1954 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

The 1954 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 26 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8, 1954, and ended with the championship game on March 20 in Kansas City, Missouri. A total of 28 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.

La Salle, coached by Ken Loeffler, won the national title with a 92-76 victory in the final game over Bradley, coached by Forddy Anderson. Tom Gola of La Salle was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Of note, Kentucky, the top-ranked team in the nation (with a record of 25-0) did not participate in any post-season tournament. Since several key players had technically graduated the year before (when Kentucky was banned from playing a competitive schedule due to the point-shaving scandal a few years earlier), those players were ruled ineligible for the NCAA tournament. Despite the wishes of the players, Adolph Rupp ultimately decided his team wouldn't play.

LSU represented the Southeastern Conference in the tournament. It would be the Bayou Bengals' last appearance until 1979, well after the graduation of NCAA all-time leading scorer Pete Maravich. LSU made only one postseason appearance over the next 24 seasons, the 1970 NIT, Maravich's senior season.

Locations

The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1954 tournament:

East-1 Region

First Round (March 8)

Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York

Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, North Carolina

East-1 Regional (March 12 and 13)

The Palestra, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

East-2 Region

First Round (March 9)

Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana

East-2 Regional (March 12 and 13)

Iowa Field House, Iowa City, Iowa

West-1 Region

First Round (March 8)

Robertson Memorial Field House, Peoria, Illinois

West-1 Regional (March 12 and 13)

Gallagher Hall, Stillwater, Oklahoma

West-2 Region

First Round (March 9) and West-2 Regional (March 12 and 13)

Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, Oregon

Final Four

March 19 and 20

Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri

Teams

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East-1 Region

East-2 Region

West-1 Region

West-2 Region

Final Four

National Third Place Game

Regional Third Place Games

References

See also

• 1954 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament