1988 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

The 1988 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 50th annual edition of the tournament began on March 17, 1988, and ended with the championship game on April 4 returning to Kansas City for the 10th time. A total of 63 games were played.

1988 NCAA Division I
men's basketball tournament

Season	1987–88
Teams	64
Finals site	Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri
Champions	Kansas Jayhawks (2nd title, 5th title game, 8th Final Four)
Runner-up	Oklahoma Sooners (2nd title game, 3rd Final Four)
Semifinalists	Arizona Wildcats (1st Final Four) Duke Blue Devils (6th Final Four)
Winning coach	Larry Brown (1st title)
MOP	Danny Manning (Kansas)
Attendance	558,998
Top scorer	Danny Manning (Kansas) (163 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments «1987 1989»

Kansas, coached by Larry Brown, won the national title with an 83–79 victory in the final game over Big Eight Conference rival Oklahoma, coached by Billy Tubbs. As of 2023, this was the last national championship game to feature two schools from the same conference. Danny Manning of Kansas was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Even though the Final Four was contested 40 miles (64 km) from its campus in Lawrence, Kansas, Kansas was considered a long shot against the top rated Sooners because Oklahoma had previously defeated the Jayhawks twice by 8 points that season—at home in Norman, Oklahoma and on the road in Kansas' Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas's upset was the third biggest point-spread upset in Championship Game history. After this upset, the 1988 Kansas team was remembered as "Danny and the Miracles."

This was the first NCAA Tournament which barred teams from playing on their home courts, or in any facility in which it played four or more regular season games. The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee made this change after each of the previous two Final Fours featured a team which played its first and second-round games at home: LSU in 1986 (as a No. 11 seed) and Syracuse in 1987.

The team which was arguably hurt the most by the change was North Carolina, whose Dean Smith Center hosted for the first (and as of 2023, only) time. The Tar Heels were a No. 2 seed, but with the hosting ban now in effect, they were shipped to the West, where they were routed in the regional final by top seed Arizona. Archrival Duke was the No. 2 seed in the East and won its first two games at Chapel Hill on its way to the Final Four.

Schedule and venues

 

 

Atlanta

 

South Bend

 

Cincinnati

 

Hartford

 

Lincoln

 

Chapel Hill

 

Los Angeles

 

Salt Lake City

class=notpageimage|

1988 first and second rounds

 

 

Seattle

 

Pontiac

 

Birmingham

 

E. Rutherford

 

Kansas City

class=notpageimage|

1988 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1988 tournament:

First and Second Rounds

• March 17 and 19
  • East Region
    • Dean Smith Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Host: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
  • Midwest Region
    • Edmund P. Joyce Center, South Bend, Indiana (Host: University of Notre Dame)
  • Southeast Region
    • Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia (Host: Georgia Tech)
  • West Region
    • Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah (Host: University of Utah)
• March 18 and 20
  • East Region
    • Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut (Host: University of Connecticut)
  • Midwest Region
    • Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, Nebraska (Host: University of Nebraska-Lincoln)
  • Southeast Region
    • Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio (Hosts: University of Cincinnati, Xavier University)
  • West Region
    • Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, California (Host: UCLA)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 24 and 26
  • East Regional, Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey (Hosts: Seton Hall University, Big East Conference)
  • Southeast Regional, BJCC Coliseum, Birmingham, Alabama (Host: Southeastern Conference)
• March 25 and 27
  • Midwest Regional, Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan (Hosts: University of Detroit Mercy, Midwestern Collegiate Conference)
  • West Regional, Kingdome, Seattle, Washington (Host: University of Washington)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

• April 2 and 4
  • Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Big 8 Conference)

Teams

 

A ticket from the tournament's Final Four

Region	Seed	Team	Coach	Conference	Finished	Final opponent	Score
East
East	1	Temple	John Chaney	Atlantic 10	Regional Runner-up	2 Duke	L 63–53
East	2	Duke	Mike Krzyzewski	Atlantic Coast	National semifinals	6 Kansas	L 66–59
East	3	Syracuse	Jim Boeheim	Big East	Round of 32	11 Rhode Island	L 97–94
East	4	Indiana	Bob Knight	Big Ten	Round of 64	13 Richmond	L 72–69
East	5	Georgia Tech	Bobby Cremins	Atlantic Coast	Round of 32	13 Richmond	L 59–55
East	6	Missouri	Norm Stewart	Big Eight	Round of 64	11 Rhode Island	L 87–80
East	7	SMU	Dave Bliss	Southwest	Round of 32	2 Duke	L 94–79
East	8	Georgetown	John Thompson	Big East	Round of 32	1 Temple	L 74–53
East	9	LSU	Dale Brown	Southeastern	Round of 64	8 Georgetown	L 66–63
East	10	Notre Dame	Digger Phelps	Independent	Round of 64	7 SMU	L 83–75
East	11	Rhode Island	Tom Penders	Atlantic 10	Sweet Sixteen	2 Duke	L 73–72
East	12	Iowa State	Johnny Orr	Big Eight	Round of 64	5 Georgia Tech	L 90–78
East	13	Richmond	Dick Tarrant	Colonial	Sweet Sixteen	1 Temple	L 69–47
East	14	North Carolina A&T	Don Corbett	Mid-Eastern	Round of 64	3 Syracuse	L 69–55
East	15	Boston University	Mike Jarvis	ECAC North	Round of 64	2 Duke	L 85–69
East	16	Lehigh	Fran McCaffery	East Coast	Round of 64	1 Temple	L 87–73
Midwest
Midwest	1	Purdue	Gene Keady	Big Ten	Sweet Sixteen	4 Kansas State	L 73–70
Midwest	2	Pittsburgh	Paul Evans	Big East	Round of 32	7 Vanderbilt	L 80–74
Midwest	3	NC State	Jim Valvano	Atlantic Coast	Round of 64	14 Murray State	L 78–75
Midwest	4	Kansas State	Lon Kruger	Big Eight	Regional Runner-up	6 Kansas	L 71–58
Midwest	5	DePaul	Joey Meyer	Independent	Round of 32	4 Kansas State	L 66–58
Midwest	6	Kansas	Larry Brown	Big Eight	Champion	1 Oklahoma	W 83–79
Midwest	7	Vanderbilt	C. M. Newton	Southeastern	Sweet Sixteen	6 Kansas	L 77–64
Midwest	8	Baylor	Gene Iba	Southwest	Round of 64	9 Memphis State	L 75–60
Midwest	9	Memphis State	Larry Finch	Metro	Round of 32	1 Purdue	L 100–73
Midwest	10	Utah State	Rod Tueller	Pacific Coast	Round of 64	7 Vanderbilt	L 80–77
Midwest	11	Xavier	Pete Gillen	Midwestern	Round of 64	6 Kansas	L 85–72
Midwest	12	Wichita State	Eddie Fogler	Missouri Valley	Round of 64	5 DePaul	L 83–62
Midwest	13	La Salle	Speedy Morris	Metro Atlantic	Round of 64	4 Kansas State	L 66–53
Midwest	14	Murray State	Steve Newton	Ohio Valley	Round of 32	6 Kansas	L 61–58
Midwest	15	Eastern Michigan	Ben Braun	Mid-American	Round of 64	2 Pittsburgh	L 108–90
Midwest	16	Fairleigh Dickinson	Tom Green	ECAC Metro	Round of 64	1 Purdue	L 94–79
