1991 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

The 1991 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 14, 1991, and ended with the championship game on April 1 in Indianapolis, Indiana. A total of 63 games were played.

Duke, coached by Mike Krzyzewski, won a rematch of the previous year's national final matchup against undefeated UNLV 79-77 in the semifinal, then won the national title with a 72–65 victory in the final game over Kansas, coached by Roy Williams. This was the first National Championship game for Williams as a head coach. Kansas defeated Williams' mentor Dean Smith and North Carolina in the semifinal. Kansas made its first trip to the National Championship game since 1988 when they defeated Oklahoma, making it their second trip to the Championship game in four seasons. Christian Laettner of Duke was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Locations

Region	Site	Other Locations
East	East Rutherford, New Jersey	College Park, Maryland, Syracuse, New York
Midwest	Pontiac, Michigan	Dayton, Ohio, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Southeast	Charlotte, North Carolina	Atlanta, Georgia, Louisville, Kentucky
West	Seattle, Washington	Salt Lake City, Utah, Tucson, Arizona
Finals	Indianapolis, Indiana

Teams

Region	Seed	Team	Coach	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	1	North Carolina	Dean Smith	National Semifinals	3 Kansas	L 79-73
East	2	Syracuse	Jim Boeheim	Round of 64	15 Richmond	L 73-69
East	3	Oklahoma State	Eddie Sutton	Sweet Sixteen	10 Temple	L 72-63
East	4	UCLA	Jim Harrick	Round of 64	13 Penn State	L 74-69
East	5	Mississippi State	Richard Williams	Round of 64	12 Eastern Michigan	L 76-56
East	6	North Carolina State	Les Robinson	Round of 32	3 Oklahoma State	L 73-64
East	7	Purdue	Gene Keady	Round of 64	10 Temple	L 80-63
East	8	Princeton	Pete Carril	Round of 64	9 Villanova	L 50-48
East	9	Villanova	Rollie Massimino	Round of 32	1 North Carolina	L 84-69
East	10	Temple	John Chaney	Elite Eight	1 North Carolina	L 75-72
East	11	Southern Miss	M.K. Turk	Round of 64	6 North Carolina State	L 114-85
East	12	Eastern Michigan	Ben Braun	Sweet Sixteen	1 North Carolina	L 93-67
East	13	Penn State	Bruce Parkhill	Round of 32	12 Eastern Michigan	L 71-68
East	14	New Mexico	Dave Bliss	Round of 64	3 Oklahoma State	L 67-54
East	15	Richmond	Dick Tarrant	Round of 32	10 Temple	L 77-64
East	16	Northeastern	Karl Fogel	Round of 64	1 North Carolina	L 101-66
Midwest
Midwest	1	Ohio State	Randy Ayers	Sweet Sixteen	4 St. John's	L 91-74
Midwest	2	Duke	Mike Krzyzewski	Champion	3 Kansas	W 72-65
Midwest	3	Nebraska	Danny Nee	Round of 64	14 Xavier	L 89-84
Midwest	4	St. John's	Lou Carnesecca	Elite Eight	2 Duke	L 78-61
Midwest	5	Texas	Tom Penders	Round of 32	4 St. John's	L 84-76
Midwest	6	LSU	Dale Brown	Round of 64	11 Connecticut	L 79-62
Midwest	7	Iowa	Tom Davis	Round of 32	2 Duke	L 85-70
Midwest	8	Georgia Tech	Bobby Cremins	Round of 32	1 Ohio State	L 65-61
Midwest	9	DePaul	Joey Meyer	Round of 64	8 Georgia Tech	L 87-70
Midwest	10	East Tennessee State	Alan LeForce	Round of 64	7 Iowa	L 76-73
Midwest	11	Connecticut	Jim Calhoun	Sweet Sixteen	2 Duke	L 81-67
Midwest	12	Saint Peter's	Ted Fiore	Round of 64	5 Texas	L 73-65
Midwest	13	Northern Illinois	Jim Molinari	Round of 64	4 St. John's	L 75-68
Midwest	14	Xavier	Pete Gillen	Round of 32	11 Connecticut	L 66-50
Midwest	15	Northeastern Louisiana	Mike Vining	Round of 64	2 Duke	L 102-73
Midwest	16	Towson	Terry Truax	Round of 64	1 Ohio State	L 97-86
Southeast
Southeast	1	Arkansas	Nolan Richardson	Elite Eight	3 Kansas	L 93-81
Southeast	2	Indiana	Bob Knight	Sweet Sixteen	3 Kansas	L 83-65
Southeast	3	Kansas	Roy Williams	Runner Up	2 Duke	L 72-65
Southeast	4	Alabama	Wimp Sanderson	Sweet Sixteen	1 Arkansas	L 93-70
Southeast	5	Wake Forest	Dave Odom	Round of 32	4 Alabama	L 96-88
Southeast	6	Pittsburgh	Paul Evans	Round of 32	3 Kansas	L 77-66
Southeast	7	Florida State	Pat Kennedy	Round of 32	2 Indiana	L 82-60
Southeast	8	Arizona State	Bill Frieder	Round of 32	1 Arkansas	L 97-90
Southeast	9	Rutgers	Bob Wenzel	Round of 64	8 Arizona State	L 79-76
Southeast	10	USC	George Raveling	Round of 64	7 Florida State	L 75-72
Southeast	11	Georgia	Hugh Durham	Round of 64	6 Pittsburgh	L 76-68
Southeast	12	Louisiana Tech	Jerry Loyd	Round of 64	5 Wake Forest	L 71-65
Southeast	13	Murray State	Steve Newton	Round of 64	4 Alabama	L 89-79
Southeast	14	New Orleans	Tim Floyd	Round of 64	3 Kansas	L 55-49
Southeast	15	Coastal Carolina	Russ Bergman	Round of 64	2 Indiana	L 79-69
Southeast	16	Georgia State	Bob Reinhart	Round of 64	1 Arkansas	L 117-76
West
West	1	UNLV	Jerry Tarkanian	National Semifinals	2 Duke	L 79-77
West	2	Arizona	Lute Olson	Sweet Sixteen	3 Seton Hall	L 81-77
West	3	Seton Hall	P.J. Carlesimo	Elite Eight	1 UNLV	L 77-65
West	4	Utah	Rick Majerus	Sweet Sixteen	1 UNLV	L 83-66
West	5	Michigan State	Jud Heathcote	Round of 32	4 Utah	L 85-84
West	6	New Mexico State	Neil McCarthy	Round of 64	11 Creighton	L 64-56
West	7	Virginia	Jeff Jones	Round of 64	10 BYU	L 61-48
West	8	Georgetown	John Thompson	Round of 32	1 UNLV	L 62-54
West	9	Vanderbilt	Eddie Fogler	Round of 64	8 Georgetown	L 70-60
West	10	BYU	Roger Reid	Round of 32	2 Arizona	L 76-61
West	11	Creighton	Tony Barone	Round of 32	3 Seton Hall	L 81-69
West	12	Wisconsin–Green Bay	Dick Bennett	Round of 64	5 Michigan State	L 60-58
West	13	South Alabama	Ronnie Arrow	Round of 64	4 Utah	L 82-72
West	14	Pepperdine	Tom Asbury	Round of 64	3 Seton Hall	L 71-51
West	15	St. Francis, Pennsylvania	Jim Baron	Round of 64	2 Arizona	L 93-80
West	16	Montana	Stew Morrill	Round of 64	1 UNLV	L 99-65

