1961 NCAA University Division basketball tournament
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![]() Cincinnati Bearcats, champions, celebrating | |||||
Season | 1960–61 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Teams | 24 | ||||
Finals site | Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri | ||||
Champions | Cincinnati Bearcats (1st title, 1st title game, 3rd Final Four) | ||||
Runner-up | Ohio State Buckeyes (3rd title game, 6th Final Four) | ||||
Semifinalists |
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Winning coach | Ed Jucker (1st title) | ||||
MOP | Jerry Lucas (Ohio State) | ||||
Attendance | 169,520 | ||||
Top scorer | Billy McGill (Utah) (119 points) | ||||
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The 1961 NCAA University Division basketball tournament involved 24 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 14, 1961, and ended with the championship game on March 25 in Kansas City, Missouri. A total of 28 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.
Cincinnati, coached by Ed Jucker, won the national title with a 70–65 victory in the final game over in-state rival and defending national champion Ohio State, coached by Fred Taylor. Jerry Lucas of Ohio State was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
The national third-place game, won by Saint Joseph's over Utah by the score of 127–120 in four overtimes, tied the record for the longest game in NCAA Division I tournament history, set in 1956 in a first-round game between Canisius and North Carolina State. As of the regional finals of the 2019 tournament, no NCAA Division I tournament games since then have gone to a fourth overtime period.[1] Saint Joseph's victory was later vacated because of the 1961 gambling scandal.[2]
Locations
[edit]![](http://178.128.105.246/content-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4e/Ohio_state_basketball_players_1961.jpg/220px-Ohio_state_basketball_players_1961.jpg)
Round | Region | Site | Venue | Host(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
First Round | East | New York, New York | Madison Square Garden | St. John's |
Mideast | Louisville, Kentucky | Freedom Hall | Louisville | |
Midwest | Houston, Texas | Delmar Fieldhouse | Houston/Rice/Texas Southern | |
West | Portland, Oregon | Memorial Coliseum | Portland | |
Regionals | East | Charlotte, North Carolina | Charlotte Coliseum | UNCC |
Mideast | Louisville, Kentucky | Freedom Hall | Louisville | |
Midwest | Lawrence, Kansas | Allen Fieldhouse | Kansas | |
West | Portland, Oregon | Memorial Coliseum | Portland | |
Final Four | Kansas City, Missouri | Municipal Auditorium | UMKC |
Teams
[edit]Region | Team | Coach | Conference | Finished | Final Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
East | ||||||
East | George Washington | Bill Reinhart | Southern | First round | Princeton | L 84–67 |
East | Princeton | Jake McCandless | Ivy League | Regional Fourth Place | St. Bonaventure | L 85–67 |
East | Rhode Island | Ernie Calverley | Yankee | First round | St. Bonaventure | L 86–76 |
East | St. Bonaventure | Eddie Donovan | Independent | Regional third place | Princeton | W 85–67 |
East | St. John's | Joe Lapchick | Metro NY | First round | Wake Forest | L 97–74 |
East | Saint Joseph's | Jack Ramsay | Middle Atlantic | Third Place | Utah | W 127–120 (4OT) |
East | Wake Forest | Bones McKinney | Atlantic Coast | Regional Runner-up | Saint Joseph's | L 96–86 |
Mideast | ||||||
Mideast | Kentucky | Adolph Rupp | Southeastern | Regional Runner-up | Ohio State | L 87–74 |
Mideast | Louisville | Peck Hickman | Independent | Regional third place | Morehead State | W 83–61 |
Mideast | Morehead State | Robert Laughlin | Ohio Valley | Regional Fourth Place | Louisville | L 83–61 |
Mideast | Ohio | James Snyder | Mid-American | First round | Louisville | L 76–70 |
Mideast | Ohio State | Fred Taylor | Big Ten | Runner Up | Cincinnati | L 70–65 |
