1955 NCAA Basketball Tournament

1955 NCAA Basketball Tournament
Teams 24
Finals site Municipal Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri
Champions San Francisco Dons (1st title, 1st title game,
1st Final Four)
Runner-up La Salle Explorers (2nd title game,
2nd Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coach Phil Woolpert (1st title)
MOP Bill Russell (San Francisco)
Attendance 116,983
Top scorer Bill Russell San Francisco
(118 points)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments
«1954 1956»

The 1955 NCAA Basketball Tournament involved 24 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8, 1955, and ended with the championship game on March 19 in Kansas City, Missouri. A total of 28 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.

San Francisco, coached by Phil Woolpert, won the national title with a 77–63 victory in the final game over La Salle, coached by Ken Loeffler. Bill Russell of San Francisco was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Locations

The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1955 tournament:

East-1 Region

First Round (March 8)
Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
East-1 Regional (March 11 and 12)
The Palestra, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

East-2 Region

First Round (March 9)
Memorial Coliseum, Lexington, Kentucky
East-2 Regional (March 11 and 12)
McGaw Memorial Hall, Evanston, Illinois

West-1 Region

First Round (March 8)
Thunderbird Coliseum, El Reno, Oklahoma
West Regional (March 11 and 12)
Ahearn Field House, Manhattan, Kansas

West-2 Region

First Round (March 8)
Cow Palace, San Francisco, California
West-2 Regional (March 11 and 12)
Oregon State Coliseum, Corvallis, Oregon

Final Four

March 18 and 19
Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri

For the third straight year, and sixth overall, the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri was the site of the Final Four. There were four new sites used in the 1955 tournament. For the first time since the 1939 National Championship, the tournament returned to the campus of Northwestern University, with games played at McGaw Memorial Hall, the then-three-year-old home to the Wildcats basketball program. The tournament also returned to the San Francisco area for the first time since 1939, with the first round of the West-2 regional played at the Cow Palace in Daly City, the immediate southern suburb of San Francisco. Both the Cow Palace and McGaw Memorial Hall would host Final Fours within the next five years after this. The tournament also came to the state of Kentucky for the first time, with games at the Memorial Coliseum on the campus of the University of Kentucky. The Wildcats' home court would host the tournament ten times in twenty years before being replaced by Rupp Arena. The fourth new arena was, to date, one of the smallest venues in arguably the smallest town ever to host a tournament game. The Thunderbird Coliseum, located at the Canadian County fairgrounds along U.S. Route 66 in the distant Oklahoma City suburb of El Reno, hosted the West-1 regional first-round game between Bradley and the host school, Oklahoma City University. The Chiefs would host the tournament once more in their history, in 1957 at another high school gymnasium in Oklahoma City. This was the first of three high school gymnasiums in five years to host tournament games.

Teams

RegionTeamCoachFinishedFinal OpponentScore
East
EastCanisiusJoseph CurranRegional Runner-upLa SalleL 99–64
EastDukeHarold BradleyFirst roundVillanovaL 74–73
EastIowaBucky O'ConnorFourth PlaceColoradoL 75–54
EastKentuckyAdolph RuppRegional Third PlacePenn StateW 84–59
EastLa SalleKen LoefflerRunner UpSan FranciscoL 77–63
EastMarquetteJack NagleRegional Runner-upIowaL 86–81
EastMemphis StateEugene LambertFirst roundPenn StateL 59–55
EastMiami (OH)Bill RohrFirst roundMarquetteL 90–79
EastPenn StateJohn EgliRegional Fourth PlaceKentuckyL 84–59
EastPrincetonFranklin CapponRegional Fourth PlaceVillanovaL 64–57
EastVillanovaAlex SeveranceRegional Third PlacePrincetonW 64–57
EastWest VirginiaFred SchausFirst RoundLa SalleL 95–61
EastWilliamsAlex ShawFirst RoundCanisiusL 73–60
West
WestBradleyBob VanattaRegional Runner-upColoradoL 93–81
WestColoradoBebe LeeThird PlaceIowaW 75–54
WestIdaho StateSteve BelkoFirst roundSeattleL 80–63
WestOklahoma CityDoyle ParrackFirst roundBradleyL 69–65
WestOregon StateSlats GillRegional Runner-upSan FranciscoL 57–56
WestSan FranciscoPhil WoolpertChampionLa SalleW 77–63
WestSeattleAl BrightmanRegional Fourth PlaceUtahL 108–85
WestSMUDoc HayesRegional Fourth PlaceTulsaL 68–67
WestTulsaClarence IbaRegional Third PlaceSMUW 68–67
WestUtahJack GardnerRegional Third PlaceSeattleW 108–85
WestWest Texas StateGus MillerFirst roundSan FranciscoL 89–66

Bracket

East-1 Region

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                           
       
    Princeton 46  
      La Salle 73  
  La Salle 95
    West Virginia 61  
      La Salle 99
    Canisius 64
    Canisius 73  
  Williams 60  
  Canisius 73
      Villanova 71  
  Villanova 74
    Duke 73  

East-2 Region

  First Round     Regional Semifinals     Regional Finals
                           
      Kentucky 71  
  Marquette 90     Marquette 79    
  Miami-OH 79         Marquette 81
      Iowa 86
      Iowa 82    
  Penn St. 59     Penn St. 53  
  Memphis St. 55  

West-1 Region

  Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                           
       
    SMU 79  
      Bradley 81  
  Bradley 69
    Oklahoma City 65  
      Bradley 81
    Colorado 93
         
       
  Colorado 69
      Tulsa 59  
     

West-2 Region

  First Round     Regional Semifinals     Regional Finals
                           
      Oregon St. 83  
  Seattle 80     Seattle 71    
  Idaho St. 63         Oregon St. 56
      San Francisco 57
      Utah 59    
  San Francisco 89     San Francisco 78  
  West Texas St. 66  

Final Four

National Semifinal National Championship
      
Iowa 73
La Salle 76
La Salle 63
San Francisco 77
Colorado 50
San Francisco 62

National Third Place Game

National Third Place Game[1]
   
  Iowa 54
  Colorado 75

Regional Third Place Games

See also

References

  1. ↑ "1954 NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket". Retrieved October 14, 2011.
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