1981 NCAA Division I
basketball tournament

Season	1980–81
Teams	48
Finals site	The Spectrum, Philadelphia,Pennsylvania
Champions	Indiana Hoosiers (4th title, 4th title game, 5th Final Four)
Runner-up	North Carolina Tar Heels (5th title game, 8th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Virginia Cavaliers (1st Final Four) LSU Tigers (2nd Final Four)
Winning coach	Bob Knight (2nd title)
MOP	Isiah Thomas (Indiana)
Attendance	347,414
Top scorer	Al Wood (North Carolina) (109 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments «1980 1982»

The1981 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 48 schools playing insingle-elimination play to determine the national champion of men'sNCAA Division Icollege basketball. The 43rd annual edition of the tournament began on March 12, 1981, and ended with thechampionship game on March 30, atThe Spectrum inPhiladelphia. A total of 48 games were played, including a national third-place game (the last in the NCAA tournament). It was also the last tournament to be televised onNBC, beforeCBS took overthe following year. Additionally, it was the last season in which the NCAA sponsored championships only in men's sports; the firstDivision I women's tournament would be playedthe following year.

Indiana, coached byBob Knight, won the national title with a 63–50 victory overNorth Carolina, coached byDean Smith.Isiah Thomas of Indiana was named the Tournament'sMost Outstanding Player.

The date of Saturday, March 14, 1981, resulted in three major second round tournament upsets which were decided by last-second baskets.

St. Joseph's trailed No. 1 seedDePaul by seven at about the midway point of the second half, in an early afternoon Mideast Region game fromDayton, Ohio. However, with under a minute left, the Hawks had rallied to within one point, 48–47. Blue Demons guard Skip Dillard was fouled with 12 seconds left. Dillard was known as 'Money' for his superb free throw shooting (85%), but he missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, and St. Joseph's guardBryan Warrick got the rebound and dribbled to the front court without calling a timeout. Then he got the ball to freshman Lonnie McFarlan who was wide open in the right corner. McFarlan began to shoot until forward John Smith yelled "Please!" to him. McFarlan passed to Smith, who was open underneath the basket. Smith's layup with two seconds left enabled the Hawks of coachJim Lynam to stun the Blue Demons ofRay Meyer, 49–48.^[1]

Later in the afternoon inAustin, Texas,Arkansas coachEddie Sutton called timeout with 5 seconds left after falling behindLouisville in the Midwest Region, 73–72 on a jumper by guardDerek Smith. Sutton told his team to get the ball toU.S. Reed. The Razorbacks' guard dribbled to near half court, then launched a 49-foot shot that beat the buzzer and swished through the net, as Arkansas dethroned the defending national champion Cardinals ofDenny Crum, 74–73. Sutton told the media, "Champions die hard."

Only moments after the Razorbacks' upset, the season ended for another #1 seed in the West Region inLos Angeles.Oregon State ledKansas State by as much as 11 points in the second half. CoachRalph Miller and centerSteve Johnson had led the Beavers to a two-year record of 52–4. ThenRolando Blackman led the Wildcats back with a 16–6 run to tie the game, 48–48 with 3:23 left. Johnson then fouled out, and both teams stalled with the ball until Oregon State missed the front end of a one-and-one from the foul line. K-State then held for the last shot. With two seconds left, Blackman, double-teamed, drilled a fall-away 17 footer from the right baseline for a 50–48 upset by the Wildcats ofJack Hartman.

In another second round Mideast Region upset,UAB defeatedKentucky 69–62. A semifinal in the East Region sawDanny Ainge dribble the length of the court and drive all the way in for a layup and another buzzer-beating winner, liftingBYU overNotre Dame 51–50.

Greg Johnson ofNCAA.com, in a March 9, 2011 article, indicated that March 14, 1981 was a date which defined March Madness.^[2]

Charlotte

Austin

El Paso

Dayton

Los Angeles

Providence

Tuscaloosa

Wichita

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1981 sites for first and second round games

Atlanta

New Orleans

Bloomington

Salt Lake City

Philadelphia

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1981 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1981 tournament:

