Wikipedia

1991 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

See also: 1991 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game

The 1991 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. It began on March 14, 1991, and ended with the championship game on April 1 in Indianapolis, Indiana. A total of 63 games were played.

1991 NCAA Division I
men's basketball tournament
Season1990–91
Teams64
Finals siteHoosier Dome
Indianapolis, Indiana
ChampionsDuke Blue Devils (1st title, 5th title game,
9th Final Four)
Runner-upKansas Jayhawks (6th title game,
9th Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coachMike Krzyzewski (1st title)
MOPChristian Laettner (Duke)
Attendance665,707
Top scorerChristian Laettner (Duke)
(125 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments
«1990 1992»

Duke, coached by Mike Krzyzewski, won a rematch of the previous year's national final matchup against undefeated UNLV 79–77 in the semifinal,[1] then won the national title with a 72–65 victory in the final game over Kansas, coached by Roy Williams.[2] This was the first national championship game for Williams as a head coach. Kansas defeated Williams' mentor Dean Smith and North Carolina (where Williams later coached) in the semifinal. Kansas made its second trip to the national championship game in four seasons, the prior appearance being 1988 when they defeated Oklahoma. Christian Laettner of Duke was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

This tournament marked the first time a #15 seed upset a #2 seed since the tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1985, when Richmond accomplished against Syracuse in the East region. In addition, for the first time ever, at least one team seeded #9 through #15 won a first-round game. This feat would be followed in 2013, 2016, and 2021.

This tournament adopted the NBA's 10ths-second timer during the final minute of each period in all arenas.

Schedule and venues

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Atlanta
 
College Park
 
Louisville
 
Dayton
 
Syracuse
 
Minneapolis
 
Tucson
 
Salt Lake City
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1991 first and second rounds
 
 
Seattle
 
Charlotte
 
Pontiac
 
E. Rutherford
 
Indianapolis
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1991 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1991 tournament:

First and Second Rounds

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

Teams

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There were 26 automatic bids awarded to the tournament - of these, 23 were given to the winners of their conference's tournament, while three were awarded to the team with the best regular-season record in their conference (Big Ten, Ivy League and Pac-10). Another 35 bids were awarded by the NCAA tournament committee at-large to the best teams in the nation not already qualified.

The Big Eight was eligible for an automatic bid to the tournament, but their conference tournament was won by Missouri, who were on probation and ineligible for the NCAA tournament.[3] No automatic bid was awarded to the Big Eight.

Play-in Games

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The remaining three bids were decided by play-in games between the six lowest-rated conferences in the nation. These matchups, which were decided prior to the season, paired the tournament champions of the six lowest-rated conferences in the nation in games played at campus sites:[4]

Unlike the later Opening Round and First Four games, the play-in games were not considered part of the NCAA tournament. This meant that the winners of these games were not credited with an NCAA tournament win, and only the teams that advanced to the field of 64 were credited with an NCAA tournament appearance.

All three games were played on March 6, 1991.

NEC-Patriot Play-in
Loretto, Pennsylvania
  
Fordham 64
Saint Francis (PA) 70
Southland-MEAC Play-in
Monroe, Louisiana
  
Florida A&M 63
Northeast Louisiana 87
SWAC-Big South Play-in
Jackson, Mississippi
  
Coastal Carolina 78
Jackson State 59

Automatic qualifiers

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Five conference champions made their first NCAA tournament appearances: Coastal Carolina (Big South), Georgia State (TAAC), Green Bay (Mid-Continent), Saint Francis (PA) (NEC), and Saint Peter's (MAAC).

Automatic qualifiers
Conference Team Appearance Last bid
ACC North Carolina 25th 1990
American South Louisiana Tech 5th 1989
Atlantic 10 Penn State 6th 1965
Big East Seton Hall 3rd 1989
Big Sky Montana 2nd 1975
Big Ten Ohio State 17th 1990
Big West UNLV 12th 1990
CAA Richmond 5th 1990
East Coast Towson State 2nd 1990
Ivy League Princeton 17th 1990
MAAC Saint Peter's 1st Never
MAC Eastern Michigan 2nd 1988
MCC Xavier 8th 1990
Metro Florida State 7th 1989
Mid-Continent Green Bay 1st Never
Missouri Valley Creighton 9th 1989
NAC Northeastern 7th 1987
Ohio Valley Murray State 5th 1990
Pac-10 Arizona 10th 1990
SEC Alabama 10th 1990
Southern East Tennessee State 4th 1990
Sun Belt South Alabama 4th 1989
SWC Arkansas 17th 1990
TAAC Georgia State 1st Never
WAC BYU 15th 1990
West Coast Pepperdine 9th 1986
Big South–SWAC Play-in Coastal Carolina 1st Never
MEAC–Southland Play-in Northeast Louisiana 4th 1990
Patriot–NEC Play-in Saint Francis (PA) 1st Never

