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1972 NCAA University Division
basketball tournament

NCAA logo from 1971 to 1979
Teams	25
Finals site	Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, California
Champions	UCLA Bruins (8th title, 8th title game, 9th Final Four)
Runner-up	Florida State Seminoles (1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Semifinalists	Louisville Cardinals (2nd Final Four) North Carolina Tar Heels (6th Final Four)
Winning coach	John Wooden (8th title)
MOP	Bill Walton (UCLA)
Attendance	147,304
Top scorer	Jim Price (Louisville) (103 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments «1971 1973»

The 1972 NCAA University Division basketball tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of NCAA University Division (now Division I) college basketball. It began on Saturday, March 11, and ended with the championship game in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 25. A total of 29 games were played, including a third-place game in each region and a national third-place game.

Led by longtime head coach John Wooden, the undefeated UCLA Bruins won the national title with an 81–76 victory in the final game over Florida State, coached by Hugh Durham. Sophomore center Bill Walton of UCLA was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player; the first of two consecutive.

On a historically significant note, the Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns made the tournament in their first season of eligibility for postseason play; the next to achieve this feat was North Dakota State in 2009. SW Louisiana also made the tournament in 1973, but due to major infractions that resulted in the basketball program receiving the NCAA death penalty (and very nearly expelled from the NCAA altogether), both appearances have since been vacated and the records expunged.

This was the last year in which the championship game was played on Saturday; it moved to Monday night in 1973. This was also the last year the national semifinals were televised regionally on a Thursday or Friday night (The first game was televised to the Eastern and Central time zones and the second to the Mountain and Pacific time zones. Markets of participating teams were permitted to televise both games if the team of local interest was playing in the opposite window; in 1972, Louisville NBC affiliate WAVE broadcast both games live, as the Cardinals' semifinal vs. UCLA tipped off at 11:15 p.m. Eastern.).

Schedule and venues

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1972 tournament:

First round

• March 11
  • East Region
    • Alumni Hall, Jamaica, New York (Host: St. John's University)
    • Jadwin Gymnasium, Princeton, New Jersey (Hosts: Princeton University, Ivy League)
    • William & Mary Hall, Williamsburg, Virginia (Host: The College of William & Mary)
  • Mideast Region
    • Stokely Athletic Center, Knoxville, Tennessee (Host: University of Tennessee)
  • Midwest Region
    • Pan American Center, Las Cruces, New Mexico (Host: New Mexico State University)
  • West Region
    • ASISU Minidome, Pocatello, Idaho (Hosts: Idaho State University, Big Sky Conference)

Regional semifinals, 3rd-place games, and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 16 and 18
  • East Regional, WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, West Virginia (Host: West Virginia University)
  • Mideast Regional, University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)
  • Midwest Regional, Hilton Coliseum, Ames, Iowa (Host: Iowa State University)
  • West Regional, Marriott Center, Provo, Utah (Host: Brigham Young University)

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

• March 23 and 25
  • Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California (Hosts: University of Southern California, Pacific-8 Conference)

Teams

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East region

Mideast region

# - Minnesota vacated its appearance in the 1972 tournament.

Midwest region

West region

Final Four

Announcers

Curt Gowdy, Tom Hawkins, and Jim Simpson (Final Four only) - First Round at Pocatello, Idaho (Long Beach State-BYU); East Regional Final at Morgantown, West Virginia; Final Four at Los Angeles, California

• Jim Simpson and Bill Enis - First Round at Knoxville, Tennessee (Marquette-Ohio)
• Jay Randolph and Pat Hernon - Mideast Regional Final at Dayton, Ohio
• Bill Enis and Frank Dill - Midwest Regional Final at Ames, Iowa
• Charlie Jones and Elgin Baylor - West Regional Final at Provo, Utah

See also

• 1972 NCAA College Division basketball tournament
• 1972 National Invitation Tournament
• 1972 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 1972 National Women's Invitation Tournament

References

1. Kirkpatrick, Curry (April 3, 1972). "Oh, Johnny, Oh, Johnny Oh!". Sports Illustrated. p. 30.
2. "Super soph Bill Walton sparkles; Bruins earn another NCAA title". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 26, 1972. p. 1, sports.
3. "It was the same old story-- Bruins win NCAA crown". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 26, 1972. p. 1D.
4. "Woodside hits jumper with 3 seconds left to push N. Dakota St. to Summit title". ESPN. Associated Press. March 10, 2009. Archived from the original on March 14, 2009. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
5. "Forfeits and Vacated Games". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 30, 2024.

• NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 1971–72 NCAA University Division men's basketball season
• 1972 in Los Angeles
• 1972 in sports in California
• March 1972 sports events in the United States