1976 NCAA Division I basketball tournament

Last updated

1976 NCAA Division I
basketball tournament
NCAA 70s logo.svg
NCAA logo from 1971 to 1979
Season 197576
Teams32
Finals site The Spectrum,
Philadelphia, PA
Champions Indiana Hoosiers (3rd title, 3rd title game,
4th Final Four)
Runner-up Michigan Wolverines (2nd title game,
3rd Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coach Bob Knight (1st title)
MOP Kent Benson (Indiana)
Attendance202,502
Top scorer Scott May (Indiana)
(113 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments
« 1975 1977 »

The 1976 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 13, 1976, and ended with the championship game on March 29 in Philadelphia. A total of 32 games were played, including a national third-place game.

Contents

Indiana, coached by Bob Knight, won the national title with an 86–68 victory in the final game over Michigan, coached by Johnny Orr. Kent Benson of Indiana was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Notably, this was the first time that two teams from the same conference (the Big Ten) played in the title game. This was also the last men's Division I tournament to date to feature two unbeaten teams, as both Indiana and Rutgers entered the tournament unbeaten. To date, Indiana is the last team to go the entire season undefeated at 32–0. Both advanced to the Final Four, with Indiana winning the title and Rutgers losing to Michigan in the semifinals and UCLA in the third-place game.

This tournament was also the first since the creation of the NCAA men's tournament in 1939 in which no regional third-place games were played. In the first two NCAA tournaments (1939 and 1940), the West Regional held a third-place game, but the East (the only other regional of that day) did not. The East began holding its own third-place game in 1941, and from that point through 1975 each regional held a third-place game. This was the second year of the 32-team field, and the NCAA announced the selections several days prior to the end of the regular season. [1] [2]

As site of the Continental Congress and signing of the Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia also served as host for the 1976 NBA All-Star Game, the 1976 National Hockey League All-Star Game, and the 1976 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at which President Ford threw out the first pitch. [3] The 1976 Pro Bowl was an exception and was played in New Orleans, likely due to weather concerns.

Schedule and venues

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Charlotte
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Providence
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Dayton
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South Bend
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Denton
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Lawrence
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Eugene
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Tempe
1976 first round
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Greensboro
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Baton Rouge
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Louisville
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Los Angeles
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Philadelphia
1976 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1976 tournament:

First round

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

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

Teams

RegionTeamCoachConferenceFinishedFinal opponentScore
East
East Connecticut Dee Rowe YankeeSweet Sixteen Rutgers L 93–79
East DePaul Ray Meyer IndependentSweet Sixteen VMI L 71–66
East Hofstra Roger Gaeckler East CoastRound of 32 Connecticut L 80–78
East Princeton Pete Carril Ivy LeagueRound of 32 Rutgers L 54–53
East Rutgers Tom Young IndependentFourth Place UCLA L 106–92
East Tennessee Ray Mears SoutheasternRound of 32 VMI L 81–75
East Virginia Terry Holland Atlantic CoastRound of 32 DePaul L 69–60
East VMI Bill Blair SouthernRegional Runner-up Rutgers L 91–75
Mideast
Mideast Alabama C. M. Newton SoutheasternSweet Sixteen Indiana L 74–69
Mideast Indiana Bob Knight Big TenChampion Michigan W 86–68
Mideast Marquette Al McGuire IndependentRegional Runner-up Indiana L 65–56
Mideast North Carolina Dean Smith Atlantic CoastRound of 32 Alabama L 79–64
Mideast St. John's Lou Carnesecca IndependentRound of 32 Indiana L 90–70
Mideast Virginia Tech Don DeVoe IndependentRound of 32 Western Michigan L 77–67
Mideast Western Kentucky Jim Richards Ohio ValleyRound of 32 Marquette L 79–60
Mideast Western Michigan Eldon Miller Mid-AmericanSweet Sixteen Marquette L 62–57
Midwest
Midwest Cincinnati Gale Catlett MetropolitanRound of 32 Notre Dame L 79–78
Midwest Michigan Johnny Orr Big TenRunner Up Indiana L 86–68
Midwest Missouri Norm Stewart Big EightRegional Runner-up Michigan L 95–88
Midwest Notre Dame Digger Phelps IndependentSweet Sixteen Michigan L 80–76
Midwest Syracuse Roy Danforth IndependentRound of 32 Texas Tech L 69–56
Midwest Texas Tech Gerald Myers SouthwestSweet Sixteen Missouri L 86–75
Midwest Washington Marv Harshman Pacific-8Round of 32 Missouri L 69–67
Midwest Wichita State Harry Miller Missouri ValleyRound of 32 Michigan L 74–73
West
West Arizona Fred Snowden Western AthleticRegional Runner-up UCLA L 82–66
West Boise State Bus Connor Big SkyRound of 32 UNLV L 103–78
West Georgetown John Thompson IndependentRound of 32 Arizona L 83–76
West Memphis State Wayne Yates MetropolitanRound of 32 Pepperdine L 87–77
West UNLV Jerry Tarkanian IndependentSweet Sixteen Arizona L 114–109
West Pepperdine Gary Colson West CoastSweet Sixteen UCLA L 70–61
West San Diego State Tim Vezie Pacific CoastRound of 32 UCLA L 74–64
West UCLA Gene Bartow Pacific-8Third Place Rutgers W 106–92

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East region – Greensboro, North Carolina

Quarterfinals Regional semifinals Regional Finals
         
DePaul69
Virginia 60
DePaul 66*
Charlotte
VMI71
VMI82
Tennessee 75
VMI 75
Rutgers91
Rutgers54
Princeton 53
Rutgers93
Providence
Connecticut 79
Connecticut80
Hofstra 78*

Midwest region – Louisville, Kentucky

Quarterfinals Regional semifinals Regional Finals
         
Michigan74
Wichita State 73
Michigan80
Lawrence
Notre Dame 76
Notre Dame79
Cincinnati 78
Michigan95
Missouri 88
Missouri69
Washington 67
Missouri86
Denton
Texas Tech 75
Texas Tech69
Syracuse 56

Mideast region – Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Quarterfinals Regional semifinals Regional Finals
         
Alabama79
North Carolina 64
Alabama 69
Notre Dame
Indiana74
Indiana90
St. John's 70
Indiana65
Marquette 56
Marquette79
Western Kentucky 60
Marquette62
Dayton
Western Michigan 57
Western Michigan77
Virginia Tech 67*

West region – Los Angeles

Quarterfinals Regional semifinals Regional Finals
         
Pepperdine87
Memphis State 77
Pepperdine 61
Eugene
UCLA70
UCLA74
San Diego State 64
UCLA82
Arizona 66
UNLV103
Boise State 78
UNLV 109*
Tempe
Arizona114
Arizona83
Georgetown 76

Final Four – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

National semifinals
Saturday, March 27
National Championship Game
Monday, March 29
      
E Rutgers 70
MW Michigan86
MW Michigan 68
ME Indiana86
ME Indiana65
W UCLA 51 National third-place game
E Rutgers 92
W UCLA106

Announcers

Curt Gowdy, Dick Enberg, and Billy Packer - Final Four at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Dick Enberg and Billy Packer called the first game while Packer teamed with Curt Gowdy for the second game. For the Championship Game, Dick Enberg and Curt Gowdy called it while NBC used Billy Packer as a studio analyst.

See also

References

  1. "Huskies get NCAA berth". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 5, 1976. p. 28.
  2. "NCAA picture". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. March 5, 1976. p. 2D.
  3. Lyon, Bill (March 17, 2009). "Sports helped Philly celebrate Bicentennial". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Archived from the original on March 30, 2009. Retrieved March 30, 2009.