1969 NCAA University Division basketball tournament

1969 NCAA University Division
basketball tournament

Season	1968–69
Teams	25
Finals site	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Champions	UCLA Bruins (5th title, 5th title game, 6th Final Four)
Runner-up	Purdue Boilermakers (1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Semifinalists	Drake Bulldogs (1st Final Four) North Carolina Tar Heels (5th Final Four)
Winning coach	John Wooden (5th title)
MOP	Lew Alcindor (UCLA)
Attendance	165,712
Top scorer	Rick Mount (Purdue) (122 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments «1968 1970»

The 1969 NCAA University Division men's basketball tournament involved 25 schools playing to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8, 1969, and ended with the championship game on March 22 in Louisville, Kentucky. Including consolation games in each of the regions and an overall consolation game, a total of 29 games were played.

UCLA, coached by John Wooden, won the national title with a 92–72 victory in the final game over Purdue, coached by George King. Lew Alcindor of UCLA was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

In the game, John Vallely, the "Money Man", scored 22 points and Alcindor had 37 points, to give UCLA a win over Purdue, which is Wooden's alma mater. Purdue was hampered due to injuries to starting point guard Billy Keller and forward Herm Gilliam; Purdue had also lost 7'0" center Chuck Bavis to a broken collarbone during the Mideast Regionals against Miami, (OH). In earlier matchups, Bavis had provided an ample challenge to Alcindor. Wooden was an All-American guard for the Boilermakers from 1928 to 1932.

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1969 tournament, and their host(s):

First round

• March 8
  • East Region
    • Keaney Gymnasium, Kingston, Rhode Island (Host: University of Rhode Island)
    • Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University)
  • Mideast Region
    • SIU Arena, Carbondale, Illinois (Host: Southern Illinois University Carbondale)
  • Midwest Region
    • Daniel-Meyer Coliseum, Fort Worth, Texas (Host: Texas Christian University)
  • West Region
    • Pan American Center, Las Cruces, New Mexico (Host: New Mexico State University)

Regional semifinals, 3rd-place games, and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 13 and 15
  • East Regional, Cole Field House, College Park, Maryland (Host: University of Maryland, College Park)
  • Mideast Regional, Wisconsin Field House, Madison, Wisconsin (Host: University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • Midwest Regional, Ahearn Field House, Manhattan, Kansas (Host: Kansas State University)
  • West Regional, Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, California (Host: UCLA)

National semifinals, 3rd-place game, and championship (Final Four and championship)

• March 20 and 22
  • Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky (Host: University of Louisville)

Region	Team	Coach	Conference	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	Davidson	Lefty Driesell	Southern	Regional Runner-up	North Carolina	L 87–85
East	Duquesne	John Manning	Independent	Regional third place	St. John's	W 75–72
East	North Carolina	Dean Smith	Atlantic Coast	Fourth Place	Drake	L 104–84
East	Princeton	Pete Carril	Ivy League	First round	St. John's	L 72–63
East	St. John's	Lou Carnesecca	Independent	Regional Fourth Place	Duquesne	L 75–72
East	Saint Joseph's	Jack McKinney	Middle Atlantic	First round	Duquesne	L 74–52
East	Villanova	Jack Kraft	Independent	First round	Davidson	L 75–61
Mideast
Mideast	Kentucky	Adolph Rupp	Southeastern	Regional third place	Miami (OH)	W 72–71
Mideast	Marquette	Al McGuire	Independent	Regional Runner-up	Purdue	L 75–73
Mideast	Miami (OH)	Tates Locke	Mid-American	Regional Fourth Place	Kentucky	L 72–71
Mideast	Murray State	Cal Luther	Ohio Valley	First round	Marquette	L 82–62
Mideast	Notre Dame	John Dee	Independent	First round	Miami (OH)	L 63–60
Mideast	Purdue	George King	Big Ten	Runner Up	UCLA	L 92–72
Midwest
Midwest	Colorado	Sox Walseth	Big Eight	Regional third place	Texas A&M	W 97–82
Midwest	Colorado State	Jim Williams	Independent	Regional Runner-up	Drake	L 84–77
Midwest	Dayton	Don Donoher	Independent	First round	Colorado State	L 52–50
Midwest	Drake	Maury John	Missouri Valley	Third Place	North Carolina	W 104–84
Midwest	Texas A&M	Shelby Metcalf	Southwest	Regional Fourth Place	Colorado	L 97–82
Midwest	Trinity (TX)	Bob Polk	Southland	First round	Texas A&M	L 81–66
West
West	BYU	Stan Watts	Western Athletic	First round	New Mexico State	L 74–62
West	New Mexico State	Lou Henson	Independent	Regional Fourth Place	Weber State	L 58–56
West	Santa Clara	Dick Garibaldi	West Coast	Regional Runner-up	UCLA	L 90–52
West	Seattle	Morris Buckwalter	Independent	First round	Weber State	L 75–73
West	UCLA	John Wooden	Pac-8	Champion	Purdue	W 92–72
West	Weber State	Phil Johnson	Big Sky	Regional third place	New Mexico State	W 58–56

* – Denotes overtime period

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							North Carolina	79
							Duquesne	78
		Duquesne	74
		Saint Joseph's	52
												North Carolina	87
												Davidson	85
		Davidson	75
		Villanova	61
							Davidson	79
							St. John's	69
		St. John's	72
		Princeton	63

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							Purdue	91
							Miami (OH)	71
		Miami (OH)	63
		Notre Dame	60
												Purdue	75
												Marquette	73
							Kentucky	74
							Marquette	81
		Marquette	82
		Murray State	62

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
							Drake	81
							Texas A&M	63
		Texas A&M	81
		Trinity (TX)	66
												Drake	84
												Colorado State	77
							Colorado	56
							Colorado State	64
		Colorado State	52
		Dayton	50

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

UCLA

53

New Mexico State

38

New Mexico State

74

BYU

62

UCLA

90

Santa Clara

52

Santa Clara

63

Weber State

59*

Weber State

75

Seattle

73

	National semifinals					National Final
	E	North Carolina	65
	ME	Purdue	92
						ME	Purdue	72
						W	UCLA	92
	MW	Drake	82
	W	UCLA	85

	National third-place game [1]
	E	North Carolina	84
	MW	Drake	104

• 1969 NCAA College Division basketball tournament
• 1969 National Invitation Tournament
• 1969 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 1969 National Women's Invitation Tournament

• Three teams - Drake, Purdue and Trinity University - made their tournament debuts. While Drake and Purdue made the Final Four in their first appearances, Trinity, an independent school from San Antonio, did not win their regional quarterfinal game against Texas A&M. This would be Trinity's only appearance in the tournament, as they would drop down to Division II when the NCAA realigned its divisions in 1973.
• This tournament also marked the last tournament appearance of Seattle University. The team would leave the NCAA in 1980 due to budgetary cuts, joining the NAIA at that time. However, they would rejoin the NCAA in 2001 and, finally, rejoin Division I in 2009. The Redhawks, as they are now known, have not returned to the tournament since.