1963 NCAA University Division Basketball Tournament

The 1963 NCAA University Division Basketball Tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 9, 1963, and ended with the championship game on March 23 in Louisville, Kentucky. A total of 29 games were played, including a third-place game in each region and a national third-place game.

1963 NCAA University Division
Basketball Tournament

Cover from the official program
Teams	25
Finals site	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Champions	Loyola Ramblers (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Runner-up	Cincinnati Bearcats (3rd title game, 5th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Duke Blue Devils (1st Final Four) Oregon State Beavers (2nd Final Four)
Winning coach	George Ireland (1st title)
MOP	Art Heyman (Duke)
Attendance	153,065
Top scorer	Mel Counts Oregon State (123 points)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments «1962 1964»

Loyola University Chicago, coached by George Ireland, won the national title with a 60–58 overtime victory in the final game, over the University of Cincinnati, coached by Ed Jucker. Art Heyman, of Duke University, was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. This tournament marked the last time that a city was host to two straight Final Fours.

Locations

Philadelphia

Evanston

Lubbock

Eugene

College Park

East Lansing

Lawrence

Provo

Louisville

First round (green), Regionals (blue), and Final Four (red)

Round	Region	Location	Venue
First Round	East	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	The Palestra
	Mideast	Evanston, Illinois	McGaw Memorial Hall
	Midwest	Lubbock, Texas	Lubbock Municipal Coliseum
	West	Eugene, Oregon	McArthur Court
Regionals	East	College Park, Maryland	Cole Field House
	Mideast	East Lansing, Michigan	Jenison Fieldhouse
	Midwest	Lawrence, Kansas	Allen Fieldhouse
	West	Provo, Utah	Smith Fieldhouse
Final Four		Louisville, Kentucky	Freedom Hall

For the fourth time, Louisville and Freedom Hall hosted the Final Four, the last time a host repeated in back-to-back years. Like the preceding year, all nine venues were either on-campus arenas or the primary off-campus arena for college teams. The tournament saw three new venues being used. For the first time, the tournament came to the state of Michigan, when Jenison Fieldhouse on the campus of Michigan State University hosted games for the first and only time. (All other games held in the state have been in the Detroit metropolitan area.) Texas saw its third host city become Lubbock, when the Municipal Coliseum at Texas Technological College hosted games for the first time. And for the first time, the University of Oregon hosted the tournament at historic McArthur Court, something it would do twice more. Of the nine venues used, only Jenison Fieldhouse would not be used again.

Teams

Region	Team	Coach	Finished	Final Opponent	Score	Qualification
East
East	Connecticut	George Wigton	First round	West Virginia	L 77–71	Yankee Conference champion[1]
East	Duke	Vic Bubas	Third Place	Oregon State	W 85–63	ACC Tournament champion[1]
East	NYU	Lou Rossini	Regional Fourth Place	West Virginia	L 83–73	At-large bid[2]
East	Pittsburgh	Bob Timmons	First round	NYU	L 93–83	At-large bid
East	Princeton	Butch van Breda Kolff	First round	Saint Joseph's	L 82–81	Ivy League co-champion[lower-alpha 1][3]
East	Saint Joseph's	Jack Ramsay	Regional Runner-up	Duke	L 73–59	MAC champion[4]
East	West Virginia	George King	Regional Third Place	NYU	W 83–73	SoCon Tournament champion[1]
Mideast
Mideast	Bowling Green	Harold Anderson	Regional Fourth Place	Mississippi State	L 65–60	MAC champion[4]
Mideast	Illinois	Harry Combes	Regional Runner-up	Loyola–Chicago	L 79–64	Big Ten co-champion[lower-alpha 2][3]
Mideast	Loyola–Chicago	George Ireland	Champion	Cincinnati	W 60–58	At-large bid[2]
Mideast	Mississippi State	Babe McCarthy	Regional Third Place	Bowling Green	W 65–60	SEC champion[3]
Mideast	Notre Dame	John Jordan	First round	Bowling Green	L 77–72	At-large bid
Mideast	Tennessee Tech	Johnny Oldham	First round	Loyola–Chicago	L 111–42	OVC champion[4]
Midwest
Midwest	Cincinnati	Ed Jucker	Runner Up	Loyola–Chicago	L 60–58	MVC champion[5]
Midwest	Colorado	Sox Walseth	Regional Runner-up	Cincinnati	L 67–60	Big Eight co-champion[lower-alpha 3][3]
Midwest	Colorado State	Jim Williams	First round	Oklahoma City	L 70–67	At-large bid[2]
Midwest	Oklahoma City	Abe Lemons	Regional Fourth Place	Texas	L 90–83	At-large bid[2]
Midwest	Texas	Harold Bradley	Regional Third Place	Oklahoma City	W 90–83	SWC champion[5]
Midwest	Texas Western	Don Haskins	First round	Texas	L 65–47	At-large bid[2]
West
West	Arizona State	Ned Wulk	Regional Runner-up	Oregon State	L 83–65	WAC champion[4]
West	Oregon State	Slats Gill	Fourth Place	Duke	L 85–63	At-large bid[2]
West	San Francisco	Pete Peletta	Regional Third Place	UCLA	W 76–75	WCAC champion[3]
West	Seattle	Clair Markey	First round	Oregon State	L 70–66	At-large bid[2]
West	UCLA	John Wooden	Regional Fourth Place	San Francisco	L 76–75	Big Six co-champion[lower-alpha 4][3][6]
West	Utah State	LaDell Andersen	First round	Arizona State	L 79–75	At-large bid[2]

