1961 NCAA University Division basketball tournament

The 1961 NCAA University Division basketball tournament involved 24 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. The 23rd annual edition of the tournament began on March 14, 1961, and ended with the championship game on March 25, at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. A total of 28 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.

1961 NCAA University Division
basketball tournament

Cincinnati Bearcats, champions, celebrating
Season	1960–61
Teams	24
Finals site	Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri
Champions	Cincinnati Bearcats (1st title, 1st title game, 3rd Final Four)
Runner-up	Ohio State Buckeyes (3rd title game, 6th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Saint Joseph's Hawks (Vacated) (1st Final Four) Utah Redskins (2nd Final Four)
Winning coach	Ed Jucker (1st title)
MOP	Jerry Lucas (Ohio State)
Attendance	169,520
Top scorer	Billy McGill (Utah) (119 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments «1960 1962»

Cincinnati, coached by Ed Jucker, won the national title with a 70–65 victory in the final game over in-state rival and defending national champion Ohio State, coached by Fred Taylor. Jerry Lucas of Ohio State was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

The national third-place game, won by Saint Joseph's over Utah by the score of 127–120 in four overtimes, tied the record for the longest game in NCAA Division I tournament history, set in 1956 in a first-round game between Canisius and North Carolina State. As of the regional finals of the 2019 tournament, no NCAA Division I tournament games since then have gone to a fourth overtime period.^[1] Saint Joseph's victory was later vacated because of the 1961 gambling scandal.^[2]

Locations

Ohio State players after losing the final v Cincinnati

Round	Region	Site	Venue	Host(s)
First Round	East	New York, New York	Madison Square Garden
	Mideast	Louisville, Kentucky	Freedom Hall	Louisville
	Midwest	Houston, Texas	Delmar Fieldhouse	Houston
	West	Portland, Oregon	Memorial Coliseum
Regionals	East	Charlotte, North Carolina	Charlotte Coliseum
	Mideast	Louisville, Kentucky	Freedom Hall	Louisville
	Midwest	Lawrence, Kansas	Allen Fieldhouse	Kansas
	West	Portland, Oregon	Memorial Coliseum
Final Four		Kansas City, Missouri	Municipal Auditorium

Teams

Region	Team	Coach	Conference	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	George Washington	Bill Reinhart	Southern	First round	Princeton	L 84–67
East	Princeton	Jake McCandless	Ivy League	Regional Fourth Place	St. Bonaventure	L 85–67
East	Rhode Island	Ernie Calverley	Yankee	First round	St. Bonaventure	L 86–76
East	St. Bonaventure	Eddie Donovan	Independent	Regional third place	Princeton	W 85–67
East	St. John's	Joe Lapchick	Metro NY	First round	Wake Forest	L 97–74
East	Saint Joseph's	Jack Ramsay	Middle Atlantic	Third Place	Utah	W 127–120 (4OT)
East	Wake Forest	Bones McKinney	Atlantic Coast	Regional Runner-up	Saint Joseph's	L 96–86
Mideast
Mideast	Kentucky	Adolph Rupp	Southeastern	Regional Runner-up	Ohio State	L 87–74
Mideast	Louisville	Peck Hickman	Independent	Regional third place	Morehead State	W 83–61
Mideast	Morehead State	Robert Laughlin	Ohio Valley	Regional Fourth Place	Louisville	L 83–61
Mideast	Ohio	James Snyder	Mid-American	First round	Louisville	L 76–70
Mideast	Ohio State	Fred Taylor	Big Ten	Runner Up	Cincinnati	L 70–65
Mideast	Xavier	Jim McCafferty	Independent	First round	Morehead State	L 71–66
Midwest
Midwest	Cincinnati	Ed Jucker	Missouri Valley	Champion	Ohio State	W 70–65
Midwest	Houston	Guy Lewis	Independent	Regional Fourth Place	Texas Tech	L 69–67
Midwest	Kansas State	Tex Winter	Big 8	Regional Runner-up	Cincinnati	L 69–64
Midwest	Marquette	Eddie Hickey	Independent	First round	Houston	L 77–61
Midwest	Texas Tech	Polk Robison	Southwest	Regional third place	Houston	W 69–67
West
West	Arizona State	Ned Wulk	Border	Regional Runner-up	Utah	L 88–80
West	Loyola (Los Angeles)	William Donovan	West Coast Athletic	Regional third place	USC	W 69–67
West	Oregon	Steve Belko	Independent	First round	USC	L 81–79
West	Seattle	Vince Cazzetta	Independent	First round	Arizona State	L 72–70
West	USC	Forrest Twogood	AAWU	Regional Fourth Place	Loyola (Los Angeles)	L 69–67
West	Utah	Jack Gardner	Mountain States	Fourth Place	Saint Joseph's	L 127–120 (4OT)

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							Saint Joseph's#	72
							Princeton	67
		Princeton	84
		George Washington	67
												Saint Joseph's#	96
												Wake Forest	86
		St. Bonaventure	86
		Rhode Island	76
							St. Bonaventure	73
							Wake Forest	78
		Wake Forest	97
		St. John's	74

Mideast region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							Ohio State	56
							Louisville	55
		Louisville	76
		Ohio	70
												Ohio State	87
												Kentucky	74
							Kentucky	71
							Morehead State	64
		Morehead State	71
		Xavier	66

Midwest region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							Kansas State	75
							Houston	64
		Houston	77
		Marquette	61
												Kansas State	64
												Cincinnati	69
							Cincinnati	78
							Texas Tech	55

West region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							Utah	91
							Loyola (Los Angeles)	75
												Utah	88
												Arizona State	80
		Arizona State	72
		Seattle	70
							Arizona State	86
							USC	71
		USC	81
		Oregon	79

Final Four

	National Semifinals					National Championship Game
	E	Saint Joseph's#	69
	ME	Ohio State	95
						ME	Ohio State	65*
						MW	Cincinnati	70
	MW	Cincinnati	82
	W	Utah	67

* - denotes overtime

# - Saint Joseph's was later forced to vacate their appearance in the 1961 NCAA Tournament due to a gambling scandal involving a player on the team. Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with Saint Joseph's removing the wins from its own record.^[3]

National Third Place Game

	National Third Place Game[4]
	E	Saint Joseph's#	127
	W	Utah	120****

Regional third place games

East Regional third place       St. Bonaventure 85 Princeton 67

Mideast Regional third place       Louisville 83 Morehead State 61

Midwest Regional third place       Texas Tech 69 Houston 67

West Regional third place       Loyola (Los Angeles) 69 USC 67

See also

• 1961 NCAA College Division basketball tournament
• 1961 National Invitation Tournament
• 1961 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament