1979 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament

1979 NCAA Division I
Basketball Tournament
Season 1978–79
Teams 40
Finals site Special Events Center
Salt Lake City, Utah
Champions Michigan State (1st title, 1st title game,
2nd Final Four)
Runner-up Indiana State (1st title game,
1st Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coach Jud Heathcote (1st title)
MOP Magic Johnson Michigan State
Attendance 262,101
Top scorer Tony Price Penn
(142 points)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments
«1978 1980»

The 1979 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament involved 40 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 9, 1979, and ended with the championship game on March 26 in Salt Lake City. A total of 40 games were played, including a national third-place game.

Michigan State, coached by Jud Heathcote, won the national title with a 75–64 victory in the final game over Indiana State, coached by Bill Hodges. Indiana State came into the game without a loss all season, but couldn't win their final game. Magic Johnson of Michigan State was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Michigan State's victory over Indiana State was its first over a number one ranked team, and remained its only victory over a number one ranked team until 2007 (Wisconsin).[1]

The final game marked the beginning of the rivalry between future Hall of Famers Johnson and Larry Bird. As of 2016, it remains the highest-rated game in the history of televised college basketball.[2] Both Johnson and Bird would enter the NBA in the fall of 1979, and the rivalry between them and their teams (respectively, the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics) was a major factor in the league's renaissance in the 1980s and 1990s. The game also led to the "modern era" of college basketball, as it introduced a nationwide audience to a sport that was once relegated to second-class status in the sports world.

With the loss in the championship game, Indiana State has finished as the National Runner-up in the NAIA (1946 and 1948), NCAA Division I (1979), and the NCAA Division II (1968) making them the only school to do so.

This was the first tournament in which all teams were seeded by the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee. The top six seeds in each regional received byes to the second round, while seeds 7-10 played in the first round. It is also notable as the last Final Four played in an on-campus arena, at the University of Utah. (The most recent tournament to be held on a university's premises (i.e. not on the university's main campus, but on a satellite or branch campus) was in 1983, as the University of New Mexico (UNM) hosted that year's tournament in The Pit (then officially known as University Arena), which is located on the UNM South Campus.) It has, however, been played in a team's regular off-campus home arena two times since then: in 1985 at Rupp Arena, Kentucky's home court, and in 1996 at Continental Airlines Arena, then Seton Hall's home court. Given the use of domed stadiums for Final Fours for the foreseeable future, it is likely this will be the last Final Four on a college campus.

Locations

Raleigh
Providence
Bloomington
Murfreesboro
Dallas
Lawrence
Tucson
Los Angeles
1979 sites for first and second round games
Greensboro
Cincinnati
Indianapolis
Provo
Salt Lake City
1979 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)
Region Site Other locations
East Greensboro, North Carolina Providence, Rhode Island; Raleigh, North Carolina
Mideast Indianapolis, Indiana Bloomington, Indiana; Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Midwest Cincinnati, Ohio Dallas, Texas; Lawrence, Kansas
West Provo, Utah Los Angeles, California; Tucson, Arizona
Finals Salt Lake City, Utah

In the East, the Round of 32 was called Black Sunday because of Penn's upset of #1 North Carolina and St. John's upset of #2-seeded Duke, both in Raleigh. Penn went all the way to the Final Four before losing to eventual champion Michigan State. Both teams had to defeat higher-seeded opponents in the Round of 40 to have the chance to beat UNC and Duke. Penn beat three higher-seeded opponents to reach the Final Four, a feat which was later bettered in 1986 by LSU, 2006 by George Mason, and 2011 by Virginia Commonwealth, who each beat four higher-seeded opponents on the way to the Final Four.

