1975 NCAA Division I Basketball 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 »

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.

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]

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 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
    • The Palestra, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Mideast Region
    • Memorial Coliseum, Lexington, Kentucky
    • Memorial Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
  • Midwest Region
    • Lubbock Municipal Coliseum, Lubbock, Texas
    • Mabee Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma
  • West Region
    • WSU Performing Arts Coliseum, Pullman, Washington
    • ASU Activity Center, Tempe, Arizona

Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 20 and 22
  • East Regional, Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island
  • Mideast Regional, University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio
  • Midwest Regional, Pan American Center, Las Cruces, New Mexico
  • West Regional, Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Oregon

National Semifinals, 3rd Place Game, and Championship (Final Four and Championship)

• March 29 and 31
  • San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California

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

Boston College

65

Boston College

82

Furman

76

	East Regional third place
	North Carolina		110
	Boston College		90

Mideast region

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

	Mideast Regional third place
	Oregon State		87
	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
						Louisville		78
	Louisville		91
	Rutgers		78

	Midwest Regional third place
	Notre Dame		87
	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
						UNLV		81
	UNLV		90
	San Diego State		80

	West Regional third place
	Montana		67
	UNLV		75

Final Four

	National Semifinals					National Championship Game
	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

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 2013-12-17. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
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