The 1987
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 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 12, 1987, and ended with the
championship game on March 30 in
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
. A total of 63 games were played.
Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
, coached by
Bob Knight
Robert Montgomery Knight (October 25, 1940 – November 1, 2023) was an American men's college basketball coach (basketball), coach. Nicknamed "the General", he won 902 NCAA Division I men's basketball games, a record at the time of his retire ...
, won the national title with a 74–73 victory in the final game over
Syracuse, coached by
Jim Boeheim.
Keith Smart of Indiana, who hit the game-winner in the final seconds, and intercepted the full court pass at the last second, was named the tournament's
Most Outstanding Player.
The tournament also featured a "Cinderella team" in the Final Four, as
Providence College, led by a then-unknown
Rick Pitino, made their first Final Four appearance since 1973.
One year after reaching the
Final Four as a #11 seed,
LSU
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...
made another deep run as a #10 seed in the Midwest region. The Tigers ousted #2 seed Temple in the second round and #3 seed DePaul in the Sweet 16 before losing 77–76 to top seeded Indiana in the Elite Eight.
This was the last tournament in which teams were allowed to have home court advantage: national runner-up Syracuse (2E), DePaul (3MW), Arizona (10W) and UAB (11SE) all opened the tournament playing on their home courts. UAB and Arizona each lost in the first round, while DePaul won twice at the
Rosemont Horizon. Under rules adopted in
1988, teams cannot play in a facility in which they play four or more regular season games.
The 1987 NCAA men's basketball tournament was also the first tournament to use the
three-point shot.
Schedule and venues
The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1987 tournament:
First and Second Rounds
*March 12 and 14
**East Region
***
Charlotte Coliseum,
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...
(Host:
University of North Carolina at Charlotte)
**Midwest Region
***
Hoosier Dome,
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
(Hosts:
Butler University
Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study within six colleges in the arts, business, communic ...
,
Midwestern Collegiate Conference)
**Southeast Region
***
Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center 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 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)
*March 13 and 15
**East Region
***
Carrier Dome,
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...
(Host:
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
)
**Midwest Region
***
Rosemont Horizon,
Rosemont, Illinois (Host:
DePaul University)
**Southeast Region
***
Omni Coliseum,
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
(Host:
Georgia Tech)
**West Region
***
McKale Center,
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...
(Host:
University of Arizona)
Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)
*March 19 and 21
**East Regional,
Brendan Byrne Arena,
East Rutherford, New Jersey (Hosts:
Seton Hall University,
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 ...
)
**Southeast Regional,
Freedom Hall,
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 ...
(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 ...
)
*March 20 and 22
**Midwest Regional,
Riverfront Coliseum,
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
(Hosts:
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...
,
Xavier University)
**West Regional,
Kingdome,
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 ...
(Host:
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 ...
)
National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)
*March 28 and 30
**
Louisiana Superdome,
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
(Host:
Tulane University)
Teams
Bracket
East Regional – East Rutherford, New Jersey
Regional Final Summary
Southeast Regional – Louisville, Kentucky
Regional Final Summary
Midwest Regional – Cincinnati, Ohio
West Regional – Seattle, Washington
Final Four – New Orleans, Louisiana
Game summaries
National Championship
Trivia
* The
59th Academy Awards show was broadcast on the
ABC network at the same time as
CBS network broadcast of the championship game between Indiana and Syracuse. Oscars show host
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He became the breakout cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1976), where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment b ...
quipped later in the evening, "Is the game over yet?" The Oscars show would subsequently be scheduled around the tournament broadcast by moving it later in April for two years.
* Tenth seeded LSU reached the Elite Eight for the second straight year without being favored to win a game. This time, the Tigers did not have the advantage of playing their first- and second-round games on their
home court. They had previously reached the Final Four as an 11-seed in 1986, losing to eventual national champion Louisville Cardinals. The Tigers missed a shot at the buzzer and fell short of another trip to the Final Four, losing 77–76 to eventual national champion Indiana. It marked the fifth time in seven tournament appearances between 1979 and 1987 LSU was eliminated by the eventual national champion. The Tigers did not reach the Elite Eight again until
2006.
* Years after the end of the tournament, Alabama, DePaul, Florida, Marshall, and North Carolina State all had their tournament spots vacated by the NCAA retroactively.
* This marked the first time that
CBS Sports used "
One Shining Moment" during their tournament epilogue. Initially, the song was supposed to have been played after
Super Bowl XXI
Super Bowl XXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...
(which was also aired on CBS), but due to time constraints, its debut was delayed until the national championship game. The opening words for the football version were "The ball is kicked"; in the reworked version, the word "kicked" was changed to "tipped" to suit the tournament.
* The three losing coaches in the Final Four all eventually won national titles. Jerry Tarkanian was the first to do so, winning in
1990 with
UNLV defeating
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...
103–73. Rick Pitino followed in
1996 with
Kentucky
Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
, defeating Jim Boeheim's
Syracuse in the final. Boeheim would win in
2003 with
Syracuse by defeating
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
.
* There were no teams from the
Metro Conference,
Big South Conference or
Gulf Star Conference in the tournament. The Metro Conference allowed
Memphis State, which was serving an NCAA tournament ban that year, to compete in its conference tournament, which it won by defeating the defending 1986 National Champion
Louisville Cardinals by the lopsided score 75 to 52 on the Cardinals' home court, Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. The NCAA basketball tournament committee said as the conference had committed its automatic berth would go to its conference tournament winner, the conference lost its automatic berth that year, and no other schools received an at-large entry. Most conferences now prohibit teams on postseason bans from participating in conference tournaments as a result, or have provisional automatic bids awarded to the eligible team that advanced the most. The Gulf Star and Big South did not have automatic bids to the tournament because many of the schools in these conferences were transitioning from other divisions.
