1995 NCAA Division I
men's basketball tournament

Season	1994–95
Teams	64
Finals site	Kingdome, Seattle,Washington
Champions	UCLA Bruins (11th title, 12th title game, 15th Final Four)
Runner-up	Arkansas Razorbacks (2nd title game, 6th Final Four)
Semifinalists	North Carolina Tar Heels (12th Final Four) Oklahoma State Cowboys (5th Final Four)
Winning coach	Jim Harrick (1st title)
MOP	Ed O'Bannon (UCLA)
Attendance	540,101
Top scorer	Corliss Williamson (Arkansas) (125 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments «1994 1996»

The1995NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing insingle-elimination play to determine the national champion of men'sNCAA Division Icollege basketball. The 57th annual edition of the tournament began on March 16, 1995, and ended with thechampionship game on April 3 at theKingdome inSeattle,Washington. This Final Four would be the last time that the Final Four was hosted in theWestern United States until the2017 edition of the tournament whereGlendale, Arizona, was the host. A total of 63 games were played.

The Final Four consisted ofUCLA, making their fifteenth appearance and first since the 1980 team that eventually saw their appearance vacated,Oklahoma State, making their fifth appearance and first since 1951,North Carolina, making their twelfth appearance and second in three years, andArkansas, the defending national champions.

The championship game saw UCLA win their eleventh national championship and first (and only) national title underJim Harrick by defeating Arkansas 89–78, foiling the Razorbacks' hopes of back to back national titles.

UCLA'sEd O'Bannon was named the tournament'sMost Outstanding Player.

Albany

Baltimore

Dayton

Tallahassee

Memphis

Austin

Salt Lake City

Boise

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1995 first and second rounds

Oakland

Kansas City

Birmingham

E. Rutherford

Seattle

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1995 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1995 tournament:

First and Second Rounds

• March 16 and 18
  • East Region
    • Baltimore Arena,Baltimore, Maryland (Host:University of Maryland Baltimore County)
  • Midwest Region
    • University of Dayton Arena,Dayton, Ohio (Host:University of Dayton)
  • Southeast Region
    • Memphis Pyramid,Memphis, Tennessee (Host:University of Memphis)
  • West Region
    • Jon M. Huntsman Center,Salt Lake City, Utah (Host:University of Utah)
• March 17 and 19
  • East Region
    • Knickerbocker Arena,Albany, New York (Hosts:Siena College,Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
  • Midwest Region
    • Frank Erwin Center,Austin, Texas (Host:University of Texas at Austin)
  • Southeast Region
    • Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center,Tallahassee, Florida (Host:Florida State University)
  • West Region
    • BSU Pavilion,Boise, Idaho (Host:Boise State University)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 23 and 25
  • Southeast Regional,BJCC Coliseum,Birmingham, Alabama (Host:Southeastern Conference)
  • West Regional,Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena,Oakland, California (Host:University of California, Berkeley)
• March 24 and 26
  • East Regional,Brendan Byrne Arena,East Rutherford, New Jersey (Hosts:Seton Hall University,Big East Conference)
  • Midwest Regional,Kemper Arena,Kansas City, Missouri (Host:Missouri Valley Conference)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

• April 1 and 3
  • Kingdome,Seattle, Washington (Hosts:Seattle University,University of Washington)

There were 29 automatic bids awarded to the tournament - of these, 26 were given to the winners of their conference's tournament, while three were awarded to the team with the best regular-season record in their conference (Big Ten,Ivy League andPac-10).

Four conferences, theAmerican West Conference,^[1]Big South Conference,^[2]Great Midwest Conference,^[3] andMid-Continent Conference,^[4] did not receive automatic bids to the tournament.

Five conference champions made their first NCAA tournament appearances:Colgate (Patriot),FIU (TAAC),Gonzaga (West Coast),Mount St. Mary's (NEC), andNicholls State (Southland).