Mideast | Xavier | Jim McCafferty | Independent | First round | Morehead State | L 71–66 |
Midwest | ||||||
Midwest | Cincinnati | Ed Jucker | Missouri Valley | Champion | Ohio State | W 70–65 |
Midwest | Houston | Guy Lewis | Independent | Regional Fourth Place | Texas Tech | L 69–67 |
Midwest | Kansas State | Tex Winter | Big 8 | Regional Runner-up | Cincinnati | L 69–64 |
Midwest | Marquette | Eddie Hickey | Independent | First round | Houston | L 77–61 |
Midwest | Texas Tech | Polk Robison | Southwest | Regional third place | Houston | W 69–67 |
West | ||||||
West | Arizona State | Ned Wulk | Border | Regional Runner-up | Utah | L 88–80 |
West | Loyola (Los Angeles) | William Donovan | West Coast Athletic | Regional third place | USC | W 69–67 |
West | Oregon | Steve Belko | Independent | First round | USC | L 81–79 |
West | Seattle | Vince Cazzetta | Independent | First round | Arizona State | L 72–70 |
West | USC | Forrest Twogood | AAWU | Regional Fourth Place | Loyola (Los Angeles) | L 69–67 |
West | Utah | Jack Gardner | Mountain States | Fourth Place | Saint Joseph's | L 127–120 (4OT) |
Bracket
[edit]* – Denotes overtime period
East region
[edit]Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
Saint Joseph's# | 72 | |||||||||||||
Princeton | 67 | |||||||||||||
Princeton | 84 | |||||||||||||
George Washington | 67 | |||||||||||||
Saint Joseph's# | 96 | |||||||||||||
Wake Forest | 86 | |||||||||||||
St. Bonaventure | 86 | |||||||||||||
Rhode Island | 76 | |||||||||||||
St. Bonaventure | 73 | |||||||||||||
Wake Forest | 78 | |||||||||||||
Wake Forest | 97 | |||||||||||||
St. John's | 74 |
Mideast region
[edit]Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
Ohio State | 56 | |||||||||||||
Louisville | 55 | |||||||||||||
Louisville | 76 | |||||||||||||
Ohio | 70 | |||||||||||||
Ohio State | 87 | |||||||||||||
Kentucky | 74 | |||||||||||||
Kentucky | 71 | |||||||||||||
Morehead State | 64 | |||||||||||||
Morehead State | 71 | |||||||||||||
Xavier | 66 |
Midwest region
[edit]Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
Kansas State | 75 | |||||||||||||
Houston | 64 | |||||||||||||
Houston | 77 | |||||||||||||
Marquette | 61 | |||||||||||||
Kansas State | 64 | |||||||||||||
Cincinnati | 69 | |||||||||||||
Cincinnati | 78 | |||||||||||||
Texas Tech | 55 |
West region
[edit]Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
Utah | 91 | |||||||||||||
Loyola (Los Angeles) | 75 | |||||||||||||
Utah | 88 | |||||||||||||
Arizona State | 80 | |||||||||||||
Arizona State | 72 | |||||||||||||
Seattle | 70 | |||||||||||||
Arizona State | 86 | |||||||||||||
USC | 71 | |||||||||||||
USC | 81 | |||||||||||||
Oregon | 79 |
Final Four
[edit]National Semifinals | National Championship Game | ||||||||
E | Saint Joseph's# | 69 | |||||||
ME | Ohio State | 95 | |||||||
ME | Ohio State | 65* | |||||||
MW | Cincinnati | 70 | |||||||
MW | Cincinnati | 82 | |||||||
W | Utah | 67 |
* - denotes overtime
# - Saint Joseph's was later forced to vacate their appearance in the 1961 NCAA Tournament due to a gambling scandal involving a player on the team. Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with Saint Joseph's removing the wins from its own record.[3]
National Third Place Game
[edit]National Third Place Game[4] | ||||
E | Saint Joseph's# | 127 | ||
W | Utah | 120**** |
Regional third place games
[edit]
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See also
[edit]- 1961 NCAA College Division basketball tournament
- 1961 National Invitation Tournament
- 1961 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
References
[edit]- ^ The Sports Network. "The Sports Network - Men's College Basketball". Archived from the original on May 26, 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2009.
- ^ "Review of the Literature".
- ^ Wolfson, Andrew (October 19, 2016). "What led to vacated Final Fours in the past?". Courier Journal. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
- ^ "1954 NCAA basketball tournament Bracket". Retrieved October 14, 2011.