1992 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

The 1992 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 19, 1992, and ended with the championship game on April 6 in Minneapolis. A total of 63 games were played.

Duke, coached by Mike Krzyzewski, defeated Michigan, coached by Steve Fisher, 71–51 to claim their second consecutive national championship. Bobby Hurley of Duke was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Michigan subsequently vacated its final two tournament games due to issues with the eligibility of Chris Webber found in the University of Michigan basketball scandal.

This tournament is best remembered for the East regional final pitting Duke and Kentucky at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. With 2.1 seconds remaining in overtime, Duke trailed 103–102. Grant Hill threw a pass the length of the court to Christian Laettner, who dribbled once, turned, and hit a jumper as time expired for the 104–103 win. Sports Illustrated deemed it the greatest college basketball game of all time, and ESPN ranked it No. 17 among the top 100 sports moments of the past 25 years (see ESPN25). In 2002, USA Today ranked it the greatest NCAA tournament game of all time.

The tournament also saw dark horse Cincinnati crash the Final Four and return to national prominence.

Schedule and venues

Atlanta

Boise

Cincinnati

Dayton

Greensboro

Milwaukee

Tempe

Worcesterclass=notpageimage| 1992 first and second rounds

Albuquerque

Kansas City

Lexington

Philadelphia

Minneapolisclass=notpageimage| 1992 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1992 tournament:

First and Second Rounds

March 19 and 21
- East Region
  - Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina (Host: Atlantic Coast Conference)
- Midwest Region
  - Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Hosts: Marquette University, Great Midwest Conference)
- Southeast Region
  - Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio (Hosts: University of Cincinnati, Xavier University)
- West Region
  - BSU Pavilion, Boise, Idaho (Host: Boise State University)
March 20 and 22
- East Region
  - Centrum in Worcester, Worcester, Massachusetts (Host: College of the Holy Cross)
- Midwest Region
  - University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)
- Southeast Region
  - Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia (Host: Georgia Tech)
- West Region
  - ASU Activity Center, Tempe, Arizona (Host: Arizona State University)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

March 26 and 28
- East Regional, Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Hosts: Temple University, Villanova University)
- West Regional, University Arena ("The Pit"), Albuquerque, New Mexico (Host: University of New Mexico)
March 27 and 29
- Midwest Regional, Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Big 8 Conference)
- Southeast Regional, Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

April 4 and 6
- Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota)

Teams

There were 30 automatic bids awarded to the tournament - of these, 27 were given to the winners of their conference's tournament, while three were awarded to the team with the best regular-season record in their conference (Big Ten, Ivy League and Pac-10).

Three conferences, the East Coast Conference, Great Midwest Conference, and Metro Conference, did not receive automatic bids to the tournament. This meant that the play-in games played prior to the 1991 tournament were not necessary for the 1992 tournament.

Three conference champions made their first NCAA tournament appearances: Campbell (Big South), Delaware (NAC), and Eastern Illinois (Mid-Continent). Additionally, Tulane received an at-large bid for its first appearance in the NCAA tournament.

Automatic qualifiers

Automatic qualifiers
Conference	Team	Appearance	Last bid
ACC	Duke	17th	1991
Atlantic 10	UMass	2nd	1962
Big East	Syracuse	20th	1991
Big Eight	Kansas	21st	1991
Big Sky	Montana	3rd	1991
Big South	Campbell	1st	Never
Big Ten	Ohio State	18th	1991
Big West	New Mexico State (vacated)	–	1991
CAA	Old Dominion	5th	1986
Ivy League	Princeton	18th	1991
MAAC	La Salle	11th	1990
MAC	Miami (OH)	13th	1986
MCC	Evansville	3rd	1989
MEAC	Howard	2nd	1981
Mid-Continent	Eastern Illinois	1st	Never
Missouri Valley	Southwest Missouri State	5th	1990
NAC	Delaware	1st	Never
NEC	Robert Morris	5th	1990
Ohio Valley	Murray State	6th	1991
Pac-10	UCLA	27th	1991
Patriot	Fordham	4th	1971
SEC	Kentucky	33rd	1987
Southern	East Tennessee State	5th	1991
Southland	Northeast Louisiana	5th	1991
Sun Belt	Southwestern Louisiana	3rd	1983
SWAC	Mississippi Valley State	2nd	1986
SWC	Houston	18th	1990
TAAC	Georgia Southern	3rd	1987
WAC	BYU	16th	1991
West Coast	Pepperdine	10th	1991

