1946 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

1946 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
Finals site	Madison Square Garden New York City
Champions	Oklahoma A&M (2nd title, 2nd title game, 2nd Final Four)
Runner-up	North Carolina (1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Semifinalists	California (1st Final Four) Ohio State (4th Final Four)
Winning coach	Henry Iba (2nd title)
MOP	Bob Kurland Oklahoma A&M
Attendance	73,116
Top scorer	Bob Kurland Oklahoma A&M (72 points)
NCAA Men's Division I Tournaments «1945 1947»

The 1946 NCAA Men's Division I 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 21, 1946, and ended with the championship game on March 26 in New York City. A total of 10 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.

Oklahoma A&M, coached by Henry Iba, won the national title with a 43-40 victory in the final game over North Carolina, coached by Ben Carnevale. Bob Kurland of Oklahoma A&M was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

This was the first tournament to have four teams advance to the final site, though not the first to have a true "Final Four" format (that would not occur until 1952). The two regional losers played in the national third-place game, while the two winners played for the championship. The third place game would continue through the 1981 tournament.

Locations

The following were the sites which hosted each round of the 1946 tournament:

Regionals

March 21 and 23

East Regional, Madison Square Garden, New York, New York

March 22 and 23

West Regional, Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri

Championship Game

March 26

Madison Square Garden, New York, New York

Teams

Region	Seed	Team	Coach	Conference	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	n/a	Harvard	Floyd Stahl	EIBL	Regional Fourth Place	NYU	L 67-61
East	n/a	NYU	Howard Cann	Middle Atlantic	Regional Third Place	Harvard	W 67-61
East	n/a	North Carolina	Ben Carnevale	Southern Conference	Runner Up	Oklahoma A&M	L 43-40
East	n/a	Ohio State	Harold Olsen	Big Ten	Third Place	California	W 63-45
West
West	n/a	Baylor	Bill Henderson	Southwest	Regional Fourth Place	Colorado	L 59-44
West	n/a	California	Nibs Price	Pacific Coast	Fourth Place	Ohio State	L 63-45
West	n/a	Colorado	Frosty Cox	Skyline	Regional Third Place	Baylor	W 59-44
West	n/a	Oklahoma A&M	Henry Iba	Missouri Valley	Champion	North Carolina	W 43-40

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
		Ohio State	46
		Harvard	38
							Ohio State	57*
							North Carolina	60
		North Carolina	57
		NYU	49
												North Carolina	40
												Oklahoma A&M	43
		Oklahoma A&M	44
		Baylor	29
							Oklahoma A&M	52		Third place
							California	35
		California	50									Ohio State	63
		Colorado	44									California	45

Regional Third Place Games

East Regional Third Place       NYU 67 Harvard 61

West Regional Third Place       Colorado 59 Baylor 44

See also

• 1946 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
• 1946 National Invitation Tournament