The 1968 NCAA University Division basketball tournament involved 23 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAADivision Icollege basketball. It began on March 9, 1968, and ended with the championship game on March 23 in Los Angeles, California. A total of 27 games were played, including a third-place game in each region and a national third-place game.
1968 NCAA University Division basketball tournament
UCLA, coached by John Wooden, won the national title with a 78–55 victory in the final game over North Carolina, coached by Dean Smith. Lew Alcindor of UCLA was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player for the second of three consecutive years. This UCLA team, composed of three All-Americans, Player of the Year Alcindor, Lucius Allen, and Mike Warren, along with dead eye pure shooter Lynn Shackleford (most of his shots would be 3 pointers today) and burly senior power forward Mike Lynn is considered to be one of the greatest teams in college basketball history.
The NCAA semi-final match between the Houston Cougars and UCLA Bruins was a re-match of the college basketball Game of the Century held in January at the Astrodome, in the Cougars' home city. The match was historic, the first nationally syndicated college basketball game and the first to play in a domed stadium before more than 52,000 fans. It was UCLA's only loss in two years, a two-pointer, to the then-#2 Houston, but with UCLA's dominating center Alcindor playing with an eye injury that limited his effectiveness after being hospitalized the week before. The loss broke a 47-game winning streak for UCLA. In the March NCAA Tournament Final 4, the Bruins at full strength avenged that loss with a 101–69 drubbing of that same Houston team, now ranked #1, in UCLA's home city at the Memorial Sports Arena. UCLA limited Houston's Elvin Hayes, who was averaging 37.7 points per game but was held to only 10. Bruins coach John Wooden credited his assistant, Jerry Norman, for devising the diamond-and-one defense that contained Hayes.[1][2]
This would be the last year of the 23 team field, as the field would stay at 25 teams for the next six seasons until the expansion of the field to 32 teams in the 1975 tournament.
Four teams - East Tennessee State, Florida State, New Mexico and Weber State - made their tournament debuts. Weber State would return to the tournament for five consecutive seasons; Florida State and New Mexico would not return until 1972 and 1974, respectively; and East Tennessee State would not return for 21 seasons, until 1989.
Two teams - Bowling Green and Columbia - made their most recent tournament appearances in this tournament. They are tied for the third longest active drought behind Tennessee Tech (1963) and Dartmouth (1959), and are currently tied for the fourth longest drought all-time, after Tennessee Tech, Dartmouth and Harvard (1946-2012, 66 years).
Referencesedit
^Esper, Dwain (March 25, 1968). "Bruins Hope Norman Stays". The Independent. Pasadena, California. p. 15. Retrieved July 22, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
^Gasaway, John (June 7, 2010). . Basketball Prospectus. Archived from the original on July 23, 2015. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
January 01, 1970
1968, ncaa, university, division, basketball, tournament, also, 1968, ncaa, division, basketball, championship, game, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourc. See also 1968 NCAA Men s Division I Basketball Championship Game This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources 1968 NCAA University Division basketball tournament news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2022 Learn how and when to remove this message The 1968 NCAA University Division basketball tournament involved 23 schools playing in single elimination play to determine the national champion of men s NCAA Division I college basketball It began on March 9 1968 and ended with the championship game on March 23 in Los Angeles California A total of 27 games were played including a third place game in each region and a national third place game 1968 NCAA University Divisionbasketball tournamentSeason1967 68Teams23Finals siteSports ArenaLos Angeles CaliforniaChampionsUCLA Bruins 4th title 4th title game 5th Final Four Runner upNorth Carolina Tar Heels 3rd title game 4th Final Four SemifinalistsHouston Cougars 2nd Final Four Ohio State Buckeyes 8th Final Four Winning coachJohn Wooden 4th title MOPLew Alcindor UCLA Attendance160 888Top scorerElvin Hayes Houston 167 points NCAA Division I men s tournaments 1967 1969 UCLA coached by John Wooden won the national title with a 78 55 victory in the final game over North Carolina coached by Dean Smith Lew Alcindor of UCLA was named the tournament s Most Outstanding Player for the second of three consecutive years This UCLA team composed of three All Americans Player of the Year Alcindor Lucius Allen and Mike Warren along with dead eye pure shooter Lynn Shackleford most of his shots would be 3 pointers today and burly senior power forward Mike Lynn is considered to be one of the greatest teams in college basketball history The NCAA semi final match between the Houston Cougars and UCLA Bruins was a re match of the college basketball Game of the Century held in January at the Astrodome in the Cougars home city The match was historic the first nationally syndicated college basketball game and the first to play in a domed stadium before more than 52 000 fans It was UCLA s only loss in two years a two pointer to the then 2 Houston but with UCLA s dominating center Alcindor playing with an eye injury that limited his effectiveness after being hospitalized the week before The loss broke a 47 game winning streak for UCLA In the March NCAA Tournament Final 4 the Bruins at full strength avenged that loss with a 101 69 drubbing of that same Houston team now ranked 1 in UCLA s home city at the Memorial Sports Arena UCLA limited Houston s Elvin Hayes who was averaging 37 7 points per game but was held to only 10 Bruins coach John Wooden credited his assistant Jerry Norman for devising the diamond and one defense that contained Hayes 1 2 Contents 1 Locations 2 Teams 3 Bracket 3 1 East region 3 2 Mideast region 3 3 Midwest region 3 4 West region 3 5 Final Four 3 6 National third place game 3 7 Regional third place games 4 See also 5 Notes 6 ReferencesLocations editRound Region Site Venue Host First Round East College Park Maryland Cole Field House Maryland East Kingston Rhode Island Keaney Gymnasium URI Mideast Kent Ohio Memorial Gymnasium Kent State Midwest amp West Salt Lake City Utah Nielsen Fieldhouse Utah Regionals East Raleigh North Carolina Reynolds Coliseum North Carolina State Mideast Lexington Kentucky Memorial Coliseum Kentucky Midwest Wichita Kansas WSU Field House Wichita State West Albuquerque New Mexico University Arena The Pit New Mexico Final Four Los Angeles California Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena USCTeams editRegion Team Coach Conference Finished Final Opponent Score East East Boston College Bob Cousy Independent First round St Bonaventure L 102 93 East Columbia John Rohan Ivy League Regional third place St Bonaventure W 95 75 East Davidson Lefty Driesell Southern Regional Runner up North Carolina L 70 66 East La Salle Jim Harding Middle Atlantic First round Columbia L 83 69 East North Carolina Dean Smith Atlantic Coast Runner Up UCLA L 78 55 East St Bonaventure Larry Weise Independent Regional Fourth Place Columbia L 95 75 East St John s Lou Carnesecca Independent First round Davidson L 79 70 Mideast Mideast Bowling Green Bill Fitch Mid American First round Marquette L 72 71 Mideast East Tennessee State J Madison Brooks Ohio Valley Regional Fourth Place Marquette L 69 57 Mideast Florida State Hugh Durham Independent First round East Tennessee State L 79 69 Mideast Kentucky Adolph Rupp Southeastern Regional Runner up Ohio State L 82 81 Mideast Marquette Al McGuire Independent Regional third place East Tennessee State W 69 57 Mideast Ohio State Fred Taylor Big Ten Third Place Houston W 89 85 Midwest Midwest Houston Guy Lewis Independent Fourth Place Ohio State L 89 85 Midwest Kansas State Tex Winter Big Eight Regional Fourth Place Louisville L 93 63 Midwest Louisville John Dromo Missouri Valley Regional third place Kansas State W 93 63 Midwest Loyola Chicago George Ireland Independent First round Houston L 94 76 Midwest TCU Johnny Swaim Southwest Regional Runner up Houston L 103 68 West West New Mexico Bob King Western Athletic Regional Fourth Place New Mexico State L 62 58 West New Mexico State Lou Henson Independent Regional third place New Mexico W 62 58 West Santa Clara Dick Garibaldi West Coast Athletic Regional Runner up UCLA L 87 66 West UCLA John Wooden AAWU Champion North Carolina W 78 55 West Weber State Dick Motta Big Sky First round New Mexico State L 68 57Bracket edit nbsp The 1968 tournament bracket as depicted in NCAA s monthly press newsletter Denotes overtime period East region edit QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals North Carolina91 St Bonaventure72 St Bonaventure102 Boston College93 North Carolina70 Davidson66 Davidson79 St John s70 Davidson61 Columbia59 Columbia83 La Salle69 Mideast region edit QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals Ohio State79 East Tennessee State72 East Tennessee State79 Florida State69 Ohio State82 Kentucky81 Kentucky107 Marquette89 Marquette72 Bowling Green71 Midwest region edit QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals TCU77 Kansas State72 TCU68 Houston103 Louisville75 Houston91 Houston94 Loyola Chicago76 West region edit QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals Santa Clara86 New Mexico73 Santa Clara66 UCLA87 UCLA58 New Mexico State49 New Mexico State68 Weber State57 Final Four edit National SemifinalsNational Championship Game ENorth Carolina80MEOhio State66ENorth Carolina55WUCLA78MWHouston69WUCLA101 National third place game edit National third place game MEOhio State89MWHouston85 Regional third place games edit East Regional third place Columbia95St Bonaventure75 Mideast Regional third place Marquette69East Tennessee State57 Midwest Regional third place Louisville93Kansas State63 West Regional third place New Mexico State62New Mexico58See also edit1968 NCAA College Division basketball tournament 1968 National Invitation Tournament 1968 NAIA Division I men s basketball tournamentNotes editThis would be the last year of the 23 team field as the field would stay at 25 teams for the next six seasons until the expansion of the field to 32 teams in the 1975 tournament Four teams East Tennessee State Florida State New Mexico and Weber State made their tournament debuts Weber State would return to the tournament for five consecutive seasons Florida State and New Mexico would not return until 1972 and 1974 respectively and East Tennessee State would not return for 21 seasons until 1989 Two teams Bowling Green and Columbia made their most recent tournament appearances in this tournament They are tied for the third longest active drought behind Tennessee Tech 1963 and Dartmouth 1959 and are currently tied for the fourth longest drought all time after Tennessee Tech Dartmouth and Harvard 1946 2012 66 years References edit Esper Dwain March 25 1968 Bruins Hope Norman Stays The Independent Pasadena California p 15 Retrieved July 22 2015 via Newspapers com nbsp Gasaway John June 7 2010 John Wooden s Century Basketball Prospectus Archived from the original on July 23 2015 Retrieved July 23 2015 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1968 NCAA University Division basketball tournament amp oldid 1215561323, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
