1981 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament

1981 NCAA Division I
Basketball Tournament
Season	1980–81
Teams	48
Finals site	The Spectrum; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Champions	Indiana Hoosiers (4th title, 4th title game,; 5th Final Four)
Runner-up	North Carolina Tar Heels (5th title game,; 8th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Virginia Cavaliers (1st Final Four); LSU Tigers (2nd Final Four);
Winning coach	Bob Knight (2nd title)
MOP	Isiah Thomas (Indiana)
Attendance	347,414
Top scorer	Al Wood North Carolina; (109 points)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments
«1980	1982»

The 1981 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 12, 1981, and ended with the championship game on March 30 in Philadelphia. A total of 48 games were played, including a national third place game (the last in the NCAA Tournament). It was also the last tournament to be televised on NBC, before CBS took over the following year. Additionally, it was the last season in which the NCAA sponsored championships only in men's sports; the first Division I Women's Tournament would be played the following year.

Indiana, coached by Bob Knight, won the national title with a 63–50 victory over North Carolina, coached by Dean Smith. Isiah Thomas of Indiana was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

The March 14 upsets

The date of Saturday, March 14, 1981, resulted in three major second round tournament upsets which were decided by last-second baskets.

St. Joseph's trailed No. 1 seed DePaul by seven at about the midway point of the second half, in an early afternoon Mideast Region game from Dayton, Ohio. However, with 48 seconds left, the Hawks had rallied to within 48–47. Blue Demons guard Skip Dillard was fouled with 13 seconds left. Dillard was known as 'Money' for his superb free throw shooting, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, and St. Joseph's got the rebound, then quickly passed the ball to the front court without calling a timeout. Guard Bryan Warrick got the ball to freshman Lonnie McFarlan who was wide open in the right corner. McFarlan began to shoot until forward John Smith yelled "Please!" to him. McFarlan passed to Smith, who was open underneath the basket. Smith's layup with two seconds left enabled the Hawks of coach Jim Lynam to stun the Blue Demons of Ray Meyer, 49–48.

Later in the afternoon in Austin, Texas, Arkansas coach Eddie Sutton called timeout with 5 seconds left after falling behind Louisville in the Midwest Region, 73–72 on a jumper by guard Derek Smith. Sutton told his team to get the ball to U.S. Reed. The Razorbacks' guard dribbled to near half court, then launched a 49-foot shot that beat the buzzer and swished through the net, as Arkansas dethroned the defending national champion Cardinals of Denny Crum, 74–73. Sutton told the media, "Champions die hard."

Only moments after the Razorbacks' upset, the season ended for another #1 seed in the West Region in Los Angeles. Oregon State led Kansas State by as much as 11 points in the second half. Coach Ralph Miller and center Steve Johnson had led the Beavers to a two-year record of 52–4. Then Rolando Blackman led the Wildcats back with a 16-6 run to tie the game, 48–48 with 3:23 left. Johnson then fouled out, and both teams stalled with the ball until Oregon State missed the front end of a one-and-one from the foul line. K-State then held for the last shot. With two seconds left, Blackman, double-teamed, drilled a fall-away 17 footer from the right baseline for a 50–48 upset by the Wildcats of Jack Hartman.

In another second round Mideast Region upset, UAB defeated Kentucky 69–62. A semifinal in the East Region saw Danny Ainge dribble the length of the court and drive all the way in for a layup and another buzzer-beating winner, lifting BYU over Notre Dame 51–50.

Greg Johnson of NCAA.com, in a March 9, 2011 article, indicated that March 14, 1981 was a date which defined March Madness.[1][2]

Locations

Charlotte

Austin

El Paso

Dayton

Los Angeles

Providence

Tuscaloosa

Wichita

1981 sites for first and second round games

Atlanta

New Orleans

Bloomington

Salt Lake City

Philadelphia

1981 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

First & Second Rounds

Region	Site	Venue	Host
East	Charlotte, North Carolina	Charlotte Coliseum	UNC Charlotte
East	Providence, Rhode Island	Providence Civic Center	Providence
Mideast	Dayton, Ohio	UD Arena	Dayton
Mideast	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	Memorial Coliseum	Alabama
Midwest	Austin, Texas	Frank Erwin Center	Texas
Midwest	Wichita, Kansas	Levitt Arena	Wichita State
West	El Paso, Texas	Special Events Center	UTEP
West	Los Angeles, California	Pauley Pavilion	UCLA

Regional Sites and Final Four

Region	Site	Venue	Host
East	Atlanta, Georgia	Omni Coliseum	Georgia Tech
Mideast	Bloomington, Indiana	Assembly Hall	Indiana
Midwest	New Orleans, Louisiana	Louisiana Superdome	New Orleans/Tulane
West	Salt Lake City, Utah	Special Events Center	Utah
Final Four	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	The Spectrum	Drexel/Penn/Temple/Villanova

The Spectrum in Philadelphia hosted its second Final Four, both of which were won by Indiana. New Orleans hosted its second regional, the first at the Superdome and first in the city since 1942. This also marked only the second year ever to feature a domed stadium, and an NFL stadium; only four times since (1983, 1985, 1994, and 2018) has the tournament not included any NFL stadiums, and only in 1985 did it not include any domes at all. Two cities, Austin and El Paso, hosted Tournament games for the first time; it would be the only time El Paso would host tournament games and Austin would once again be host in 1990.

