1972 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
| 1972 NCAA University Division Basketball Tournament |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 25 | ||||
| Finals site |
Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, California |
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| Champions |
UCLA (8th title, 8th title game, 9th Final Four) |
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| Runner-up |
Florida State (1st title game, 1st Final Four) |
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| Semifinalists |
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| Winning coach | John Wooden (8th title) | ||||
| MOP | Bill Walton UCLA | ||||
| Attendance | 147,304 | ||||
| Top scorer |
Jim Price Louisville (103 points) |
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The 1972 NCAA University Division Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of NCAA University Division (the predecessor to today's Division I) college basketball. It began on March 11, 1972, and ended with the championship game on March 25 in Los Angeles, California. A total of 29 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.
UCLA, coached by John Wooden, won the national title with an 81–76 victory in the final game over Florida State, coached by Hugh Durham. Bill Walton of UCLA was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
In a historically significant note, the University of Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns made the tournament in their first season of eligibility for postseason play. No school would repeat this feat in the men's tournament until North Dakota State in 2009. Southwestern Louisiana also made the tournament in 1973, but due to major infractions that resulted in the basketball program receiving the NCAA death penalty (and very nearly expelled from the NCAA altogether), both appearances have since been vacated and the records expunged.
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