Southeast
Southeast	1	Oklahoma	Billy Tubbs	Big Eight	Runner Up	6 Kansas	L 83–79
Southeast	2	Kentucky (Vacated)	Eddie Sutton	Southeastern	Sweet Sixteen#	6 Villanova	L 80–74
Southeast	3	Illinois	Lou Henson	Big Ten	Round of 32	6 Villanova	L 66–63
Southeast	4	BYU	LaDell Andersen	Western Athletic	Round of 32	5 Louisville	L 97–76
Southeast	5	Louisville	Denny Crum	Metro	Sweet Sixteen	1 Oklahoma	L 108–98
Southeast	6	Villanova	Rollie Massimino	Big East	Regional Runner-up	1 Oklahoma	L 78–59
Southeast	7	Maryland	Bob Wade	Atlantic Coast	Round of 32	2 Kentucky	L 90–81
Southeast	8	Auburn	Sonny Smith	Southeastern	Round of 32	1 Oklahoma	L 107–87
Southeast	9	Bradley	Stan Albeck	Missouri Valley	Round of 64	8 Auburn	L 90–86
Southeast	10	UC Santa Barbara	Jerry Pimm	Pacific Coast	Round of 64	7 Maryland	L 92–82
Southeast	11	Arkansas	Nolan Richardson	Southwest	Round of 64	6 Villanova	L 82–74
Southeast	12	Oregon State	Ralph Miller	Pacific-10	Round of 64	5 Louisville	L 70–61
Southeast	13	Charlotte	Jeff Mullins	Sun Belt	Round of 64	4 BYU	L 98–92
Southeast	14	UTSA	Ken Burmeister	Trans America	Round of 64	3 Illinois	L 81–72
Southeast	15	Southern	Ben Jobe	Southwest Athletic	Round of 64	2 Kentucky	L 99–84
Southeast	16	Chattanooga	Mack McCarthy	Southern	Round of 64	1 Oklahoma	L 94–66
West
West	1	Arizona	Lute Olson	Pacific-10	National semifinals	1 Oklahoma	L 86–78
West	2	North Carolina	Dean Smith	Atlantic Coast	Regional Runner-up	1 Arizona	L 70–52
West	3	Michigan	Bill Frieder	Big Ten	Sweet Sixteen	2 North Carolina	L 78–69
West	4	UNLV	Jerry Tarkanian	Pacific Coast	Round of 32	5 Iowa	L 104–86
West	5	Iowa	Tom Davis	Big Ten	Sweet Sixteen	1 Arizona	L 99–79
West	6	Florida	Norm Sloan	Southeastern	Round of 32	3 Michigan	L 108–85
West	7	Wyoming	Benny Dees	Western Athletic	Round of 64	10 Loyola Marymount	L 119–115
West	8	Seton Hall	P.J. Carlesimo	Big East	Round of 32	1 Arizona	L 84–55
West	9	UTEP	Don Haskins	Western Athletic	Round of 64	8 Seton Hall	L 80–64
West	10	Loyola Marymount	Paul Westhead	West Coast	Round of 32	2 North Carolina	L 123–97
West	11	St. John's	Lou Carnesecca	Big East	Round of 64	6 Florida	L 62–59
West	12	Florida State	Pat Kennedy	Metro	Round of 64	5 Iowa	L 102–98
West	13	Southwest Missouri State	Charlie Spoonhour	Mid-Continent	Round of 64	4 UNLV	L 54–50
West	14	Boise State	Bobby Dye	Big Sky	Round of 64	3 Michigan	L 63–58
West	15	North Texas State	Jimmy Gales	Southland	Round of 64	2 North Carolina	L 83–65
West	16	Cornell	Mike Dement	Ivy League	Round of 64	1 Arizona	L 90–50

