1980 NCAA Division I basketball championship game

The 1980 NCAA Division I Basketball Championship Game was the finals of the 1980 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament and it determined the national champion for the 1979-80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The 1980 National Title Game was played on March 24, 1980, at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. The 1980 National Title Game was played between the 1980 Midwest Regional Champions, Louisville and the 1980 West Regional Champions, UCLA.

1980 NCAA Tournament Championship Game

National championship game
UCLA Bruins Louisville Cardinals (22–9) (32–3) 54 59 Head coach: Larry Brown Head coach: Denny Crum
AP: NR Coaches: NR AP: 2 Coaches: 4
1st half 2nd half Total UCLA Bruins 28 26 54 Louisville Cardinals 26 33 59
Date	March 24, 1980
Venue	Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana
MVP	Darrell Griffith, Louisville
Favorite	Louisville
United States TV coverage
Network	NBC
Announcers	Dick Enberg (play-by-play) Billy Packer and Al McGuire (color) John Wooden (color)
← 1979 1981 →

Participating teams

UCLA

Main article: 1979–80 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

• West
  • UCLA (8) 87, Old Dominion (9) 74
  • UCLA 77, DePaul (1) 71
  • UCLA 72, Ohio State (4) 68
  • UCLA 85, Clemson (6) 74
• Final Four
  • UCLA 67, Purdue (6) 62

Louisville

Main article: 1979–80 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

• Midwest
  • Louisville (2) 71, Kansas State (7) 69 (OT)
  • Louisville 66, Texas A&M (6) 55 (OT)
  • Louisville 86, LSU (1) 66
• Final Four
  • Louisville 80, Iowa (5) 72

Starting lineups

UCLA	Position		Louisville
Michael Holton 3	G		Jerry Eaves 3
Rod Foster 2	G		† Darrell Griffith 1
James Wilkes 3	F		Derek Smith 2
Kiki Vandeweghe 1	F		Wiley Brown
Mike Sanders 4	C		Rodney McCray 1
† 1980 Consensus First Team All-American
Players selected in an NBA draft  (number indicates round)

Source^[1]

Game summary

NBC

March 24

Box Score

UCLA 54, Louisville 59
Scoring by half: 28–26, 26–33
Pts: Rod Foster 16 Rebs: Kiki Vandeweghe 7 Asts: Rod Foster 5		Pts: Darrell Griffith 23 Rebs: Rodney McCray 11 Asts: 3 tied with 3

References

1. "UCLA vs. Louisville Box Score, March 24, 1980". Sports Reference. Retrieved January 16, 2023.