# Minnesota vacated its NCAA Tournament appearance from the 1994–95 season due to anacademic fraud scandal.

*NamedMost Outstanding Player

• 1995 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament
• 1995 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament
• 1995 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 1995 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 1995 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament
• 1995 National Invitation Tournament
• 1995 National Women's Invitation Tournament
• 1995 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 1995 NAIA Division II men's basketball tournament
• 1995 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 1995 NAIA Division II women's basketball tournament

• March 19, 1995 – A final shot in the second round atThe Boise State Pavilion is one of the most memorable moments in NCAA history. UCLA'sTyus Edney dashed the length of the 94-foot court in just over 4 seconds to make a layup that gave the Bruins a 75–74 win over Missouri, which sustained UCLA's run to a national title that year.^[6]
• April 3, 1995 – Ed O'Bannon scored 30 points and grabbed 17 rebounds and is named the tournament'sMost Outstanding Player as the Bruins win the championship 89–78 overArkansas.^[7]Cameron Dollar played 36 minutes and contributed eight assists and four steals while filling in for an injured Edney, who did not return after leaving with 17:23 left in the first half.^[8] The Bruins enjoyed the biggest lead 34–26 in the first half, but led only by a point at halftime 40–39.
• To date, this is the last NCAA men's basketball tournament in which no team seeded lower than #6 reached the Sweet Sixteen.
• Five teams -Colgate,FIU,Gonzaga,Mount St. Mary's andNicholls State - made their debut in this tournament, all as conference winners. Only FIU has failed to return to the tournament since; Gonzaga would miss the next three tournaments before starting their current streak of making every tournament since 1999.
• The 1995 tournament was the last to feature teams from the Metro and Great Midwest Conferences, as the two would merge later that year to formConference USA.
  • Tulane, a charter member of the Metro (expelled from the conference from 1985 to 1989 when the Green Wave shuttered their men's basketball program in the wake of apoint shaving scandal), has not returned to the NCAA tournament since.

Once again,CBS served as broadcasters on television for the tournament.

• Studio:Pat O'Brien (daytime) First round, Regional, Final Four,Jim Nantz (primetime) First round & all of Second Round, andClark Kellogg.
• Dick Stockton/Jim Nantz andBilly Packer – Stockton/Packer, First & Second Round at Baltimore, Maryland; Nantz/Packer, Midwest Regional at Kansas City, Missouri; Final Four at Seattle, Washington
• Sean McDonough andBill Raftery – First & Second Round at Dayton, Ohio; Southeast Regional at Birmingham, Alabama
• Verne Lundquist andQuinn Buckner – First & Second Round at Tallahassee, Florida; East Regional at East Rutherford, New Jersey
• Tim Ryan andAl McGuire – First & Second Round at Boise, Idaho; West Regional at Oakland, California
• Mike Gorman andAnn Meyers – First & Second Round at Memphis, Tennessee
• Mike Emrick andGeorge Raveling – First & Second Round at Albany, New York
• Ted Robinson andDerrek Dickey – First & Second Round at Salt Lake City, Utah
• Dave Sims andDan Bonner – First & Second Round at Austin, Texas

CBS Radio was once again the radio home for the tournament.

• John Rooney
• Marty Brennaman
• Gary Cohen andDave Gavitt – 1st & 2nd Round at Albany, New York
• Wayne Larrivee
• Brad Sham
• Gus Johnson andReggie Theus

• John Rooney
• Marty Brennaman
• Gary Cohen andDave Gavitt – East Regional at East Rutherford, New Jersey
• Wayne Larrivee

• John Rooney andBill Raftery – (UCLA-Oklahoma State and championship Game) Final Four at Seattle, Washington
• Marty Brennaman andRon Franklin – (Arkansas-North Carolina) Final Four at Seattle, Washington

• NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 1994–95 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
• Basketball in Austin, Texas
• Basketball competitions in Seattle
• March 1995 sports events in the United States
• April 1995 sports events in the United States
• 1995 in Seattle
• 1995 in sports in Washington (state)

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