* During the selection show, there was a spot left open for the #12 seed in the Southeast Region.
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
, the 5th seed in the region, was due to face either
Washington or
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
in the first round. Washington was facing UCLA in the finals of the
Pac-10 tournament at the time the selections were announced. UCLA held on to defeat Washington 76–62, putting Houston into the field of 64.
*
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
made the NCAA Tournament for the first time, making it to the Sweet Sixteen. Coincidentally,
Providence was led to the Final Four by
Billy Donovan, who would go on to coach the Gators to multiple Final Fours and 2 national titles.
* For the second time in 5 years, a rule involving how the clock would run after a made basket played a massive role at the end of a title game. In 1983, N.C. State won the title on a dunk with 1 second left, as the clock ran through the dunk and ran out before Houston could do anything. In 1987, Syracuse players (either unaware of the clock-running post basket or freezing under pressure) let 4 seconds run off the clock after Keith Smart's made jumper; only 1 second was left when a timeout was called, and the Orangemen's last shot was missed to give Indiana the national title. For the 1993–94 season, the rules were permanently changed, so with 1 minute or less in a half or overtime the clock stops when a basket is made and doesn't start again until the ball is inbounded by the other team (regardless of whether they use a timeout first or not).
Announcers
CBS Studio Hosts:
*
Jim Nantz and
James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
studio hosts:
*
John Saunders (daytime),
Bob Ley (primetime) and
Dick Vitale
*
Brent Musburger
Brent Woody Musburger (born May 26, 1939) is an American sportscaster, currently the lead broadcaster and managing editor at Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN).
With CBS Sports from 1973 until 1990, he was the original host of their ...
and
Billy Packer – first round (Virginia–Wyoming) at Salt Lake City, Utah; Second Round at Indianapolis, Indiana and Rosemont, Illinois; East Regional at East Rutherford, New Jersey; Midwest Regional Final at Cincinnati, Ohio; Final Four at New Orleans, Louisiana
*
Dick Stockton and
Tom Heinsohn – First (Oklahoma–Tulsa) and Second Rounds at Tucson, Arizona; Southeast Regional semifinal (Georgetown–Kansas) and Regional Final at Louisville, Kentucky
*
Verne Lundquist and
Billy Cunningham – second round at Charlotte, North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia; Midwest Regional semifinal (Duke-Indiana) at Cincinnati, Ohio; West Regional Final at Seattle, Washington
*
Tom Hammond and
Larry Conley – Southeast Regional semifinal (Alabama–Providence) at Louisville, Kentucky
*
Mike Patrick and
Jack Givens - Midwest Regional semifinal (LSU-DePaul) at Cincinnati, Ohio
*
Tim Brant and
Bill Raftery – second round at Syracuse, New York; West Regional semifinals at Seattle, Washington
*
Mike Patrick and
Larry Conley – first (Alabama–North Carolina A&T, Providence–UAB) and second rounds at Birmingham, Alabama
*
Gary Bender and
Hubie Brown
Hubert Jude Brown (born September 25, 1933) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and analyst. Brown is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, the honors separated by 26 years. Brown was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Bas ...
– second round at Salt Lake City, Utah
*Jim Thacker and
Jack Givens – first round (North Carolina–Pennsylvania, TCU–Marshall) at Charlotte, North Carolina
*
Frank Herzog and
Bucky Waters – first round (Notre Dame–Middle Tennessee State, Navy–Michigan) at Charlotte, North Carolina
*
Mike Gorman and
Ron Perry – first round (Syracuse–Georgia Southern, Purdue–Northeastern) at Syracuse, New York
*Phil Stone and
Bill Raftery – first round (Florida–N.C. State, West Virginia–Western Kentucky) at Syracuse, New York
*
John Sanders and
Joe Dean – first round (Georgetown–Bucknell) at Atlanta, Georgia
*
John Sanders and
Dave Gavitt – first round (Kentucky–Ohio State) at Atlanta, Georgia
*
Fred White and
Joe Dean – first round (Kansas–Houston) at Atlanta, Georgia
*
Fred White and
Dave Gavitt – first round (Clemson–SW Missouri State) at Atlanta, Georgia
*
Bob Rathbun and
Dan Bonner – first round (Illinois–Austin Peay, New Orleans–Brigham Young) at Birmingham, Alabama
*
Tom Hammond and
Jim Gibbons – first round (Indiana–Fairfield, Missouri–Xavier) at Indianapolis, Indiana
*
Ralph Hacker and
John Laskowski – first round (Duke–Texas A&M, Auburn–San Diego) at Indianapolis, Indiana
*
Mick Hubert and
Gary Thompson – first round (Temple–Southern, DePaul–Louisiana Tech) at Rosemont, Illinois
*
Wayne Larrivee and
Bob Ortegel – first round (St. John's–Wichita State, Georgia Tech–LSU) at Rosemont, Illinois
*Frank Fallon and
Lynn Shackelford – first round (UNLV–Idaho State) at Salt Lake City, Utah
*
Bob Carpenter and
Irv Brown – first round (UCLA–Central Michigan, Georgia–Kansas State) at Salt Lake City, Utah
*Pete Solomon and Bruce Larson – first round (Iowa–Santa Clara) at Tucson, Arizona
*
Ted Robinson and
Dan Belluomini – first round (Pittsburgh–Marist, UTEP–Arizona) at Tucson, Arizona
See also
*
1987 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament
*
1987 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament
*
1987 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
*
1987 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
*
1987 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament
*
1987 National Invitation Tournament
*
1987 National Women's Invitation Tournament
*
1987 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
*
1987 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1987 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 New Orleans
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 ...
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 ...
1980s in New Orleans
College basketball tournaments in Louisiana