consensus First Team All-American

Source

Game summary

Source:^[1]

April 4, 1988

#MW6 Kansas Jayhawks 83, #SE1 Oklahoma Sooners 79
Scoring by half: 50-50, 33-29
Pts: Danny Manning 31 Rebs: Danny Manning 18 Asts: Kevin Pritchard, Clint Normore 4		Pts: Dave Sieger 22 Rebs: Stacey King, Ricky Grace 7 Asts: Dave Sieger, Ricky Grace 7

Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri Referees: John Clougherty, Tim Higgins & Ed Hightower