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| Teams | 8 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finals site | Madison Square Garden, New York City,New York | ||||
| Champions | Oklahoma A&M Aggies (2nd title, 2nd title game, 2nd Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up | North Carolina Tar Heels (1st title game, 1st Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
| ||||
| Winning coach | Henry Iba (2nd title) | ||||
| MOP | Bob Kurland (Oklahoma A&M) | ||||
| Attendance | 73,116 | ||||
| Top scorer | Bob Kurland (Oklahoma A&M) (72 points) | ||||
| |||||
The1946 NCAA basketball tournament involved eight schools playing insingle-elimination play to determine the national champion of men'sNCAADivision Icollege basketball. The 8th annual edition of the tournament began on March 21, 1946, and ended with thechampionship game on March 26, atMadison Square Garden inNew York City. A total of 10 games were played, including a third-place game in each region and a national third-place game.
Oklahoma A&M, coached byHenry Iba, won the national title with a 43–40 victory in the final game overNorth Carolina, coached byBen Carnevale.Bob Kurland ofOklahoma A&M was named the tournament'sMost Outstanding Player. The Aggies were the first team to win a second NCAA championship, the first to repeat as champions, and the first of two teams (San Francisco being the other) to win the title in their first two NCAA appearances.
This was the first tournament to have four teams advance to the final site, though not the first to have a true "Final Four" format (that would not occur until1952). The two regional losers played in the national third-place game, while the two winners played for the championship. The third-place game would continue through the1981 tournament.
The following were the sites which hosted each round of the 1946 tournament:
| Region | Team | Coach | Conference | Finished | Final Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | ||||||
| East | Harvard | Floyd Stahl | EIBL | Regional Fourth Place | NYU | L 67–61 |
| East | NYU | Howard Cann | Middle Atlantic | Regional third place | Harvard | W 67–61 |
| East | North Carolina | Ben Carnevale | Southern Conference | Runner Up | Oklahoma A&M | L 43–40 |
| East | Ohio State | Harold Olsen | Big Ten | Third Place | California | W 63–45 |
| West | ||||||
| West | Baylor | Bill Henderson | Southwest | Regional Fourth Place | Colorado | L 59–44 |
| West | California | Nibs Price | Pacific Coast | Fourth Place | Ohio State | L 63–45 |
| West | Colorado | Frosty Cox | Skyline | Regional third place | Baylor | W 59–44 |
| West | Oklahoma A&M | Henry Iba | Missouri Valley | Champion | North Carolina | W 43–40 |
| Regional Semifinals March 21 & 22 | Regional Finals March 23 | National Championship March 26 | |||||||||||
| Ohio State | 46 | ||||||||||||
| Harvard | 38 | ||||||||||||
| Ohio State | 57* | ||||||||||||
| East – New York City | |||||||||||||
| North Carolina | 60 | ||||||||||||
| North Carolina | 57 | ||||||||||||
| New York City | |||||||||||||
| NYU | 49 | ||||||||||||
| North Carolina | 40 | ||||||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 43 | ||||||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 44 | ||||||||||||
| Baylor | 29 | ||||||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 52 | ||||||||||||
| West – Kansas City, MO | |||||||||||||
| California | 35 | ||||||||||||
| California | 50 | ||||||||||||
| Colorado | 44 | ||||||||||||
| East Third Place Game March 23 | West Third Place Game March 23 | National Third Place Game March 26 | |||||||||||
| Harvard | 61 | Baylor | 44 | Ohio State | 63 | ||||||||
| NYU | 67 | Colorado | 59 | California | 45 | ||||||||
* – Denotes overtime period