1956 NCAA Basketball Tournament

1956 NCAA Basketball Tournament
Teams 25
Finals site McGaw Hall
Evanston, Illinois
Champions San Francisco (2nd title, 2nd title game,
2nd Final Four)
Runner-up Iowa (1st title game,
2nd Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coach Phil Woolpert (2nd title)
MOP Hal Lear Temple
Attendance 132,513
Top scorer Hal Lear Temple
(160 points)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments
«1955 1957»

The 1956 NCAA Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA college basketball. It began on March 12, 1956, and ended with the championship game on March 24 on Northwestern University's campus in Evanston, Illinois. A total of 29 games were played, including a third-place game in each region and a national third-place game.

The 1955–56 season was the last in which only one NCAA Tournament was held. Effective in 1956–57, the NCAA divided its membership into two competitive levels. The larger and more competitive athletic programs were placed in the University Division, and smaller programs in the College Division. Accordingly, that season would see separate tournaments contested in the University and College Divisions. In 1973, the University Division would be renamed NCAA Division I, while the College Division would be split into today's Divisions II and III.

This was the first NCAA tournament in which the four regionals were given distinct names, although the concept of four regional winners advancing to a single site for the "Final Four" had been introduced in 1952.

San Francisco, coached by Phil Woolpert, won the national title with an 83–71 victory in the final game over Iowa, coached by Bucky O'Connor. Hal Lear of Temple was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Locations

Region Site Other Locations
East Philadelphia, Pennsylvania New York City, New York
Far West Corvallis, Oregon Seattle, Washington
Midwest Iowa City, Iowa Fort Wayne, Indiana
West Lawrence, Kansas Wichita, Kansas
Finals Evanston, Illinois

Teams

Region Team Coach Finished Final Opponent Score
East
East Canisius Joseph Curran Regional Runner-upTempleL 60–58
East Connecticut Hugh Greer Regional Fourth PlaceDartmouthL 85–64
East Dartmouth Doggie Julian Regional Third PlaceConnecticutW 85–64
East Holy Cross Roy Leenig First roundTempleL 74–72
East Manhattan Ken Norton First roundConnecticutL 84–75
East NC State Everett Case First roundCanisiusL 79–78
East Temple Harry Litwack Third PlaceSMUW 90–81
East West Virginia Fred Schaus First roundDartmouthL 61–59
Far West
Far West Idaho State Steve Belko First roundSeattleL 68–66
Far West San Francisco Phil Woolpert ChampionIowaW 83–71
Far West Seattle Al Brightman Regional Fourth PlaceUCLAL 94–70
Far West UCLA John Wooden Regional Third PlaceSeattleW 94–70
Far West Utah Jack Gardner Regional Runner-upSan FranciscoL 92–77
Midwest
Midwest DePaul Ray Meyer First roundWayne StateL 72–63
Midwest Iowa Bucky O'Connor Runner UpSan FranciscoL 83–71
Midwest Kentucky Adolph Rupp Regional Runner-upIowaL 89–77
Midwest Marshall Jule Rivlin First roundMorehead StateL 107–92
Midwest Morehead State Bobby Laughlin Regional Third PlaceWayne StateW 95–84
Midwest Wayne State Joel Mason Regional Fourth PlaceMorehead StateL 95–84
West
West Houston Alden Pasche Regional Fourth PlaceKansas StateL 89–70
West Kansas State Tex Winter Regional Third PlaceHoustonW 89–70
West Memphis State Eugene Lambert First roundOklahoma CityL 97–81
West Oklahoma City Abe Lemons Regional Runner-upSMUL 84–63
West SMU Doc Hayes Fourth PlaceTempleL 90–81
West Texas Tech Polk Robison First roundSMUL 68–67

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East Region

Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
         
Connecticut 84
Manhattan 75
Connecticut 59
Temple 65
Temple 74
Holy Cross 72
Temple 60
Canisius 58
Dartmouth 61
West Virginia 59*
Dartmouth 58
Canisius 66
Canisius 79
NC State 78****

Midwest Region

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                           
       
    Iowa 97  
      Morehead State 83  
  Morehead State 107
    Marshall 92  
      Iowa 89
    Kentucky 77
         
       
  Kentucky 84
      Wayne State 64  
  Wayne State 72
    DePaul 63  

West Region

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                           
       
    Houston 74  
      SMU 89  
  SMU 68
    Texas Tech 67  
      SMU 84
    Oklahoma City 63
         
       
  Kansas State 93
      Oklahoma City 97  
  Oklahoma City 97
    Memphis State 81  

Far West Region

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                           
       
    Utah 81  
      Seattle 72  
  Seattle 68
    Idaho State 66  
      Utah 77
    San Francisco 92
         
       
  San Francisco 72
      UCLA 61  
     

Final Four

National Semifinals National Championship Game
      
E Temple 76
MW Iowa 83
MW Iowa 71
FW San Francisco 83
W SMU 68
FW San Francisco 86

National Third Place Game

National Third Place Game [1]
   
Temple 90
SMU 81

Regional Third Place Games

East Regional Third Place
   
Dartmouth 85
Connecticut 64

Far West Regional Third Place
   
UCLA 94
Seattle 70

Midwest Regional Third Place
   
Morehead State 95
Wayne State 84

West Regional Third Place
   
Kansas State 89
Houston 70

See also

Notes

References

  1. ↑ "1954 NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket". Retrieved October 14, 2011.
  2. ↑ http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/ncaatourneyupset.html
  3. ↑ Top 25 Upsets in NCAA Tournament History--#5, Prepticket.com. Accessed 2009-04-02. Archived 2009-05-04.
  4. ↑ The Sports Network. "The Sports Network - Men's College Basketball". Archived from the original on 2009-05-04. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  5. ↑ 1939 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.