Tournament seeds

East Regional – Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type
1	Duke	ACC	28–2	Automatic
2	Kentucky	SEC	26–6	Automatic
3	UMass	Atlantic 10	28–4	Automatic
4	Seton Hall	Big East	21–8	At-Large
5	Missouri	Big Eight	20–8	At-Large
6	Syracuse	Big East	21–9	Automatic
7	UNC Charlotte	Metro	23–8	At-Large
8	Texas	SWC	23–11	At-Large
9	Iowa	Big Ten	18–10	At-Large
10	Iowa State	Big Eight	20–12	At-Large
11	Princeton	Ivy League	22–5	Automatic
12	West Virginia	Atlantic 10	20–11	At-Large
13	La Salle	MAAC	20–10	Automatic
14	Fordham	Patriot	18–12	Automatic
15	Old Dominion	CAA	15–14	Automatic
16	Campbell	Big South	19–11	Automatic

Midwest Regional – Hy-Vee Arena, Kansas City, Missouri
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type
1	Kansas	Big Eight	26–4	Automatic
2	USC	Pac-10	23–5	At-Large
3	Arkansas	SEC	25–7	At-Large
4	Cincinnati	Great Midwest	25–4	At-Large
5	Michigan State	Big Ten	21–7	At-Large
6	Memphis State	Great Midwest	20–10	At-Large
7	Georgia Tech	ACC	21–11	At-Large
8	Evansville	MCC	24–5	Automatic
9	UTEP	WAC	25–6	At-Large
10	Houston	SWC	25–5	Automatic
11	Pepperdine	West Coast	24–6	Automatic
12	Southwest Missouri State	Missouri Valley	23–7	Automatic
13	Delaware	NAC	27–3	Automatic
14	Murray State	Ohio Valley	17–12	Automatic
15	Northeast Louisiana	Southland	19–9	Automatic
16	Howard	MEAC	17–13	Automatic

West Regional – The Pit, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type
1	UCLA	Pac-10	25–4	Automatic
2	Indiana	Big Ten	23–6	At-Large
3	Florida State	ACC	20–9	At-Large
4	Oklahoma	Big Eight	21–8	At-Large
5	DePaul	Great Midwest	20–8	At-Large
6	Georgetown	Big East	21–9	At-Large
7	LSU	SEC	20–9	At-Large
8	Louisville	Metro	18–10	At-Large
9	Wake Forest	ACC	17–11	At-Large
10	BYU	WAC	25–6	Automatic
11	South Florida	Metro	19–9	At-Large
12	New Mexico State (vacated)	Big West	23–7	Automatic
13	Southwestern Louisiana	Sun Belt	20–10	Automatic
14	Montana	Big Sky	27–3	Automatic
15	Eastern Illinois	Mid-Continent	17–13	Automatic
16	Robert Morris	NEC	19–11	Automatic

Southeast Regional – Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type
1	Ohio State	Big Ten	23–5	Automatic
2	Oklahoma State	Big Eight	26–7	At-Large
3	Arizona	Pac-10	24–6	At-Large
4	North Carolina	ACC	21–9	At-Large
5	Alabama	SEC	25–8	At-Large
6	Michigan (vacated Final Four)	Big Ten	20–8	At-Large
7	St. John's	Big East	19–10	At-Large
8	Nebraska	Big Eight	19–9	At-Large
9	Connecticut	Big East	19–9	At-Large
10	Tulane	Metro	21–8	At-Large
11	Temple	Atlantic 10	17–12	At-Large
12	Stanford	Pac-10	18–10	At-Large
13	Miami (OH)	MAC	23–7	Automatic
14	East Tennessee State	Southern	23–6	Automatic
15	Georgia Southern	TAAC	25–5	Automatic
16	Mississippi Valley State	SWAC	16–13	Automatic

Bracket

East Regional – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

First round			Quarter-finals			Regional semifinals			Regional Finals

1	Duke	82

16	Campbell	56
			1	Duke	75
Greensboro
			9	Iowa	62
8	Texas	92

9	Iowa	98
						1	Duke	81

						4	Seton Hall	68
5	Missouri	89

12	West Virginia	78
			5	Missouri	71
Greensboro
			4	Seton Hall	88
4	Seton Hall	78

13	La Salle	76
									1	Duke	104

									2	Kentucky	103
6	Syracuse	51

11	Princeton	43
			6	Syracuse	71
Worcester
			3	Massachusetts	77
3	Massachusetts	85

14	Fordham	58
						3	Massachusetts	77

						2	Kentucky	87
7	Charlotte	74

10	Iowa State	76
			10	Iowa State	98
Worcester
			2	Kentucky	106
2	Kentucky	88

15	Old Dominion	69

West Regional – Albuquerque, New Mexico

First round			Quarter-finals			Regional semifinals			Regional Finals

1	UCLA	73

16	Robert Morris	53
			1	UCLA	85
Tempe
			8	Louisville	69
8	Louisville	81

9	Wake Forest	58
						1	UCLA	85

						12	New Mexico State#	78
5	DePaul	73

12	New Mexico State#	81
			12	New Mexico State#	81
Tempe
			13	Southwest Louisiana	73
4	Oklahoma	83

13	Southwest Louisiana	87
									1	UCLA	79

									2	Indiana	106
6	Georgetown	75

11	South Florida	60
			6	Georgetown	68
Boise
			3	Florida State	78
3	Florida State	78

14	Montana	68
						3	Florida State	74

						2	Indiana	85
7	LSU	94

10	BYU	83
			7	LSU	79
Boise
			2	Indiana	89
2	Indiana	94

15	Eastern Illinois	55

# — New Mexico State vacated its appearance in the 1992 NCAA tournament due to sanctions from the Neil McCarthy scandal. Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with New Mexico State removing the wins from its own record.