Tournament seeds

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East Regional – Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Seed School Conference Record Berth type
1 North Carolina ACC 25–5 Automatic
2 Syracuse Big East 26–5 At-Large
3 Oklahoma State Big Eight 22–7 At-Large
4 UCLA Pac-10 23–8 At-Large
5 Mississippi State SEC 20–8 At-Large
6 NC State ACC 19–10 At-Large
7 Purdue Big Ten 17–11 At-Large
8 Princeton Ivy League 24–2 Automatic
9 Villanova Big East 16–14 At-Large
10 Temple Atlantic 10 21–9 At-Large
11 Southern Miss Metro 21–7 At-Large
12 Eastern Michigan MAC 24–6 Automatic
13 Penn State Atlantic 10 20–10 Automatic
14 New Mexico WAC 20–9 At-Large
15 Richmond CAA 21–9 Automatic
16 Northeastern NAC 22–10 Automatic
Midwest Regional – Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan
Seed School Conference Record Berth type
1 Ohio State Big Ten 25–3 Automatic
2 Duke ACC 26–7 At-Large
3 Nebraska Big Eight 26–7 At-Large
4 St. John's Big East 20–8 At-Large
5 Texas SWC 22–8 At-Large
6 LSU SEC 20–9 At-Large
7 Iowa Big Ten 20–10 At-Large
8 Georgia Tech ACC 16–12 At-Large
9 DePaul Independent 20–8 At-Large
10 East Tennessee State Southern 28–4 Automatic
11 Connecticut Big East 18–10 At-Large
12 Saint Peter's MAAC 24–6 Automatic
13 Northern Illinois Mid-Continent 25–5 At-Large
14 Xavier MCC 21–9 Automatic
15 Northeast Louisiana Southland 25–7 Play-in Winner
16 Towson State East Coast 19–10 Automatic
Southeast Regional – Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina
Seed School Conference Record Berth type
1 Arkansas SWC 31–3 Automatic
2 Indiana Big Ten 27–4 At-Large
3 Kansas Big Eight 22–7 At-Large
4 Alabama SEC 21–9 Automatic
5 Wake Forest ACC 18–10 At-Large
6 Pittsburgh Big East 20–11 At-Large
7 Florida State Metro 20–10 Automatic
8 Arizona State Pac-10 19–9 At-Large
9 Rutgers Atlantic 10 19–9 At-Large
10 USC Pac-10 19–9 At-Large
11 Georgia SEC 17–12 At-Large
12 Louisiana Tech American South 21–9 Automatic
13 Murray State Ohio Valley 24–8 Automatic
14 New Orleans American South 23–7 At-Large
15 Coastal Carolina Big South 24–7 Play-in Winner
16 Georgia State TAAC 16–14 Automatic
West Regional – Kingdome, Seattle, Washington
Seed School Conference Record Berth type
1 UNLV Big West 30–0 Automatic
2 Arizona Pac-10 26–6 Automatic
3 Seton Hall Big East 22–8 Automatic
4 Utah WAC 28–3 At-Large
5 Michigan State Big Ten 18–10 At-Large
6 New Mexico State Big West 23–5 At-Large
7 Virginia ACC 21–11 At-Large
8 Georgetown Big East 18–12 At-Large
9 Vanderbilt SEC 17–12 At-Large
10 BYU WAC 20–12 Automatic
11 Creighton Missouri Valley 23–7 Automatic
12 Green Bay Mid-Continent 24–6 Automatic
13 South Alabama Sun Belt 22–8 Automatic
14 Pepperdine West Coast 22–8 Automatic
15 Saint Francis (PA) NEC 24–7 Play-in Winner
16 Montana Big Sky 23–7 Automatic

Bracket

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East Regional – East Rutherford, New Jersey

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First round Quarter-finals Regional semifinals Regional Finals
            
1 North Carolina 101
16 Northeastern 66
1 North Carolina 84
Syracuse
9 Villanova 69
8 Princeton 48
9 Villanova 50
1 North Carolina 93
12 Eastern Michigan 67
5 Mississippi State 56
12 Eastern Michigan 76
12 Eastern Michigan 71OT
Syracuse
13 Penn State 68
4 UCLA 69
13 Penn State 74
1 North Carolina 75
10 Temple 72
6 NC State 114
11 Southern Miss 85
6 NC State 64
College Park
3 Oklahoma State 73
3 Oklahoma State 67
14 New Mexico 54
3 Oklahoma State 63
10 Temple 72OT
7 Purdue 63
10 Temple 80
10 Temple 77
College Park
15 Richmond 64
2 Syracuse 69
15 Richmond 73

Southeast Regional – Charlotte, North Carolina

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First round Quarter-finals Regional semifinals Regional Finals
            
