1981 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament

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1981 NCAA Division I
Basketball Tournament

Season	1980–81
Teams	48
Finals site	The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Champions	Indiana Hoosiers (4th title, 4th title game, 5th Final Four)
Runner-up	North Carolina Tar Heels (5th title game, 8th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Virginia Cavaliers (1st Final Four) LSU Tigers (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 Division I Men's Tournaments «1980 1982»

The 1981 NCAA 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. 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. Additionally, it was the last season in which the NCAA sponsored championships only in men's sports; the first Division I Women's Tournament would be played 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.

The March 14 upsets[]

The date of Saturday, March 14, 1981, resulted in three major second round tournament upsets which were decided by last-second baskets.

St. Joseph's trailed No. 1 seed DePaul by seven at about the midway point of the second half, in an early afternoon Mideast Region game from Dayton, Ohio. However, with 48 seconds left, the Hawks had rallied to within 48–47. Blue Demons guard Skip Dillard was fouled with 13 seconds left. Dillard was known as 'Money' for his superb free throw shooting, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, and St. Joseph's got the rebound, then quickly passed the ball to the front court without calling a timeout. Guard Bryan Warrick got the ball to freshman Lonnie McFarlan who was wide open in the right corner. McFarlan began to shoot until forward John Smith yelled "Please!" to him. McFarlan passed to Smith, who was open underneath the basket. Smith's layup with two seconds left enabled the Hawks of coach Jim Lynam to stun the Blue Demons of Ray Meyer, 49–48.

Later in the afternoon in Austin, Texas, Arkansas coach Eddie Sutton called timeout with 5 seconds left after falling behind Louisville in the Midwest Region, 73–72 on a jumper by guard Derek Smith. Sutton told his team to get the ball to U.S. Reed. The Razorbacks' guard dribbled to near half court, then launched a 49-foot shot that beat the buzzer and swished through the net, as Arkansas dethroned the defending national champion Cardinals of Denny Crum, 74–73. Sutton told the media, "Champions die hard."

Only moments after the Razorbacks' upset, the season ended for another #1 seed in the West Region in Los Angeles. Oregon State led Kansas State by as much as 11 points in the second half. Coach Ralph Miller and center Steve Johnson had led the Beavers to a two-year record of 52–4. Then Rolando Blackman led the Wildcats back with a 16-6 run to tie the game, 48–48 with 3:23 left. Johnson then fouled out, and both teams stalled with the ball until Oregon State missed the front end of a one-and-one from the foul line. K-State then held for the last shot. With two seconds left, Blackman, double-teamed, drilled a fall-away 17 footer from the right baseline for a 50–48 upset by the Wildcats of Jack Hartman.

In another second round Mideast Region upset, UAB defeated Kentucky 69–62. A semifinal in the East Region saw Danny Ainge dribble the length of the court and drive all the way in for a layup and another buzzer-beating winner, lifting BYU over Notre Dame 51–50.

Greg Johnson of NCAA.com, in a March 9, 2011 article, indicated that March 14, 1981 was a date which defined March Madness.^[1][2]

Schedule and venues[]

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1981 tournament:

First and Second Rounds

• March 12 and 14
  • East Region
    • Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island
  • Mideast Region
    • University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio
  • Midwest Region
    • Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas
  • West Region
    • Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, California
• March 13 and 15
  • East Region
    • Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina
  • Mideast Region
    • Memorial Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
  • Midwest Region
    • Levitt Arena, Wichita, Kansas
  • West Region
    • Special Events Center, El Paso, Texas

Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 19 and 21
  • East Regional, Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia
  • West Regional, Special Events Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
• March 20 and 22
  • Mideast Regional, Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana
  • Midwest Regional, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

National Semifinals and Championship (Final Four and Championship)

• March 28 and 30
  • The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Spectrum in Philadelphia hosted its second Final Four, both of which were won by Indiana. New Orleans hosted its second regional, the first at the Superdome and first in the city since 1942. This tournament would be the last until 2021 for Indiana's Assembly Hall to be host to tournament games. This also marked only the second year ever to feature a domed stadium, and an NFL stadium; only four times since (1983, 1985, 1994, and 2018) has the tournament not included any NFL stadiums, and only in 1985 did it not include any domes at all. Two cities, Austin and El Paso, hosted Tournament games for the first time; it would be the only time El Paso would host tournament games and Austin would once again be host in 1990.

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 BYU	L 51–50
East	3	UCLA	Larry Brown	Round of 32	6 BYU	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	BYU	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 BYU	L 60–51
East	12	Long Island		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 UAB	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	UAB	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 UAB	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		Round of 48	6 Wichita State	L 95–70
Midwest	12	Mercer		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		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		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	BYU	60
	6	BYU	60
	11	Princeton	51
						6	BYU	78
						3	UCLA	55
											6	BYU	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	Saint Joseph's	59
						9	Saint Joseph's	49
						1	DePaul	48
											9	Saint Joseph's	42
											5	Boston College	41
						4	Wake Forest	64
						5	Boston College	67
	5	Boston College	93
	12	Ball State	90
																9	Saint Joseph's	46
																3	Indiana	78
	6	Maryland	81
	11	Chattanooga	69
						6	Maryland	64
						3	Indiana	99
											3	Indiana	87
											7	UAB	72
						2	Kentucky	62
						7	UAB	69
	7	UAB	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	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.

Announcers (NBC and NCAA Productions)[]

• Dick Enberg, Billy Packer and Al McGuire – Second Round at Providence, Rhode Island (UCLA–Brigham Young, Notre Dame–James Madison); Second Round at Charlotte, North Carolina (Virginia–Villanova, Tennessee–VCU); East Regional Final at Atlanta, Georgia; Midwest Regional Final at New Orleans, Louisiana; Final Four at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Marv Albert and – Mideast Regional Final at Bloomington, Indiana
• Don Criqui and Gary Thompson – Second Round at Dayton, Ohio (DePaul–St. Joseph's, Indiana–Maryland); West Regionals at Salt Lake City, Utah
• Bill O'Donnell and Jeff Mullins – East Regional Semifinals at Atlanta, Georgia
• and – Mideast Regional Semifinals at Bloomington, Indiana
• Fred White and Larry Conley – Midwest Regional Semifinals at New Orleans, Louisiana
• Bob Costas and Gary Thompson – Second Round at Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Kentucky–UAB, Wake Forest–Boston College)
• Marv Albert and Bucky Waters – Second Round at Austin, Texas (LSU–Lamar, Louisville–Arkansas)
• Charlie Jones and Lynn Shackelford – Second Round at Wichita, Kansas (Iowa–Wichita State, Arizona State–Kansas)
• Jay Randolph and �� Second Round at Los Angeles, California (Oregon State–Kansas State, Illinois–Wyoming)
• Merle Harmon and Matt Guokas – Second Round at El Paso, Texas (Utah–Northeastern, North Carolina–Pittsburgh)
• Tom Hammond and Larry Conley – First Round at Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Boston College–Ball State, UAB–Western Kentucky)

See also[]

• 1981 NCAA Division II Basketball Tournament
• 1981 NCAA Division III Basketball Tournament
• 1981 National Invitation Tournament
• 1981 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
• 1981 NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament
• 1981 National Women's Invitation Tournament

References[]