First and Second rounds

• March 12 and 14
  • East Region
    • Providence Civic Center,Providence, Rhode Island (Host:Providence College)
  • Mideast Region
    • University of Dayton Arena,Dayton, Ohio (Host:University of Dayton)
  • Midwest Region
    • Frank Erwin Center,Austin, Texas (Host:University of Texas at Austin)
  • West Region
    • Pauley Pavilion,Los Angeles, California (Host:UCLA)
• March 13 and 15
  • East Region
    • Charlotte Coliseum,Charlotte, North Carolina (Host:University of North Carolina at Charlotte)
  • Mideast Region
    • Memorial Coliseum,Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Host:University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa)
  • Midwest Region
    • Levitt Arena,Wichita, Kansas (Host:Wichita State University)
  • West Region
    • Special Events Center,El Paso, Texas (Host:University of Texas at El Paso)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 19 and 21
  • East Regional,Omni Coliseum,Atlanta, Georgia (Host:Georgia Tech)
  • West Regional,Special Events Center,Salt Lake City, Utah (Host:University of Utah)
• March 20 and 22
  • Mideast Regional,Assembly Hall,Bloomington, Indiana (Host:Indiana University Bloomington)
  • Midwest Regional,Louisiana Superdome,New Orleans, Louisiana (Host:Tulane University)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

• March 28 and 30
  • The Spectrum,Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Hosts: ThePhiladelphia Big 5 -Villanova University,Temple University,La Salle University,Saint Joseph's University,University of Pennsylvania)

* – Denotes overtime period

• This was the last tournament that a third-place game was staged prior to the national championship; every prior championship since 1946 had featured the game.
• The 1981 tournament holds the record for the most first-time participants. Twelve teams – UAB, Ball State, Chattanooga, Fresno State, Howard, Idaho, James Madison, LIU, Mercer, Mississippi, Northeastern, and Southern – appeared in their first tournament. UAB, coached byGene Bartow, made it the furthest, reaching the Sweet Sixteen before falling to eventual champion Indiana. The twelve teams beat the previous record of eleven set in 1955. Half of the first time teams would return in 1982, with the longest drought before their second appearance being sixteen years for the Ole Miss Rebels.
• As of 2024, this is the only time all three Division I schools fromKansas—Kansas, Kansas State and Wichita State—have advanced to the Sweet 16.
• As of 2023, all forty-eight teams in the 1981 tournament have returned to the tournament at least once. This would happen five more times in the 1980s, but has not happened again since 1989.

• Dick Enberg,Billy Packer andAl McGuire – Second round at Providence, Rhode Island (UCLA–Brigham Young, Notre Dame–James Madison); Second round at Charlotte, North Carolina (Virginia–Villanova, Tennessee–VCU); East Regional Final at Atlanta, Georgia; Midwest Regional Final at New Orleans, Louisiana; Final Four at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Marv Albert andSteve Grote – Mideast Regional Final at Bloomington, Indiana
• Don Criqui andGary Thompson – Second round at Dayton, Ohio (DePaul–St. Joseph's, Indiana–Maryland); West Regional Final at Salt Lake City, Utah (Kansas State-North Carolina)
• Bill O'Donnell andJeff Mullins – East Regional semifinals at Atlanta, Georgia
• Jim Thacker andSteve Grote – Mideast Regional semifinals at Bloomington, Indiana
• Fred White andLarry Conley – Midwest Regional semifinals at New Orleans, Louisiana
• Bob Costas andGary Thompson – Second round at Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Kentucky–UAB, Wake Forest–Boston College)
• Marv Albert andBucky Waters – Second round at Austin, Texas (LSU–Lamar, Louisville–Arkansas)
• Charlie Jones andLynn Shackelford – Second round at Wichita, Kansas (Iowa–Wichita State, Arizona State–Kansas)
• Jay Randolph andSteve Grote – Second round at Los Angeles, California (Oregon State–Kansas State, Illinois–Wyoming)
• Merle Harmon andMatt Guokas – Second round at El Paso, Texas (Utah–Northeastern, North Carolina–Pittsburgh)
• Tom Hammond andLarry Conley – First round at Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Boston College–Ball State, UAB–Western Kentucky)
• Tom Hammond and Gary Thompson-West Regional Semifinals at Salt Lake City, Utah

• 1981 NCAA Division II basketball tournament
• 1981 NCAA Division III basketball tournament
• 1981 National Invitation Tournament
• 1981 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 1981 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 1981 National Women's Invitation Tournament

• Media related to1981 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at Wikimedia Commons
• 1981 NCAA Tournament Summary atSports-Reference.com

• NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
• 1981 in sports in Pennsylvania
• March 1981 sports events in the United States
• Basketball competitions in Philadelphia
• College basketball tournaments in Pennsylvania
• 1981 in Philadelphia

• Articles with short description
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• Use mdy dates from August 2023
• Commons category link from Wikidata