1972 NCAA University Division basketball tournament

1972 NCAA Men's Division I
Basketball Tournament

Teams	25
Finals site	Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, California
Champions	UCLA (8th title, 8th title game, 9th Final Four)
Runner-up	Florida State (1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Semifinalists	Louisville (2nd Final Four) North Carolina (6th Final Four)
Winning coach	John Wooden (8th title)
MOP	Bill Walton (UCLA)
Attendance	147,304
Top scorer	Jim Price Louisville (103 points)
NCAA Men's Division I Tournaments «1971 1973»

The 1972 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA University Division (the predecessor to today's Division I) college basketball. It began on March 11, 1972, and ended with the championship game on March 25 in Los Angeles, California. A total of 29 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.

UCLA, coached by John Wooden, won the national title with an 81–76 victory in the final game over Florida State, coached by Hugh Durham. Bill Walton of UCLA was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

In a historically significant note, the University of Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns made the tournament in their first season of eligibility for postseason play. No school would repeat this feat in the men's tournament until North Dakota State in 2009. Southwestern Louisiana also made the tournament in 1973, but due to major infractions that resulted in the basketball program receiving the NCAA death penalty both appearances have since been vacated and the records expunged.

Locations

Region	Site	Other Locations
East	Morgantown, West Virginia	Jamaica, New York, Princeton, New Jersey, Williamsburg, Virginia
Mideast	Dayton, Ohio	Knoxville, Tennessee
Midwest	Ames, Iowa	Las Cruces, New Mexico
West	Provo, Utah	Pocatello, Idaho
Finals	Los Angeles, California

Teams

Region	Seed	Team	Coach	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	n/a	East Carolina	Tom Quinn	First round	Villanova	L 85-70
East	n/a	North Carolina	Dean Smith	Third Place	Louisville	W 105-91
East	n/a	Penn	Chuck Daly	Regional Runner-up	North Carolina	L 73-59
East	n/a	Providence	Dave Gavitt	First round	Penn	L 76-60
East	n/a	South Carolina	Frank McGuire	Regional Third Place	Villanova	W 90-78
East	n/a	Temple	Harry Litwack	First round	South Carolina	L 53-51
East	n/a	Villanova	Jack Kraft	Regional Fourth Place	South Carolina	L 90-78
Mideast
Mideast	n/a	Eastern Kentucky	Guy Strong	First round	Florida State	L 83-81
Mideast	n/a	Florida State	Hugh Durham	Runner Up	UCLA	L 81-76
Mideast	n/a	Kentucky	Adolph Rupp	Regional Runner-up	Florida State	L 73-54
Mideast	n/a	Marquette	Al McGuire	Regional Fourth Place	Minnesota	L 77-72
Mideast	n/a	Minnesota	Bill Musselman	Regional Third Place	Marquette	W 77-72
Mideast	n/a	Ohio	James Snyder	First round	Marquette	L 73-49
Midwest
Midwest	n/a	Houston	Guy Lewis	First round	Texas	L 85-74
Midwest	n/a	Kansas State	Jack Hartman	Regional Runner-up	Louisville	L 72-65
Midwest	n/a	Southwestern Louisiana (Vacated)	Beryl Shipley	Regional Third Place	Texas	W 100-70
Midwest	n/a	Louisville	Denny Crum	Fourth Place	North Carolina	L 105-91
Midwest	n/a	Marshall	Carl Tacy	First round	Southwestern Louisiana	L 112-101
Midwest	n/a	Texas	Leon Black	Regional Fourth Place	Southwestern Louisiana	L 100-70
West
West	n/a	BYU	Stan Watts	First round	Long Beach State	L 95-90
West	n/a	Hawaii	Red Rocha	First round	Weber State	L 91-64
West	n/a	Long Beach State	Jerry Tarkanian	Regional Runner-up	UCLA	L 73-57
West	n/a	San Francisco	Bob Gaillard	Regional Third Place	Weber State	W 74-64
West	n/a	UCLA	John Wooden	Champion	Florida State	W 81-76
West	n/a	Weber State	Gene Visscher	Regional Fourth Place	San Francisco	L 74-64

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							North Carolina	92
							South Carolina	69
		South Carolina	53
		Temple	51
												North Carolina	73
												Pennsylvania	59
		Pennsylvania	76
		Providence	60
							Pennsylvania	78
							Villanova	67
		Villanova	85
		East Carolina	70

Mideast region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							Minnesota	56
							Florida State	70
		Florida State	83
		E. Kentucky	81
												Florida State	73
												Kentucky	54
							Kentucky	85
							Marquette	69
		Marquette	73
		Ohio U	49

Midwest region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							Louisville	88
							Southwest Louisiana	84
		Southwest Louisiana	112
		Marshall	101
												Louisville	72
												Kansas State	65
							Kansas State	66
							Texas	55
		Texas	85
		Houston	74

West region

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

UCLA

90

Weber State

58

Weber State

91

Hawaii

64

UCLA

73

Long Beach State

57

San Francisco

55

Long Beach State

75

Long Beach State

95

BYU

90*

Final Four

	National Semifinals					National Championship Game
	E	North Carolina	75
	ME	Florida State	79
						ME	Florida State	76
						W	UCLA	81
	MW	Louisville	77
	W	UCLA	96			National Third Place Game
						E	North Carolina	105
						MW	Louisville	91