1946 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
| 1946 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finals site |
Madison Square Garden New York City | ||||
| Champions |
Oklahoma A&M (2nd title, 2nd title game, 2nd Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up |
North Carolina (1st title game, 1st Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
| ||||
| Winning coach | Henry Iba (2nd title) | ||||
| MOP | Bob Kurland Oklahoma A&M | ||||
| Attendance | 73,116 | ||||
| Top scorer |
Bob Kurland Oklahoma A&M (72 points) | ||||
| |||||
The 1946 NCAA Men's Division I 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 | Seed | Team | Coach | Conference | Finished | Final Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | |||||||
| East | n/a | Harvard | Floyd Stahl | EIBL | Regional Fourth Place | NYU | L 67-61 |
| East | n/a | NYU | Howard Cann | Middle Atlantic | Regional Third Place | Harvard | W 67-61 |
| East | n/a | North Carolina | Ben Carnevale | Southern Conference | Runner Up | Oklahoma A&M | L 43-40 |
| East | n/a | Ohio State | Harold Olsen | Big Ten | Third Place | California | W 63-45 |
| West | |||||||
| West | n/a | Baylor | Bill Henderson | Southwest | Regional Fourth Place | Colorado | L 59-44 |
| West | n/a | California | Nibs Price | Pacific Coast | Fourth Place | Ohio State | L 63-45 |
| West | n/a | Colorado | Frosty Cox | Skyline | Regional Third Place | Baylor | W 59-44 |
| West | n/a | Oklahoma A&M | Henry Iba | Missouri Valley | Champion | North Carolina | W 43-40 |
Bracket
* – Denotes overtime period
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
| 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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