1954 NCAA Basketball Tournament

1954 NCAA Basketball Tournament
Teams 24
Finals site Municipal Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri
Champions La Salle (1st title, 1st title game,
1st Final Four)
Runner-up Bradley (2nd title game,
2nd Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coach Ken Loeffler (1st title)
MOP Tom Gola La Salle
Attendance 115,391
Top scorer Tom Gola La Salle
(114 points)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments
«1953 1955»

The 1954 NCAA Basketball Tournament involved 24 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8, 1954, and ended with the championship game on March 20 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.

La Salle, coached by Ken Loeffler, won the national title with a 92–76 victory in the final game over Bradley, coached by Forddy Anderson. Tom Gola of La Salle was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Of note, Kentucky, the top-ranked team in the nation (with a record of 25–0) did not participate in any post-season tournament. Since several key players had technically graduated the year before (when Kentucky was banned from playing a competitive schedule due to the point-shaving scandal a few years earlier), those players were ruled ineligible for the NCAA tournament. Despite the wishes of the players, Adolph Rupp ultimately decided his team wouldn't play.

LSU represented the Southeastern Conference in the tournament. It would be the Bayou Bengals' last appearance until 1979, well after the graduation of NCAA all-time leading scorer Pete Maravich. LSU made only one postseason appearance over the next 24 seasons, the 1970 NIT, Maravich's senior season.

Locations

The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1954 tournament:

East-1 Region

First Round (March 8)
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York
Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, North Carolina
East-1 Regional (March 12 and 13)
The Palestra, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

East-2 Region

First Round (March 9)
Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana
East-2 Regional (March 12 and 13)
Iowa Field House, Iowa City, Iowa

West-1 Region

First Round (March 8)
Robertson Memorial Field House, Peoria, Illinois
West-1 Regional (March 12 and 13)
Gallagher Hall, Stillwater, Oklahoma

West-2 Region

First Round (March 9) and West-2 Regional (March 12 and 13)
Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, Oregon

Final Four

March 19 and 20
Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri

Teams

Region Team Coach Finished Final Opponent Score
East
East Connecticut Hugh Greer First roundNavyL 85–80
East Cornell Royner Greene Regional Fourth PlaceNC StateL 65–54
East Fordham Johnny Bach First roundLa SalleL 76–74
East George Washington William Reinhart First roundNC StateL 75–73
East Indiana Branch McCracken Regional Third PlaceLSUW 73–62
East La Salle Ken Loeffler ChampionBradleyW 92–76
East LSU Harry Rabenhorst Regional Fourth PlaceIndianaL 73–62
East Loyola (LA) Jim McCafferty First roundNotre DameL 80–70
East Navy Ben Carnevale Elite EightLa SalleL 64–48
East NC State Everett Case Regional Third PlaceCornellW 65–54
East Notre Dame John Jordan Elite EightPenn StateL 71–63
East Penn State Elmer Gross National Third PlaceUSCW 70–61
East Toledo Jerry Bush First roundPenn StateL 62–50
West
West Bradley Forddy Anderson Runner UpLa SalleL 92–76
West Colorado Bebe Lee Regional Fourth PlaceRiceL 78–55
West Colorado State Bill Strannigan Regional Fourth PlaceIdaho StateL 62–57
West Idaho State Steve Belko Regional Third PlaceColorado StateW 62–57
West Oklahoma City Doyle Parrack First roundBradleyL 61–55
West Oklahoma A&M Henry Iba Elite EightBradleyL 71–57
West Rice Don Suman Regional Third PlaceColoradoW 78–55
West Santa Clara Bob Feerick Elite EightUSCL 66–65
West Seattle Al Brightman First roundIdaho StateL 77–75
West USC Forrest Twogood National Fourth PlacePenn StateL 70–61
West Texas Tech Polk Robison First roundSanta ClaraL 73–64

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East-1 Region

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                           
       
  Cornell 67  
    Navy 69  
  Navy 85
  Connecticut 80  
    Navy 48
  La Salle 64
  NC State 75  
George Washington 73  
NC State 81
    La Salle 88  
La Salle 76
  Fordham 74*  

East-2 Region

  First Round     Regional Semifinals     Regional Finals
                           
      LSU 70  
  Penn State 62     Penn State 78    
  Toledo 50         Penn State 71
      Notre Dame 63
      Indiana 64    
  Notre Dame 80     Notre Dame 65  
  Loyola (LA) 70  

West-1 Region

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                           
       
  Colorado 64  
    Bradley 76  
  Bradley 61
  Oklahoma City 55  
    Bradley 71
  Oklahoma A&M 57
         
       
Oklahoma A&M 51
    Rice 45  
     

West-2 Region

  First Round     Regional Semifinals     Regional Finals
                           
      USC 73  
  Idaho State 77     Idaho State 59    
  Seattle 75*         USC 66
      Santa Clara 65**
      Colorado State 50    
  Santa Clara 73     Santa Clara 73  
  Texas Tech 64  

Final Four

National Semifinal National Championship
      
Penn State 54
La Salle 69
La Salle 92
Bradley 76
Bradley 74
USC 72

National Third Place Game

National Third Place Game [1]
   
USC 61
Penn State 70

Regional Third Place Games

East-1 Regional Third Place
   
NC State 65
Cornell 54

East-2 Regional Third Place
   
Indiana 73
LSU 62

West-1 Regional Third Place
   
Rice 78
Colorado 55

West-2 Regional Third Place
   
Idaho State 62
Colorado State 57

References

  1. ↑ "1954 NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket". Retrieved October 14, 2011.

See also

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