1981 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

1981 NCAA Men's Division I
Basketball Tournament

Season	1980–81
Teams	48
Finals site	The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Champions	Indiana (4th title, 4th title game, 5th Final Four)
Runner-up	North Carolina (5th title game, 8th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Virginia (1st Final Four) LSU (2nd Final Four)
Winning coach	Bob Knight (2nd title)
MOP	Isiah Thomas (Indiana)
Attendance	347,414
Top scorer	Al Wood North Carolina (109 points)
NCAA Men's Division I Tournaments «1980 1982»

The 1981 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 1981, and ended with the championship game on March 30 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A total of 48 games were played, including a national third place game (the last in the NCAA tournament). It was also the last tournament to be televised on NBC, before CBS took over the following year.

Indiana, coached by Bob Knight, won the national title with a 63-50 victory over North Carolina, coached by Dean Smith. Isiah Thomas of Indiana was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Locations

Charlotte

Austin

El Paso

Dayton

Los Angeles

Providence

Tuscaloosa

Wichita

1981 sites for first and second round games

Atlanta

New Orleans

Bloomington

Salt Lake City

Philadelphia

1981 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

First and Second Rounds

• Austin, Texas (Frank Erwin Center)
• Charlotte, North Carolina (Charlotte Coliseum)
• Dayton, Ohio (University of Dayton Arena)
• El Paso, Texas (Special Events Center)
• Los Angeles, California (Pauley Pavilion)
• Providence, Rhode Island (Providence Civic Center)
• Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Memorial Coliseum)
• Wichita, Kansas (Henry Levitt Arena)

Later Rounds

Region	Site
East	Atlanta, Georgia (Omni Coliseum)
Mideast	Bloomington, Indiana (Assembly Hall)
Midwest	New Orleans, Louisiana (Louisiana Superdome)
West	Salt Lake City, Utah (Special Events Center)
Finals	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (The Spectrum)

Teams

Region	Seed	Team	Coach	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	1	Virginia	Terry Holland	Third Place	1 LSU	W 78-74
East	2	Notre Dame	Digger Phelps	Sweet Sixteen	6 Brigham Young	L 51-50
East	3	UCLA	Larry Brown	Round of 32	6 Brigham Young	L 78-55
East	4	Tennessee	Don DeVoe	Sweet Sixteen	1 Virginia	L 62-48
East	5	VCU	J. D. Barnett	Round of 32	4 Tennessee	L 58-56
East	6	Brigham Young	Frank Arnold	Regional Runner-up	1 Virginia	L 74-60
East	7	Georgetown	John Thompson	Round of 48	10 James Madison	L 61-55
East	8	Houston	Guy Lewis	Round of 48	9 Villanova	L 90-72
East	9	Villanova	Rollie Massimino	Round of 32	1 Virginia	L 54-50
East	10	James Madison	Lou Campanelli	Round of 32	2 Notre Dame	L 54-45
East	11	Princeton	Pete Carril	Round of 48	6 Brigham Young	L 60-51
East	12	LIU-Brooklyn	Paul Lizzo	Round of 48	5 VCU	L 85-69
Mideast
Mideast	1	DePaul	Ray Meyer	Round of 32	9 Saint Joseph's	L 49-48
Mideast	2	Kentucky	Joe B. Hall	Round of 32	7 Alabama-Birmingham	L 69-62
Mideast	3	Indiana	Bob Knight	Champion	2 North Carolina	W 63-50
Mideast	4	Wake Forest	Carl Tacy	Round of 32	5 Boston College	L 67-64
Mideast	5	Boston College	Tom Davis	Sweet Sixteen	9 Saint Joseph's	L 42-41
Mideast	6	Maryland	Lefty Driesell	Round of 32	3 Indiana	L 99-64
Mideast	7	Alabama-Birmingham	Gene Bartow	Sweet Sixteen	3 Indiana	L 87-72
Mideast	8	Creighton	Tom Apke	Round of 48	9 Saint Joseph's	L 59-57
Mideast	9	Saint Joseph's	Jim Lynam	Regional Runner-up	3 Indiana	L 78-46
Mideast	10	Western Kentucky	Clem Haskins	Round of 48	7 Alabama-Birmingham	L 93-68
Mideast	11	Chattanooga	Murray Arnold	Round of 48	6 Maryland	L 81-69
Mideast	12	Ball State	Steve Yoder	Round of 48	5 Boston College	L 93-90
Midwest
Midwest	1	LSU	Dale Brown	Fourth Place	1 Virginia	L 78-74
Midwest	2	Arizona State	Ned Wulk	Round of 32	7 Kansas	L 88-71
Midwest	3	Iowa	Lute Olson	Round of 32	6 Wichita State	L 60-56
Midwest	4	Louisville	Denny Crum	Round of 32	5 Arkansas	L 74-73
Midwest	5	Arkansas	Eddie Sutton	Sweet Sixteen	1 LSU	L 72-56
Midwest	6	Wichita State	Gene Smithson	Regional Runner-up	1 LSU	L 96-85
Midwest	7	Kansas	Ted Owens	Sweet Sixteen	6 Wichita State	L 66-65
Midwest	8	Lamar	Pat Foster	Round of 32	1 LSU	L 100-78
Midwest	9	Missouri	Norm Stewart	Round of 48	8 Lamar	L 71-67
Midwest	10	Ole Miss	Bob Weltlich	Round of 48	7 Kansas	L 69-66
Midwest	11	Southern	Carl Stewart	Round of 48	6 Wichita State	L 95-70
Midwest	12	Mercer	Bill Bibb	Round of 48	5 Arkansas	L 73-67
West
West	1	Oregon State	Ralph Miller	Round of 32	8 Kansas State	L 50-48
West	2	North Carolina	Dean Smith	Runner Up	3 Indiana	L 63-50
West	3	Utah	Jerry Pimm	Sweet Sixteen	2 North Carolina	L 61-56
West	4	Illinois	Lou Henson	Sweet Sixteen	8 Kansas State	L 57-52
West	5	Wyoming	Jim Brandenburg	Round of 32	4 Illinois	L 67-65
West	6	Fresno State	Boyd Grant	Round of 48	11 Northeastern	L 55-53
West	7	Idaho	Don Monson	Round of 48	10 Pittsburgh	L 70-69
West	8	Kansas State	Jack Hartman	Regional Runner-up	2 North Carolina	L 82-68
West	9	San Francisco	Peter Barry	Round of 48	8 Kansas State	L 64-60
West	10	Pittsburgh	Roy Chipman	Round of 32	2 North Carolina	L 74-57
West	11	Northeastern	Jim Calhoun	Round of 32	3 Utah	L 94-69
West	12	Howard	A.B. Williamson	Round of 48	5 Wyoming	L 78-43

