1946 NCAA Basketball Tournament
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (January 2022) |
Teams | 8 | ||||
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Finals site | Madison Square Garden New York City | ||||
Champions | Oklahoma A&M Aggies (2nd title, 2nd title game, 2nd Final Four) | ||||
Runner-up | North Carolina Tar Heels (1st title game, 1st Final Four) | ||||
Semifinalists |
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Winning coach | Henry Iba (2nd title) | ||||
MOP | Bob Kurland (Oklahoma A&M) | ||||
Attendance | 73,116 | ||||
Top scorer | Bob Kurland Oklahoma A&M (72 points) | ||||
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The 1946 NCAA Basketball Tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 21, 1946, and ended with the championship game on March 26 in New York City. A total of 10 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.
Oklahoma A&M, coached by Henry Iba, won the national title with a 43–40 victory in the final game over North Carolina, coached by Ben Carnevale. Bob Kurland of Oklahoma A&M was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
This was the first tournament to have four teams advance to the final site, though not the first to have a true "Final Four" format (that would not occur until 1952). The two regional losers played in the national third-place game, while the two winners played for the championship. The third place game would continue through the 1981 tournament.
Locations[]
The following were the sites which hosted each round of the 1946 tournament:
Regionals[]
- March 21 and 23
- East Regional, Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
- March 22 and 23
- West Regional, Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri
Championship Game[]
- March 26
- Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Teams[]
Region | Team | Coach | Conference | Finished | Final Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
East | ||||||
East | Harvard | Floyd Stahl | EIBL | Regional Fourth Place | NYU | L 67–61 |
East | NYU | Howard Cann | Middle Atlantic | Regional Third Place | Harvard | W 67–61 |
East | North Carolina | Ben Carnevale | Southern Conference | Runner Up | Oklahoma A&M | L 43–40 |
East | Ohio State | Harold Olsen | Big Ten | Third Place | California | W 63–45 |
West | ||||||
West | Baylor | Bill Henderson | Southwest | Regional Fourth Place | Colorado | L 59–44 |
West | California | Nibs Price | Pacific Coast | Fourth Place | Ohio State | L 63–45 |
West | Colorado | Frosty Cox | Skyline | Regional Third Place | Baylor | W 59–44 |
West | Oklahoma A&M | Henry Iba | Missouri Valley | Champion | North Carolina | W 43–40 |
Bracket[]
* – Denotes overtime period
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | |||||||||||
Ohio State | 46 | ||||||||||||
Harvard | 38 | ||||||||||||
Ohio State | 57* | ||||||||||||
North Carolina | 60 | ||||||||||||
North Carolina | 57 | ||||||||||||
NYU | 49 | ||||||||||||
North Carolina | 40 | ||||||||||||
Oklahoma A&M | 43 | ||||||||||||
Oklahoma A&M | 44 | ||||||||||||
Baylor | 29 | ||||||||||||
Oklahoma A&M | 52 | Third place | |||||||||||
California | 35 | ||||||||||||
California | 50 | Ohio State | 63 | ||||||||||
Colorado | 44 | California | 45 |
Regional Third Place Games[]
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See also[]
References[]
- ^ "1946 NCAA Basketball Tournament". College Basketball Reference. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
- NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
- 1945–46 NCAA men's basketball season