1974 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament

The 1974 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It was the first tournament to be designated as a Division I championship—previously, NCAA member schools had been divided into the "University Division" and "College Division". The NCAA created its current three-division setup, effective with the 1973–74 academic year, by moving all of its University Division schools to Division I and splitting the College Division members into Division II (fewer scholarships) and Division III (no athletic scholarships allowed). Previous tournaments would retroactively be considered Division I championships.

1974 NCAA Division I
Basketball Tournament
NCAA logo from 1971 to 1979
Season197374
Teams25
Finals siteGreensboro Coliseum
Greensboro, North Carolina
ChampionsNC State Wolfpack (1st title, 1st title game,
2nd Final Four)
Runner-upMarquette Warriors (1st title game,
1st Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coachNorm Sloan (1st title)
MOPDavid Thompson (NC State)
Attendance154,112
Top scorerDavid Thompson NC State
(97 points)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments
«1973 1975»

The tournament began on March 9, 1974, and ended with the championship game on March 25 in Greensboro, North Carolina. As of 2017, it is the last tournament in which neither school had previously appeared in any national championship game (5 years later Michigan State would defeat Indiana St in each school's inaugural Division I National Finals, but Indiana State had previously contested and lost finals in the NAIA National Championships and the NCAA Division II National Championships). A total of 29 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.

North Carolina State, coached by Norm Sloan, won the national title with a 76–64 victory in the final game over Marquette, coached by Al McGuire. This result ended UCLA's record streak of seven consecutive titles. David Thompson of North Carolina State was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

This was the final year that only conference champions and independents could participate in the tournament. During the same time in 1974, the Collegiate Commissioners' Association held a tournament in St. Louis, Missouri. They invited the second-place teams from eight conferences to participate. In 1975, the NCAA would expand the field to include at-large bids for conference runners-up.

Tournament notes

The UCLANorth Carolina State semifinal game made USA Today's list of the greatest NCAA tournament games of all time at #13.[1] UCLA star Bill Walton calls that game the most disappointing outcome of his entire basketball career, given how UCLA lost a 5-point lead late in regulation and a 7-point lead in the 2nd overtime, before NC State rallied to win, 80-77. The game, played in Greensboro, was like a home game for the Wolfpack; UCLA had defeated NC State by 18 points in a neutral site game in St. Louis (where UCLA defeated Memphis State the previous March to win its seventh consecutive national championship) earlier in the season.

The Wolfpack became the fifth school in history to win the national championship playing in its home state. CCNY won the 1950 NCAA championship (as well as the NIT championship) at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Kentucky won the 1958 championship at Freedom Hall in Louisville, and UCLA won both the 1968 and 1972 championships at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. UCLA also would win the 1975 championship in its home state, at the San Diego Sports Arena. No team has accomplished the feat since then, although the Kansas Jayhawks won the 1988 championship in nearby Kansas City, Missouri, at Kemper Arena, which is closer to the KU campus in Lawrence, Kansas than Greensboro is to Raleigh.

Thanks in large part to the reclassification of Division I, the 1974 tournament is the last tournament to include a team no longer in Division I. The Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles spent one year in the modern Division I, winning the Pacific Coast Athletic Association before dropping to Division II.

Locations

RoundRegionSiteVenueHost
First Round East Jamaica, New York Alumni Hall St. John's
East Morgantown, West Virginia WVU Coliseum West Virginia
East Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The Palestra Drexel/Penn/Temple
Mideast Terre Haute, Indiana Hulman Center Indiana State
Midwest Denton, Texas UNT Coliseum North Texas
West Pocatello, Idaho ASISU Minidome Idaho State
Regionals East Raleigh, North Carolina Reynolds Coliseum North Carolina State
Mideast Tuscaloosa, Alabama Memorial Coliseum Alabama
Midwest Tulsa, Oklahoma Mabee Center Oral Roberts/Tulsa
West Tucson, Arizona McKale Center Arizona
Final Four Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro Memorial Coliseum Atlantic Coast Conference

