1945 NCAA basketball tournament
| Teams | 8 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finals site | Madison Square Garden New York City | ||||
| Champions | Oklahoma A&M (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up | NYU (1st title game, 1st Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
| ||||
| Winning coach | Henry Iba (1st title) | ||||
| MOP | Bob Kurland (Oklahoma A&M) | ||||
| Attendance | 67,780 | ||||
| Top scorer | Bob Kurland (Oklahoma A&M) (65 points) | ||||
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The 1945 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 22, 1945, and ended with the championship game on March 27 in New York City. A total of 9 games were played, including a third place game in each region.
Oklahoma A&M, coached by Henry Iba, won the national title with a 49-45 victory in the final game over NYU, coached by Howard Cann. Bob Kurland of Oklahoma A&M was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Locations
The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1945 tournament:
Regionals
- March 22 and 24
- East Regional, Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
- March 23 and 24
- West Regional, Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri
Championship Game
- March 27
- Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Teams
| Region | Seed | Team | Coach | Conference | Finished | Final Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | |||||||
| East | n/a | Kentucky | Adolph Rupp | SEC | Regional Third Place | Tufts | W 66-56 |
| East | n/a | NYU | Howard Cann | Middle Atlantic | Runner Up | Oklahoma A&M | L 49-45 |
| East | n/a | Ohio State | Harold Olsen | Big Ten | National Semifinals | NYU | L 70-65 |
| East | n/a | Tufts | Richard Cochran | New England | Regional Fourth Place | Kentucky | L 66-56 |
| West | |||||||
| West | n/a | Arkansas | Eugene Lambert | Southwest | National Semifinals | Oklahoma A&M | L 68-41 |
| West | n/a | Oklahoma A&M | Henry Iba | Missouri Valley | Champion | NYU | W 49-45 |
| West | n/a | Oregon | John Warren | Pacific Coast | Regional Third Place | Utah | W 69-66 |
| West | n/a | Utah | Vadal Peterson | Skyline | Regional Fourth Place | Oregon | L 69-66 |
Bracket
* – Denotes overtime period
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| NYU | 59 | |||||||||||||
| Tufts | 44 | |||||||||||||
| NYU | 70 | |||||||||||||
| Ohio State | 65* | |||||||||||||
| Ohio State | 45 | |||||||||||||
| Kentucky | 37 | |||||||||||||
| NYU | 45 | |||||||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 49 | |||||||||||||
| Arkansas | 79 | |||||||||||||
| Oregon | 76 | |||||||||||||
| Arkansas | 41 | |||||||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 68 | |||||||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 62 | |||||||||||||
| Utah | 37 | |||||||||||||
Regional Third Place
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