The 1957 NCAA University Division Basketball Championship Game took place on March 23, 1957, between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Kansas Jayhawks at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The matchup was the final one of the nineteenth edition of the single-elimination tournament now known as the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament—commonly referred to as the NCAA Tournament—organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It was used to crown a national men's basketball champion in the NCAA's University Division, known since 1973 as the NCAA Division I.

After winning numerous close games during the regular season, the conference tournament, and a triple-overtime game against Michigan State in the national semifinal, North Carolina came into the national championship game with a record of 31–0. Led by coach Frank McGuire and Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year Lennie Rosenbluth, the Tar Heels were ranked first overall in the AP Poll. Kansas came into the national championship game with two losses, which were credited to poor ball control on the Jayhawks' part. The Jayhawks, led by sophomore phenom and first-team All-American Wilt Chamberlain, were favored to win against the Tar Heels.

The game attracted heavy media attention with over ten television stations and sixty–three news reporters in attendance. The North Carolina Tar Heels jumped out to an early 19–7 lead in the first half until the Jayhawks reduced the Tar Heels' lead to seven points (29–22) at halftime. In the second half, the Jayhawks took the lead. The Tar Heels tied the game in the final minute, sending the game into overtime. In the first overtime, each team scored a basket before time ran out; in the second overtime, no points were scored due to lack of offensive execution by both teams. More action took place in the third overtime. The Tar Heels won the game 54–53 as Joe Quigg made two free throws in the closing seconds to give them their first NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship.

The team received a large welcome at Raleigh–Durham International Airport when they arrived back in North Carolina. Due to the successful televising of the national championship game in North Carolina, the broadcasting of Atlantic Coast Conference collegiate basketball games expanded greatly. Kansas' Chamberlain was criticized for his inability to win the national championship. He eventually left Kansas after his junior year to join the Harlem Globetrotters.

Background North Carolina Tar Heels

The North Carolina Tar Heels were coached by Frank McGuire, who was in his fifth season as the team's head coach. His offensive philosophy centered around passing before shooting. McGuire's starting line up, and most of the roster, consisted primarily of players from New York state due to McGuire's connections in the area from his time as St. John's head coach. Carolina squads prior to McGuire usually had several in-state players and select out of state talent. Tommy Kearns and Pete Brennan were two offensive specialists. Center Joe Quigg provided a solid presence in the paint (free throw lane) and grabbed almost nine rebounds per game. Guard Bob Cunningham was one of the team's best defensive players. Lennie Rosenbluth, who averaged almost twenty-eight points a game and served as the team's clutch performer, led the team.

North Carolina began their 1956–57 campaign with three straight wins by a wide margin of victory. In their fourth game, the Tar Heels traveled to Columbia, South Carolina, to play the South Carolina Gamecocks. They took the Tar Heels to overtime before North Carolina was able to come away with a four-point victory. Near the end of December, the Tar Heels participated in the annual Dixie Classic. They won it and remained undefeated after beating the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in the championship game. North Carolina then won five more games before going into double overtime against the Maryland Terrapins winning the game 65–61 to earn their seventeenth consecutive victory. In the following game, the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina were tied with 73 points each before Tar Heel Kearns sank two free throws to give North Carolina a two-point lead before the game ended. The Tar Heels closed out the regular season with six more victories to finish with a record of 24–0. North Carolina won their quarterfinal match-up in the ACC tournament by twenty points to advance to the semifinals against Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons were leading 59–58 as the game entered the final minute. With time running out, Rosenbluth made a two-point shot but was fouled in the act of shooting, which sent him to the line to shoot a free throw; he made the free throw and the Tar Heels won 61–59. The Tar Heels then beat South Carolina in the championship to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

The Tar Heels defeated the Yale Bulldogs 90–74 in the NCAA East Regional Quarterfinal to advance to the semifinal against Canisius College. North Carolina won the game by twelve points allowing them to move on to the NCAA East Regional Final against the Syracuse Orange. The final, and the semifinal, was held at the Palestra in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Syracuse Orange fell to the Tar Heels 67–58 allowing them to advance to the Final Four in Kansas City, Missouri. The Tar Heels' opponent for the national semifinal was the Michigan State Spartans. The Tar Heels were tied with the Spartans as regulation time was winding down. Michigan State's Jack Quiggle made a half court shot that would have given the Spartans the lead, but it left his hands after time expired, nullifying the basket. In the first overtime, Michigan State had a two-point lead with eleven seconds remaining and had a player at the foul line. The Spartan missed both shots. Carolina's Brennan gathered the rebound, dribbled down the court, and made a shot as time expired to send the game to a second overtime. The Tar Heels pulled away in the third overtime to win the game 74–70. The game saw the lead change thirty-one times before the Tar Heels were able to emerge victorious after three overtime periods.

