Winning coach Norm Sloan (1st title) Teams 25 | Dates 9 Mar 1974 – 25 Mar 1974 Attendance 154,112 | |
Champions NC State (1st title, 1st title game,
2nd Final Four) Runner-up Marquette (1st title game,
1st Final Four) Semifinalists Kansas (6th Final Four)
UCLA (11th Final Four) MOP David Thompson NC State Top scorer David Thompson NC State
(97 points) Champion NC State Wolfpack men's basketball Finals site Greensboro Coliseum Complex Similar 1973 NCAA Men's Div, 1977 NCAA Men's Div, 1978 NCAA Men's Div | ||
The 1974 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It was the first tournament to officially be designated as a Division I championship—previously, NCAA member schools had been divided into the "University Division" and "College Division". The NCAA created its current three-division setup, effective with the 1973–74 academic year, by moving all of its University Division schools to Division I and splitting the College Division members into Division II (fewer scholarships) and Division III (no athletic scholarships allowed). Previous tournaments would retroactively be considered Division I championships.
The tournament began on March 9, 1974, and ended with the championship game on March 25 in Greensboro, North Carolina. As of 2014, it is the last tournament in which neither school had previously appeared in any national championship game (5 years later Michigan State would defeat Indiana St in each school's inaugural Division I National Finals, but Indiana State had previously contested and lost finals in the NAIA National Championships and the NCAA Division II National Championships). A total of 29 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.
North Carolina State, coached by Norm Sloan, won the national title with a 76-64 victory in the final game over Marquette, coached by Al McGuire. This result ended UCLA's record streak of seven consecutive titles. David Thompson of North Carolina State was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
This was the final year that only conference champions could participate in the tournament. During the same time in 1974, the Collegiate Commissioners' Association held a tournament in St. Louis, Missouri. They invited the second-place teams from eight conferences to participate. In 1975, the NCAA would expand the field to include at-large bids.
Bracket
* – Denotes overtime period