1977 NCAA Division I basketball tournament

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See also: 1977 NCAA Division I Basketball Championship Game

1977 NCAA Division I
basketball tournament
Season1976–77
Teams32
Finals siteThe Omni
Atlanta
ChampionsMarquette Warriors (1st title, 2nd title game,
2nd Final Four)
Runner-upNorth Carolina Tar Heels (4th title game,
7th Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coachAl McGuire (1st title)
MOPButch Lee (Marquette)
Attendance241,610
Top scorerCedric Maxwell (Charlotte)
(123 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments
«1976 1978»

The 1977 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 32 American schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the National Champion of Men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on Saturday, March 12, 1977, and ended with the championship game on Monday, March 28 in Atlanta. A total of 32 games were played, including a national third-place game. This was the final tournament in which teams were not seeded.

Marquette, coached by Al McGuire, won the national title with a 67–59 victory in the final game over North Carolina, coached by Dean Smith. Butch Lee of Marquette was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Publicly announcing his retirement during the middle of the season, McGuire retired as head coach immediately after the game.[1] UNLV and UNC Charlotte were third and fourth place, respectively.[2] Marquette's seven losses were a record at the time for the most losses in a season by a national champion, exceeded four years later in 1981 by Indiana with nine.

Schedule and venues

1977 NCAA Division I basketball tournament is located in the United States
Raleigh
Raleigh
Philadelphia
Philadelphia
Norman
Norman
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge
Omaha
Omaha
Bloomington
Bloomington
Pocatello
Pocatello
Tucson
Tucson
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1977 sites for first round games
1977 NCAA Division I basketball tournament is located in the United States
College Park
College Park
Lexington
Lexington
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City
Provo
Provo
Atlanta
Atlanta
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1977 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1977 tournament:

First round

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

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

Teams

Region Team Coach Conference Finished Final opponent Score
East
East Duquesne John Cinicola Eastern Round of 32 VMI L 73–66
East Hofstra Roger Gaeckler East Coast Round of 32 Notre Dame L 90–83
East Kentucky Joe B. Hall Southeastern Regional Runner-up North Carolina L 79–72
East North Carolina Dean Smith Atlantic Coast Runner Up Marquette L 67–59
East Notre Dame Digger Phelps Independent Sweet Sixteen North Carolina L 79–77
East Princeton Pete Carril Ivy League Round of 32 Kentucky L 72–58
East Purdue Fred Schaus Big Ten Round of 32 North Carolina L 69–66
East VMI Charlie Schmaus Southern Sweet Sixteen Kentucky L 93–78
Mideast
Mideast Central Michigan Dick Parfitt Mid-American Round of 32 UNC Charlotte L 91–86
Mideast UNC Charlotte Lee Rose Sun Belt Fourth Place UNLV L 106–94
Mideast Detroit Dick Vitale Independent Sweet Sixteen Michigan L 86–81
Mideast Holy Cross George Blaney Independent Round of 32 Michigan L 92–81
Mideast Michigan Johnny Orr Big Ten Regional Runner-up UNC Charlotte L 75–68
Mideast Middle Tennessee State Jimmy Earle Ohio Valley Round of 32 Detroit L 93–76
Mideast Syracuse Jim Boeheim Independent Sweet Sixteen UNC Charlotte L 81–59
Mideast Tennessee Ray Mears Southeastern Round of 32 Syracuse L 93–88
Midwest
Midwest Arizona Fred Snowden Western Athletic Round of 32 Southern Illinois L 81–77
Midwest Arkansas Eddie Sutton Southwest Round of 32 Wake Forest L 86–80
Midwest Cincinnati Gale Catlett Metropolitan Round of 32 Marquette L 66–51
Midwest Kansas State Jack Hartman Big Eight Sweet Sixteen Marquette L 67–66
Midwest Marquette Al McGuire Independent Champion North Carolina W 67–59
Midwest Providence Dave Gavitt Independent Round of 32 Kansas State L 87–80
Midwest Southern Illinois Paul Lambert Missouri Valley Sweet Sixteen Wake Forest L 86–81
Midwest Wake Forest Carl Tacy Atlantic Coast Regional Runner-up Marquette L 82–68
West
West Idaho State Jim Killingsworth Big Sky Regional Runner-up UNLV L 107–90
West Long Beach State Dwight Jones Pacific Coast Round of 32 Idaho State L 83–72
West Louisville Denny Crum Metropolitan Round of 32 UCLA L 87–79
West San Francisco Bob Gaillard West Coast Round of 32 UNLV L 121–95
West St. John's Lou Carnesecca Independent Round of 32 Utah L 72–68
West UCLA Gene Bartow Pacific-8 Sweet Sixteen Idaho State L 76–75
West UNLV Jerry Tarkanian Independent Third Place UNC Charlotte W 106–94
West Utah Jerry Pimm Western Athletic Sweet Sixteen UNLV L 83–88

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East region

Cole Field House – College Park, Maryland[3][4]
First round games were played at Raleigh, North Carolina and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Saturday, March 12.[5]

Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
         
VMI 73
Duquesne 66
VMI 78
Kentucky 93
Kentucky 72
Princeton 58
Kentucky 72
North Carolina 79
Notre Dame 90
Hofstra 83
Notre Dame 77
North Carolina 79
North Carolina 69
Purdue 66