Teams

Region	Seed	Team	Coach	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	1	Virginia	Terry Holland	Third Place	1 LSU	W 78–74
East	2	Notre Dame	Digger Phelps	Sweet Sixteen	6 BYU	L 51–50
East	3	UCLA	Larry Brown	Round of 32	6 BYU	L 78–55
East	4	Tennessee	Don DeVoe	Sweet Sixteen	1 Virginia	L 62–48
East	5	VCU	J. D. Barnett	Round of 32	4 Tennessee	L 58–56
East	6	BYU	Frank Arnold	Regional Runner-up	1 Virginia	L 74–60
East	7	Georgetown	John Thompson	Round of 48	10 James Madison	L 61–55
East	8	Houston	Guy Lewis	Round of 48	9 Villanova	L 90–72
East	9	Villanova	Rollie Massimino	Round of 32	1 Virginia	L 54–50
East	10	James Madison	Lou Campanelli	Round of 32	2 Notre Dame	L 54–45
East	11	Princeton	Pete Carril	Round of 48	6 BYU	L 60–51
East	12	Long Island	Paul Lizzo	Round of 48	5 VCU	L 85–69
Mideast
Mideast	1	DePaul	Ray Meyer	Round of 32	9 Saint Joseph's	L 49–48
Mideast	2	Kentucky	Joe B. Hall	Round of 32	7 UAB	L 69–62
Mideast	3	Indiana	Bob Knight	Champion	2 North Carolina	W 63–50
Mideast	4	Wake Forest	Carl Tacy	Round of 32	5 Boston College	L 67–64
Mideast	5	Boston College	Tom Davis	Sweet Sixteen	9 Saint Joseph's	L 42–41
Mideast	6	Maryland	Lefty Driesell	Round of 32	3 Indiana	L 99–64
Mideast	7	UAB	Gene Bartow	Sweet Sixteen	3 Indiana	L 87–72
Mideast	8	Creighton	Tom Apke	Round of 48	9 Saint Joseph's	L 59–57
Mideast	9	Saint Joseph's	Jim Lynam	Regional Runner-up	3 Indiana	L 78–46
Mideast	10	Western Kentucky	Clem Haskins	Round of 48	7 UAB	L 93–68
Mideast	11	Chattanooga	Murray Arnold	Round of 48	6 Maryland	L 81–69
Mideast	12	Ball State	Steve Yoder	Round of 48	5 Boston College	L 93–90
Midwest
Midwest	1	LSU	Dale Brown	Fourth Place	1 Virginia	L 78–74
Midwest	2	Arizona State	Ned Wulk	Round of 32	7 Kansas	L 88–71
Midwest	3	Iowa	Lute Olson	Round of 32	6 Wichita State	L 60–56
Midwest	4	Louisville	Denny Crum	Round of 32	5 Arkansas	L 74–73
Midwest	5	Arkansas	Eddie Sutton	Sweet Sixteen	1 LSU	L 72–56
Midwest	6	Wichita State	Gene Smithson	Regional Runner-up	1 LSU	L 96–85
Midwest	7	Kansas	Ted Owens	Sweet Sixteen	6 Wichita State	L 66–65
Midwest	8	Lamar	Pat Foster	Round of 32	1 LSU	L 100–78
Midwest	9	Missouri	Norm Stewart	Round of 48	8 Lamar	L 71–67
Midwest	10	Ole Miss	Bob Weltlich	Round of 48	7 Kansas	L 69–66
Midwest	11	Southern	Carl Stewart	Round of 48	6 Wichita State	L 95–70
Midwest	12	Mercer	Bill Bibb	Round of 48	5 Arkansas	L 73–67
West
West	1	Oregon State	Ralph Miller	Round of 32	8 Kansas State	L 50–48
West	2	North Carolina	Dean Smith	Runner Up	3 Indiana	L 63–50
West	3	Utah	Jerry Pimm	Sweet Sixteen	2 North Carolina	L 61–56
West	4	Illinois	Lou Henson	Sweet Sixteen	8 Kansas State	L 57–52
West	5	Wyoming	Jim Brandenburg	Round of 32	4 Illinois	L 67–65
West	6	Fresno State	Boyd Grant	Round of 48	11 Northeastern	L 55–53
West	7	Idaho	Don Monson	Round of 48	10 Pittsburgh	L 70–69
West	8	Kansas State	Jack Hartman	Regional Runner-up	2 North Carolina	L 82–68
West	9	San Francisco	Peter Barry	Round of 48	8 Kansas State	L 64–60
West	10	Pittsburgh	Roy Chipman	Round of 32	2 North Carolina	L 74–57
West	11	Northeastern	Jim Calhoun	Round of 32	3 Utah	L 94–69
West	12	Howard	A.B. Williamson	Round of 48	5 Wyoming	L 78–43

