1969 NCAA University Division basketball tournament

1969 NCAA University Division
basketball tournament
Season	1968–69
Teams	25
Finals site	Freedom Hall; Louisville, Kentucky
Champions	UCLA Bruins (5th title, 5th title game,; 6th Final Four)
Runner-up	Purdue Boilermakers (1st title game,; 1st Final Four)
Semifinalists	Drake Bulldogs (1st Final Four); North Carolina Tar Heels (5th Final Four);
Winning coach	John Wooden (5th title)
MOP	Lew Alcindor (UCLA)
Attendance	165,712
Top scorer	Rick Mount (Purdue); (122 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments
«1968	1970»

The 1969 NCAA University Division men's basketball tournament involved 25 schools playing to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8, 1969, and ended with the championship game on March 22 in Louisville, Kentucky. Including consolation games in each of the regions and an overall consolation game, a total of 29 games were played.

UCLA, coached by John Wooden, won the national title with a 92–72 victory in the final game over Purdue, coached by George King. Lew Alcindor of UCLA was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

In the game, John Vallely, the "Money Man", scored 22 points and Alcindor had 37 points, to give UCLA a win over Purdue, which is Wooden's alma mater. Purdue was hampered due to injuries to starting point guard Billy Keller and forward Herm Gilliam; Purdue had also lost 7'0" center Chuck Bavis to a broken collarbone during the Mideast Regionals against Miami, (OH). In earlier matchups, Bavis had provided an ample challenge to Alcindor. Wooden was an All-American guard for the Boilermakers from 1928 to 1932.

Schedule and venues

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1969 tournament, and their host(s):

First round

March 8
- East Region
  - Keaney Gymnasium, Kingston, Rhode Island (Host: University of Rhode Island)
  - Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University)
- Mideast Region
  - SIU Arena, Carbondale, Illinois (Host: Southern Illinois University Carbondale)
- Midwest Region
  - Daniel-Meyer Coliseum, Fort Worth, Texas (Host: Texas Christian University)
- West Region
  - Pan American Center, Las Cruces, New Mexico (Host: New Mexico State University)

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

March 13 and 15
- East Regional, Cole Field House, College Park, Maryland (Host: University of Maryland, College Park)
- Mideast Regional, Wisconsin Field House, Madison, Wisconsin (Host: University of Wisconsin-Madison)
- Midwest Regional, Ahearn Field House, Manhattan, Kansas (Host: Kansas State University)
- West Regional, Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, California (Host: UCLA)

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

March 20 and 22
- Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky (Host: University of Louisville)

Teams

Region	Team	Coach	Conference	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	Davidson	Lefty Driesell	Southern	Regional Runner-up	North Carolina	L 87–85
East	Duquesne	John Manning	Independent	Regional third place	St. John's	W 75–72
East	North Carolina	Dean Smith	Atlantic Coast	Fourth Place	Drake	L 104–84
East	Princeton	Pete Carril	Ivy League	First round	St. John's	L 72–63
East	St. John's	Lou Carnesecca	Independent	Regional Fourth Place	Duquesne	L 75–72
East	Saint Joseph's	Jack McKinney	Middle Atlantic	First round	Duquesne	L 74–52
East	Villanova	Jack Kraft	Independent	First round	Davidson	L 75–61
Mideast
Mideast	Kentucky	Adolph Rupp	Southeastern	Regional third place	Miami (OH)	W 72–71
Mideast	Marquette	Al McGuire	Independent	Regional Runner-up	Purdue	L 75–73
Mideast	Miami (OH)	Tates Locke	Mid-American	Regional Fourth Place	Kentucky	L 72–71
Mideast	Murray State	Cal Luther	Ohio Valley	First round	Marquette	L 82–62
Mideast	Notre Dame	John Dee	Independent	First round	Miami (OH)	L 63–60
Mideast	Purdue	George King	Big Ten	Runner Up	UCLA	L 92–72
Midwest
Midwest	Colorado	Sox Walseth	Big Eight	Regional third place	Texas A&M	W 97–82
Midwest	Colorado State	Jim Williams	Independent	Regional Runner-up	Drake	L 84–77
Midwest	Dayton	Don Donoher	Independent	First round	Colorado State	L 52–50
Midwest	Drake	Maury John	Missouri Valley	Third Place	North Carolina	W 104–84
Midwest	Texas A&M	Shelby Metcalf	Southwest	Regional Fourth Place	Colorado	L 97–82
Midwest	Trinity (TX)	Bob Polk	Southland	First round	Texas A&M	L 81–66
West
West	BYU	Stan Watts	Western Athletic	First round	New Mexico State	L 74–62
West	New Mexico State	Lou Henson	Independent	Regional Fourth Place	Weber State	L 58–56
West	Santa Clara	Dick Garibaldi	West Coast	Regional Runner-up	UCLA	L 90–52
West	Seattle	Morris Buckwalter	Independent	First round	Weber State	L 75–73
West	UCLA	John Wooden	Pac-8	Champion	Purdue	W 92–72
West	Weber State	Phil Johnson	Big Sky	Regional third place	New Mexico State	W 58–56

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East region

Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Finals

				North Carolina	79

				Duquesne	78
	Duquesne	74

	Saint Joseph's	52
							North Carolina	87

							Davidson	85
	Davidson	75

	Villanova	61
				Davidson	79

				St. John's	69
	St. John's	72

	Princeton	63

Mideast region

Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Finals

				Purdue	91

				Miami (OH)	71
	Miami (OH)	63

	Notre Dame	60
							Purdue	75

							Marquette	73



				Kentucky	74

				Marquette	81
	Marquette	82

	Murray State	62

Midwest region

Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Finals

				Drake	81

				Texas A&M	63
	Texas A&M	81

	Trinity (TX)	66
							Drake	84

							Colorado State	77



				Colorado	56

				Colorado State	64
	Colorado State	52

	Dayton	50

West region

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

UCLA

53

New Mexico State

38

New Mexico State

74

BYU

62

UCLA

90

Santa Clara

52

Santa Clara

63

Weber State

59*

Weber State

75

Seattle

73

Final Four

National semifinals			National Final

E	North Carolina	65

ME	Purdue	92
			ME	Purdue	72

			W	UCLA	92
MW	Drake	82

W	UCLA	85

National third-place game

National third-place game ^[1]

E	North Carolina	84

MW	Drake	104

Regional third-place games

	Mideast Regional third place

	Kentucky		72

	Miami (OH)		71

	West Regional third place

	Weber State		58

	New Mexico State		56

Notes

Three teams - Drake, Purdue and Trinity University - made their tournament debuts. While Drake and Purdue made the Final Four in their first appearances, Trinity, an independent school from San Antonio, did not win their regional quarterfinal game against Texas A&M. This would be Trinity's only appearance in the tournament, as they would drop down to Division II when the NCAA realigned its divisions in 1973.
This tournament also marked the last tournament appearance of Seattle University. The team would leave the NCAA in 1980 due to budgetary cuts, joining the NAIA at that time. However, they would rejoin the NCAA in 2001 and, finally, rejoin Division I in 2009. The Redhawks, as they are now known, have not returned to the tournament since.

References

[1]

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