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| Season | 1948–49 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 8 | ||||
| Finals site | Hec Edmundson Pavilion, Seattle, Washington | ||||
| Champions | Kentucky Wildcats (2nd title, 2nd title game, 3rd Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up | Oklahoma A&M Aggies (3rd title game, 3rd Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
| ||||
| Winning coach | Adolph Rupp (2nd title) | ||||
| MOP | Alex Groza (Kentucky) | ||||
| Attendance | 72,523 | ||||
| Top scorer | Alex Groza (Kentucky) (82 points) | ||||
| |||||
The1949 NCAA basketball tournament involved eight schools playing insingle-elimination play to determine the national champion of men'sNCAADivision Icollege basketball. The 11th annual edition of the tournament began on March 18, 1949, and ended with thechampionship game on March 26, atHec Edmundson Pavilion, located on the campus of theUniversity of Washington inSeattle. A total of 10 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.
Kentucky, coached byAdolph Rupp, won the national title with a 46–36 victory in the final game overOklahoma A&M, coached byHenry Iba.Alex Groza of Kentucky was named the tournament'sMost Outstanding Player.
The following were the sites selected to host each round of the 1949 tournament:
| Region | Team | Coach | Conference | Finished | Final Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | ||||||
| East | Illinois | Harry Combes | Big Ten | Third Place | Oregon State | W 57–53 |
| East | Kentucky | Adolph Rupp | Southeastern | Champion | Oklahoma A&M | W 46–36 |
| East | Villanova | Alex Severance | Independent | Regional third place | Yale | W 78–67 |
| East | Yale | Howard Hobson | Ivy League | Regional Fourth Place | Villanova | L 78–67 |
| West | ||||||
| West | Arkansas | Eugene Lambert | Southwest | Regional third place | Wyoming | W 61–48 |
| West | Oklahoma A&M | Henry Iba | Missouri Valley | Runner Up | Kentucky | L 46–36 |
| West | Oregon State | Slats Gill | Pacific Coast | Fourth Place | Illinois | L 57–53 |
| West | Wyoming | Everett Shelton | Mountain States | Regional Fourth Place | Arkansas | L 61–48 |
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| #4 Illinois | 71 | |||||||||||||
| #11 Yale | 67 | |||||||||||||
| #4 Illinois | 47 | |||||||||||||
| #1 Kentucky | 76 | |||||||||||||
| #1 Kentucky | 85 | |||||||||||||
| #14 Villanova | 72 | |||||||||||||
| #1 Kentucky | 46 | |||||||||||||
| #2 Oklahoma A&M | 36 | |||||||||||||
| #2 Oklahoma A&M | 40 | |||||||||||||
| #17 Wyoming | 39 | |||||||||||||
| #2 Oklahoma A&M | 55 | Third place | ||||||||||||
| Oregon State | 30 | |||||||||||||
| Oregon State | 56 | #4 Illinois | 57 | |||||||||||
| Arkansas | 38 | Oregon State | 53 | |||||||||||
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