1991 NCAA Division I
men's basketball tournament

Season	1990–91
Teams	64
Finals site	Hoosier Dome, Indianapolis,Indiana
Champions	Duke Blue Devils (1st title, 5th title game, 9th Final Four)
Runner-up	Kansas Jayhawks (6th title game, 9th Final Four)
Semifinalists	North Carolina Tar Heels (10th Final Four) UNLV Runnin' Rebels (4th Final Four)
Winning coach	Mike Krzyzewski (1st title)
MOP	Christian Laettner (Duke)
Attendance	665,707
Top scorer	Christian Laettner (Duke) (125 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments «1990 1992»

The1991NCAA 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 53rd annual edition of the tournament began on March 14, 1991, and ended with thechampionship game on April 1, at theHoosier Dome inIndianapolis, Indiana. A total of 63 games were played.

Duke, coached byMike Krzyzewski, won a rematch of the previous year's national final matchup against undefeated UNLV 79–77 in the semifinal,^[1] then won the national title with a 72–65 victory in the final game overKansas, coached byRoy Williams.^[2] This was the first national championship game for Williams as a head coach. Kansas defeated Williams' mentorDean Smith and North Carolina (where Williams later coached) in the semifinal. Kansas made its second trip to the national championship game in four seasons, the prior appearance being 1988 when they defeatedOklahoma.Christian Laettner of Duke was named the tournament'sMost Outstanding Player.

This tournament marked the first time a #15 seed upset a #2 seed since the tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1985, when Richmond accomplished against Syracuse in the East region. In addition, for the first time ever, at least one team seeded #9 through #15 won a first-round game. This feat would be followed in2013,2016, and2021.

This tournament adopted theNBA's 10ths-second timer during the final minute of each period in all arenas.

Atlanta

College Park

Louisville

Dayton

Syracuse

Minneapolis

Tucson

Salt Lake City

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1991 first and second rounds

Seattle

Charlotte

Pontiac

E. Rutherford

Indianapolis

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1991 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1991 tournament:

First and Second Rounds

• March 14 and 16
  • East Region
    • Cole Field House,College Park, Maryland (Host:University of Maryland, College Park)
  • Midwest Region
    • Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome,Minneapolis, Minnesota (Host:University of Minnesota)
  • Southeast Region
    • Freedom Hall,Louisville, Kentucky (Host:University of Louisville)
  • West Region
    • Jon M. Huntsman Center,Salt Lake City, Utah (Host:University of Utah)
• March 15 and 17
  • East Region
    • Carrier Dome,Syracuse, New York (Host:Syracuse University)
  • Midwest Region
    • University of Dayton Arena,Dayton, Ohio (Host:University of Dayton)
  • Southeast Region
    • Omni Coliseum,Atlanta, Georgia (Host:Georgia Institute of Technology)
  • West Region
    • McKale Center,Tucson, Arizona (Host:University of Arizona)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 21 and 23
  • Southeast Regional,Charlotte Coliseum,Charlotte, North Carolina (Host:University of North Carolina at Charlotte)
  • West Regional,Kingdome,Seattle, Washington (Host:University of Washington)
• March 22 and 24
  • East Regional,Brendan Byrne Arena,East Rutherford, New Jersey (Hosts:Seton Hall University,Big East Conference)
  • Midwest Regional,Pontiac Silverdome,Pontiac, Michigan (Host:University of Detroit Mercy)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

• March 30 and April 1
  • Hoosier Dome,Indianapolis, Indiana (Hosts:Butler University,Midwestern Collegiate Conference)

There were 26 automatic bids awarded to the tournament - of these, 23 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). Another 35 bids were awarded by the NCAA tournament committee at-large to the best teams in the nation not already qualified.

TheBig Eight was eligible for an automatic bid to the tournament, but their conference tournament was won byMissouri, who were on probation and ineligible for the NCAA tournament.^[3] No automatic bid was awarded to the Big Eight.

The remaining three bids were decided by play-in games between the six lowest-rated conferences in the nation. These matchups, which were decided prior to the season, paired the tournament champions of the six lowest-rated conferences in the nation in games played at campus sites:^[4]

• The winner of theNEC tournament,Saint Francis (PA), hosted the winner of thePatriot League tournament,Fordham.^[5]
• The winner of theSouthland tournament,Northeast Louisiana, hosted the winner of theMEAC tournament,Florida A&M.^[6]
• The winner of theSWAC tournament,Jackson State, hosted the winner of theBig South tournament,Coastal Carolina.^[7]

Unlike the laterOpening Round and First Four games, the play-in games were not considered part of the NCAA tournament. This meant that the winners of these games were not credited with an NCAA tournament win, and only the teams that advanced to the field of 64 were credited with an NCAA tournament appearance.

All three games were played on March 6, 1991.

Five conference champions made their first NCAA tournament appearances:Coastal Carolina (Big South),Georgia State (TAAC),Green Bay (Mid-Continent),Saint Francis (PA) (NEC), andSaint Peter's (MAAC).

For the first time,CBS Sports showed all 63 tournament games. In the first three rounds, games were shown on a regional basis, except for one game each on Saturday and Sunday in the second round. Usual start times were noon and 7:30 or 8 p.m.Eastern time on each of the Thursdays and Fridays. During the weekend of the second round, the national telecast began at noon, with the regional windows (three on Saturday, two on Sunday) following. Although the times would be adjusted, the same basic format was in place until2010. As of2011, the regional broadcasts have been replaced by simulcast feeds on non-broadcast networks owned byTurner Sports.

