1961 NCAA University Division basketball tournament

1961 NCAA University Division
basketball tournament
	Cincinnati Bearcats, champions, celebrating
Season	1960–61
Teams	24
Finals site	Municipal Auditorium; Kansas City, Missouri
Champions	Cincinnati Bearcats (1st title, 1st title game,; 3rd Final Four)
Runner-up	Ohio State Buckeyes (3rd title game,; 6th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Saint Joseph's Hawks (Vacated) (1st Final Four); Utah Redskins (2nd Final Four);
Winning coach	Ed Jucker (1st title)
MOP	Jerry Lucas (Ohio State)
Attendance	169,520
Top scorer	Billy McGill (Utah); (119 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments
«1960	1962»

The 1961 NCAA University Division basketball tournament involved 24 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 14, 1961, and ended with the championship game on March 25 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.

Cincinnati, coached by Ed Jucker, won the national title with a 70–65 victory in the final game over in-state rival and defending national champion Ohio State, coached by Fred Taylor. Jerry Lucas of Ohio State was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

The national third-place game, won by Saint Joseph's over Utah by the score of 127–120 in four overtimes, tied the record for the longest game in NCAA Division I tournament history, set in 1956 in a first-round game between Canisius and North Carolina State. As of the regional finals of the 2019 tournament, no NCAA Division I tournament games since then have gone to a fourth overtime period.^[1] Saint Joseph's victory was later vacated because of the 1961 gambling scandal.^[2]

Locations

Round	Region	Site	Venue	Host(s)
First Round	East	New York, New York	Madison Square Garden	St. John's
	Mideast	Louisville, Kentucky	Freedom Hall	Louisville
	Midwest	Houston, Texas	Delmar Fieldhouse	Houston/Rice/Texas Southern
	West	Portland, Oregon	Memorial Coliseum	Portland
Regionals	East	Charlotte, North Carolina	Charlotte Coliseum	UNCC
	Mideast	Louisville, Kentucky	Freedom Hall	Louisville
	Midwest	Lawrence, Kansas	Allen Fieldhouse	Kansas
	West	Portland, Oregon	Memorial Coliseum	Portland
Final Four		Kansas City, Missouri	Municipal Auditorium	UMKC

Teams

Region	Team	Coach	Conference	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	George Washington	Bill Reinhart	Southern	First round	Princeton	L 84–67
East	Princeton	Jake McCandless	Ivy League	Regional Fourth Place	St. Bonaventure	L 85–67
East	Rhode Island	Ernie Calverley	Yankee	First round	St. Bonaventure	L 86–76
East	St. Bonaventure	Eddie Donovan	Independent	Regional third place	Princeton	W 85–67
East	St. John's	Joe Lapchick	Metro NY	First round	Wake Forest	L 97–74
East	Saint Joseph's	Jack Ramsay	Middle Atlantic	Third Place	Utah	W 127–120 (4OT)
East	Wake Forest	Bones McKinney	Atlantic Coast	Regional Runner-up	Saint Joseph's	L 96–86
Mideast
Mideast	Kentucky	Adolph Rupp	Southeastern	Regional Runner-up	Ohio State	L 87–74
Mideast	Louisville	Peck Hickman	Independent	Regional third place	Morehead State	W 83–61
Mideast	Morehead State	Robert Laughlin	Ohio Valley	Regional Fourth Place	Louisville	L 83–61
Mideast	Ohio	James Snyder	Mid-American	First round	Louisville	L 76–70
Mideast	Ohio State	Fred Taylor	Big Ten	Runner Up	Cincinnati	L 70–65
Mideast	Xavier	Jim McCafferty	Independent	First round	Morehead State	L 71–66
Midwest
Midwest	Cincinnati	Ed Jucker	Missouri Valley	Champion	Ohio State	W 70–65
Midwest	Houston	Guy Lewis	Independent	Regional Fourth Place	Texas Tech	L 69–67
Midwest	Kansas State	Tex Winter	Big 8	Regional Runner-up	Cincinnati	L 69–64
Midwest	Marquette	Eddie Hickey	Independent	First round	Houston	L 77–61
Midwest	Texas Tech	Polk Robison	Southwest	Regional third place	Houston	W 69–67
West
West	Arizona State	Ned Wulk	Border	Regional Runner-up	Utah	L 88–80
West	Loyola (Los Angeles)	William Donovan	West Coast Athletic	Regional third place	USC	W 69–67
West	Oregon	Steve Belko	Independent	First round	USC	L 81–79
West	Seattle	Vince Cazzetta	Independent	First round	Arizona State	L 72–70
West	USC	Forrest Twogood	AAWU	Regional Fourth Place	Loyola (Los Angeles)	L 69–67
West	Utah	Jack Gardner	Mountain States	Fourth Place	Saint Joseph's	L 127–120 (4OT)

