1974 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

1974 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
Teams	25
Finals site	Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina
Champions	NC State (1st title, 1st title game, 2nd Final Four)
Runner-up	Marquette (1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Semifinalists	Kansas (6th Final Four) UCLA (11th Final Four)
Winning coach	Norm Sloan (1st title)
MOP	David Thompson NC State
Attendance	154,112
Top scorer	David Thompson NC State (97 points)
NCAA Men's Division I Tournaments «1973 1975»

The 1974 NCAA Men's 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 officially 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.

The tournament began on March 9, 1974, and ended with the championship game on March 25 in Greensboro, North Carolina. As of 2014, 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 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.

Tournament notes

The UCLA - North 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.

Locations

Region	Site	Other Locations
East	Raleigh, North Carolina	Jamaica, New York; Morgantown, West Virginia; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mideast	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	Terre Haute, Indiana
Midwest	Tulsa, Oklahoma	Denton, Texas
West	Tucson, Arizona	Pocatello, Idaho
Finals	Greensboro, North Carolina

Teams

Region	Seed	Team	Coach	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	n/a	Furman	Joe Williams	Regional Fourth Place	Providence	L 95-83
East	n/a	North Carolina State	Norm Sloan	Champion	Marquette	W 76-64
East	n/a	Penn	Chuck Daly	First round	Providence	L 84-69
East	n/a	Pittsburgh	Buzz Ridl	Regional Runner-up	North Carolina State	L 100-72
East	n/a	Providence	Dave Gavitt	Regional Third Place	Furman	W 95-83
East	n/a	South Carolina	Frank McGuire	First round	Furman	L 75-67
East	n/a	Saint Joseph's	Jack McKinney	First round	Pittsburgh	L 54-42
Mideast
Mideast	n/a	Austin Peay	Lake Kelly	First round	Notre Dame	L 108-66
Mideast	n/a	Marquette	Al McGuire	Runner Up	North Carolina State	L 76-64
Mideast	n/a	Michigan	Johnny Orr	Regional Runner-up	Marquette	L 72-70
Mideast	n/a	Notre Dame	Digger Phelps	Regional Third Place	Vanderbilt	W 118-88
Mideast	n/a	Ohio	James Snyder	First round	Marquette	L 85-59
Mideast	n/a	Vanderbilt	Roy Skinner	Regional Fourth Place	Notre Dame	L 118-88
Midwest
Midwest	n/a	Creighton	Eddie Sutton	Regional Third Place	Louisville	W 80-71
Midwest	n/a	Kansas	Ted Owens	Fourth Place	UCLA	L 78-61
Midwest	n/a	Louisville	Denny Crum	Regional Fourth Place	Creighton	L 80-71
Midwest	n/a	Oral Roberts	Ken Trickey	Regional Runner-up	Kansas	L 93-90
Midwest	n/a	Syracuse	Roy Danforth	First round	Oral Roberts	L 86-82
Midwest	n/a	Texas	Leon Black	First round	Creighton	L 77-61
West
West	n/a	Cal State Los Angeles	Bob Miller	First round	Dayton	L 88-80
West	n/a	Dayton	Don Donoher	Regional Fourth Place	New Mexico	L 66-61
West	n/a	Idaho State	Jim Killingsworth	First round	New Mexico	L 73-65
West	n/a	New Mexico	Norm Ellenberger	Regional Third Place	Dayton	W 66-61
West	n/a	San Francisco	Bob Gaillard	Regional Runner-up	UCLA	L 83-60
West	n/a	UCLA	John Wooden	Third Place	Kansas	W 78-61

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							N.C. State	92
							Providence	78
		Providence	84
		Pennsylvania	69
												N.C. State	100
												Pittsburgh	72
		Pittsburgh	54
		St. Joseph's	42
							Pittsburgh	81
							Furman	78
		Furman	75
		South Carolina	67

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

Mideast region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							Vanderbilt	61
							Marquette	69
		Marquette	85
		Ohio U	59
												Marquette	72
												Michigan	70
							Michigan	77
							Notre Dame	68
		Notre Dame	108
		Austin Peay	66

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*

Final Four

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

References

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