1976 NCAA Division I basketball tournament

1976 NCAA Division I
basketball tournament

Season	1975–76
Teams	32
Finals site	The Spectrum Philadelphia, PA
Champions	Indiana Hoosiers (3rd title, 3rd title game, 4th Final Four)
Runner-up	Michigan Wolverines (2nd title game, 3rd Final Four)
Semifinalists	Rutgers Scarlet Knights (1st Final Four) UCLA Bruins (13th Final Four)
Winning coach	Bob Knight (1st title)
MOP	Kent Benson (Indiana)
Attendance	202,502
Top scorer	Scott May (Indiana) (113 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments «1975 1977»

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.

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. 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 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.

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

Locations

Charlotte

Providence

Dayton

South Bend

Denton

Lawrence

Eugene

Tempe

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1976 first round

Greensboro

Baton Rouge

Louisville

Los Angeles

Philadelphia

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1976 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

Round	Region	Site	Venue
First Round	East	Charlotte, North Carolina	Charlotte Coliseum
	East	Providence, Rhode Island	Providence Civic Center
	Mideast	Dayton, Ohio	University of Dayton Arena
	Mideast	South Bend, Indiana	Athletic & Convocation Center
	Midwest	Denton, Texas	UNT Coliseum
	Midwest	Lawrence, Kansas	Allen Fieldhouse
	West	Eugene, Oregon	McArthur Court
	West	Tempe, Arizona	ASU Activity Center
Regionals	East	Greensboro, North Carolina	Greensboro Memorial Coliseum
	Mideast	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	LSU Assembly Center
	Midwest	Louisville, Kentucky	Freedom Hall
	West	Los Angeles, California	Pauley Pavilion
Final Four		Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	The Spectrum

Philadelphia became the 15th city, and the Spectrum the 16th venue, to host a Final Four. It was just the third active NBA arena to host a Final Four, after the old Madison Square Garden and the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Like the majority of previous Final Four venues, this was the Spectrum's first time hosting tournament games of any kind, a practice which mostly died shortly after; the NCAA made it a practice to have Final Four venues have at least a "test run" hosting earlier games the year before by the 1980s. Other than the Spectrum, only one other arena made its debut in 1976. The LSU Assembly Center made its debut in the 1976 tournament, the first time the city of Baton Rouge hosted games, and the first time since 1942 that the state of Louisiana hosted. All the venues in the tournament saw action since this tournament, although this would mark the final time for the Charlotte Coliseum to host a regional round; it would only host sub-regionals afterwards.

Teams

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

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East region – Greensboro, North Carolina

Quarterfinals

Regional Semifinals

Regional Finals

DePaul

69

Virginia

60

DePaul

66*

VMI

71

VMI

82

Tennessee

75

VMI

75

Rutgers

91

Rutgers

54

Princeton

53

Rutgers

93

Connecticut

79

Connecticut

80

Hofstra

78*

Midwest region – Louisville, Kentucky

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

Mideast region – Baton Rouge, Louisiana

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

West region – Los Angeles

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

Final Four @ Philadelphia

	National Semifinals					National Championship Game
	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

See also

• 1976 NCAA Division II Basketball Tournament
• 1976 NCAA Division III Basketball Tournament
• 1976 National Invitation Tournament
• 1976 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
• 1976 National Women's Invitation Tournament