The 1995

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 ...

involved 64 schools playing in

single-elimination A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

play to determine the national champion of men's

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

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 16, 1995, and ended with the championship game on April 3 at the

Kingdome The Kingdome (officially the King County Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium located in the Industrial District, Seattle, Industrial District (later SoDo, Seattle, SoDo) neighborhood of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. O ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. This Final Four would be the last time that the Final Four was hosted in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

until the 2017 edition of the tournament where

Glendale, Arizona Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Located about nine miles northwest of the state capital Phoenix, Glendale is known for State Farm Stadium, which is the home of the Arizona Cardinals football team. The city al ...

was the host. A total of 63 games were played. The Final Four consisted of

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 ...

, making their fifteenth appearance and first since the 1980 team that eventually saw their appearance vacated,

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

, making their fifth appearance and first since 1951,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, making their twelfth appearance and second in three years, and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, the defending national champions. The championship game saw UCLA win their eleventh national championship and first (and only) national title under Jim Harrick by defeating Arkansas 89–78, foiling the Razorbacks' hopes of back to back national titles. UCLA's

Ed O'Bannon Edward Charles O'Bannon Jr. (born August 14, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a power forward (basketball), power forward for the UCLA Bruins men's basketball, UCLA Br ...

was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Schedule and venues

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1995 tournament: First and Second Rounds *March 16 and 18 **East Region ***

Baltimore Arena CFG Bank Arena is a multipurpose arena in Baltimore, Maryland. This venue is located about one block away from the Baltimore Convention Center on the corner of Baltimore Street and Hopkins Place in downtown Baltimore. With a seating capacit ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

(Host:

University of Maryland Baltimore County The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Catonsville, Maryland named after Baltimore County. It had a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs ...

) **Midwest Region ***

University of Dayton Arena University of Dayton Arena (commonly known as UD Arena) is a 13,409-seat multi-purpose arena located in Dayton, Ohio. The arena opened in 1969. It is home to the University of Dayton Flyers basketball teams. From 2001 to 2010, the facility hoste ...

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

(Host:

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a Private university, private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary (Marianists), Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the U ...

) **Southeast Region ***

Memphis Pyramid The Memphis Pyramid, formerly known as the Great American Pyramid and the Pyramid Arena, and colloquially known as the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid, is a pyramid-shaped building located in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee, United State ...

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

(Host:

University of Memphis The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

) **West Region *** Jon M. Huntsman Center,

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

(Host:

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

) *March 17 and 19 **East Region *** Knickerbocker Arena,

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

(Hosts:

Siena College Siena College is a Private college, private Franciscan college in Loudonville, New York, United States. It was founded by the Order of Friars Minor in 1937 and is named after the Franciscan friar Bernardino of Siena. The college enrolls approxi ...

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Its current 13 full members are located in five Northeastern states: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachuse ...

) **Midwest Region ***

Frank Erwin Center The Frank C. Erwin Jr. Center (originally Special Events Center) was a multi-purpose arena located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas. It was also sometimes referred to as "The Drum" or "The Superdrum", owing to ...

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

(Host:

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

) **Southeast Region *** Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center,

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Fl ...

(Host:

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

) **West Region *** BSU Pavilion,

Boise, Idaho Boise ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Idaho, most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Loca ...

(Host:

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a Public university, public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has b ...

) Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) *March 23 and 25 **Southeast Regional, BJCC Coliseum,

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

(Host:

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

) **West Regional,

Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena Oakland Arena, often referred to as the Oakland Coliseum Arena, is an indoor arena in Oakland, California, and part of the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Authority. Opened in 1966, the arena was originally home to the California Seals of the ...

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

(Host:

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

) *March 24 and 26 **East Regional,

Brendan Byrne Arena Meadowlands Arena (formerly Brendan Byrne Arena, Continental Airlines Arena and Izod Center) is a closed indoor sports and concert venue located in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. Since closing, ...

East Rutherford, New Jersey East Rutherford is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an inner suburb, inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan. As of the 2020 Unit ...

(Hosts:

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

) **Midwest Regional,

Kemper Arena Hy-Vee Arena, previously known as Kemper Arena, is an indoor arena located in Kansas City, Missouri. Prior to conversion to a youth sports and community gymnasium facility, Kemper Arena was previously a 19,500-seat professional sports arena. It ...

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

(Host:

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

) National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) *April 1 and 3 **

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

(Hosts:

Seattle University Seattle University (Seattle U or SU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and grad ...

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

)

Teams

There were 29 automatic bids awarded to the tournament - of these, 26 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 The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

and

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

). Four conferences, the American West Conference,

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), ...

Great Midwest Conference The Great Midwest Conference was an NCAA Division I athletics conference that existed from 1991 to 1995. History It was formed in 1990 with six members: Cincinnati and Memphis State (now Memphis) from the Metro Conference, UAB from the Sun Be ...

, and Mid-Continent Conference, did not receive automatic bids to the tournament. Five conference champions made their first NCAA tournament appearances: Colgate ( Patriot), FIU ( TAAC), Gonzaga ( West Coast), Mount St. Mary's (

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...

), and Nicholls State ( Southland).

