1956 NCAA Basketball Tournament

The 1956 NCAA Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA college basketball. It began on March 12, 1956, and ended with the championship game on March 24 on Northwestern University's campus in Evanston, Illinois. A total of 29 games were played, including a third-place game in each region and a national third-place game.

1956 NCAA Basketball Tournament

Teams	25
Finals site	McGaw Hall Evanston, Illinois
Champions	San Francisco Dons (2nd title, 2nd title game, 2nd Final Four)
Runner-up	Iowa Hawkeyes (1st title game, 2nd Final Four)
Semifinalists	SMU Mustangs (1st Final Four) Temple Owls (1st Final Four)
Winning coach	Phil Woolpert (2nd title)
MOP	Hal Lear (Temple)
Attendance	132,513
Top scorer	Hal Lear Temple (160 points)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments «1955 1957»

The 1955–56 season was the last in which only one NCAA Tournament was held. Effective in 1956–57, the NCAA divided its membership into two competitive levels. The larger and more competitive athletic programs were placed in the University Division, and smaller programs in the College Division. Accordingly, that season would see separate tournaments contested in the University and College Divisions. In 1973, the University Division would be renamed NCAA Division I, while the College Division would be split into today's Divisions II and III.

This was the first NCAA tournament in which the four regionals were given distinct names, although the concept of four regional winners advancing to a single site for the "Final Four" had been introduced in 1952.

San Francisco, coached by Phil Woolpert, won the national title with an 83–71 victory in the final game over Iowa, coached by Bucky O'Connor. Hal Lear of Temple was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Locations

Round	Region	Site	Venue
First Round	East	New York, New York	Madison Square Garden
	Far West	Seattle, Washington	Hec Edmundson Pavilion
	Midwest	Fort Wayne, Indiana	Allen County War Memorial Coliseum
	West	Wichita, Kansas	U. of Wichita Field House
Regionals	East	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	The Palestra
	Far West	Corvallis, Oregon	Oregon State Coliseum
	Midwest	Iowa City, Iowa	Iowa Field House
	West	Lawrence, Kansas	Allen Fieldhouse
Final Four		Evanston, Illinois	McGaw Memorial Hall

For the second time, the city of Evanston, Illinois hosted the Final Four. For the first time, a repeat host city used a different venue, this time using McGaw Memorial Hall, the second replacement for the original Patten Gym, home of the 1939 final. The tournament saw two new venues, both in the state of Kansas, and both of which would join in rotation with Ahearn Field House as host of the Midwestern final for most of the next decade. In its first year of operation, Allen Field House on the campus of the University of Kansas hosted tournament games for the first time, acting as the West regional site. And also in the West region, the University of Wichita Field House, also in its first year of operation, hosted the first-round game. This tournament would also mark the final tournament to include the Allen County War Memorial Arena; neither the arena, which is still in operation, nor the city have hosted since.

Teams

Region	Team	Coach	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	Canisius	Joseph Curran	Regional Runner-up	Temple	L 60–58
East	Connecticut	Hugh Greer	Regional Fourth Place	Dartmouth	L 85–64
East	Dartmouth	Doggie Julian	Regional Third Place	Connecticut	W 85–64
East	Holy Cross	Roy Leenig	First round	Temple	L 74–72
East	Manhattan	Ken Norton	First round	Connecticut	L 84–75
East	NC State	Everett Case	First round	Canisius	L 79–78
East	Temple	Harry Litwack	Third Place	SMU	W 90–81
East	West Virginia	Fred Schaus	First round	Dartmouth	L 61–59
Far West
Far West	Idaho State	Steve Belko	First round	Seattle	L 68–66
Far West	San Francisco	Phil Woolpert	Champion	Iowa	W 83–71
Far West	Seattle	Al Brightman	Regional Fourth Place	UCLA	L 94–70
Far West	UCLA	John Wooden	Regional Third Place	Seattle	W 94–70
Far West	Utah	Jack Gardner	Regional Runner-up	San Francisco	L 92–77
Midwest
Midwest	DePaul	Ray Meyer	First round	Wayne State (MI)	L 72–63
Midwest	Iowa	Bucky O'Connor	Runner Up	San Francisco	L 83–71
Midwest	Kentucky	Adolph Rupp	Regional Runner-up	Iowa	L 89–77
Midwest	Marshall	Jule Rivlin	First round	Morehead State	L 107–92
Midwest	Morehead State	Bobby Laughlin	Regional Third Place	Wayne State (MI)	W 95–84
Midwest	Wayne State (MI)	Joel Mason	Regional Fourth Place	Morehead State	L 95–84
West
West	Houston	Alden Pasche	Regional Fourth Place	Kansas State	L 89–70
West	Kansas State	Tex Winter	Regional Third Place	Houston	W 89–70
West	Memphis State	Eugene Lambert	First round	Oklahoma City	L 97–81
West	Oklahoma City	Abe Lemons	Regional Runner-up	SMU	L 84–63
West	SMU	Doc Hayes	Fourth Place	Temple	L 90–81
West	Texas Tech	Polk Robison	First round	SMU	L 68–67

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East Region

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

Connecticut

84

Manhattan

75

Connecticut

59

Temple

65

Temple

74

Holy Cross

72

Temple

60

Canisius

58

Dartmouth

61

West Virginia

59*

Dartmouth

58

Canisius

66

Canisius

79

NC State

78****

Midwest Region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							Iowa	97
							Morehead State	83
	Morehead State		107
	Marshall		92
												Iowa	89
												Kentucky	77
							Kentucky	84
							Wayne State	64
	Wayne State (MI)		72
	DePaul		63

West Region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							Houston	74
							SMU	89
	SMU		68
	Texas Tech		67
												SMU	84
												Oklahoma City	63
							Kansas State	93
							Oklahoma City	97
	Oklahoma City		97
	Memphis State		81

Far West Region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							Utah	81
							Seattle	72
	Seattle		68
	Idaho State		66
												Utah	77
												San Francisco	92
							San Francisco	72
							UCLA	61

Final Four

	National Semifinals					National Championship Game
	E	Temple	76
	MW	Iowa	83
						MW	Iowa	71
						FW	San Francisco	83
	W	SMU	68
	FW	San Francisco	86

National Third Place Game

	National Third Place Game [1]
	Temple		90
	SMU		81

Regional Third Place Games

East Regional Third Place       Dartmouth 85 Connecticut 64

Far West Regional Third Place       UCLA 94 Seattle 70

Midwest Regional Third Place       Morehead State 95 Wayne State 84

West Regional Third Place       Kansas State 89 Houston 70

See also

• 1956 National Invitation Tournament
• 1956 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament

Notes

• Canisius's first-round victory over the second-ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack, considered by many to be among the top ten upsets in tournament history,[2][3] set a record for most overtime periods in a Division I Men's tournament game with four, a record that still stands as of 2015 (tied once, in 1961).[4]
• Northwestern University previously hosted the first ever NCAA Men's Basketball Championship game on March 27, 1939, in the first Patten Gym.[5]

References

1. "1954 NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket". Retrieved October 14, 2011.
2. http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/ncaatourneyupset.html
3. Top 25 Upsets in NCAA Tournament History--#5, Prepticket.com. Accessed 2009-04-02. Archived 2009-05-04.
4. The Sports Network. "The Sports Network – Men's College Basketball". Archived from the original on 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
5. 1939 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament