The 1979 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 40 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 41st annual edition of the tournament began on March 9, and ended with the championship game on March 26, at the Special Events Center on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. A total of 40 games were played, including a national third-place game. This was the tournament's only edition with 40 teams; the previous year's had 32, and it expanded to 48 in 1980. The 1979 Indiana State team was the last squad to reach a national title game with an undefeated record for 42 years; their achievement was finally matched by the 2021 Gonzaga Bulldogs, who reached that year's title contest against Baylor with a 31–0 record.
Michigan State, coached by Jud Heathcote, won the national title with a 75–64 victory in the final game over Indiana State, coached by Bill Hodges. Indiana State came into the game undefeated, but could not extend their winning streak. Magic Johnson of Michigan State was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Michigan State's victory over Indiana State was its first over a top-ranked team, and remained its only victory over a number one ranked team until 2007 (Wisconsin).
The final game marked the beginning of the rivalry between future Hall of Famers Johnson and Larry Bird. As of 2021, it remains the highest-rated game in the history of televised college basketball.NCAA Men's Final Four Ratings Hub Sports Media Watch. 24.1 Nielsen rating Both Johnson and Bird would enter the NBA in the fall of 1979, and the rivalry between them and their teams (respectively, the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics) was a major factor in the league's renaissance in the 1980s and 1990s. The game also led to the "modern era" of college basketball, as it introduced a nationwide audience to a sport that was once relegated to second-class status in the sports world. This was also the first tournament where unique logos for the event were introduced, creating a diversity of branding which lasts to the present day.
With the loss in the championship game, Indiana State has finished as the national runner-up in the NAIA (1946, 1948), NCAA Division II (1968), and NCAA Division I (1979) tournaments, making them the only school to do so.
This was the first tournament in which all teams were seeded by the Division I Basketball Committee. The top six seeds in each regional received byes to the second round, while seeds 7–10 played in the first round.
It is also notable as the last Final Four played in an on-campus arena, at the University of Utah. (The most recent tournament to be held on a university's premises (i.e. not on the university's main campus, but on a satellite or branch campus) was in 1983, as the University of New Mexico (UNM) hosted that year's tournament in The Pit (then officially known as University Arena), which is located on the UNM South Campus.) It has, however, been played in a team's regular off-campus home arena three times since then: in 1985 at Rupp Arena, Kentucky's home court, in 1994 at Charlotte Coliseum, UNCC's home court, and in 1996 at Continental Airlines Arena, then Seton Hall's home court. Given the use of domed stadiums for Final Fours for the foreseeable future, it is likely this will be the last Final Four on a college campus. This tournament was the last until the 2019 tournament to see two finalists playing for the national championship for the first time. The 1979 Final Four was the first in which all four schools came from east of the Mississippi River.
This was the first NCAA tournament where three officials were assigned to all games. Several conferences, including the Big Ten and Southeastern, used three officials for its regular season games prior to the NCAA adopting it universally.
Schedule and venues
The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1979 tournament:
First and Second Rounds March 9 and 11 East Region Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University) Mideast Region Murphy Center, Murfreesboro, Tennessee (Host: Middle Tennessee State University) Midwest Region Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, Kansas (Host: University of Kansas) West Region Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, California (Host: UCLA) March 10 (second round only) East Region Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island (Host: Providence College) Mideast Region Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana (Host: Indiana University Bloomington) Midwest Region Moody Coliseum, Dallas, Texas (Host: Southern Methodist University) West Region McKale Center, Tucson, Arizona (Host: University of Arizona)
Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) March 15 and 17 Midwest Regional, Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio (Hosts: University of Cincinnati, Xavier University) West Regional, Marriott Center, Provo, Utah (Host: Brigham Young University) March 16 and 18 East Regional, Greensboro Memorial Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina (Host: Atlantic Coast Conference) Mideast Regional, Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana (Host: Butler University)
National semifinals, 3rd-place game, and championship (Final Four and championship) March 24 and 26 Special Events Center, Salt Lake City, Utah (Host: University of Utah)
Tournament notes In the East, the Round of 32 was called Black Sunday because of Penn's upset of number 1 North Carolina and St. John's upset of number 2-seeded Duke, both in Raleigh, NC. Both victors, the lowest two seeds, achieved upsets again in the next round with #9 Penn defeating #4 Syracuse and #10 St. John's winning over #6 Rutgers, to make the regional final. Penn won 64–62 to reach the Final Four before losing to eventual champion Michigan State. Both teams had to defeat higher-seeded opponents in the Round of 40 to have the chance to beat UNC and Duke. Penn beat three higher-seeded opponents to reach the Final Four, a feat which was later bettered in 1986 by LSU, 2006 by George Mason, and 2011 by Virginia Commonwealth, who each beat four higher-seeded opponents on the way to the Final Four.