Kansas Jayhawks

Dick Harp was in the midst of his first season as head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks when the team entered the national championship game. Kansas began the season favored to win the national title. This was due in large part to Wilt Chamberlain joining the varsity team after finishing his freshman year on the freshman team per NCAA rules. At the beginning of the season, the Jayhawks starting line up consisted of seniors Gene Elstun, Maurice King, John Parker, Lew Johnson, and sophomore Chamberlain. Ron Loneski replaced Johnson in the starting line up during the season. Harp began the season with a man-to-man defense, but later switched to a zone defense to give the Jayhawks an advantage in rebounding the basketball.

The Jayhawks began the regular season with twelve consecutive victories before losing to the Iowa State Cyclones by two points having lost the lead in the closing seconds of the game. Kansas' next game was against Iowa State; this time, the Jayhawks won the game by a margin of nine points. The Jayhawks won their next four games before losing to the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The shot clock was not in use in 1957 allowing the Cowboys to hold the ball for the final three and a half minutes and win the game 56–54. Both of the Jayhawks' regular season losses were due in part to their poor ball control. The Jayhawks' squad closed out the regular season with four more victories, finishing the regular season with a conference best 11–1 record, earning them the Big Seven Conference regular season crown and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Jayhawks faced the Southern Methodist Mustangs and were forced into an overtime period. With 36 points from Chamberlain, the Jayhawks won 73–65 to advance to the regional finals. There, they defeated the Oklahoma City Stars 81–61 to reach the Final Four. Chamberlain posted 30 points in the contest, adding 15 rebounds. The two-time defending NCAA Tournament champions, the San Francisco Dons, faced Kansas at the Final Four's host site, Kansas City. With a field goal percentage of almost 60 percent, the Jayhawks posted an 80–56 win to advance to the championship game against undefeated North Carolina, the number one-ranked team in the country. Even though the Tar Heels were undefeated, and ranked number one in the nation, Kansas entered the game as a three-point favorite, mostly because playing in Kansas City—close to nearby Lawrence, the school's location—was virtually a home game.

Team rosters

+ 1956–57 North Carolina Tar Heels rosterNo.NamePositionHeight WeightClass 10 Lennie Rosenbluth F 6–5 180 Sr. 11 Ken Rosemond G 5–10 155 Jr. 20 Bob Young C 6–6 220 Sr. 22 Roy Searcy F 6–4 185 Jr. 31 Gehrmann Holland F 6–3 200 So. 32 Bob Cunningham G 6–4 190 Jr. 33 Danny Lotz F 6–7 198 So. 35 Pete Brennan F 6–6 190 Jr. 40 Tommy Kearns G 5–11 191 Jr. 41 Joe Quigg C 6–9 210 Jr. Reference:

+ 1956–57 Kansas Jayhawks rosterNo.NamePositionHeight WeightClass 8 Maurice King G 6–2½ 190 Sr. 12 Gene Elstun F 6–3¼ 175 Sr. 13 Wilt Chamberlain C 7–0 214 So. 21 Eddie Dater G 6–2½ 195 Sr. 22 John Parker G 6–0 173 Sr. 24 Blaine Hollinger G 5–10¼ 159 Sr. 25 Lew Johnson C–F 6–6 198 Sr. 29 Lee Green F 6–5¼ 190 Sr. 31 Harry Jett F 6–3 166 Sr. 32 Bob Billings G 5–11½ 173 So. 33 Ron Loneski F 6–4½ 215 So. 34 Lynn Kindred G 6–2¼ 156 So. 35 Monte Johnson F 6–5 168 So. Reference:

Broadcasting

The national semifinal between Kansas and San Francisco was not televised, while the North Carolina-Michigan State Spartans match-up was broadcast in some areas. Plans to televise the national championship game were made in advance in anticipation that the Kansas Jayhawks would reach the championship game. By the time the match-up was set between the Jayhawks and the Tar Heels, an eleven-station network had been organized. Castleman D. Chesley, a local television producer, broadcast the game in North Carolina on five stations. After the Tar Heels won the Eastern Regional, Chesley managed to get announcers, sponsors and five stations to set up a network to broadcast North Carolina's Final Four games from Kansas City. Locally, the game was to appear on channels 9 and 13. The 1957 national championship game saw the largest media crowd to date for a men's basketball game. Over eleven television stations, 73 radio stations, and 63 news writers were represented.

Game summary

First half

The game began with a tip-off between Kansas' seven foot tall Chamberlain and North Carolina's Kearns, who was not even six feet tall. Coach McGuire used Kearns after he had talked down Chamberlain the night before. The rest of the North Carolina squad set up in their zone defense rather than around the center circle as McGuire requested to "show them the zone we were going to use." The Jayhawks were unable to score on their opening possession and set up in their defense as the Tar Heels came down the court with the ball. Kansas' initial defense was a box-and-one, which consisted of four players in a box around a basket while one player, King, played defense on North Carolina's Rosenbluth. Kearns received a pass along the baseline and was fouled in the act of shooting. He missed the shot, but made both free throws to give Carolina the early 2–0 lead. Kansas missed a jump shot, and North Carolina's Joe Quigg converted a 12-foot baseline shot. Kansas scored their first points from two free throws.