Bracket

East region

	First round					Second round					Sweet Sixteen					Elite Eight
	1	North Carolina	101
	16	Northeastern	66
						1	North Carolina	84
						9	Villanova	69
	8	Princeton	48
	9	Villanova	50
											1	North Carolina	93
										12	Eastern Michigan	67
	5	Mississippi State	56
	12	Eastern Michigan	76
						12	Eastern Michigan	71
						13	Penn State	68*
	4	UCLA	69
	13	Penn State	74
																1	North Carolina	75
															10	Temple	72
	6	North Carolina State	114
	11	Southern Mississippi	85
						6	North Carolina State	64
						3	Oklahoma State	73
	3	Oklahoma State	67
	14	New Mexico	54
											3	Oklahoma State	63*
										10	Temple	72
	7	Purdue	63
	10	Temple	80
						10	Temple	77
						15	Richmond	64
	2	Syracuse	69
	15	Richmond	73

Southeast region

	First round					Second round					Sweet Sixteen					Elite Eight
	1	Arkansas	117
	16	Georgia State	76
						1	Arkansas	97
						8	Arizona State	90
	8	Arizona State	79
	9	Rutgers	76
											1	Arkansas	93
										4	Alabama	70
	5	Wake Forest	71
	12	Louisiana Tech	65
						5	Wake Forest	88
						4	Alabama	96
	4	Alabama	89
	13	Murray State	79
																1	Arkansas	81
															3	Kansas	93
	6	Pittsburgh	76
	11	Georgia	68*
						6	Pittsburgh	66
						3	Kansas	77
	3	Kansas	55
	14	New Orleans	49
											3	Kansas	83
										2	Indiana	65
	7	Florida State	75
	10	Southern California	72
						7	Florida State	60
						2	Indiana	82
	2	Indiana	79
	15	Coastal Carolina	69

