1974 NCAA Division I basketball tournament

1974 NCAA Division I
basketball tournament

NCAA logo from 1971 to 1979
Season	1973–74
Teams	25
Finals site	Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina
Champions	NC State Wolfpack (1st title, 1st title game, 2nd Final Four)
Runner-up	Marquette Warriors (1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Semifinalists	Kansas Jayhawks (6th Final Four) UCLA Bruins (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 Division I men's tournaments «1973 1975»

The 1974 NCAA 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 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. Until 2019, when Virginia defeated Texas Tech, it was the last tournament in which neither school had previously appeared in any national championship game at any level. 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 and independents 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 for conference runners-up.

Tournament notes

The UCLA – North Carolina State semifinal game made USA Today's 2002 list of the greatest NCAA tournament games of all time at #13. 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 team 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.

This was the last Sweet Sixteen appearance for Creighton and Oral Roberts until the 2021 tournament, when both teams returned for the first time in 47 years.

Thanks in large part to the reclassification of Division I, the 1974 tournament is the last tournament to include a team no longer in Division I. The Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles spent one year in the modern Division I, winning the Pacific Coast Athletic Association before dropping to Division II.

Schedule and venues

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1974 tournament:

First round

• March 9
  • East Region
    • Alumni Hall, Jamaica, New York (Host: St. John's University)
    • WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, West Virginia (Host: West Virginia University)
    • The Palestra, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Hosts: University of Pennsylvania, Ivy League)
  • Mideast Region
    • Hulman Center, Terre Haute, Indiana (Host: Indiana State University)
  • Midwest Region
    • UNT Coliseum, Denton, Texas (Host: North Texas State University)
  • West Region
    • ASISU Minidome, Pocatello, Idaho (Hosts: Idaho State University, Big Sky Conference)

Regional semifinals, 3rd-place games, and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 14 and 16
  • East Regional, Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University)
  • Mideast Regional, Memorial Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Host: University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa)
  • Midwest Regional, Mabee Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma (Host: Oral Roberts University)
  • West Regional, McKale Center, Tucson, Arizona (Host: University of Arizona)

National semifinals, 3rd-place game, and championship (Final Four and championship)

• March 23 and 25
  • Greensboro Memorial Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina (Host: Atlantic Coast Conference)

Teams

Region	Team	Coach	Conference	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	Furman	Joe Williams	Southern	Regional Fourth Place	Providence	L 95–83
East	NC State	Norm Sloan	Atlantic Coast	Champion	Marquette	W 76–64
East	Penn	Chuck Daly	Ivy League	First round	Providence	L 84–69
East	Pittsburgh	Buzz Ridl	Independent	Regional Runner-up	NC State	L 100–72
East	Providence	Dave Gavitt	Independent	Regional third place	Furman	W 95–83
East	South Carolina	Frank McGuire	Independent	First round	Furman	L 75–67
East	Saint Joseph's	Jack McKinney	Middle Atlantic	First round	Pittsburgh	L 54–42
Mideast
Mideast	Austin Peay	Lake Kelly	Ohio Valley	First round	Notre Dame	L 108–66
Mideast	Marquette	Al McGuire	Independent	Runner Up	NC State	L 76–64
Mideast	Michigan	Johnny Orr	Big Ten	Regional Runner-up	Marquette	L 72–70
Mideast	Notre Dame	Digger Phelps	Independent	Regional third place	Vanderbilt	W 118–88
Mideast	Ohio	James Snyder	Mid-American	First round	Marquette	L 85–59
Mideast	Vanderbilt	Roy Skinner	Southeastern	Regional Fourth Place	Notre Dame	L 118–88
Midwest
Midwest	Creighton	Eddie Sutton	Independent	Regional third place	Louisville	W 80–71
Midwest	Kansas	Ted Owens	Big Eight	Fourth Place	UCLA	L 78–61
Midwest	Louisville	Denny Crum	Missouri Valley	Regional Fourth Place	Creighton	L 80–71
Midwest	Oral Roberts	Ken Trickey	Independent	Regional Runner-up	Kansas	L 93–90
Midwest	Syracuse	Roy Danforth	Independent	First round	Oral Roberts	L 86–82
Midwest	Texas	Leon Black	Southwest	First round	Creighton	L 77–61
West
West	Cal State Los Angeles	Bob Miller	Pacific Coast	First round	Dayton	L 88–80
West	Dayton	Don Donoher	Independent	Regional Fourth Place	New Mexico	L 66–61
West	Idaho State	Jim Killingsworth	Big Sky	First round	New Mexico	L 73–65
West	New Mexico	Norm Ellenberger	Western Athletic	Regional third place	Dayton	W 66–61
West	San Francisco	Bob Gaillard	West Coast	Regional Runner-up	UCLA	L 83–60
West	UCLA	John Wooden	Pacific-8	Third Place	Kansas	W 78–61

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East region

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Finals
					NC State	92
					Providence	78
	Providence	84
	Penn	69
									NC State	100
									Pittsburgh	72
	Pittsburgh	54
	Saint Joseph's	42
					Pittsburgh	81			East Regional third place
					Furman	78
	Furman	75							Providence	95
	South Carolina	67							Furman	83

Mideast region

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Finals
					Vanderbilt	61
					Marquette	69
	Marquette	85
	Ohio	59
									Marquette	72
									Michigan	70
					Michigan	77			Mideast Regional third place
					Notre Dame	68
	Notre Dame	108							Vanderbilt	88
	Austin Peay	66							Notre Dame	118

Midwest region

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Finals
					Kansas	55
					Creighton	54
	Creighton	77
	Texas	61
									Kansas	93
									Oral Roberts	90*
					Louisville	93			Midwest Regional third place
					Oral Roberts	96
	Oral Roberts	86							Creighton	80
	Syracuse	82*							Louisville	71

West region

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Finals
					UCLA	111***
					Dayton	100
	Dayton	88
	Cal State Los Angeles	80
									UCLA	83
									San Francisco	60
					San Francisco	64			West Regional third place
					New Mexico	61
	New Mexico	73							Dayton	61
	Idaho State	65							New Mexico	66

Final Four

	National semifinals Saturday, March 23					National Championship Game Monday March 25
	E	NC State	80**
	W	UCLA	77
						E	NC State	76
						ME	Marquette	64
	ME	Marquette	64
	MW	Kansas	51			National third-place game
						W	UCLA	78
						MW	Kansas	61

Announcers

Curt Gowdy, Tom Hawkins, Charlie Jones, and Ross Porter - First Round at Terre Haute, Indiana (Marquette-Ohio, Notre Dame-Austin Peay) Final Four at Greensboro, North Carolina; Jones was used as a sideline reporter for the first round and Porter was used for the Final Four.

• Charlie Jones and Ross Porter - West Regional Final at Tucson, Arizona
• Jay Randolph and Pat Hernon - Midwest Regional Final at Tulsa, Oklahoma

See also

• 1974 NCAA Division II basketball tournament
• 1974 National Invitation Tournament
• 1974 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 1974 National Women's Invitation Tournament