1949 NCAA basketball tournament
| Season | 1948–49 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 8 | ||||
| Finals site | Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, Washington | ||||
| Champions | Kentucky Wildcats (2nd title, 2nd title game, 3rd Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up | Oklahoma State Cowboys (3rd title game, 3rd Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
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| Winning coach | Adolph Rupp (2nd title) | ||||
| MOP | Alex Groza (Kentucky) | ||||
| Attendance | 72,523 | ||||
| Top scorer | Alex Groza (Kentucky) (82 points) | ||||
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The 1949 NCAA Basketball Tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 18, 1949, and ended with the championship game on March 26 in Seattle, Washington. A total of 10 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.
Kentucky, coached by Adolph Rupp, won the national title with a 46–36 victory in the final game over Oklahoma A&M, coached by Henry Iba. Alex Groza of Kentucky was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Locations
The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1949 tournament:
Regionals
- March 18 and 19
- West Regional, Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri
- March 21 and 22
- East Regional, Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Championship Game
- March 26
- Hec Edmundson Pavilion, Seattle, Washington
The city of Seattle became the fourth host city, and Hec Edmundson Pavilion the fourth host venue, to host the National Championship game. The arena, on the campus of the University of Washington, broke the six-year streak of Madison Square Garden hosting the National Championship, though for only one year, as the National Championship game would move back once more in 1950. In fact, it was the only arena other than MSG or the Municipal Auditorium to host any tournament games between 1943 and 1950. It would go on to host the first true Final Four in 1952, hosting four more tournaments afterwards, before being succeeded by the Kingdome in 1984 and KeyArena in 1999.
Teams
| Region | Team | Coach | Finished | Final Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | |||||
| East | Illinois | Harry Combes | Third Place | Oregon State | W 57–53 |
| East | Kentucky | Adolph Rupp | Champion | Oklahoma A&M | W 46–36 |
| East | Villanova | Alex Severance | Regional Third Place | Yale | W 78–67 |
| East | Yale | Howard Hobson | Regional Fourth Place | Villanova | L 78–67 |
| West | |||||
| West | Arkansas | Eugene Lambert | Regional Third Place | Wyoming | W 61–48 |
| West | Oklahoma A&M | Henry Iba | Runner Up | Kentucky | L 46–36 |
| West | Oregon State | Slats Gill | Fourth Place | Illinois | L 57–53 |
| West | Wyoming | Everett Shelton | Regional Fourth Place | Arkansas | L 61–48 |
Bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| Illinois | 71 | |||||||||||||
| Yale | 67 | |||||||||||||
| Illinois | 47 | |||||||||||||
| Kentucky | 76 | |||||||||||||
| Kentucky | 85 | |||||||||||||
| Villanova | 72 | |||||||||||||
| Kentucky | 46 | |||||||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 36 | |||||||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 40 | |||||||||||||
| Wyoming | 39 | |||||||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 55 | Third place | ||||||||||||
| Oregon State | 30 | |||||||||||||
| Oregon State | 56 | Illinois | 57 | |||||||||||
| Arkansas | 38 | Oregon State | 53 | |||||||||||
Regional Third Place Games
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See also
References
- ^ "1949 NCAA Basketball Tournament". College Basketball Reference. Retrieved 4 April 2018.