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East region

Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Finals

				Saint Joseph's#	72

				Princeton	67
	Princeton	84

	George Washington	67
							Saint Joseph's#	96

							Wake Forest	86
	St. Bonaventure	86

	Rhode Island	76
				St. Bonaventure	73

				Wake Forest	78
	Wake Forest	97

	St. John's	74

Mideast region

Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Finals

				Ohio State	56

				Louisville	55
	Louisville	76

	Ohio	70
							Ohio State	87

							Kentucky	74



				Kentucky	71

				Morehead State	64
	Morehead State	71

	Xavier	66

Midwest region

Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Finals

				Kansas State	75

				Houston	64
	Houston	77

	Marquette	61
							Kansas State	64

							Cincinnati	69



				Cincinnati	78

				Texas Tech	55

West region

Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Finals

				Utah	91

				Loyola (Los Angeles)	75



							Utah	88

							Arizona State	80
	Arizona State	72

	Seattle	70
				Arizona State	86

				USC	71
	USC	81

	Oregon	79

Final Four

National Semifinals			National Championship Game

E	Saint Joseph's#	69

ME	Ohio State	95
			ME	Ohio State	65*

			MW	Cincinnati	70
MW	Cincinnati	82

W	Utah	67

* - denotes overtime

# - Saint Joseph's was later forced to vacate their appearance in the 1961 NCAA Tournament due to a gambling scandal involving a player on the team. Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with Saint Joseph's removing the wins from its own record.^[3]

National Third Place Game

National Third Place Game^[4]

E	Saint Joseph's#	127

W	Utah	120****

Regional third place games

	East Regional third place

	St. Bonaventure		85

	Princeton		67

	Mideast Regional third place

	Louisville		83

	Morehead State		61

	Midwest Regional third place

	Texas Tech		69

	Houston		67

	West Regional third place

	Loyola (Los Angeles)		69

	USC		67

References

^ The Sports Network. "The Sports Network - Men's College Basketball". Archived from the original on May 26, 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2009.
^ "Review of the Literature".
^ Wolfson, Andrew (October 19, 2016). "What led to vacated Final Fours in the past?". Courier Journal. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
^ "1954 NCAA basketball tournament Bracket". Retrieved October 14, 2011.

[1] The Sports Network. "The Sports Network - Men's College Basketball". Archived from the original on May 26, 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2009.

[2] "Review of the Literature".

[3] Wolfson, Andrew (October 19, 2016). "What led to vacated Final Fours in the past?". Courier Journal. Retrieved May 17, 2024.

[4] "1954 NCAA basketball tournament Bracket". Retrieved October 14, 2011.

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v t e 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 2023 2024 2025 2026
Structure	Selection process Venues No. 1 seeds First Four Elite Eight Final four
Champions & awards	List of champions Most Outstanding Player
Media & culture	Blue bloods Bracketology Broadcasting Tournament Final Four Cutting down the nets March Madness pools "One Shining Moment"
Records & statistics	Team records Bids by school Consecutive appearances Final Four participants Final Four appearances by coach Overall records Upsets Team appearances by seed
See also: Division I Women's Tournament, Division II Tournament, Division III Tournament

v t e 1960–61 NCAA University Division championships
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