Teams

Region Seed Team Coach Finished Final Opponent Score
East
East 1 North Carolina Dean Smith Round of 329 PennL 72–71
East 2 Duke Bill E. Foster Round of 3210 St. John'sL 80–78
East 3 Georgetown John Thompson Round of 326 RutgersL 64–58
East 4 Syracuse Jim Boeheim Sweet Sixteen9 PennL 84–76
East 5 Connecticut Dom Perno Round of 324 SyracuseL 89–81
East 6 Rutgers Tom Young Sweet Sixteen10 St. John'sL 67–65
East 7 Temple Don Casey Round of 4010 St. John'sL 75–70
East 8 Iona Jim Valvano Round of 409 PennL 73–69
East 9 Penn Bob Weinhauer Fourth Place2 Michigan StateL 101–67
East 10 St. John's Lou Carnesecca Regional Runner-up9 PennL 64–62
Mideast
Mideast 1 Notre Dame Digger Phelps Regional Runner-up2 Michigan StateL 80–68
Mideast 2 Michigan State Jud Heathcote Champion1 Indiana StateW 75–64
Mideast 3 LSU Dale Brown Sweet Sixteen2 Michigan StateL 87–71
Mideast 4 Iowa Lute Olson Round of 325 ToledoL 74–72
Mideast 5 Toledo Bob Nichols Sweet Sixteen1 Notre DameL 79–71
Mideast 6 Appalachian State Bobby Cremins Round of 323 LSUL 71–57
Mideast 7 Detroit Smokey Gaines Round of 4010 LamarL 95–87
Mideast 8 Tennessee Don DeVoe Round of 321 Notre DameL 73–67
Mideast 9 Eastern Kentucky Ed Byhre Round of 408 TennesseeL 97–81
Mideast 10 Lamar Billy Tubbs Round of 322 Michigan StateL 95–64
Midwest
Midwest 1 Indiana State Bill Hodges Runner Up2 Michigan StateL 75–64
Midwest 2 Arkansas Eddie Sutton Regional Runner-up1 Indiana StateL 73–71
Midwest 3 Louisville Denny Crum Sweet Sixteen2 ArkansasL 73–62
Midwest 4 Texas Abe Lemons Round of 325 OklahomaL 90–76
Midwest 5 Oklahoma Dave Bliss Sweet Sixteen1 Indiana StateL 93–72
Midwest 6 South Alabama Cliff Ellis Round of 323 LouisvilleL 69–66
Midwest 7 Weber State Neil McCarthy Round of 322 ArkansasL 74–63
Midwest 8 Virginia Tech Charles Moir Round of 321 Indiana StateL 86–69
Midwest 9 Jacksonville Tates Locke Round of 408 Virginia TechL 70–53
Midwest 10 New Mexico State Ken Hayes Round of 407 Weber StateL 81–78
West
West 1 UCLA Gary Cunningham Regional Runner-up2 DePaulL 95–91
West 2 DePaul Ray Meyer Third Place1 Indiana StateL 76–74
West 3 Marquette Hank Raymonds Sweet Sixteen2 DePaulL 62–56
West 4 San Francisco Dan Belluomini Sweet Sixteen1 UCLAL 99–81
West 5 BYU Frank Arnold Round of 324 San FranciscoL 86–63
West 6 Pacific Stan Morrison Round of 323 MarquetteL 73–48
West 7 USC Bob Boyd Round of 322 DePaulL 89–78
West 8 Utah Jerry Pimm Round of 409 PepperdineL 92–88
West 9 Pepperdine Gary Colson Round of 321 UCLAL 76–71
West 10 Utah State Rod Tueller Round of 407 USCL 86–67

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East region

  First round Second round Regional Semifinals Regional Finals
                                     
7 Temple 70  
10 St. John's 75  
  10 St. John's 80  
    2 Duke 78  
     
       
  10 St. John's 67  
  6 Rutgers 65  
       
       
  3 Georgetown 58
    6 Rutgers 64  
     
       
  10 St. John's 62
  9 Penn 64
8 Iona 69  
9 Penn 73  
  9 Penn 72
    1 North Carolina 71  
     
       
  9 Penn 84
  4 Syracuse 76  
       
       
  4 Syracuse 89
    5 Connecticut 81  
     

Mideast region

  First round Second round Regional Semifinals Regional Finals
                                     
7 Detroit 87  
10 Lamar 95  
  10 Lamar 64  
    2 Michigan State 95  
     
       
  2 Michigan State 87  
  3 LSU 71  
       
       
  3 LSU 71
    6 Appalachian State 57  
     
       
  2 Michigan State 80
  1 Notre Dame 68
8 Tennessee 97  
9 Eastern Kentucky 81  
  8 Tennessee 67
    1 Notre Dame 73  
     
       
  1 Notre Dame 79
  5 Toledo 71  
       
       
  4 Iowa 72
    5 Toledo 74  
     

Midwest region

  First round Second round Regional Semifinals Regional Finals
                                     
7 Weber State 81  
10 New Mexico State 78*  
  7 Weber State 63  
    2 Arkansas 74  
     
       
  2 Arkansas 73  
  3 Louisville 62  
       
       
  3 Louisville 69
    6 South Alabama 66  
     
       
  2 Arkansas 71
  1 Indiana State 73
8 Virginia Tech 70  
9 Jacksonville 53  
  8 Virginia Tech 69
    1 Indiana State 86  
     
       
  1 Indiana State 93
  5 Oklahoma 72  
       
       
  4 Texas 76
    5 Oklahoma 90  
     

West region

  First round Second round Regional Semifinals Regional Finals
                                     
7 USC 86  
10 Utah State 67  
  7 USC 78  
    2 DePaul 89  
     
       
  2 DePaul 62  
  3 Marquette 56  
       
       
  3 Marquette 73
    6 Pacific 48  
     
       
  2 DePaul 95
  1 UCLA 91
8 Utah 88*  
9 Pepperdine 92  
  9 Pepperdine 71
    1 UCLA 76  
     
       
  1 UCLA 99
  4 San Francisco 81  
       
       
  4 San Francisco 86
    5 BYU 63  
     

Final Four

  National Semifinals     National Championship Game
                 
  E9 Penn 67  
  ME2 Michigan State 101    
      ME2 Michigan State 75
      MW1 Indiana State 64
  MW1 Indiana State 76    
  W2 DePaul 74   National Third Place Game
 
E9 Penn 93
  W2 DePaul 96*

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=270510127
  2. ↑ Larry Bird; Earvin Johnson; Jackie MacMullan (4 November 2009). When the Game Was Ours. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 13–. ISBN 978-0-547-41681-6. 24.1 Nielsen rating
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.