Wikipedia

1976 NCAA Division I basketball tournament

(Redirected from 1976 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament)

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.

1976 NCAA Division I
basketball tournament
NCAA logo from 1971 to 1979
Season1975–76
Teams32
Finals siteThe Spectrum
Philadelphia, PA
ChampionsIndiana Hoosiers (3rd title, 3rd title game,
4th Final Four)
Runner-upMichigan Wolverines (2nd title game,
3rd Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coachBob Knight (1st title)
MOPKent Benson (Indiana)
Attendance202,502
Top scorerScott May (Indiana)
(113 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments
«1975 1977»

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. (As of 2024, all four of the 1976 Final Four participants will be members of the Big Ten.) Also, this was 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 had been the last tournament both Duke and Kentucky missed in the same year until 2021.[1]

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.[2][3]

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.[4] The 1976 Pro Bowl was an exception and was played in New Orleans, likely due to weather concerns.

Schedule and venues

edit
 
 
Charlotte
 
Providence
 
Dayton
 
South Bend
 
Denton
 
Lawrence
 
Eugene
 
Tempe
class=notpageimage|
1976 first round
 
 
Greensboro
 
Baton Rouge
 
Louisville
 
Los Angeles
 
Philadelphia
class=notpageimage|
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

edit
Region Team Coach Conference Finished Final opponent Score
East
East Connecticut Dee Rowe Yankee Sweet Sixteen Rutgers L 93–79
East DePaul Ray Meyer Independent Sweet Sixteen VMI L 71–66
East Hofstra Roger Gaeckler East Coast Round of 32 Connecticut L 80–78
East Princeton Pete Carril Ivy League Round of 32 Rutgers L 54–53
East Rutgers Tom Young Independent Fourth Place UCLA L 106–92
East Tennessee Ray Mears Southeastern Round of 32 VMI L 81–75
East Virginia Terry Holland Atlantic Coast Round of 32 DePaul L 69–60
East VMI Bill Blair Southern Regional Runner-up Rutgers L 91–75
Mideast
Mideast Alabama C. M. Newton Southeastern Sweet Sixteen Indiana L 74–69
Mideast Indiana Bob Knight Big Ten Champion Michigan W 86–68
Mideast Marquette Al McGuire Independent Regional Runner-up Indiana L 65–56
Mideast North Carolina Dean Smith Atlantic Coast Round of 32 Alabama L 79–64
Mideast St. John's Lou Carnesecca Independent Round of 32 Indiana L 90–70
Mideast Virginia Tech Don DeVoe Independent Round of 32 Western Michigan L 77–67
Mideast Western Kentucky Jim Richards Ohio Valley Round of 32 Marquette L 79–60
Mideast Western Michigan Eldon Miller Mid-American Sweet Sixteen Marquette L 62–57
Midwest
Midwest Cincinnati Gale Catlett Metropolitan Round of 32 Notre Dame L 79–78
Midwest Michigan Johnny Orr Big Ten Runner Up Indiana L 86–68
Midwest Missouri Norm Stewart Big Eight Regional Runner-up Michigan L 95–88
Midwest Notre Dame Digger Phelps Independent Sweet Sixteen Michigan L 80–76
Midwest Syracuse Roy Danforth Independent Round of 32 Texas Tech L 69–56
Midwest Texas Tech Gerald Myers Southwest Sweet Sixteen Missouri L 86–75
Midwest Washington Marv Harshman Pacific-8 Round of 32 Missouri L 69–67
Midwest Wichita State Harry Miller Missouri Valley Round of 32 Michigan L 74–73
West
West Arizona Fred Snowden Western Athletic Regional Runner-up UCLA L 82–66
West Boise State Bus Connor Big Sky Round of 32 UNLV L 103–78
West Georgetown John Thompson Independent Round of 32 Arizona L 83–76
West Memphis State Wayne Yates Metropolitan Round of 32 Pepperdine L 87–77
West UNLV Jerry Tarkanian Independent Sweet Sixteen Arizona L 114–109
West Pepperdine Gary Colson West Coast Sweet Sixteen UCLA L 70–61
West San Diego State Tim Vezie Pacific Coast Round of 32 UCLA L 74–64
West UCLA Gene Bartow Pacific-8 Third Place Rutgers W 106–92

Bracket

edit

* – Denotes overtime period

East region – Greensboro, North Carolina

edit
Quarterfinals Regional semifinals Regional Finals
         
DePaul 69
Virginia 60
DePaul 66*
Charlotte
VMI 71
VMI 82
Tennessee 75
VMI 75
Rutgers 91
Rutgers 54
Princeton 53
Rutgers 93
Providence
Connecticut 79
Connecticut 80
Hofstra 78*

Midwest region – Louisville, Kentucky

edit
Quarterfinals Regional semifinals Regional Finals
         
Michigan 74
Wichita State 73
Michigan 80
Lawrence
Notre Dame 76
Notre Dame 79
Cincinnati 78
Michigan 95
Missouri 88
Missouri 69
Washington 67
Missouri 86
Denton
Texas Tech 75
Texas Tech 69
Syracuse 56

Mideast region – Baton Rouge, Louisiana

edit
Quarterfinals Regional semifinals Regional Finals
         
Alabama 79
North Carolina 64
Alabama 69
Notre Dame
Indiana 74
Indiana 90
St. John's 70
Indiana 65
Marquette 56
Marquette 79
Western Kentucky 60
Marquette 62
Dayton
Western Michigan 57
Western Michigan 77
Virginia Tech 67*

West region – Los Angeles

edit
Quarterfinals Regional semifinals Regional Finals
         
Pepperdine 87
Memphis State 77
Pepperdine 61
Eugene
UCLA 70
UCLA 74
San Diego State 64
UCLA 82
Arizona 66
UNLV 103
Boise State 78
UNLV 109*
Tempe
Arizona 114
Arizona 83
Georgetown 76

Final Four – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

edit
National semifinals
Saturday, March 27 		National Championship Game
Monday, March 29
      
E Rutgers 70
MW Michigan 86
MW Michigan 68
ME Indiana 86
ME Indiana 65
W UCLA 51 National third-place game
E Rutgers 92
W UCLA 106

Announcers

edit

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

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ @TribSports (March 15, 2021). "It is the first time since 1976 all..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ "Huskies get NCAA berth". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 5, 1976. p. 28.
  3. ^ "NCAA picture". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. March 5, 1976. p. 2D.
  4. ^ 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.
Retrieved from "https://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=1976_NCAA_Division_I_basketball_tournament&oldid=1213934797"