Southeast Regional – Lexington, Kentucky

First round			Quarter-finals			Regional semifinals			Regional Finals

1	Ohio State	83

16	Mississippi Valley State	56
			1	Ohio State	78
Cincinnati
			9	Connecticut	55
8	Nebraska	65

9	Connecticut	86
						1	Ohio State	80

						4	North Carolina	73
5	Alabama	80

12	Stanford	75
			5	Alabama	55
Cincinnati
			4	North Carolina	64
4	North Carolina	68

13	Miami (OH)	63
									1	Ohio State	71

									6	Michigan	75
6	Michigan	73

11	Temple	66
			6	Michigan	102
Atlanta
			14	East Tennessee State	90
3	Arizona	80

14	East Tennessee State	87
						6	Michigan	75

						2	Oklahoma State	72
7	St. John's	57

10	Tulane	61
			10	Tulane	71
Atlanta
			2	Oklahoma State	87
2	Oklahoma State	100

15	Georgia Southern	73

Midwest Regional – Kansas City, Missouri

First round			Quarter-finals			Regional semifinals			Regional Finals

1	Kansas	100

16	Howard	67
			1	Kansas	60
Dayton
			9	UTEP	66
8	Evansville	50

9	UTEP	55
						9	UTEP	67

						4	Cincinnati	69
5	Michigan State	61

12	Southwest Missouri State	54
			5	Michigan State	65
Dayton
			4	Cincinnati	77
4	Cincinnati	85

13	Delaware	47
									4	Cincinnati	88

									6	Memphis State	57
6	Memphis State	80

11	Pepperdine	70
			6	Memphis State	82
Milwaukee
			3	Arkansas	80
3	Arkansas	80

14	Murray State	69
						6	Memphis State	83

						7	Georgia Tech	79
7	Georgia Tech	65

10	Houston	60
			7	Georgia Tech	79
Milwaukee
			2	USC	78
2	USC	84

15	Northeast Louisiana	54

Final Four – Minneapolis, Minnesota

Main article: 1992 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game

National semifinals			National Championship Game

E1	Duke	81

W2	Indiana	78
			E1	Duke	71

			SE6	Michigan#	51
SE6	Michigan#	76

MW4	Cincinnati	72

# — signifies Michigan's final two games, in the 1992 Final Four, were vacated on November 7, 2002, as part of the settlement of the University of Michigan basketball scandal. Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with the removal of any Michigan wins from all records.

Announcers

Jim Nantz/Billy Packer/Curry Kirkpatrick – Southeast Regional at Lexington, Kentucky; Final Four at Minneapolis, Minnesota
Dick Stockton and Al McGuire/Greg Kelser (afternoon session of first round only) – First & Second Round at Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Midwest Regional at Kansas City, Missouri
Verne Lundquist and Len Elmore – First & Second Round at Cincinnati; East Regional at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Greg Gumbel and Quinn Buckner – First & Second Round at Atlanta, Georgia; West Regional at Albuquerque, New Mexico
James Brown and Bill Raftery – First & Second Round at Worcester, Massachusetts
Tim Ryan and Digger Phelps – First & Second Round at Dayton, Ohio
Sean McDonough and Bill Walton – First & Second Round at Boise, Idaho
Brad Nessler and Ann Meyers – First & Second Round at Tempe, Arizona
Mel Proctor and Dan Bonner – First & Second Round at Greensboro, North Carolina

References

1992 NCAA Basketball National Championship Game on YouTube
Matthew Waxman = 16 Greatest Games Sports Illustrated (On Campus), March 10, 2004
Mike Douchant – Greatest 63 games in NCAA Tournament history. The Sports Xchange, published in USA Today, March 25, 2002
"NCAA eliminates play-in for 1992 tournament". United Press International. September 9, 1991. Retrieved May 24, 2023.

v t e NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
Tournaments	1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
Structure	Selection process Venues No. 1 seeds First Four Elite Eight Final four
Champions & awards	List of champions Most Outstanding Player
Media & culture	Blue bloods Bracketology Broadcasting Tournament Final Four Cutting down the nets March Madness pools "One Shining Moment"
Records & statistics	Team records Bids by school Consecutive appearances Final Four participants Final Four appearances by coach Overall records Upsets Team appearances by seed
See also: Division I Women's Tournament, Division II Tournament, Division III Tournament

v t e 1992 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournaments
Conference	ACC Atlantic 10 Big East Big Eight Big Sky Big South Big West CAA East Coast Great Midwest Metro MAAC MCC MEAC Mid-American Mid-Con Missouri Valley NAC Northeast Ohio Valley Patriot SEC Southern Southland Southwest SWAC Sun Belt TAAC WAC West Coast
National	NCAA NIT

v t e Duke Blue Devils men's basketball 1991–92 NCAA champions
4 Kenny Blakeney 11 Bobby Hurley (MOP) 12 Thomas Hill 21 Antonio Lang 23 Brian Davis 32 Christian Laettner 33 Grant Hill 44 Cherokee Parks 52 Erik Meek Head coach Mike Krzyzewski Assistant coaches Tommy Amaker Jay Bilas Mike Brey

Duke Blue Devils men's basketball 1991–92 NCAA champions

Head coach: Mike Krzyzewski

Assistant coaches: Tommy Amaker; Jay Bilas; Mike Brey

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