• Jim Nantz andBilly Packer – Midwest Regional at Pontiac, Michigan; Final Four at Indianapolis, Indiana
• Dick Stockton andBilly Cunningham – First and Second Rounds at Minneapolis, Minnesota; West Regional at Seattle, Washington
• James Brown andBill Raftery – First and Second Rounds at Dayton, Ohio; East Regional at East Rutherford, New Jersey
• Greg Gumbel andQuinn Buckner – First and Second Rounds at Tucson, Arizona; Southeast Regional at Charlotte, North Carolina
• Verne Lundquist andLen Elmore – First and Second Rounds at College Park, Maryland
• Brad Nessler andMimi Griffin – First and Second Rounds at Atlanta, Georgia
• Tim Ryan/Jim Henderson andDan Bonner – First and Second Rounds at Syracuse, New York
• Sean McDonough andBill Walton – First and Second Rounds at Louisville, Kentucky
• Mel Proctor andJack Givens – First and Second Rounds at Salt Lake City, Utah

• Duke's79–77 win over UNLV in the Final Four became one of the biggest upsets in tournament history. Duke was an 8-point underdog in the game. UNLV's juggernaut 1990–91 squad ranked #2 onESPN Classic'sWho's #1? for Best Teams Not To Win a Title. UNLV was undefeated entering the 1991 tournament, which was unmatched until Wichita State in 2014 andKentucky in 2015. (Saint Joseph's went unbeaten in the 2004 regular season, finishing 27–0, but lost in their conference tournament before the NCAAs.Alcorn State went unbeaten in the 1979 regular season, but got invited to theNIT since theSouthwestern Athletic Conference did not have an automatic bid to the NCAAs, and lost to eventual winnerIndiana in the 2nd round. Indiana is the last team to win the championship undefeated in 1976).
• This was Duke's fourth (of five) consecutive Final Four trips, the first team to achieve such a feat since UCLA. Since freshmen were not eligible at the time of UCLA's run, Duke'sGreg Koubek became the first player to play in four Final Fours, a record matched by Duke teammatesChristian Laettner and Brian Davis thenext year when the team repeated as national champions.
• For the first time in tournament history a 15-seed defeated a 2-seed.Richmond defeated Syracuse 73–69. Since then this has happened ten additional times: in 1993, Santa Clara defeated Arizona 64–61; in 1997, Coppin State defeated South Carolina 78–65; in 2001,Hampton defeated Iowa State 58–57; on the same day in 2012 Norfolk State defeated Missouri 86–84 and Lehigh defeated Duke 75–70; in 2013 Florida Gulf Coast defeated Georgetown 78–68;^[8] in 2016, Middle Tennessee defeated Michigan State 90–81; in 2021,Oral Roberts defeated Ohio State 75–72; in 2022,Saint Peter's defeated Kentucky 85–79; and in 2023,Princeton defeated Arizona 59–55.
• In the Final Four againstKansas, legendaryNorth Carolina coachDean Smith was ejected from the game for leaving the coach's box.^[9]
• Forbracketologists, this tournament is notable for several reasons. The first is the upset-heavy opening round, which led to every seed number except 16 being represented by at least one team in the second round. The East region, in particular, featured first round victories by seeds 9, 10, 12, 13, and 15. Two 11's and a 14-seed advanced in the other regions. The second round is equally remarkable because there wereno upsets in this round whatsoever. The combination of these two anomalies led to an unprecedented occurrence in which a 10 (Temple), an 11 (Connecticut), and a 12-seed (Eastern Michigan) advanced to the Sweet Sixteen without any of the teams pulling off consecutive upsets. The reason for this was that the first round successes of 15-seedRichmond, 14-seedXavier, and 13-seedPenn State led to Temple, Connecticut, and Eastern Michigan (respectively) being consideredfavorites for their second round matchups.
• This was the first NCAA Tournament to feature all four of theNorth Carolina–basedAtlantic Coast Conference teams, also known as theTobacco Road orBig Four teams:North Carolina,NC State,Duke andWake Forest.
• The Final Four was also the first to include both halves of theNorth Carolina–Duke rivalry. Had both teams won, they would have faced each other for the national championship, but to this day, the teams have only faced each other once each in the NCAA tournament and the NIT – the1971 NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden, which North Carolina won 73–67 and the2022 Final Four at the Caesars Superdome, which the8th-seeded Tar Heels won 81–77 in the last game ofMike Krzyzewski's coaching career.
• This tournament featured three play-in games before the tournament field was announced, featuring the champions of the six conferences with the lowest computer ratings the previous season.^[10] The results were:Saint Francis, Pennsylvania (NEC) defeatedFordham (Patriot) 70–64,^[11]Coastal Carolina (Big South) overJackson State (SWAC) 78–59,^[12] andNE Louisiana (Southland) overFlorida A&M (MEAC) 87–63.^[12] These are not opening round games and the losers are not credited with an NCAA tournament appearance.
• UNLV's semi-final loss in the NCAA tournament brought an end to their astounding 45-game win streak. That is the fourth-longest consecutive-game win streak in NCAA Division 1 basketball history, and the longest win streak since the longest one ever (by UCLA) ended in 1974.^[13]
• DePaul's appearance is, as of 2023, the last appearance of an independent team in the tournament. The Blue Demons would join theGreat Midwest Conference in 1991;Notre Dame, the last prominent independent, would join theBig East in 1995. Though there have been independent teams since, most have been minor programs, or programs in transition between conference affiliations and divisions. It was also the last tournament to feature an East Coast Conference team; the conference, which was born in 1974 from former Middle Atlantic Conference teams, would cease operations in 1994 after most of the teams joined larger conferences.
• Until2025 this was the only time thatSaint Francis (PA) appeared at the tournament.

• 1991 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament
• 1991 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament
• 1991 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 1991 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 1991 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament
• 1991 National Invitation Tournament
• 1991 National Women's Invitation Tournament
• 1991 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 1991 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament

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