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East region

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	8	Houston	72
	9	Villanova	90
						9	Villanova	50
						1	Virginia	54
											1	Virginia	62
										4	Tennessee	48
						4	Tennessee	58
						5	VCU	56*
	5	VCU	85
	12	Long Island	69
																1	Virginia	74
																6	Brigham Young	60
	6	Brigham Young	60
	11	Princeton	51
						6	Brigham Young	78
						3	UCLA	55
											6	Brigham Young	51
										2	Notre Dame	50
						2	Notre Dame	54
						10	James Madison	45
	7	Georgetown	55
	10	James Madison	61

West region

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	8	Kansas State	64
	9	San Francisco	60
						8	Kansas State	50
						1	Oregon State	48
											8	Kansas State	57
										4	Illinois	52
						4	Illinois	67
						5	Wyoming	65
	5	Wyoming	78
	12	Howard	43
																8	Kansas State	68
																2	North Carolina	82
	6	Fresno State	53
	11	Northeastern	55
						11	Northeastern	69
						3	Utah	94
											3	Utah	56
										2	North Carolina	61
						2	North Carolina	74
						10	Pittsburgh	57
	7	Idaho	69*
	10	Pittsburgh	70

Mideast region

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	8	Creighton	57
	9	St. Joseph's	59
						9	St. Joseph's	49
						1	DePaul	48
											9	St. Joseph's	42
										5	Boston College	41
						4	Wake Forest	64
						5	Boston College	67
	5	Boston College	93
	12	Ball State	90
																9	St. Joseph's	46
																3	Indiana	78
	6	Maryland	81
	11	Tennessee-Chattanooga	69
						6	Maryland	64
						3	Indiana	99
											3	Indiana	87
										7	Alabama-Birmingham	72
						2	Kentucky	62
						7	Alabama-Birmingham	69
	7	Alabama-Birmingham	93
	10	Western Kentucky	68

Midwest region

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	8	Lamar	71
	9	Missouri	67
						8	Lamar	78
						1	LSU	100
											1	LSU	72
										5	Arkansas	56
						4	Louisville	73
						5	Arkansas	74
	5	Arkansas	73
	12	Mercer	67
																1	LSU	96
																6	Wichita State	85
	6	Wichita State	95
	11	Southern-BR	70
						6	Wichita State	60
						3	Iowa	56
											6	Wichita State	66
										7	Kansas	65
						2	Arizona State	71
						7	Kansas	88
	7	Kansas	69
	10	Ole Miss	66

Final Four

	National Semifinals					National Finals
	E1	Virginia	65
	W2	North Carolina	78
						W2	North Carolina	50
						ME3	Indiana	63
	ME3	Indiana	67
	MW1	LSU	49			National Third Place Game
						E1	Virginia	78
						MW1	LSU	74

NOTES: 1. This was the last tournament that a third place game was staged prior to the national championship. 2. Both the third place and national championship games were delayed following the assassination attempt by John Hinckley, Jr. on President Ronald Reagan.

NBC Announcers

• Dick Enberg, Billy Packer and Al McGuire
• Don Criqui or Bob Costas and Gary Thompson
• Marv Albert and Bucky Waters
• Jay Randolph and Steve Grote
• Charlie Jones and Lynn Shackelford
• Merle Harmon and Matt Goukas

See also

• 1981 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament