The 1955 NCAA basketball tournament involved 24 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 17th annual edition of the tournament began on March 8, 1955, and ended with the championship game on March 19, at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. A total of 28 games were played, including a third-place game in each region and a national third-place game.
San Francisco, coached by Phil Woolpert, won the national title with a 77–63 victory in the final game over La Salle, coached by Ken Loeffler. Bill Russell of San Francisco was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Locations The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1955 tournament:
East-1 Region
First round (March 8) Madison Square Garden, New York, New York (Hosts: Fordham University, Columbia University)
East-1 Regional (March 11 and 12) The Palestra, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Host: University of Pennsylvania)
East-2 Region
First round (March 9) Memorial Coliseum, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky)
East-2 Regional (March 11 and 12) McGaw Memorial Hall, Evanston, Illinois (Host: Northwestern University)
West-1 Region
First round (March 8) Thunderbird Coliseum, El Reno, Oklahoma (Host: Oklahoma City University)
West Regional (March 11 and 12) Ahearn Field House, Manhattan, Kansas (Host: Kansas State University)
West-2 Region
First round (March 8) Cow Palace, San Francisco, California (Hosts: University of San Francisco, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley)
West-2 Regional (March 11 and 12) Oregon State Coliseum, Corvallis, Oregon (Host: Oregon State University)
Final Four
March 18 and 19 Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)
Teams Region Team Coach Conference Finished Final Opponent Score East East Canisius Joseph Curran WNY3 Regional Runner-upLa SalleL 99–64 East Duke Harold Bradley Atlantic Coast First roundVillanovaL 74–73 East Iowa Bucky O'Connor Big Ten Fourth PlaceColoradoL 75–54 East Kentucky Adolph Rupp Southeastern Regional third placePenn StateW 84–59 East La Salle Ken Loeffler Independent Runner UpSan FranciscoL 77–63 East Marquette Jack Nagle Independent Regional Runner-upIowaL 86–81 East Memphis State Eugene Lambert Independent First roundPenn StateL 59–55 East Miami (OH) Bill Rohr Mid-American First roundMarquetteL 90–79 East Penn State John Egli Independent Regional Fourth PlaceKentuckyL 84–59 East Princeton Franklin Cappon Ivy League Regional Fourth PlaceVillanovaL 64–57 East Villanova Alex Severance Independent Regional third placePrincetonW 64–57 East West Virginia Fred Schaus Southern First roundLa SalleL 95–61 East Williams Alex Shaw Independent First roundCanisiusL 73–60 West West Bradley Bob Vanatta Independent Regional Runner-upColoradoL 93–81 West Colorado Bebe Lee Big 7 Third PlaceIowaW 75–54 West Idaho State Steve Belko Independent First roundSeattleL 80–63 West Oklahoma City Doyle Parrack Independent First roundBradleyL 69–65 West Oregon State Slats Gill Pacific Coast Regional Runner-upSan FranciscoL 57–56 West San Francisco Phil Woolpert CBA ChampionLa SalleW 77–63 West Seattle Al Brightman Independent Regional Fourth PlaceUtahL 108–85 West SMU Doc Hayes Southwest Regional Fourth PlaceTulsaL 68–67 West Tulsa Clarence Iba Missouri Valley Regional third placeSMUW 68–67 West Utah Jack Gardner Mountain States Regional third placeSeattleW 108–85 West West Texas State Gus Miller Border First roundSan FranciscoL 89–66
Bracket
East-1 Region
East-2 Region
West-1 Region
West-2 Region
Final Four
See also 1955 National Invitation Tournament 1955 NAIA Basketball Tournament
Notes The 1955 tournament saw a record eleven teams - Canisius, Duke, Iowa, Marquette, Memphis State, San Francisco, Southern Methodist, Tulsa, West Texas State, West Virginia and Williams College - make the tournament for the first time. This beat the record of ten teams set in 1953 (the first year which the tournament expanded to include a regional quarterfinal round), and would be beat in 1981 when 12 teams made the tournament. Two teams in the field, West Texas State College (now known as West Texas A&M University) and Williams College of Williamstown, Massachusetts, are no longer in Division I. Neither team would make the tournament again; West Texas is now in Division II and Williams is in Division III. The NCAA would split into University and College Divisions in 1956, thus ending the chances for smaller teams such as these to make the tournament.
References