Teams Region Seed Team Coach Conference Finished Final Opponent Score East East 1 North Carolina Dean Smith Atlantic Coast Round of 329 PennL 72–71 East 2 Duke Bill E. Foster Atlantic Coast Round of 3210 St. John'sL 80–78 East 3 Georgetown John Thompson Independent Round of 326 RutgersL 64–58 East 4 Syracuse Jim Boeheim Independent Sweet Sixteen9 PennL 84–76 East 5 Connecticut Dom Perno Independent Round of 324 SyracuseL 89–81 East 6 Rutgers Tom Young Eastern Athletic Sweet Sixteen10 St. John'sL 67–65 East 7 Temple Don Casey East Coast Round of 4010 St. John'sL 75–70 East 8 Iona Jim Valvano Independent Round of 409 PennL 73–69 East 9 Penn Bob Weinhauer Ivy League Fourth Place2 Michigan StateL 101–67 East 10 St. John's Lou Carnesecca New Jersey-New York 7 Regional Runner-up9 PennL 64–62 Mideast Mideast 1 Notre Dame Digger Phelps Independent Regional Runner-up2 Michigan StateL 80–68 Mideast 2 Michigan State Jud Heathcote Big Ten Champion1 Indiana StateW 75–64 Mideast 3 LSU Dale Brown Southeastern Sweet Sixteen2 Michigan StateL 87–71 Mideast 4 Iowa Lute Olson Big Ten Round of 325 ToledoL 74–72 Mideast 5 Toledo Bob Nichols Mid-American Sweet Sixteen1 Notre DameL 79–71 Mideast 6 Appalachian State Bobby Cremins Southern Round of 323 LSUL 71–57 Mideast 7 Detroit Smokey Gaines Independent Round of 4010 LamarL 95–87 Mideast 8 Tennessee Don DeVoe Southeastern Round of 321 Notre DameL 73–67 Mideast 9 Eastern Kentucky Ed Byhre Ohio Valley Round of 408 TennesseeL 97–81 Mideast 10 Lamar Billy Tubbs Southland Round of 322 Michigan StateL 95–64 Midwest Midwest 1 Indiana State Bill Hodges Missouri Valley Runner Up2 Michigan StateL 75–64 Midwest 2 Arkansas Eddie Sutton Southwest Regional Runner-up1 Indiana StateL 73–71 Midwest 3 Louisville Denny Crum Metro Sweet Sixteen2 ArkansasL 73–62 Midwest 4 Texas Abe Lemons Southwest Round of 325 OklahomaL 90–76 Midwest 5 Oklahoma Dave Bliss Big Eight Sweet Sixteen1 Indiana StateL 93–72 Midwest 6 South Alabama Cliff Ellis Sun Belt Round of 323 LouisvilleL 69–66 Midwest 7 Weber State Neil McCarthy Big Sky Round of 322 ArkansasL 74–63 Midwest 8 Virginia Tech Charles Moir Metro Round of 321 Indiana StateL 86–69 Midwest 9 Jacksonville Tates Locke Sun Belt Round of 408 Virginia TechL 70–53 Midwest 10 New Mexico State Ken Hayes Missouri Valley Round of 407 Weber StateL 81–78 West West 1 UCLA Gary Cunningham Pacific-10 Regional Runner-up2 DePaulL 95–91 West 2 DePaul Ray Meyer Independent Third Place1 Indiana StateL 76–74 West 3 Marquette Hank Raymonds Independent Sweet Sixteen2 DePaulL 62–56 West 4 San Francisco Dan Belluomini West Coast Sweet Sixteen1 UCLAL 99–81 West 5 BYU Frank Arnold Western Athletic Round of 324 San FranciscoL 86–63 West 6 Pacific Stan Morrison Pacific Coast Round of 323 MarquetteL 73–48 West 7 USC Bob Boyd Pacific-10 Round of 322 DePaulL 89–78 West 8 Utah Jerry Pimm Western Athletic Round of 409 PepperdineL 92–88 West 9 Pepperdine Gary Colson West Coast Round of 321 UCLAL 76–71 West 10 Utah State Rod Tueller Pacific Coast Round of 407 USCL 86–67
Bracket * – Denotes overtime period
East region
Mideast region
Midwest region
West region
Final Four
Announcers Dick Enberg, Billy Packer, and Al McGuire – Final Four at Salt Lake City, Utah Dick Enberg and Al McGuire – Second Round at Providence, Rhode Island (Georgetown–Rutgers, Syracuse–Connecticut); Second Round at Murfreesboro, Tennessee (Michigan State–Lamar, Notre Dame–Tennessee); Mideast Regional Final at Indianapolis, Indiana; West Regional Final at Provo, Utah Jim Simpson and Billy Packer – Second Round at Tucson, Arizona (San Francisco–Brigham Young, Marquette–Pacific); Second Round at Lawrence, Kansas (Indiana State–Virginia Tech, Arkansas–Weber State); East Regional Final at Greensboro, North Carolina; Midwest Regional Final at Cincinnati, Ohio Jay Randolph and Gary Thompson – Midwest Regional semifinals at Cincinnati, Ohio Connie Alexander and Bill Strannigan – West Regional semifinals at Provo, Utah Marv Albert and Bucky Waters – Second Round at Raleigh, North Carolina (North Carolina–Pennsylvania, Duke–St. John's) Merle Harmon and Fred Taylor – Second Round at Bloomington, Indiana (Iowa–Toledo, LSU–Appalachian State) Jim Thacker and Gary Thompson – Second Round at Dallas, Texas (Louisville–South Alabama, Texas–Oklahoma) Jay Randolph and Lynn Shackelford – Second Round at Los Angeles, California (UCLA–Pepperdine, DePaul–USC)
See also 1979 NCAA Division II basketball tournament 1979 NCAA Division III basketball tournament 1979 National Invitation Tournament 1979 NAIA basketball tournament 1979 National Women's Invitation Tournament
References