(#) Kentucky was later stripped of its two NCAA tournament wins due to an ineligible player.

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East Regional – East Rutherford, New Jersey

	First round					Quarter-finals					Regional semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Temple	87
	16	Lehigh	73
						1	Temple	74
	Hartford
						8	Georgetown	53
	8	Georgetown	66
	9	LSU	63
											1	Temple	69
											13	Richmond	47
	5	Georgia Tech	90
	12	Iowa State	78
						5	Georgia Tech	55
	Hartford
						13	Richmond	59
	4	Indiana	69
	13	Richmond	72
																1	Temple	53
																2	Duke	63
	6	Missouri	80
	11	Rhode Island	87
						11	Rhode Island	97
	Chapel Hill
						3	Syracuse	94
	3	Syracuse	69
	14	North Carolina A&T	55
											11	Rhode Island	72
											2	Duke	73
	7	SMU	83
	10	Notre Dame	75
						7	SMU	79
	Chapel Hill
						2	Duke	94
	2	Duke	85
	15	Boston University	69

Midwest Regional – Pontiac, Michigan

	First round					Quarter-finals					Regional semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Purdue	94
	16	Fairleigh Dickinson	79
						1	Purdue	100
	South Bend
						9	Memphis	73
	8	Baylor	60
	9	Memphis	75
											1	Purdue	70
											4	Kansas State	73
	5	DePaul	83
	12	Wichita State	62
						5	DePaul	58
	South Bend
						4	Kansas State	66
	4	Kansas State	66
	13	La Salle	53
																4	Kansas State	58
																6	Kansas	71
	6	Kansas	85
	11	Xavier	72
						6	Kansas	61
	Lincoln
						14	Murray State	58
	3	NC State	75
	14	Murray State	78
											6	Kansas	77
											7	Vanderbilt	64
	7	Vanderbilt	80
	10	Utah State	77
						7	Vanderbilt	80*
	Lincoln
						2	Pittsburgh	74
	2	Pittsburgh	108
	15	Eastern Michigan	90

Southeast Regional – Birmingham, Alabama

	First round					Quarter-finals					Regional semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Oklahoma	94
	16	Chattanooga	66
						1	Oklahoma	107
	Atlanta
						8	Auburn	87
	8	Auburn	90
	9	Bradley	86
											1	Oklahoma	108
											5	Louisville	98
	5	Louisville	70
	12	Oregon State	61
						5	Louisville	97
	Atlanta
						4	BYU	76
	4	BYU	98*
	13	Charlotte	92
																1	Oklahoma	78
																6	Villanova	59
	6	Villanova	82
	11	Arkansas	74
						6	Villanova	66
	Cincinnati
						3	Illinois	63
	3	Illinois	81
	14	UTSA	72
											6	Villanova	80
											2	Kentucky	74
	7	Maryland	92
	10	UC Santa Barbara	82
						7	Maryland	81
	Cincinnati
						2	Kentucky#	90
	2	Kentucky#	99
	15	Southern	84

(#) Kentucky was later stripped of its two NCAA tournament wins due to an ineligible player.

West Regional – Seattle, Washington

	First round					Quarter-finals					Regional semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Arizona	90
	16	Cornell	50
						1	Arizona	84
	Los Angeles
						8	Seton Hall	55
	8	Seton Hall	80
	9	UTEP	64
											1	Arizona	99
											5	Iowa	79
	5	Iowa	102
	12	Florida State	98
						5	Iowa	104
	Los Angeles
						4	UNLV	86
	4	UNLV	54
	13	Southwest Missouri State	50
																1	Arizona	70
																2	North Carolina	52
	6	Florida	62
	11	St. John's	59
						6	Florida	85
	Salt Lake City
						3	Michigan	108
	3	Michigan	63
	14	Boise State	58
											3	Michigan	69
											2	North Carolina	78
	7	Wyoming	115
	10	Loyola Marymount	119
						10	Loyola Marymount	97
	Salt Lake City
						2	North Carolina	123
	2	North Carolina	83
	15	North Texas State	65

Final Four – Kansas City, Missouri

	National semifinals					National Championship Game
	E2	Duke	59
	M6	Kansas	66
						M6	Kansas	83
						S1	Oklahoma	79
	S1	Oklahoma	86
	W1	Arizona	78

Game summaries

Final Four April 2

Box Score

Kansas Jayhawks 66, Duke Blue Devils 59
Scoring by half: 38–27, 28–32
Pts: Danny Manning 25 Rebs: Danny Manning 10 Asts: Kevin Pritchard 5		Pts: Danny Ferry 19 Rebs: Danny Ferry 12 Asts: Quin Snyder 5
Kansas advances to Championship Game

Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri Attendance: 16,392 Referees: Booker Turner, Jim Burr, Larry Lembo