Midwest region

	First round					Second round					Sweet Sixteen					Elite Eight
	1	Ohio State	97
	16	Towson	86
						1	Ohio State	65
						8	Georgia Tech	61
	8	Georgia Tech	87
	9	DePaul	70
											1	Ohio State	74
										4	St John's	91
	5	Texas	73
	12	St Peters	65
						5	Texas	76
						4	St John's	84
	4	St John's	75
	13	Northern Illinois	68
																4	St John's	61
															2	Duke	78
	6	LSU	62
	11	Connecticut	79
						11	Connecticut	66
						14	Xavier	50
	3	Nebraska	84
	14	Xavier	89
											11	Connecticut	67
										2	Duke	81
	7	Iowa	76
	10	East Tennessee State	73
						7	Iowa	70
						2	Duke	85
	2	Duke	102
	15	Northeast Louisiana	73

West region

	First round					Second round					Sweet Sixteen					Elite Eight
	1	UNLV	99
	16	Montana	65
						1	UNLV	62
						8	Georgetown	54
	8	Georgetown	70
	9	Vanderbilt	60
											1	UNLV	83
										4	Utah	66
	5	Michigan State	60
	12	Wisconsin–Green Bay	58
						5	Michigan State	84**
						4	Utah	85
	4	Utah	82
	13	South Alabama	72
																1	UNLV	77
															3	Seton Hall	65
	6	New Mexico State	56
	11	Creighton	64
						11	Creighton	69
						3	Seton Hall	81
	3	Seton Hall	71
	14	Pepperdine	51
											3	Seton Hall	81
										2	Arizona	77
	7	Virginia	48
	10	BYU	61
						10	BYU	61
						2	Arizona	76
	2	Arizona	93
	15	St Francis-PA	80

Final Four

	National Semifinals					National Championship Game
	E1	North Carolina	73
	S3	Kansas	79
						S3	Kansas	65
						M2	Duke	72
	M2	Duke	79
	W1	UNLV	77

Broadcast information

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 until 2010. As of 2011, the regional broadcasts will be replaced by simulcast feeds on non-broadcast networks owned by Turner Sports.

Announcers

• Jim Nantz and Billy Packer
• Dick Stockton and Billy Cunningham
• James Brown and Bill Raftery
• Verne Lundquist and Len Elmore
• Greg Gumbel and Quinn Buckner
• Brad Nessler and Tom Heinsohn
• Jim Henderson and Dan Bonner
• Sean McDonough and Bill Walton

Miscellaneous

• Duke's 79-77 win over UNLV in the Final Four became one of the biggest upsets in tournament history. UNLV's juggernaut 1990-91 squad ranked #2 on ESPN Classic's Who's #1? for Best Teams Not To Win a Title. UNLV was undefeated entering the 1991 tournament, which as of 2010 has not been duplicated.(St. Joseph's went undefeated in the 2004 regular season, finishing 27-0, but lost in their conference tournament before the NCAAs. Indiana is the last team to win the championship undefeated in 1976).
• This was Duke's fourth consecutive Final Four trip, the first team to achieve such a feat since UCLA. Since freshmen were not eligible at the time of UCLA's run, Duke's Greg Koubek became the first player to play in four Final Fours, a record matched by Duke teammates Christian Laettner and Brian Davis the next year.
• For the first time in tournament history a 15-seed defeated a 2-seed. Richmond defeated Syracuse 73-69. Since then this has happened three additional times: in 1993, Santa Clara defeated Arizona; in 1997, Coppin State defeated South Carolina; and in 2001, Hampton defeated Iowa State.
• For bracketologists, 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 were no 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-seed Richmond, 14-seed Xavier, and 13-seed Penn State led to Temple, Connecticut and Eastern Michigan (respectively) being considered favorites for their second round matchups.
• This was the first NCAA Tournament to feature all four North Carolina-based Atlantic Coast Conference teams: North Carolina, North Carolina State, Duke and Wake Forest.

External links

• 1991 NCAA Basketball Tournament on Shrp Sports (source for the bracket)
• HoopsTournament.Net, source for much of the information on this page.