1 Arkansas 117
16 Georgia State 76
1 Arkansas 97
Atlanta
8 Arizona State 90
8 Arizona State 79
9 Rutgers 76
1 Arkansas 93
4 Alabama 70
5 Wake Forest 71
12 Louisiana Tech 65
5 Wake Forest 88
Atlanta
4 Alabama 96
4 Alabama 89
13 Murray State 79
1 Arkansas 81
3 Kansas 93
6 Pittsburgh 76OT
11 Georgia 68
6 Pittsburgh 66
Louisville
3 Kansas 77
3 Kansas 55
14 New Orleans 49
3 Kansas 83
2 Indiana 65
7 Florida State 75
10 USC 72
7 Florida State 60
Louisville
2 Indiana 82
2 Indiana 79
15 Coastal Carolina 69

Midwest Regional – Pontiac, Michigan

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First round Quarter-finals Regional semifinals Regional Finals
            
1 Ohio State 97
16 Towson State 86
1 Ohio State 65
Dayton
8 Georgia Tech 61
8 Georgia Tech 87
9 DePaul 70
1 Ohio State 74
4 St. John's 91
5 Texas 73
12 Saint Peter's 65
5 Texas 76
Dayton
4 St. John's 84
4 St. John's 75
13 Northern Illinois 68
4 St. John's 61
2 Duke 78
6 LSU 62
11 Connecticut 79
11 Connecticut 66
Minneapolis
14 Xavier 50
3 Nebraska 84
14 Xavier 89
11 Connecticut 67
2 Duke 81
7 Iowa 76
10 East Tennessee State 73
7 Iowa 70
Minneapolis
2 Duke 85
2 Duke 102
15 Northeast Louisiana 73

West Regional – Seattle, Washington

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First round Quarter-finals Regional semifinals Regional Finals
            
1 UNLV 99
16 Montana 65
1 UNLV 62
Tucson
8 Georgetown 54
8 Georgetown 70
9 Vanderbilt 60
1 UNLV 83
4 Utah 66
5 Michigan State 60
12 Wisconsin–Green Bay 58
5 Michigan State 84
Tucson
4 Utah 852OT
4 Utah 82
13 South Alabama 72
1 UNLV 77
3 Seton Hall 65
6 New Mexico State 56
11 Creighton 64
11 Creighton 69
Salt Lake City
3 Seton Hall 81
3 Seton Hall 71
14 Pepperdine 51
3 Seton Hall 81
2 Arizona 77
7 Virginia 48
10 BYU 61
10 BYU 61
Salt Lake City
2 Arizona 76
2 Arizona 93
15 Saint Francis (PA) 80

Final Four – Indianapolis, Indiana

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National semifinals National championship game
      
E1 North Carolina 73
SE3 Kansas 79
SE3 Kansas 65
MW2 Duke 72
MW2 Duke 79
W1 UNLV 77

Broadcast information

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For the first time, CBS Sports showed all 63 tournament games. In the first three rounds, games were shown on a regional basis, except for one game each on Saturday and Sunday in the second round. Usual start times were noon and 7:30 or 8 p.m. Eastern time on each of the Thursdays and Fridays. During the weekend of the second round, the national telecast began at noon, with the regional windows (three on Saturday, two on Sunday) following. Although the times would be adjusted, the same basic format was in place until 2010. As of 2011, the regional broadcasts have been replaced by simulcast feeds on non-broadcast networks owned by Turner Sports.