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East region

First round			Second round			Regional Semifinals			Regional Finals

8	Houston	72
9	Villanova	90
			9	Villanova	50

			1	Virginia	54



						1	Virginia	62

						4	Tennessee	48



			4	Tennessee	58

			5	VCU	56*
5	VCU	85

12	Long Island	69
									1	Virginia	74

									6	BYU	60
6	BYU	60

11	Princeton	51
			6	BYU	78

			3	UCLA	55



						6	BYU	51

						2	Notre Dame	50



			2	Notre Dame	54

			10	James Madison	45
7	Georgetown	55

10	James Madison	61

West region

First round			Second round			Regional Semifinals			Regional Finals

8	Kansas State	64
9	San Francisco	60
			8	Kansas State	50

			1	Oregon State	48



						8	Kansas State	57

						4	Illinois	52



			4	Illinois	67

			5	Wyoming	65
5	Wyoming	78

12	Howard	43
									8	Kansas State	68

									2	North Carolina	82
6	Fresno State	53

11	Northeastern	55
			11	Northeastern	69

			3	Utah	94



						3	Utah	56

						2	North Carolina	61



			2	North Carolina	74

			10	Pittsburgh	57
7	Idaho	69*

10	Pittsburgh	70

Mideast region

First round			Second round			Regional Semifinals			Regional Finals

8	Creighton	57
9	Saint Joseph's	59
			9	Saint Joseph's	49

			1	DePaul	48



						9	Saint Joseph's	42

						5	Boston College	41



			4	Wake Forest	64

			5	Boston College	67
5	Boston College	93

12	Ball State	90
									9	Saint Joseph's	46

									3	Indiana	78
6	Maryland	81

11	Chattanooga	69
			6	Maryland	64

			3	Indiana	99



						3	Indiana	87

						7	UAB	72



			2	Kentucky	62

			7	UAB	69
7	UAB	93

10	Western Kentucky	68

Midwest region

First round			Second round			Regional Semifinals			Regional Finals

8	Lamar	71
9	Missouri	67
			8	Lamar	78

			1	LSU	100



						1	LSU	72

						5	Arkansas	56



			4	Louisville	73

			5	Arkansas	74
5	Arkansas	73

12	Mercer	67
									1	LSU	96

									6	Wichita State	85
6	Wichita State	95

11	Southern	70
			6	Wichita State	60

			3	Iowa	56



						6	Wichita State	66

						7	Kansas	65



			2	Arizona State	71

			7	Kansas	88
7	Kansas	69

10	Ole Miss	66

Final Four

National Semifinals			National Finals

E1	Virginia	65
W2	North Carolina	78
			W2	North Carolina	50
			ME3	Indiana	63
ME3	Indiana	67
MW1	LSU	49	National Third Place Game

			E1	Virginia	78
			MW1	LSU	74

NOTES: 1. This was the last tournament that a third place game was staged prior to the national championship.

NBC announcers

Dick Enberg, Billy Packer and Al McGuire
Don Criqui or Bob Costas and Gary Thompson
Marv Albert and Bucky Waters
Jay Randolph and Steve Grote
Charlie Jones and Lynn Shackelford
Merle Harmon and Matt Guokas

References

"March Madness defining moment?". ncaa.com. March 9, 2011. Archived from the original on February 1, 2018. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
"The myth of three consecutive buzzer beaters in the 1981 NCAA tournament".

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[March_Madness_defining_moment?-1] "March Madness defining moment?". ncaa.com. March 9, 2011. Archived from the original on February 1, 2018. Retrieved April 4, 2018.

[Myth_of_1981_buzzer_beaters-2] "The myth of three consecutive buzzer beaters in the 1981 NCAA tournament".

NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Tournaments	1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 ~~2020~~ 2021 2022
Structure	Selection process Venues No. 1 seeds Opening Round Elite Eight Final Four National Championship Game
Champions & awards	Champions Most Outstanding Player
Media & culture	Bracketology Broadcasting Tournament Final Four March Madness pools "One Shining Moment"
Records & statistics	All-time team records Bids by school Bids by school and conference Consecutive appearances Final Four appearances by school Final Four participants Final Four appearances by coach Upsets

1981 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournaments
Conference	ACC Big East Big Eight Big Sky East Coast ECAC Metro ECAC North ECAC South EAA Metro MCC Mid-American MEAC Missouri Valley Ohio Valley PCAA SEC Southern Southland Southwest SWAC Sun Belt TAAC
National	NCAA NIT