West region

Most of the excitement surrounding the Western Regional was the anticipated matchup between top-five-ranked teams UCLA and UNLV. Jerry Tarkanian had lost three times in the tournament to UCLA while he was at Long Beach State, including a heartbreaking 57–55 loss in the 1971 West Regional final in which Long Beach led by eleven in the second half. Many felt this UNLV team gave him the best opportunity to beat his longtime nemesis. But he never got the chance as UCLA was stunned in the regional semi final by unranked Idaho State of the Big Sky Conference.[6][7][8] This was the first time since 1963 that UCLA made the tournament but failed to get to the Final Four. Down by a point at halftime, UNLV went on to easily beat Idaho State 107–90.[9]

Marriott Center – Provo, Utah[3][4]
First round games were played at Pocatello, Idaho and Tucson, Arizona on Saturday, March 12.[5]

Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
         
UCLA 87
Louisville 79
UCLA 75
Idaho State 76
Idaho State 83
Long Beach State 72
Idaho State 90
UNLV 107
Utah 72
St. John's 68
Utah 83
UNLV 88
UNLV 121
San Francisco 95

Mideast region

Rupp Arena – Lexington, Kentucky[3][4]
First round games were played at Bloomington, Indiana and Baton Rouge, Louisiana on Sunday, March 13.[5]

Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
         
Michigan 92
Holy Cross 81
Michigan 86
Detroit 81
Detroit 93
Middle Tennessee State 76
Michigan 68
UNC Charlotte 75
UNC Charlotte 91
Central Michigan 86*
UNC Charlotte 81
Syracuse 59
Syracuse 93
Tennessee 88*

Midwest region

Myriad Convention Center – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma[3][4]
First round games were played at Omaha, Nebraska and Norman, Oklahoma on Saturday, March 12.[5]

Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
         
Marquette 66
Cincinnati 51
Marquette 67
  Kansas State 66
Kansas State 87
Providence 80
Marquette 82
Wake Forest 68
Wake Forest 86
Arkansas 80
Wake Forest 86
Southern Illinois 81
Southern Illinois 81
Arizona 77

Final Four

Omni Coliseum – Atlanta, Georgia

National semifinals
Saturday, March 26 		National Championship Game
Monday, March 28
      
E North Carolina 84
W UNLV 83
E North Carolina 59
MW Marquette 67
ME UNC Charlotte 49
MW Marquette 51 National third-place game
W UNLV 106
ME UNC Charlotte 94

See also

Notes

  • All four regionals were played on Thursday and Saturday.[3][4] The opening round the preceding weekend played twelve games on Saturday and four on Sunday.[5]
  • The tournament saw only two teams making their NCAA Tournament debut, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Southern Illinois University. Interestingly, both teams had hosted tournament games in their arenas before playing in the tournament; SIU Arena hosted first-round games in the 1969 tournament, and Charlotte Coliseum, which the 49ers had just moved to in 1976 after previously playing on campus at Belk Gymnasium, had hosted games seven previous years (including 1976) and would host five more times before the opening of the second Charlotte Coliseum in 1988.
  • This tournament marked the most recent appearance of VMI; their 47-year drought is, as of 2024, the sixth-longest active drought in the NCAA and ninth all-time. Fellow 1977 tournament participant Duquesne, who also spent 47 years attempting to reach the tournament again, ended their drought in 2024.
  • Prior to the 2023 NCAA Tournament, this marked the last time the six Division I college basketball-playing schools in the Philadelphia metropolitan area: Drexel, La Salle, Penn, St. Joseph's, Temple, and Villanova – were collectively shut out of the NCAA tournament. At least one of the teams had made the tournament the previous 18 years, and the city has only been shut out twelve of the 83 tournaments.

Announcers

Dick Enberg, Curt Gowdy, and Billy Packer - Final Four at Atlanta, Georgia; For the Final Four, Dick Enberg and Billy Packer called the first game while Packer teamed with Curt Gowdy for the second game. For the Championship Game, Curt Gowdy called the play-by-play while Dick Enberg and Billy Packer did the color commentary.

  • Dick Enberg and Billy Packer - First Round at Pocatello, Idaho (UCLA-Louisville); First Round at Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Syracuse-Tennessee); East Regional Semifinals at College Park, Maryland; West Regional Final at Provo, Utah
  • Curt Gowdy and John Wooden - First Round at Bloomington, Indiana (Michigan-Holy Cross); Mideast Regional Semifinals at Lexington, Kentucky; East Regional Final at College Park, Maryland
  • Jim Simpson and Tom Hawkins - First Round at Tucson, Arizona (UNLV-San Francisco); Mideast Regional Final at Lexington, Kentucky
  • Jay Randolph and Gary Thompson - Midwest Regional Final at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Marquette-Wake Forest)

References

  1. ^ "Marquette wins 1st NCAA title, 67-59, in McGuire's last game". Milwaukee Sentinel. March 29, 1977. p. 1, part 1.
  2. ^ "Basketball: NCAA Championship". St. Petersburg Independent. March 29, 1977. p. 2C.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Thursday pairings". Milwaukee Sentinel. March 17, 1977. p. 4, part 2.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Now Idaho State aims at Vegas". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. March 19, 1977. p. 4, part 2.
  5. ^ a b c d e "NCAA pairings". Milwaukee Sentinel. March 12, 1977. p. 2, part 2.
  6. ^ Benson, Lee (March 18, 1977). "Utes fall short, Idaho State stuns UCLA". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. p. 6B.
  7. ^ "ISU has greatest win". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. Associated Press. March 18, 1977. p. 21.
  8. ^ "UCLA becomes the obscure one". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. wire services. March 18, 1977. p. 1B.
  9. ^ "Tark's ploy sends Rebels past Bengals". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. wire services. March 20, 1977. p. 1B.
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