Announcers

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Miscellaneous

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  • Duke's 79–77 win over UNLV in the Final Four became one of the biggest upsets in tournament history. Duke was an 8-point underdog in the game. UNLV's juggernaut 1990–91 squad ranked #2 on ESPN Classic's Who's #1? for Best Teams Not To Win a Title. UNLV was undefeated entering the 1991 tournament, which was unmatched until Wichita State in 2014 and Kentucky in 2015. (Saint Joseph's went unbeaten in the 2004 regular season, finishing 27–0, but lost in their conference tournament before the NCAAs. Alcorn State went unbeaten in the 1979 regular season, but got invited to the NIT since the Southwestern Athletic Conference did not have an automatic bid to the NCAAs, and lost to eventual winner Indiana in the 2nd round. Indiana is the last team to win the championship undefeated in 1976).
  • This was Duke's fourth (of five) consecutive Final Four trip, the first team to achieve such a feat since UCLA. Since freshmen were not eligible at the time of UCLA's run, Duke's Greg Koubek became the first player to play in four Final Fours, a record matched by Duke teammates Christian Laettner and Brian Davis the next year when the team repeated as national champions.
  • For the first time in tournament history a 15-seed defeated a 2-seed. Richmond defeated Syracuse 73–69. Since then this has happened ten additional times: in 1993, Santa Clara defeated Arizona 64–61; in 1997, Coppin State defeated South Carolina 78–65; in 2001, Hampton defeated Iowa State 58–57; on the same day in 2012 Norfolk State defeated Missouri 86–84 and Lehigh defeated Duke 75–70; in 2013 Florida Gulf Coast defeated Georgetown 78–68;[8] in 2016, Middle Tennessee defeated Michigan State 90–81; in 2021, Oral Roberts defeated Ohio State 75–72; in 2022, Saint Peter's defeated Kentucky 85–79; and in 2023, Princeton defeated Arizona 59–55.
  • In the Final Four against Kansas, legendary North Carolina coach Dean Smith was ejected from the game for leaving the coach's box.[9]
  • For bracketologists, this tournament is notable for several reasons. The first is the upset-heavy opening round, which led to every seed number except 16 being represented by at least one team in the second round. The East region, in particular, featured first round victories by seeds 9, 10, 12, 13, and 15. Two 11's and a 14-seed advanced in the other regions. The second round is equally remarkable because there were no upsets in this round whatsoever. The combination of these two anomalies led to an unprecedented occurrence in which a 10 (Temple), an 11 (Connecticut), and a 12-seed (Eastern Michigan) advanced to the Sweet Sixteen without any of the teams pulling off consecutive upsets. The reason for this was that the first round successes of 15-seed Richmond, 14-seed Xavier, and 13-seed Penn State led to Temple, Connecticut, and Eastern Michigan (respectively) being considered favorites for their second round matchups.
  • This was the first NCAA Tournament to feature all four of the North Carolina-based Atlantic Coast Conference teams, also known as the Tobacco Road or Big Four teams: North Carolina, NC State, Duke and Wake Forest.
  • The Final Four was also the first to include both halves of the North Carolina–Duke rivalry. Had both teams won, they would have faced each other for the national championship, but to this day, the teams have only faced each other once each in the NCAA tournament and the NIT – the 1971 NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden, which North Carolina won 73–67 and the 2022 Final Four at the Caesars Superdome, which the 8th-seeded Tar Heels won 81–77 in the last game of Mike Krzyzewski's coaching career.
  • This tournament featured three play-in games before the tournament field was announced, featuring the champions of the six conferences with the lowest computer ratings the previous season.[10] The results were: Saint Francis, Pennsylvania (NEC) defeated Fordham (Patriot) 70–64,[11] Coastal Carolina (Big South) over Jackson State (SWAC) 78–59,[12] and NE Louisiana (Southland) over Florida A&M (MEAC) 87–63.[12] These are not opening round games and the losers are not credited with an NCAA tournament appearance.
  • UNLV's semi-final loss in the NCAA tournament brought an end to their astounding 45-game win streak. That is the fourth-longest consecutive-game win streak in NCAA Division 1 basketball history, and the longest win streak since the longest one ever (by UCLA) ended in 1974.[13]
  • DePaul's appearance is, as of 2023, the last appearance of an independent team in the tournament. The Blue Demons would join the Great Midwest Conference in 1991; Notre Dame, the last prominent independent, would join the Big East in 1995. Though there have been independent teams since, most have been minor programs, or programs in transition between conference affiliations and divisions. It was also the last tournament to feature an East Coast Conference team; the conference, which was born in 1974 from former Middle Atlantic Conference teams, would cease operations in 1994 after most of the teams joined larger conferences.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ 1991 1991 NCAA Basketball Semifinal Game on YouTube
  2. ^ 1991 NCAA basketball national championship game on YouTube
  3. ^ "Doug Smith rules Big Eight Tournament". UPI Archives. March 10, 1991. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  4. ^ McCann, Gary (May 17, 1990). "Despite losing automatic bid, MEAC will get money". Greensboro News & Record. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  5. ^ Moran, Malcolm (March 7, 1991). "BASKETBALL; Fordham's Road to N.C.A.A. Blocked by St. Francis, 70-64". The New York Times. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  6. ^ "Northeast Louisiana 87, Florida A&M 63". UPI Archives. March 6, 1991. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  7. ^ "Coastal Carolina 78, Jackson State 59". Greensboro News & Record. March 6, 1991. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  8. ^ "Florida Gulf Coast vs. Georgetown – Game Recap – March 22, 2013 – ESPN".
  9. ^ Smith, Timothy W. (March 31, 1991). "College Basketball; Smith Ejected on 2 Technicals". The New York Times.
  10. ^ Moran, Malcolm (March 6, 1991). "Fordham takes aim at an NCAA berth". The New York Times. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  11. ^ Moran, Malcolm (March 7, 1991). "Fordham's road to NCAA blocked by St. Francis, 70–64". The New York Times. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  12. ^ a b "Northeast Louisiana wins NCAA bid". The New York Times. March 7, 1991. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  13. ^ "The longest winning streaks in college basketball history | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com.
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