The city of Greensboro, in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina, became the 13th host city, and the Greensboro Memorial Coliseum became the 14th host venue, for the Final Four. For the third time ever, this marked the only Final Four for the venue, although it has continued to host another thirteen tournaments since. It also marked the eighth time that the Final Four venue made its overall debut in the tournament, a tradition that has mostly died out since. 1974 saw six new venues host tournament games, including Greensboro, three regional sites and two other sites. For the first time, the tournament came to the state of Alabama and the University of Alabama, with games played at the Memorial Coliseum, home of the Crimson Tide basketball teams. The tournament also came to the state of Arizona and the University of Arizona for the first time, with games being played in its brand new McKale Center. The city of Tulsa became the first outside the Oklahoma City area in the state of Oklahoma to host games, at the Mabee Center on the campus of Oral Roberts University. For the first time, the tournament came to the city of Denton, lying at the north edge of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, to the University of North Texas's Coliseum, nicknamed the "Super Pit." And for the first, and to date only, time, the tournament came to Indiana State University to be played at the brand-new Hulman Center. Besides the Hulman Center, the 1974 tournament saw the last games for two other venues, the WVU Coliseum and Alumni Hall on the campus of St. John's University. The tournament would not return to the NYC area until the opening of the Meadowlands Arena in New Jersey in the 1980s, and wouldn't return to the city proper until the 2014 tournament. To date, the tournament has not returned to the state of West Virginia.

Teams

RegionTeamCoachFinishedFinal OpponentScore
East
EastFurmanJoe WilliamsRegional Fourth PlaceProvidenceL 95–83
EastNC StateNorm SloanChampionMarquetteW 76–64
EastPennChuck DalyFirst roundProvidenceL 84–69
EastPittsburghBuzz RidlRegional Runner-upNC StateL 100–72
EastProvidenceDave GavittRegional Third PlaceFurmanW 95–83
EastSouth CarolinaFrank McGuireFirst roundFurmanL 75–67
EastSaint Joseph'sJack McKinneyFirst roundPittsburghL 54–42
Mideast
MideastAustin PeayLake KellyFirst roundNotre DameL 108–66
MideastMarquetteAl McGuireRunner UpNC StateL 76–64
MideastMichiganJohnny OrrRegional Runner-upMarquetteL 72–70
MideastNotre DameDigger PhelpsRegional Third PlaceVanderbiltW 118–88
MideastOhioJames SnyderFirst roundMarquetteL 85–59
MideastVanderbiltRoy SkinnerRegional Fourth PlaceNotre DameL 118–88
Midwest
MidwestCreightonEddie SuttonRegional Third PlaceLouisvilleW 80–71
MidwestKansasTed OwensFourth PlaceUCLAL 78–61
MidwestLouisvilleDenny CrumRegional Fourth PlaceCreightonL 80–71
MidwestOral RobertsKen TrickeyRegional Runner-upKansasL 93–90
MidwestSyracuseRoy DanforthFirst roundOral RobertsL 86–82
MidwestTexasLeon BlackFirst roundCreightonL 77–61
West
WestCal State Los AngelesBob MillerFirst roundDaytonL 88–80
WestDaytonDon DonoherRegional Fourth PlaceNew MexicoL 66–61
WestIdaho StateJim KillingsworthFirst roundNew MexicoL 73–65
WestNew MexicoNorm EllenbergerRegional Third PlaceDaytonW 66–61
WestSan FranciscoBob GaillardRegional Runner-upUCLAL 83–60
WestUCLAJohn WoodenThird PlaceKansasW 78–61

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East region

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                           
       
    NC State 92  
      Providence 78  
  Providence 84
    Penn 69  
      NC State 100
    Pittsburgh 72
    Pittsburgh 54  
  Saint Joseph's 42  
  Pittsburgh 81
      Furman 78  
  Furman 75
    South Carolina 67  
East Regional Third Place
   
Providence 95
Furman 83

Mideast region

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                           
       
    Vanderbilt 61  
      Marquette 69  
  Marquette 85
    Ohio 59  
      Marquette 72
    Michigan 70
         
       
  Michigan 77
      Notre Dame 68  
  Notre Dame 108
    Austin Peay 66  
Mideast Regional Third Place
   
Vanderbilt 88
Notre Dame 118

Midwest region

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                           
       
    Kansas 55  
      Creighton 54  
  Creighton 77
    Texas 61  
      Kansas 93
    Oral Roberts 90*
         
       
  Louisville 93
      Oral Roberts 96  
  Oral Roberts 86
    Syracuse 82*  
Midwest Regional Third Place
   
Creighton 80
Louisville 71

West region

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                           
       
    UCLA 111  
      Dayton 100  
  Dayton 88
    Cal State Los Angeles 80  
      UCLA 83
    San Francisco 60
         
       
  San Francisco 64
      New Mexico 61  
  New Mexico 73
    Idaho State 65  
West Regional Third Place
   
Dayton 61
New Mexico 66

Final Four

  National Semifinals     National Championship Game
                 
  E NC State 80**  
  W UCLA 77    
      E NC State 76
      ME Marquette 64
  ME Marquette 64    
  MW Kansas 51   National Third Place Game
 
W UCLA 78
  MW Kansas 61

See also

References

  1. Mike Douchant – Greatest 63 games in NCAA Tournament history. The Sports Xchange, published in USA Today, March 25, 2002
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