1980 NCAA Division I basketball tournament

The 1980 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 6, 1980, and ended with the championship game on March 24 at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. A total of 48 games were played, including a national third-place game.

1980 NCAA Division I
basketball tournament
Season1979–80
Teams48
Finals siteMarket Square Arena
Indianapolis, Indiana
ChampionsLouisville Cardinals (1st title, 1st title game,
4th Final Four)
Runner-upUCLA Bruins (Vacated) (11th title game,
14th Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coachDenny Crum (1st title)
MOPDarrell Griffith (Louisville)
Attendance321,260
Top scorerJoe Barry Carroll (Purdue)
(160 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments
«19791981»

Louisville, coached by Denny Crum, won the national title with a 59–54 victory in the final game over UCLA, coached by Larry Brown. Darrell Griffith of Louisville was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Structurally speaking, this was the first tournament of the modern era.[1] For the first time:

  1. An unlimited number of at-large teams could come from any conference. (From 1975 to 1979, conferences were allowed only one at-large entry.)
  2. The bracket was seeded to make each region as evenly competitive as possible. (Previously, geographic considerations had trumped this.)
  3. All teams were seeded solely based on the subjective judgment of the committee. (In 1979, seeding was partially based on the prior performance of a conference winner's conference.)

In this, the second year the tournament field was seeded, no #1 seed reached the Final Four. Since then, it has happened three other times, in 2006, 2011, and 2023. Purdue University's next Final Four appearance after this year would occur in 2024. Five coaches from teams in the Eastern bracket (Jim Boeheim, John Thompson, Lute Olson, Rick Pitino and Rollie Massimino) would later win their first (and in Pitino's case, the first of more than one) national championship.

UCLA would forfeit its second place in the standings in 1980 after players representing the school were declared ineligible by the NCAA.[2]

Schedule and venues

Greensboro
Denton
Bowling Green
Lincoln
Ogden
Providence
Tempe
West Lafayette
1980 sites for first and second round games
Philadelphia
Lexington
Houston
Tucson
Indianapolis
1980 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1980 tournament:

First and Second Rounds

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

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

Teams

RegionSeedTeamCoachConferenceFinishedFinal OpponentScore
East
East1SyracuseJim BoeheimBig EastSweet 165 IowaL 88–77
East2MarylandLefty DriesellAtlantic CoastSweet Sixteen3 GeorgetownL 74–68
East3GeorgetownJohn ThompsonBig EastRegional Runner-up5 IowaL 81–80
East4NC StateNorm SloanAtlantic CoastRound of 325 IowaL 77–64
East5IowaLute OlsonBig Ten4th Place2 PurdueL 75–58
East6IonaJim ValvanoECAC MetroRound of 323 GeorgetownL 74–71
East7TennesseeDon DeVoeSoutheasternRound of 322 MarylandL 86–75
East8VillanovaRollie MassiminoEasternRound of 321 SyracuseL 97–83
East9MarquetteHank RaymondsIndependentRound of 488 VillanovaL 77–59
East10FurmanEddie HolbrookSouthernRound of 487 TennesseeL 80–69
East11Holy CrossGeorge BlaneyECAC NorthRound of 486 IonaL 84–78
East12VCUJ. D. BarnettSun BeltRound of 485 IowaL 86–72
Mideast
Mideast1KentuckyJoe B. HallSoutheasternSweet Sixteen4 DukeL 55–54
Mideast2IndianaBob KnightBig TenSweet Sixteen6 PurdueL 76–69
Mideast3St. John'sLou CarneseccaBig EastRound of 326 PurdueL 87–72
Mideast4DukeBill E. FosterAtlantic CoastRegional Runner-up6 PurdueL 68–60
Mideast5Washington StateGeorge RavelingPacific-10Round of 4812 PennL 62–55
Mideast6PurdueLee RoseBig Ten3rd Place5 IowaW 75–58
Mideast7Virginia TechCharles MoirMetroRound of 322 IndianaL 68–59
Mideast8Florida StateJoe WilliamsMetroRound of 321 KentuckyL 97–78
Mideast9ToledoBob NicholsMid-AmericanRound of 488 Florida StateL 94–91
Mideast10Western KentuckyGene KeadyOhio ValleyRound of 487 Virginia TechL 89–85
Mideast11La SalleLefty ErvinEast CoastRound of 486 PurdueL 90–82
Mideast12PennBob WeinhauerIvy LeagueRound of 324 DukeL 52–42
Midwest
Midwest1LSUDale BrownSoutheasternRegional Runner-up2 LouisvilleL 86–66
Midwest2LouisvilleDenny CrumMetroChampion8 UCLAW 59–54
Midwest3North CarolinaDean SmithAtlantic CoastRound of 326 Texas A&ML 78–61
Midwest4Notre DameDigger PhelpsIndependentRound of 325 MissouriL 87–84
Midwest5MissouriNorm StewartBig EightSweet Sixteen1 LSUL 68–63
Midwest6Texas A&MShelby MetcalfSouthwestSweet Sixteen2 LouisvilleL 66–55
Midwest7Kansas StateJack HartmanBig EightRound of 322 LouisvilleL 71–69
Midwest8Alcorn StateDavey WhitneySouthwest AthleticRound of 321 LSUL 98–88
Midwest9South AlabamaCliff EllisSun BeltRound of 488 Alcorn StateL 70–62
Midwest10ArkansasEddie SuttonSouthwestRound of 487 Kansas StateL 71–53
Midwest11BradleyDick VersaceMissouri ValleyRound of 486 Texas A&ML 55–53
Midwest12San Jose StateBill BerryPacific CoastRound of 485 MissouriL 61–51
West
West1DePaulRay MeyerIndependentRound of 328 UCLAL 77–71
West2Oregon StateRalph MillerPacific-10Round of 3210 LamarL 81–77
West3BYUFrank ArnoldWestern AthleticRound of 326 ClemsonL 71–66
West4Ohio StateEldon MillerBig TenSweet Sixteen8 UCLAL 72–68
West5Arizona StateNed WulkPacific-10Round of 324 Ohio StateL 89–75
West6ClemsonBill FosterAtlantic CoastRegional Runner-up8 UCLAL 85–74
West7Weber StateNeil McCarthyBig SkyRound of 4810 LamarL 87–86
West8UCLALarry BrownPacific-10Runner Up2 LouisvilleL 59–54
West9Old DominionPaul WebbECAC SouthRound of 488 UCLAL 87–74
West10LamarBilly TubbsSouthlandSweet Sixteen6 ClemsonL 74–66
West11Utah StateRod TuellerPacific CoastRound of 486 ClemsonL 76–73
West12Loyola MarymountRon JacobsWest CoastRound of 485 Arizona StateL 99–71

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period.

East region

First roundQuarter-finalsRegional semifinalsRegional Finals
            
8Villanova77
9Marquette59
8Villanova83
1Syracuse97
1Syracuse77
5Iowa88
4NC State64
5Iowa77
5Iowa86
12VCU72
5Iowa81
3Georgetown80
6Iona84
11Holy Cross78
6Iona71
3Georgetown74
3Georgetown74
2Maryland68
2Maryland86
7Tennessee75
7Tennessee80
10Furman69

Midwest region

First roundQuarter-finalsRegional semifinalsRegional Finals
            
8Alcorn State70
9South Alabama62
8Alcorn State88
1LSU98
1LSU68
5Missouri63
4Notre Dame84*
5Missouri87
5Missouri61
12San Jose State51
1LSU66
2Louisville86
6Texas A&M55
11Bradley53
6Texas A&M78
3North Carolina61**
6Texas A&M55*
2Louisville66
2Louisville71
7Kansas State69*
7Kansas State71
10Arkansas53

Mideast region

First roundQuarter-finalsRegional semifinalsRegional Finals
            
8Florida State94
9Toledo91
8Florida State78
1Kentucky97
1Kentucky54
4Duke55
4Duke52
12Penn42
5Washington State55
12Penn62
4Duke60
6Purdue68
6Purdue90
11La Salle82
6Purdue87
3St. John's72
6Purdue76
2Indiana69
2Indiana68
7Virginia Tech59
7Virginia Tech89
10Western Kentucky85*

West region

First roundQuarter-finalsRegional semifinalsRegional Finals
            
8UCLA#87
9Old Dominion74
8UCLA#77
1DePaul71
8UCLA#72
4Ohio State68
4Ohio State89
5Arizona State75
5Arizona State99
12Loyola Marymount71
8UCLA#85
6Clemson74
6Clemson76
11Utah State73
6Clemson71
3BYU66
6Clemson74
10Lamar66
2Oregon State77
10Lamar81
7Weber State86
10Lamar87

Final Four

National semifinals
Saturday, March 22
National Championship
Monday, March 24
      
E5Iowa72
MW2Louisville80
MW2Louisville59
W8UCLA#54
ME6Purdue62
W8UCLA#67National third-place game
E5Iowa58
ME6Purdue75

# — UCLA vacated its appearance in the 1980 NCAA Tournament after the NCAA had determined that the Bruins committed nine major violations.[3] Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with the removal of any UCLA wins from all records.

Announcers

  • Dick Enberg, Billy Packer, and Al McGuire – Mideast Regional Final at Lexington, Kentucky; Midwest Regional Final at Houston, Texas; Final Four at Indianapolis, Indiana
  • Don Criqui and Gary Thompson – East Regional Final at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; West Regional Final at Tucson, Arizona
  • Bill O'Donnell and Bucky Waters – East Regional semifinals at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Fred White and Larry Conley – Mideast Regional semifinals at Lexington, Kentucky
  • Jay Randolph and Jeff Mullins – Midwest Regional semifinals at Houston, Texas
  • Dick Enberg and Al McGuire – second round at Lincoln, Nebraska (Louisville–Kansas State, Notre Dame–Missouri); Second Round at Tempe, Arizona (DePaul–UCLA, Ohio State–Arizona State)
  • Don Criqui and Billy Packer – second round at West Lafayette, Indiana (St. John's–Purdue, Duke–Pennsylvania); Second Round at Bowling Green, Kentucky (Indiana–Virginia Tech, Kentucky–Florida State)
  • Merle Harmon and Joe Dean – second round at Greensboro, North Carolina (North Carolina State–Iowa, Maryland–Tennessee)
  • Bob Costas and Bucky Waters – second round at Providence, Rhode Island (Georgetown–Iona, Syracuse–Villanova)
  • Charlie Jones and Lynn Shackelford – second round at Ogden, Utah (Brigham Young–Clemson, Oregon State–Lamar)
  • Jay Randolph and Gary Thompson – first round at Lincoln, Nebraska (Kansas State–Arkansas, Missouri–San Jose State); Second Round at Denton, Texas (LSU–Alcorn State, North Carolina–Texas A&M)

See also

References