Automatic qualifiers

Tournament seeds

Bracket

East Regional – East Rutherford, New Jersey

# Minnesota vacated its NCAA Tournament appearance from the 1994–95 season due to an academic fraud scandal.

Game summaries

East first round

=At Albany, New York

East second round

=At Albany, New York

West Regional – Oakland, California

Southeast Regional – Birmingham, Alabama

Midwest Regional – Kansas City, Missouri

Final Four - Seattle, Washington

Game summaries

National Championship

*Named Most Outstanding Player

Notes

* March 19, 1995 – A final shot in the second round at The Boise State Pavilion is one of the most memorable moments in NCAA history. UCLA's Tyus Edney dashed the length of the 94-foot court in just over 4 seconds to make a layup that gave the Bruins a 75–74 win over Missouri, which sustained UCLA's run to a national title that year. * April 3, 1995 – Ed O'Bannon scored 30 points and grabbed 17 rebounds and is named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player as the Bruins win the championship 89–78 over

. Cameron Dollar played 36 minutes and contributed eight assists and four steals while filling in for an injured Edney, who did not return after leaving with 17:23 left in the first half. The Bruins enjoyed the biggest lead 34–26 in the first half, but led only by a point at halftime 40–39. * To date, this is the last NCAA men's basketball tournament in which no team seeded lower than #6 reached the Sweet Sixteen. * Five teams - Colgate, FIU, Gonzaga, Mount St. Mary's and Nicholls State - made their debut in this tournament, all as conference winners. Only FIU has failed to return to the tournament since; Gonzaga would miss the next three tournaments before starting their current streak of making every tournament since 1999. * The 1995 tournament was the last to feature teams from the Metro and Great Midwest Conferences, as the two would merge later that year to form

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

. ** Tulane, a charter member of the Metro (expelled from the conference from 1985 to 1989 when the Green Wave shuttered their men's basketball program in the wake of a

point shaving In organized sports, point shaving is a type of match fixing where the perpetrators try to change the final score of a game without the intention of changing who wins. This is typically done by players colluding with gamblers to prevent a team fr ...

scandal), has not returned to the NCAA tournament since.

Announcers

Television

Once again,

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

served as broadcasters on television for the tournament. *Studio: Pat O'Brien (daytime) First round, Regional, Final Four,

Jim Nantz James William Nantz III (born May 17, 1959) is an American sportscaster who has worked on telecasts of the National Football League (NFL), NCAA Division I men's basketball, the NBA, and the PGA Tour for CBS Sports since the 1980s. He has ancho ...

(primetime) First round & all of Second Round, and Clark Kellogg. * Dick Stockton/

and Billy Packer – Stockton/Packer, First & Second Round at Baltimore, Maryland; Nantz/Packer, Midwest Regional at Kansas City, Missouri; Final Four at Seattle, Washington *

Sean McDonough Sean McDonough (born May 13, 1962) is an American sportscaster, currently employed by ESPN and the WEEI Boston Red Sox Radio Network. McDonough has play-by-play experience for all four major professional sports leagues in the United States an ...

and Bill Raftery – First & Second Round at Dayton, Ohio; Southeast Regional at Birmingham, Alabama *

Verne Lundquist Merton Laverne Lundquist Jr. (born July 17, 1940) is an American former sportscaster known for his long career with CBS Sports. Early life Lundquist was born in Duluth, Minnesota. He graduated from Austin High School in Austin, Texas, before ...

and Quinn Buckner – First & Second Round at Tallahassee, Florida; East Regional at East Rutherford, New Jersey * Tim Ryan and

Al McGuire Alfred James McGuire (September 7, 1928 – January 26, 2001) was an American college basketball coach and broadcaster, the head coach at Marquette University from 1964 to 1977. He won a national championship in his final season at Marquette, an ...

– First & Second Round at Boise, Idaho; West Regional at Oakland, California * Mike Gorman and Ann Meyers – First & Second Round at Memphis, Tennessee *

Mike Emrick Michael "Doc" Emrick (born August 1, 1946) is an American former network television play-by-play sportscaster and commentator noted mostly for his work in ice hockey. He was the lead announcer for National Hockey League national telecasts on both ...

and George Raveling – First & Second Round at Albany, New York * Ted Robinson and Derrek Dickey – First & Second Round at Salt Lake City, Utah * Dave Sims and Dan Bonner – First & Second Round at Austin, Texas

Radio

CBS Radio was once again the radio home for the tournament.

First and second rounds

* John Rooney * Marty Brennaman * Gary Cohen and Dave Gavitt – 1st & 2nd Round at Albany, New York *

Wayne Larrivee Wayne Larrivee is an American sportscaster. Larrivee is currently the radio play-by-play voice of the Green Bay Packers on the Packers Radio Network alongside color commentator Larry McCarren and calls college football and basketball for the ...

Brad Sham Brad Michael Sham (born August 16, 1949) is an American sportscaster who is known as the "Voice of the Dallas Cowboys". Sham is currently the play-by-play announcer on the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network. Biography Sham has been with the Cowboys s ...

* Gus Johnson and

Reggie Theus Reginald Wayne Theus (born October 13, 1957) is an American basketball coach and former player. He played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was a two-time NBA All-Star. He is currently the men's basketball head co ...

* *

Regionals

* John Rooney * Marty Brennaman * Gary Cohen and Dave Gavitt – East Regional at East Rutherford, New Jersey *

Final Four

* John Rooney and Bill Raftery – (UCLA-Oklahoma State and championship Game) Final Four at Seattle, Washington * Marty Brennaman and Ron Franklin – (Arkansas-North Carolina) Final Four at Seattle, Washington

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1995 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 in Austin, Texas Basketball competitions in Seattle

Schedule and venues

Teams

Automatic qualifiers

Tournament seeds

Bracket

East Regional – East Rutherford, New Jersey

Game summaries

East first round

=At Albany, New York

East second round

=At Albany, New York

West Regional – Oakland, California

Southeast Regional – Birmingham, Alabama

Midwest Regional – Kansas City, Missouri

Final Four - Seattle, Washington

Game summaries

National Championship

See also

Notes

Announcers

Television

Radio

First and second rounds

Regionals

Final Four

References