The 1995 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 57th annual edition of the tournament began on March 16, 1995, and ended with the championship game on April 3 at the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington. This Final Four would be the last time that the Final Four was hosted in the Western United States until the 2017 edition of the tournament where Glendale, Arizona, was the host. A total of 63 games were played.
The Final Four consisted of UCLA, making their fifteenth appearance and first since the 1980 team that eventually saw their appearance vacated, Oklahoma State, making their fifth appearance and first since 1951, North Carolina, making their twelfth appearance and second in three years, and Arkansas, the defending national champions.
The championship game saw UCLA win their eleventh national championship and first (and only) national title under Jim Harrick by defeating Arkansas 89–78, foiling the Razorbacks' hopes of back to back national titles.
UCLA's Ed O'Bannon was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Schedule and venues
The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1995 tournament:
First and Second Rounds March 16 and 18 East Region Baltimore Arena, Baltimore, Maryland (Host: University of Maryland Baltimore County) Midwest Region University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton) Southeast Region Memphis Pyramid, Memphis, Tennessee (Host: University of Memphis) West Region Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah (Host: University of Utah) March 17 and 19 East Region Knickerbocker Arena, Albany, New York (Hosts: Siena College, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) Midwest Region Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas (Host: University of Texas at Austin) Southeast Region Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center, Tallahassee, Florida (Host: Florida State University) West Region BSU Pavilion, Boise, Idaho (Host: Boise State University)
Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) March 23 and 25 Southeast Regional, BJCC Coliseum, Birmingham, Alabama (Host: Southeastern Conference) West Regional, Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena, Oakland, California (Host: University of California, Berkeley) March 24 and 26 East Regional, Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey (Hosts: Seton Hall University, Big East Conference) Midwest Regional, Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)
National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) April 1 and 3 Kingdome, Seattle, Washington (Hosts: Seattle University, University of Washington)
Teams There were 29 automatic bids awarded to the tournament - of these, 26 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 and Pac-10).
Four conferences, the American West Conference, Big South Conference, Great Midwest Conference, and Mid-Continent Conference, did not receive automatic bids to the tournament.
Five conference champions made their first NCAA tournament appearances: Colgate (Patriot), FIU (TAAC), Gonzaga (West Coast), Mount St. Mary's (NEC), and Nicholls State (Southland).
Automatic qualifiers +Automatic qualifiersConferenceTeamAppearance Last bidACCWake Forest13th1994Atlantic 10UMass5th1994Big EastVillanova21st1991Big EightOklahoma State14th1994Big SkyWeber State11th1983Big TenPurdue14th1994Big WestLong Beach State4th1993CAAOld Dominion6th1992Ivy LeaguePenn16th1994MAACSaint Peter's2nd1991MACBall State6th1993MCCGreen Bay3rd1994MEACNorth Carolina A&T9th1994MetroLouisville25th1994Missouri ValleySouthern Illinois4th1994NACDrexel3rd1994NECMount St. Mary's1stOhio ValleyMurray State7th1992Pac-10UCLA30th1994PatriotColgate1stSECKentucky36th1994SouthernChattanooga7th1994SouthlandNicholls State1stSun BeltWestern Kentucky15th1994SWACTexas Southern3rd1994SWCTexas14th1994TAACFIU1stWACUtah17th1993West CoastGonzaga1st
Tournament seeds +East Regional – Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, New JerseySeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1Wake ForestACC24–5Automatic2UMassAtlantic 1026–4Automatic3VillanovaBig East25–7Automatic4Oklahoma StateBig Eight23–9Automatic5AlabamaSEC22–9At-Large6TulsaMissouri Valley22–7At-Large7UNC CharlotteMetro19–8At-Large8Minnesota (vacated)Big Ten19–11At-Large9Saint LouisGreat Midwest22–7At-Large10StanfordPac-1019–8At-Large11IllinoisBig Ten19–11At-Large12PennIvy League22–5Automatic13DrexelNAC22–7Automatic14Old DominionCAA20–11Automatic15Saint Peter'sMAAC19–10Automatic16North Carolina A&TMEAC15–14Automatic+Southeast Regional – BJCC Coliseum, Birmingham, AlabamaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1KentuckySEC25–4Automatic2North CarolinaACC24–5At-Large3Michigan StateBig Ten22–5At-Large4OklahomaBig Eight23–8At-Large5Arizona State (vacated)Pac-1022–8At-Large6GeorgetownBig East19–9At-Large7Iowa StateBig Eight22–10At-Large8BYUWAC22–9At-Large9TulaneMetro22–9At-Large10FloridaSEC17–12At-Large11XavierMCC23–4At-Large12Ball StateMAC19–10Automatic13ManhattanMAAC25–4At-Large14Weber StateBig Sky20–8Automatic15Murray StateOhio Valley21–8Automatic16Mount St. Mary'sNEC17–12Automatic+West Regional – Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena, Oakland, CaliforniaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1UCLAPac-1025–2Automatic2ConnecticutBig East25–4At-Large3MarylandACC24–7At-Large4UtahWAC27–5Automatic5Mississippi StateSEC20–7At-Large6OregonPac-1019–8At-Large7CincinnatiGreat Midwest21–11At-Large8MissouriBig Eight19–8At-Large9IndianaBig Ten19–11At-Large10TempleAtlantic 1019–10At-Large11TexasSWC22–6Automatic12Santa ClaraWest Coast21–6At-Large13Long Beach StateBig West20–9Automatic14GonzagaWest Coast21–8Automatic15ChattanoogaSouthern19–10Automatic16FIUTAAC11–18Automatic+Midwest Regional – Kemper Arena, Kansas City, MissouriSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1KansasBig Eight23–5At-Large2ArkansasSEC27–6At-Large3PurdueBig Ten24–6Automatic4VirginiaACC22–8At-Large5ArizonaPac-1023–7At-Large6MemphisGreat Midwest22–9At-Large7SyracuseBig East19–9At-Large8Western KentuckySun Belt26–3Automatic9MichiganBig Ten17–13At-Large10Southern IllinoisMissouri Valley23–8Automatic11LouisvilleMetro19–13Automatic12Miami (OH)MAC22–6At-Large13Nicholls StateSouthland24–5Automatic14Green BayMCC22–7Automatic15Texas SouthernSWAC22–6Automatic16ColgatePatriot17–12Automatic
