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| Season | 1950–51 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 16 | ||||
| Finals site | Williams Arena, Minneapolis,Minnesota | ||||
| Champions | Kentucky Wildcats (3rd title, 3rd title game, 4th Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up | Kansas State Wildcats (1st title game, 2nd Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
| ||||
| Winning coach | Adolph Rupp (3rd title) | ||||
| MOP | No winner selected[a] | ||||
| Attendance | 110,645 | ||||
| Top scorer | Don Sunderlage (Illinois) (83 points) | ||||
| |||||
The1951 NCAA basketball tournament involved 16 schools playing insingle-elimination play to determine the national champion of men'sNCAADivision Icollege basketball. The 13th annual edition of the tournament began on March 20, 1951, and ended with thechampionship game on March 27, atWilliams Arena, located on the campus of theUniversity of Minnesota inMinneapolis. A total of 18 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 68–58 victory overKansas State, coached byJack Gardner.
This NCAA tournament was the first with a 16-team field. Only the championship and third place games were held in Minneapolis, while the semifinals were held in the respective regional sites; similar to previous years. A true "Final 4" (semifinals and final at same location) debuted thefollowing year.
The twelve-teamNational Invitation Tournament (NIT) was held the previous week inNew York City atMadison Square Garden, with its championship on Saturday, Mach 17. Four teams competed in both tournaments, including NIT championBYU;[1][2][3] they lost in the quarterfinal round, by ten points toKansas State.[4][5]
The three other teams wereArizona,North Carolina State, andSt. John's.
The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1951 tournament:
| First round March 20 | Regional Semifinal March 22 | Regional Final March 24 | ||||||||
| New York City | ||||||||||
| Illinois | 79 | |||||||||
| Columbia | 71 | |||||||||
| Illinois | 84 | |||||||||
| Raleigh, North Carolina | ||||||||||
| NC State | 70 | |||||||||
| NC State | 67 | |||||||||
| Villanova | 62 | |||||||||
| Illinois | 74 | |||||||||
| Raleigh, North Carolina | ||||||||||
| Kentucky | 76 | |||||||||
| Kentucky | 79 | |||||||||
| Louisville | 68 | |||||||||
| Kentucky | 59 | Third Place | ||||||||
| New York City | ||||||||||
| St John's | 43 | |||||||||
| St John's | 63 | |||||||||
| St John's | 71 | |||||||||
| Connecticut | 52 | |||||||||
| NC State | 59 | |||||||||
| First round March 21 | Regional Semifinal March 22 | Regional Final March 24 | ||||||||
| Kansas State | 61 | |||||||||
| Arizona | 59 | |||||||||
| Kansas State | 64 | |||||||||
| BYU | 54 | |||||||||
| BYU | 68 | |||||||||
| San Jose State | 61 | |||||||||
| Kansas State | 68 | |||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 44 | |||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 50 | |||||||||
| Montana State | 46 | |||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 61 | Third Place | ||||||||
| Washington | 57 | |||||||||
| Washington | 62 | |||||||||
| Washington | 80 | |||||||||
| Texas A&M | 40 | |||||||||
| BYU | 67 | |||||||||
|
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Source:[6]
1951 – None selected
1951: None selected