1977 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament

Last updated
1977 NCAA Division I
Basketball Tournament
1977 NCAA Basketball Championship logo.svg
Season 197677
Teams32
Finals site The Omni
Atlanta
Champions Marquette Warriors (1st title, 2nd title game,
2nd Final Four)
Runner-up North Carolina Tar Heels (4th title game,
7th Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coach Al McGuire (1st title)
MOP Butch Lee (Marquette)
Attendance241,610
Top scorer Cedric Maxwell Charlotte
(123 points)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments
« 1976 1978 »

The 1977 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament involved 32 American schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the National Champion of Men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on Saturday, March 12, 1977, and ended with the championship game on Monday, March 28 in Atlanta. A total of 32 games were played, including a national third place game. This was the final tournament in which teams were not seeded.

Contents

Marquette, coached by Al McGuire, won the national title with a 67–59 victory in the final game over North Carolina, coached by Dean Smith. Butch Lee of Marquette was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Publicly announcing his retirement during the middle of the season, McGuire retired as head coach immediately after the game. [1] UNLV and UNC Charlotte were third and fourth place, respectively. [2] Marquette's seven losses were a record at the time for the most losses in a season by a national champion, exceeded four years later in 1981 by Indiana with nine.

Schedule and venues

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Raleigh
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Philadelphia
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Norman
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Baton Rouge
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Omaha
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Bloomington
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Pocatello
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Tucson
1977 sites for first round games
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College Park
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Lexington
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Oklahoma City
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Provo
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Atlanta
1977 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1977 tournament:

First round

Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

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

The 1977 tournament saw Atlanta become the sixteenth host city to the Final Four, the Omni Coliseum would be the last facility until 2019 to host the Final Four without hosting a previous tournament. Three cities – Bloomington, Indiana, Norman, Oklahoma and Omaha, Nebraska – were hosts to the tournament for the first time; while Omaha has since hosted in the Civic Auditorium's replacement, CHI Health Center Omaha, Norman has not hosted since. Also, the tournament returned to Oklahoma City for just the second time ever; it would be another 17 years before it would host again, however.

Teams

RegionTeamCoachConferenceFinishedFinal opponentScore
East
East Duquesne John Cinicola EasternRound of 32 VMI L 73–66
East Hofstra Roger Gaeckler East CoastRound of 32 Notre Dame L 90–83
East Kentucky Joe B. Hall SoutheasternRegional Runner-up North Carolina L 79–72
East North Carolina Dean Smith Atlantic CoastRunner Up Marquette L 67–59
East Notre Dame Digger Phelps IndependentSweet Sixteen North Carolina L 79–77
East Princeton Pete Carril Ivy LeagueRound of 32 Kentucky L 72–58
East Purdue Fred Schaus Big TenRound of 32 North Carolina L 69–66
East VMI Charlie Schmaus SouthernSweet Sixteen Kentucky L 93–78
Mideast
Mideast Central Michigan Dick Parfitt Mid-AmericanRound of 32 Charlotte L 91–86
Mideast UNC Charlotte Lee Rose Sun BeltFourth Place UNLV L 106–94
Mideast Detroit Dick Vitale IndependentSweet Sixteen Michigan L 86–81
Mideast Holy Cross George Blaney IndependentRound of 32 Michigan L 92–81
Mideast Michigan Johnny Orr Big TenRegional Runner-up Charlotte L 75–68
Mideast Middle Tennessee State Jimmy Earle Ohio ValleyRound of 32 Detroit L 93–76
Mideast Syracuse Jim Boeheim IndependentSweet Sixteen Charlotte L 81–59
Mideast Tennessee Ray Mears SoutheasternRound of 32 Syracuse L 93–88
Midwest
Midwest Arizona Fred Snowden Western AthleticRound of 32 Southern Illinois L 81–77
Midwest Arkansas Eddie Sutton SouthwestRound of 32 Wake Forest L 86–80
Midwest Cincinnati Gale Catlett MetropolitanRound of 32 Marquette L 66–51
Midwest Kansas State Jack Hartman Big EightSweet Sixteen Marquette L 67–66
Midwest Marquette Al McGuire IndependentChampion North Carolina W 67–59
Midwest Providence Dave Gavitt IndependentRound of 32 Kansas State L 87–80
Midwest Southern Illinois Paul Lambert Missouri ValleySweet Sixteen Wake Forest L 86–81
Midwest Wake Forest Carl Tacy Atlantic CoastRegional Runner-up Marquette L 82–68
West
West Idaho State Jim Killingsworth Big SkyRegional Runner-up UNLV L 107–90
West Long Beach State Dwight Jones Pacific CoastRound of 32 Idaho State L 83–72
West Louisville Denny Crum MetropolitanRound of 32 UCLA L 87–79
West San Francisco Bob Gaillard West CoastRound of 32 UNLV L 121–95
West St. John's Lou Carnesecca IndependentRound of 32 Utah L 72–68
West UCLA Gene Bartow Pacific-8Sweet Sixteen Idaho State L 76–75
West UNLV Jerry Tarkanian IndependentThird Place Charlotte W 106–94
West Utah Jerry Pimm Western AthleticSweet Sixteen UNLV L 83–88