Bracket East Regional – East Rutherford, New Jersey
# Minnesota vacated its NCAA Tournament appearance from the 1994–95 season due to an academic fraud scandal.
Game summaries
East first round
At Albany, New York
East second round
At Albany, New York
West Regional – Oakland, California
Southeast Regional – Birmingham, Alabama
Midwest Regional – Kansas City, Missouri
Final Four - Seattle, Washington
Game summaries
National Championship
+Final Four All-Tournament TeamPlayerTeam Ed O'Bannon* UCLA Toby Bailey UCLA Corliss Williamson Arkansas Clint McDaniel Arkansas Bryant Reeves Oklahoma State
*Named Most Outstanding Player
See also 1995 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament 1995 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament 1995 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament 1995 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament 1995 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament 1995 National Invitation Tournament 1995 National Women's Invitation Tournament 1995 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament 1995 NAIA Division II men's basketball tournament 1995 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament 1995 NAIA Division II women's basketball tournament
Notes March 19, 1995 – A final shot in the second round at The Boise State Pavilion is one of the most memorable moments in NCAA history. UCLA's Tyus Edney dashed the length of the 94-foot court in just over 4 seconds to make a layup that gave the Bruins a 75–74 win over Missouri, which sustained UCLA's run to a national title that year. April 3, 1995 – Ed O'Bannon scored 30 points and grabbed 17 rebounds and is named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player as the Bruins win the championship 89–78 over Arkansas. Cameron Dollar played 36 minutes and contributed eight assists and four steals while filling in for an injured Edney, who did not return after leaving with 17:23 left in the first half. The Bruins enjoyed the biggest lead 34–26 in the first half, but led only by a point at halftime 40–39. To date, this is the last NCAA men's basketball tournament in which no team seeded lower than #6 reached the Sweet Sixteen. Five teams - Colgate, FIU, Gonzaga, Mount St. Mary's and Nicholls State - made their debut in this tournament, all as conference winners. Only FIU has failed to return to the tournament since; Gonzaga would miss the next three tournaments before starting their current streak of making every tournament since 1999. The 1995 tournament was the last to feature teams from the Metro and Great Midwest Conferences, as the two would merge later that year to form Conference USA. Tulane, a charter member of the Metro (expelled from the conference from 1985 to 1989 when the Green Wave shuttered their men's basketball program in the wake of a point shaving scandal), has not returned to the NCAA tournament since.
Announcers
Television Once again, CBS served as broadcasters on television for the tournament. Studio: Pat O'Brien (daytime) First round, Regional, Final Four, Jim Nantz (primetime) First round & all of Second Round, and Clark Kellogg. Dick Stockton/Jim Nantz and Billy Packer – Stockton/Packer, First & Second Round at Baltimore, Maryland; Nantz/Packer, Midwest Regional at Kansas City, Missouri; Final Four at Seattle, Washington Sean McDonough and Bill Raftery – First & Second Round at Dayton, Ohio; Southeast Regional at Birmingham, Alabama Verne Lundquist and Quinn Buckner – First & Second Round at Tallahassee, Florida; East Regional at East Rutherford, New Jersey Tim Ryan and Al McGuire – First & Second Round at Boise, Idaho; West Regional at Oakland, California Mike Gorman and Ann Meyers – First & Second Round at Memphis, Tennessee Mike Emrick and George Raveling – First & Second Round at Albany, New York Ted Robinson and Derrek Dickey – First & Second Round at Salt Lake City, Utah Dave Sims and Dan Bonner – First & Second Round at Austin, Texas
Radio CBS Radio was once again the radio home for the tournament.
First and second rounds John Rooney Marty Brennaman Gary Cohen and Dave Gavitt – 1st & 2nd Round at Albany, New York Wayne Larrivee Brad Sham Gus Johnson and Reggie Theus
Regionals John Rooney Marty Brennaman Gary Cohen and Dave Gavitt – East Regional at East Rutherford, New Jersey Wayne Larrivee
Final Four John Rooney and Bill Raftery – (UCLA-Oklahoma State and championship Game) Final Four at Seattle, Washington Marty Brennaman and Ron Franklin – (Arkansas-North Carolina) Final Four at Seattle, Washington
References