The Most Outstanding Player (MOP) is awarded to one player after the conclusion of the championship game of the NCAA Division I men's and women's basketball tournaments. The award is also often referred to as the Final Four Most Outstanding Player, referencing the conclusion of the Final Four semifinals and championship games. Accredited media members at the championship game vote on the award.
The players that win the award are predominantly members of the championship team. However, twelve men and one woman have won it as players on teams that did not win the championship. On the men's side, runner-up Houston's Akeem Olajuwon was the last to do so in 1983, while runner-up Virginia's Dawn Staley was the only woman to do so, in 1991. Of the twelve men, three players have won the award while not playing in the championship game; the other nine played for the runner-up. The teams for two of these players won the national third place game, and the other's team lost the national third place game.
One player's award has been officially vacated (not recognized) by the NCAA, while another player's was vacated but later restored. In 1971, Howard Porter won the award despite Villanova losing to UCLA in the championship game. Villanova later vacated their entire season. Meanwhile, Luke Hancock had his MOP award stripped when the NCAA vacated Louisville's 2013 national championship. His award was restored in 2019 when a lawsuit brought against the NCAA was settled, clearing his name of any wrongdoing in the team scandal.
Key * Awarded a national player of the year award that same season: Men – Sporting News; Oscar Robertson Trophy; Associated Press; NABC; UPI; Naismith; Wooden; Adolph Rupp Trophy; HelmsWomen – Wade; Associated Press; Naismith; Wooden; WBCA # Team lost the National Championship game†Team won the National Third Place game‡Team lost the National Third Place game Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the MOP at that point Italics Award/Appearance officially vacated by NCAA
Men's tournament
+ Year Player School Position Class Reference 1939 Ohio State# F 1940 Indiana F 1941 Wisconsin F 1942 Stanford F 1943 Wyoming PG 1944 Utah SF / SG 1945 Oklahoma State C 1946 * (2) Oklahoma State C 1947 Holy Cross SF 1948 Kentucky C 1949 (2) Kentucky C 1950 CCNY F 1951 Kentucky C 1952 * Kansas C 1953 Kansas# C 1954 * La Salle SF 1955 * San Francisco C 1956 Temple† PG 1957 Kansas# C 1958 * Seattle# SF 1959 West Virginia# PG 1960 Ohio State PF 1961 * (2) Ohio State# PF 1962 * Cincinnati C 1963 * Duke# SF / SG 1964 * UCLA PG / SG 1965 * Princeton† SF 1966 Utah‡ SF 1967 * UCLA C 1968 * (2) UCLA C 1969 * (3) UCLA C 1970 * UCLA PF 1971 Villanova# PF / SF 1972 * UCLA C 1973 * (2) UCLA C 1974 NC State SG 1975 UCLA PF / C 1976 * Indiana C 1977 Marquette PG 1978 * Kentucky SG / SF 1979 Michigan State PG 1980 * Louisville SG 1981 Indiana PG 1982 North Carolina SF 1983 * Houston# C 1984 Georgetown C 1985 Villanova SF / PF 1986 Louisville C 1987 Indiana PG 1988 * Kansas PF 1989 Michigan SF 1990 UNLV SG 1991 Duke PF / C 1992 Duke PG 1993 North Carolina PG / SG 1994 Arkansas PF 1995 * UCLA PF 1996 Kentucky PG / SG 1997 Arizona SG 1998 Kentucky PG / SG 1999 UConn SG 2000 Michigan State PG 2001 * Duke SF 2002 Maryland PG / SG 2003 Syracuse SF / PF 2004 * UConn C 2005 North Carolina PF 2006 Florida C 2007 Florida SF 2008 Kansas PG 2009 North Carolina SG 2010 Duke SF 2011 UConn PG 2012 * Kentucky C 2013 Louisville SF 2014 UConn PG 2015 Duke PG 2016 Villanova PG / SG 2017 North Carolina PG 2018 Villanova SG 2019 Virginia SG 2020 Tournament canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021 Baylor PG 2022 Kansas SG 2023 UConn PF 2024 UConn PG / SG 2025 Florida PG / SG 2026 Michigan PG
Women's tournament
+ Year Player School Position Class Reference 1982 Louisiana Tech F 1983 USC SF 1984 * (2) USC SF 1985 Old Dominion F 1986 Texas F 1987 Tennessee G 1988 Louisiana Tech F 1989 Tennessee F 1990 * Stanford PG 1991 * Virginia# PG 1992 Stanford G 1993 * Texas Tech SG / SF 1994 North Carolina F 1995 * UConn C 1996 Tennessee PG 1997 Tennessee SF 1998 * (2) Tennessee SF 1999 Purdue G 2000 UConn PG 2001 * Notre Dame PF / C 2002 UConn SF 2003 * UConn PG / SG 2004 * (2) UConn PG / SG 2005 Baylor SF 2006 Maryland PF / C 2007 * Tennessee PF 2008 * (2) Tennessee PF 2009 UConn C 2010 * UConn PF 2011 Texas A&M PF / C 2012 * Baylor C 2013 UConn PF 2014 * (2) UConn PF 2015 * (3) UConn PF 2016 * (4) UConn PF 2017 South Carolina C 2018 Notre Dame PG 2019 Baylor G 2020 Tournament canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021 Stanford SG 2022 * South Carolina PF / C 2023 LSU PF 2024 South Carolina C 2025 UConn SG 2026 UCLA C
Notes
See also Chuck Taylor Most Valuable Player Award – the equivalent award in NAIA men's basketball championships
References