The 1939 NCAA basketball tournament involved eight schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. It was the first NCAA basketball national championship tournament, although it was operated by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) at the time.

1939 NCAA basketball tournament
Teams8
Finals sitePatten Gymnasium
Evanston, Illinois
ChampionsOregon Webfoots (1st title, 1st title game,
1st Final Four)
Runner-upOhio State Buckeyes (1st title game,
1st Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coachHoward Hobson (1st title)
MOPJimmy Hull, (Ohio State)
Attendance15,025
Top scorerJimmy Hull, (Ohio State)
(58 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments
  1940»

The tournament began on March 17 and ended with the championship game on March 27 on Northwestern University's campus in Evanston, Illinois.[1][2][3][4] A total of eight games were played, including a single third-place game in the West region. The East region did not hold a third-place game until 1941, and there was no national third-place game until 1946.

Oregon, coached by Howard Hobson, won the national title with a 46–33 victory in the final game over Ohio State, coached by Harold Olsen. Jimmy Hull of Ohio State was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Despite its success in this first tournament, Oregon would not make another Final Four until 2017.

Teams

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East Regional - Philadelphia
School Coach Conference Record
Brown Eck Allen Independent 16–3
Ohio State Harold Olsen Big Ten 14–6
Villanova Alex Severance Independent 19–4
Wake Forest Murray Greason Southern 18–5
West Regional - San Francisco
School Coach Conference Record
Oklahoma Bruce Drake Big Six 11–8
Oregon Howard Hobson Pacific Coast 26–5
Texas Jack Gray Southwest 19–4
Utah State Dick Romney Mountain States 16–6

Bracket

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Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
         
Villanova 42
Brown 30
Villanova 36
East Regional
Ohio State 53
Ohio State 64
Wake Forest 52
Ohio State 33
Oregon 46
Oregon 56
Texas 41
Oregon 55
West Regional
Oklahoma 37
Utah State 39
Oklahoma 50

Regional third place

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West Regional third place
   
Texas 49
Utah State 51

[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Giant Oregon five defeats Ohio for U.S. title, 46–33". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. March 28, 1939. p. 12.
  2. ^ Kuechle, Oliver (March 28, 1939). "Oregon beats Ohio State easily for national title". Milwaukee Journal. p. 12, part 2.
  3. ^ "Oregon tops Bucks, 46–33". Toledo Blade. Ohio. United Press. March 28, 1939. p. 11.
  4. ^ Strite, Dick (March 28, 1939). "Mighty Oregons scramble Ohio State to take hoop title of all America". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. p. 1.
  5. ^ "1939 NCAA basketball tournament". College Basketball Reference. Retrieved April 3, 2018.