MOP Danny Manning Kansas Teams 64 Finals site Kemper Arena | Dates 17 Mar 1988 – 4 Apr 1988 Attendance 558,998 | |
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Champions Kansas (2nd title, 5th title game,
8th Final Four) Runner-up Oklahoma (2nd title game,
3rd Final Four) Semifinalists Arizona (1st Final Four)
Duke (6th Final Four) Winning coach Larry Brown (1st title) Top scorer Danny Manning Kansas
(163 points) Champion Kansas Jayhawks Men's Basketball Similar 1990 NCAA Division I, 1987 NCAA Division I, 1992 NCAA Division I, 1985 NCAA Division I, 1982 NCAA Division I | ||
The 1988 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 17, 1988, and ended with the championship game on April 4 returning to Kansas City, Missouri for the 10th time. A total of 63 games were played.
Contents
Kansas, coached by Larry Brown, won the national title with an 83–79 victory in the final game over Big Eight Conference rival Oklahoma, coached by Billy Tubbs. As of 2016, this was the last national championship game to feature two schools from the same conference. Danny Manning of Kansas was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Even though the Final Four was contested only 40 miles from its campus in Lawrence, Kansas, Kansas was considered a long shot against the top rated Sooners because Oklahoma had previously easily defeated the Jayhawks twice that season—at home in Norman, Oklahoma and on the road in Kansas' Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas's upset was the third biggest point-spread upset in Championship Game history. After this upset, the 1988 Kansas team was remembered as "Danny and the Miracles."
First and second rounds
Teams
(#) Kentucky was later stripped of its two NCAA tournament wins due to an ineligible player.
Bracket
* – Denotes overtime period
Southeast Regional – Birmingham, Alabama
(#) Kentucky was later stripped of its two NCAA tournament wins due to an ineligible player.