1. Princeton won a tiebreaker play-off game against Fordham to earn a tournament berth.
2. Ohio State had been in the previous year's tournament, so Illinois was awarded the tournament berth.
3. Colorado had won both their games against co-champion Kansas State that season, so they were awarded the tournament berth.
4. UCLA won in a tiebreaker play-off game against Stanford to earn a tournament berth.

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							Duke	81
							NYU	76
		NYU	93
		Pittsburgh	83
												Duke	73
												Saint Joseph's	59
		West Virginia	77
		Connecticut	71
							West Virginia	88
							Saint Joseph's	97
		Saint Joseph's	82
		Princeton	81*

Mideast region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							Illinois	70
							Bowling Green	67
		Bowling Green	77
		Notre Dame	72
												Illinois	64
												Loyola–Chicago	79
							Mississippi State	51
							Loyola–Chicago	61
		Loyola–Chicago	111
		Tennessee Tech	42

Midwest region

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							Colorado	78
							Oklahoma City	72
		Oklahoma City	70
		Colorado State	67
												Colorado	60
												Cincinnati	67
							Cincinnati	73
							Texas	68
		Texas	65
		Texas Western	47

West region

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

UCLA

79

Arizona State

93

Arizona State

79

Utah State

75*

Arizona State

65

Oregon State

83

San Francisco

61

Oregon State

65

Oregon State

70

Seattle

66

Final Four

	National Semifinals					National Championship Game
	E	Duke	75
	ME	Loyola–Chicago	94
						ME	Loyola–Chicago	60
						MW	Cincinnati	58
	MW	Cincinnati	80
	W	Oregon State	46

National Third Place Game

	National Third Place Game [7]
	E	Duke	85
	W	Oregon State	63

Regional Third Place Games

East Regional Third Place       West Virginia 83 NYU 73

Mideast Regional Third Place       Mississippi State 65 Bowling Green 60

Midwest Regional Third Place       Texas 90 Oklahoma City 83

West Regional Third Place       San Francisco 76 UCLA 75

Noteworthy

The Loyola Ramblers show off their championship trophy as they arrive home at O'Hare International Airport.

In the Loyola vs. Mississippi State game at East Lansing, Michigan in a Mideast regional semifinal, Mississippi State, an all-white team, played despite protests from the governor and state police of Mississippi. Mississippi State overcame a state prohibition against playing integrated teams. Loyola beat Mississippi State and went on to the Mideast Region Championship game. The Loyola–Mississippi State has since been dubbed the "Game of Change".

In the National Championship game, Loyola started four African-Americans and Cincinnati started three, marking the first time that a majority of African-Americans participated in the championship game.

Loyola's first-round regional victory over Tennessee Tech, 111–42, continues to be a record margin of victory for an NCAA men's basketball tournament game.

See also

• 1963 NCAA College Division Basketball Tournament
• 1963 National Invitation Tournament
• 1963 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
• Black participation in college basketball

References

1. "4 Quintets Gain N.C.A.A. Tourney". The New York Times. New York. 4 March 1963. p. 20. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
2. "5 Fives Accept Bids to N.C.A.A. Tourney". The New York Times. New York. 19 Feb 1963. p. 16. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
3. "Big Six Quintets Will Play Off Tie". The New York Times. New York. 11 March 1963. p. 18. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
4. "1962–63 Conference Standings". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
5. Sheehan, Joseph M. (18 February 1963). "No College Fives Stay Undefeated". The New York Times. p. 17. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
6. "U.C.L.A. Wins Title, Downing Stanford". The New York Times. New York. 14 March 1963. p. 16. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
7. "1954 NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket". Retrieved October 14, 2011.