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East region

Cole Field House College Park, Maryland [3] [4]
First round games were played at Raleigh, North Carolina and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Saturday, March 12. [5]

Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
         
VMI73
Duquesne 66
VMI 78
Kentucky93
Kentucky72
Princeton 58
Kentucky 72
North Carolina79
Notre Dame90
Hofstra 83
Notre Dame 77
North Carolina79
North Carolina69
Purdue 66

West region

Most of the excitement surrounding the Western Regional was the anticipated matchup between top-five-ranked teams UCLA and UNLV. Jerry Tarkanian had lost three times in the tournament to UCLA while he was at Long Beach State, including a heartbreaking 57–55 loss in the 1971 West Regional final in which Long Beach led by eleven in the second half. Many felt this UNLV team gave him the best opportunity to beat his longtime nemesis. But he never got the chance as UCLA was stunned in the regional semi final by unranked Idaho State of the Big Sky Conference. [6] [7] [8] This was the first time since 1963 that UCLA made the tournament but failed to get to the Final Four. Down by a point at halftime, UNLV went on to easily beat Idaho State 107–90. [9]

Marriott Center Provo, Utah [3] [4]
First round games were played at Pocatello, Idaho and Tucson, Arizona on Saturday, March 12. [5]

Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
         
UCLA87
Louisville 79
UCLA 75
Idaho State76
Idaho State83
Long Beach State 72
Idaho State 90
UNLV107
Utah72
St. John's 68
Utah 83
UNLV88
UNLV121
San Francisco 95

Mideast region

Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky [3] [4]
First round games were played at Bloomington, Indiana and Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Sunday, March 13. [5]

Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
         
Michigan92
Holy Cross 81
Michigan86
Detroit 81
Detroit93
Middle Tennessee State 76
Michigan 68
UNC Charlotte75
UNC Charlotte91
Central Michigan 86*
UNC Charlotte81
Syracuse 59
Syracuse93
Tennessee 88*

Midwest region

Myriad Convention Center Oklahoma City, Oklahoma [3] [4]
First round games were played at Omaha, Nebraska and Norman, Oklahoma on Saturday, March 12. [5]

Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
         
Marquette66
Cincinnati 51
Marquette67
 Kansas State 66
Kansas State87
Providence 80
Marquette82
Wake Forest 68
Wake Forest86
Arkansas 80
Wake Forest86
Southern Illinois 81
Southern Illinois81
Arizona 77

Final Four

Omni Coliseum Atlanta, Georgia

National Semifinals National Championship Game
      
E North Carolina84
W UNLV 83
E North Carolina 59
MW Marquette67
ME UNC Charlotte 49
MW Marquette51National Third Place Game
W UNLV106
ME UNC Charlotte 94

Notes

See also

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References

  1. "Marquette wins 1st NCAA title, 67-59, in McGuire's last game". Milwaukee Sentinel. March 29, 1977. p. 1, part 1.
  2. "Basketball: NCAA Championship". St. Petersburg Independent. March 29, 1977. p. 2C.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Thursday pairings". Milwaukee Sentinel. March 17, 1977. p. 4, part 2.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Now Idaho State aims at Vegas". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. March 19, 1977. p. 4, part 2.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "NCAA pairings". Milwaukee Sentinel. March 12, 1977. p. 2, part 2.
  6. Benson, Lee (March 18, 1977). "Utes fall short, Idaho State stuns UCLA". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. p. 6B.
  7. "ISU has greatest win". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. Associated Press. March 18, 1977. p. 21.
  8. "UCLA becomes the obscure one". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. wire services. March 18, 1977. p. 1B.
  9. "Tark's ploy sends Rebels past Bengals". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. wire services. March 20, 1977. p. 1B.