The 1969 NCAA University Division men's basketball tournament involved 25 schools playing to determine the national champion of men's

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

. It began on March 8, 1969, and ended with the championship game on March 22 in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. Including consolation games in each of the regions and an overall consolation game, a total of 29 games were played.

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, coached by

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Westwood", he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, nati ...

, won the national title with a 92–72 victory in the final game over

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

, coached by

George King George King may refer to: Politics * George King (Australian politician) (1814–1894), New South Wales and Queensland politician * George King, 3rd Earl of Kingston (1771–1839), Irish nobleman and MP for County Roscommon * George Clift King (184 ...

. Lew Alcindor of UCLA was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. In the game, Alcindor led the Bruins with 37 points and 20 rebounds, and John Vallely, the "Money Man", added 15 points in UCLA's win over Purdue, Wooden's alma mater. Purdue was hampered due to injuries to starting point guard Billy Keller and forward Herm Gilliam; Purdue had also lost 7'0" center Chuck Bavis to a broken collarbone during the Mideast Regionals against Miami, (OH). In earlier matchups, Bavis had provided an ample challenge to Alcindor. Wooden was an All-American guard for the Boilermakers from 1928 to 1932.

Schedule and venues

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1969 tournament, and their host(s): First round *March 8 **East Region *** Keaney Gymnasium,

Kingston, Rhode Island Kingston is a village and a census-designated place within the New England town, town of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, South Kingstown in Washington County, Rhode Island, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States, and the site of the mai ...

(Host:

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

) ***

Reynolds Coliseum William Neal Reynolds Coliseum is a multi-purpose arena located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, on the campus of North Carolina State University. The arena was built to host a variety of events, including agricultural expositions and N ...

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

(Host:

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

) **Mideast Region *** SIU Arena,

Carbondale, Illinois Carbondale is a city in Jackson County, Illinois, United States, within the Southern Illinois region informally known as "Little Egypt". As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 25,083, making it the most po ...

(Host:

Southern Illinois University Carbondale Southern Illinois University (SIU) is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois, United States. Chartered in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. SIU enrolls students from all 50 sta ...

) **Midwest Region *** Daniel-Meyer Coliseum,

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

(Host:

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

) **West Region ***

Pan American Center Pan American Center is a multi–purpose arena in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Las Cruces, New Mexico, located on the campus of New Mexico State University. The arena has a current seating capacity of 12,515 people. The arena serves as home of the Ne ...

Las Cruces, New Mexico Las Cruces (; ; lit. 'the crosses') is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico and the county seat, seat of Doña Ana County, New Mexico, Doña Ana County. As of the 2020 United States ce ...

(Host:

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and was the original land-g ...

) Regional semifinals, 3rd-place games, and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) *March 13 and 15 **East Regional, Cole Field House,

College Park, Maryland College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located approximately from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. Its population was 34,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the home of the University of Mary ...

(Host:

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

) **Mideast Regional,

Wisconsin Field House The Wisconsin Field House (commonly known as the UW Field House) is a multi-purpose arena owned by the University of Wisconsin–Madison and located directly south of Camp Randall Stadium. In addition to sports events, the Field House has been th ...

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

(Host:

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

) **Midwest Regional, Ahearn Field House,

Manhattan, Kansas Manhattan is a city in and the county seat of Riley County, Kansas, United States, although the city extends into Pottawatomie County, Kansas, Pottawatomie County. It is located in northeastern Kansas at the junction of the Kansas River and Big ...

(Host:

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

) **West Regional,

Pauley Pavilion Edwin W. Pauley Pavilion, commonly known as Pauley Pavilion, is an indoor arena located in the Westwood Village district of Los Angeles, California, on the campus of UCLA. It is home to the UCLA Bruins men's and women's basketball teams. Th ...

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(Host:

) National semifinals, 3rd-place game, and championship (Final Four and championship) *March 20 and 22 **

Freedom Hall Freedom Hall is a multi-purpose arena in Louisville, Kentucky, on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center, which is owned by the Kentucky State Fair Board. It is best known for its use as a basketball arena, previously serving as the home ...

(Host:

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

)

Teams

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East region

Mideast region

Midwest region

West region

Final Four

National third-place game

Regional third-place games

Notes

*Three teams - Drake, Purdue and Trinity University - made their tournament debuts. While Drake and Purdue made the Final Four in their first appearances, Trinity, an independent school from San Antonio, did not win their regional quarterfinal game against Texas A&M. This would be Trinity's only appearance in the tournament, as they would drop down to Division II when the NCAA realigned its divisions in 1973. *This tournament also marked the last tournament appearance of Seattle University. The team would leave the NCAA in 1980 due to budgetary cuts, joining the NAIA at that time. However, they would rejoin the NCAA in 2001 and, finally, rejoin Division I in 2009. The Redhawks, as they are now known, have not returned to the tournament since.

Announcers

Curt Gowdy Curtis Edward Gowdy (July 31, 1919 – February 20, 2006) was an American sportscaster. He called Boston Red Sox games on radio and TV for 15 years, and then covered many nationally televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports and ABC S ...

, Charlie Jones, Pat Hernon and Jim Simpson - First Round at Raleigh, North Carolina (Davidson-Villanova, St John's-Princeton); Mideast Regional Final at Madison, Wisconsin; Final Four at Louisville, Kentucky; Jones was used at the sideline reporter for the first round, Hernon was used for the Regional Final, and Simpson was used for the Final Four. * Jim Simpson and Pat Hernon - First Round at Carbondale, Illinois (Miami Ohio-Notre Dame) * Jim Simpson and

Kyle Rote William Kyle Rote Sr. (October 27, 1928 – August 15, 2002) was an American professional football player who was a running back and wide receiver for eleven years in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants. He was an All-A ...

- East Regional Final at College Park, Maryland * Jay Randolph and

Bill Enis Cleon William Enis (January 24, 1934 – December 14, 1973) was an American sportscaster. He was born in Tarrant County, Texas, the son of William Cleon Enis and Judith Elizabeth (née Taylor) Enis. The family lived at 2414 Ben Avenue in Ft. ...

- Midwest Regional Final at Manhattan, Kansas * Charlie Jones and Ross Porter - West Regional Final at Los Angeles, California

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1969 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

Ncaa The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Basketball competitions in Louisville, Kentucky Basketball in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...

College sports tournaments in Kentucky

Schedule and venues

Teams

Bracket

East region

Mideast region

Midwest region

West region

Final Four

National third-place game

Regional third-place games

See also

Notes

Announcers

References