Final Four April 2

Box Score

Arizona Wildcats 78, Oklahoma Sooners 86
Scoring by half: 27–39, 51–47
Pts: Sean Elliott 31 Rebs: Tom Tolbert 13 Asts: Steve Kerr 5		Pts: Mookie Blaylock/Harvey Grant 21 Rebs: Harvey Grant 10 Asts: Ricky Grace 8
Oklahoma advances to Championship game

Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri Attendance: 16,392

Main article: 1988 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game

Announcers

Television

CBS Sports

• Jim Nantz & James Brown served as studio hosts.
• Brent Musburger and Billy Packer – first round (Florida–St. John's) at Salt Lake City, Utah; second round at Hartford, Connecticut and Chapel Hill, North Carolina; West Regional at Seattle, Washington; Final Four at Kansas City, Missouri
• Tim Brant and Bill Raftery – First (UNLV–SW Missouri State) and Second Rounds at Los Angeles, California; East Regional at East Rutherford, New Jersey
• Dick Stockton and Billy Cunningham – second round at Lincoln, Nebraska and Salt Lake City, Utah; Southeast Regional at Birmingham, Alabama
• Verne Lundquist and Tom Heinsohn – second round at Cincinnati, Ohio and South Bend, Indiana; Midwest Regional at Pontiac, Michigan
• Tim Ryan and Curry Kirkpatrick – second round at Atlanta, Georgia

ESPN and NCAA Productions

• John Saunders (NCAA Tournament Today) and Bob Ley (NCAA Tournament Tonight) served as studio hosts and Dick Vitale served as studio analyst.
• Mike Gorman and Ron Perry – first round (Temple–Lehigh, Georgia Tech–Iowa State) at Hartford, Connecticut
• Bob Carpenter and Dan Belluomini – first round (Indiana–Richmond, Georgetown–LSU) at Hartford, Connecticut
• Ralph Hacker and Bucky Waters – first round (Duke–Boston University, Missouri–Rhode Island) at Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• Bob Rathbun and Dan Bonner – first round (Syracuse–North Carolina A&T, SMU–Notre Dame) at Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• Fred White and Larry Conley – first round (Oklahoma–Chattanooga, Louisville–Oregon State) at Atlanta, Georgia
• Mike Patrick and Bob Ortegel – first round (Brigham Young–Charlotte, Auburn–Bradley) at Atlanta, Georgia
• Tom Hammond and Mike Pratt – first round (Kentucky–Southern, Illinois–UTSA) at Cincinnati, Ohio
• Mick Hubert and Jack Givens – first round (Villanova–Arkansas, Maryland–UC Santa Barbara) at Cincinnati, Ohio
• Eddie Doucette and John Laskowski – first round (Purdue–Fairleigh Dickinson, Kansas State–La Salle) at South Bend, Indiana
• Wayne Larrivee and Jim Gibbons – first round (DePaul–Wichita State, Baylor–Memphis State) at South Bend, Indiana
• Ron Franklin and Quinn Buckner – first round (Pittsburgh–Eastern Michigan, N.C. State–Murray State) at Lincoln, Nebraska
• John Sanders and Gary Thompson – first round (Kansas–Xavier, Vanderbilt–Utah State) at Lincoln, Nebraska
• Pete Solomon and Derrek Dickey – first round (Arizona–Cornell) at Los Angeles, California
• Phil Stone and Lynn Shackelford – first round (Iowa–Florida State, Seton Hall–UTEP) at Los Angeles, California
• Ted Robinson and Bruce Larson – first round (North Carolina–North Texas) at Salt Lake City, Utah
• Frank Fallon and Bruce Larson – first round (Michigan–Boise State) at Salt Lake City, Utah
• Frank Fallon and Irv Brown – first round (Wyoming–Loyola Marymount) at Salt Lake City, Utah

See also

• 1988 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament
• 1988 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament
• 1988 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 1988 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 1988 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament
• 1988 National Invitation Tournament
• 1988 National Women's Invitation Tournament
• 1988 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 1988 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament