The 1980 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 42nd annual edition of the tournament began on March 6, 1980, and ended with the championship game on March 24, at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. This was the last Final Four to be held at Market Square Arena, as it was demolished in 2001. A total of 48 games were played, including a national third-place game.

Louisville, coached by Denny Crum, won the national title with a 59–54 victory in the final game over UCLA, coached by Larry Brown. Darrell Griffith of Louisville was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Structurally speaking, this was the first tournament of the modern era. For the first time: An unlimited number of at-large teams could come from any conference. (From 1975 to 1979, conferences were allowed only one at-large entry.) The bracket was seeded to make each region as evenly competitive as possible. (Previously, geographic considerations had trumped this.) All teams were seeded solely based on the subjective judgment of the committee. (In 1979, seeding was partially based on the prior performance of a conference winner's conference.)

In this, the second year the tournament field was seeded, no #1 seed reached the Final Four. Since then, it has happened three other times, in 2006, 2011, and 2023. Purdue University's next Final Four appearance after this year would occur in 2024. Five coaches from teams in the Eastern bracket (Jim Boeheim, John Thompson, Lute Olson, Rick Pitino and Rollie Massimino) would later win their first (and in Pitino's case, the first of more than one) national championship.

UCLA would forfeit its second place in the standings in 1980 after players representing the school were declared ineligible by the NCAA.U.C.L.A. ON PROBATION IN BASKETBALL – New York Times (UPI) December 9, 1981

Schedule and venues

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1980 tournament:

First and Second Rounds March 6 and 8 East Region Greensboro Memorial Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina (Host: Atlantic Coast Conference) Mideast Region Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana (Host: Purdue University) Midwest Region Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, Nebraska (Host: University of Nebraska–Lincoln) West Region Dee Events Center, Ogden, Utah (Host: Weber State University) March 7 and 9 East Region Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island (Host: Providence College) Mideast Region E.A. Diddle Arena, Bowling Green, Kentucky (Host: Western Kentucky University) Midwest Region UNT Coliseum, Denton, Texas (Host: North Texas State University) West Region ASU Activity Center, Tempe, Arizona (Host: Arizona State University)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) March 13 and 15 Mideast Regional, Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky) West Regional, McKale Center, Tucson, Arizona (Host: University of Arizona) March 14 and 16 East Regional, The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Hosts: The Philadelphia Big 5 – Villanova University, Temple University, La Salle University, Saint Joseph's University, University of Pennsylvania) Midwest Regional, The Summit, Houston, Texas (Hosts: University of Houston, Rice University, Southwest Conference)

National semifinals, 3rd-place game, and championship (Final Four and championship) March 22 and 24 Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana (Hosts: Butler University, Midwestern City Conference)

Teams Region Seed Team Coach Conference Finished Final Opponent Score East East 1 Syracuse Jim Boeheim Big East Sweet 165 IowaL 88–77 East 2 Maryland Lefty Driesell Atlantic Coast Sweet Sixteen3 GeorgetownL 74–68 East 3 Georgetown John Thompson Big East Regional Runner-up5 IowaL 81–80 East 4 NC State Norm Sloan Atlantic Coast Round of 325 IowaL 77–64 East 5 Iowa Lute Olson Big Ten 4th Place2 PurdueL 75–58 East 6 Iona Jim Valvano ECAC Metro Round of 323 GeorgetownL 74–71 East 7 Tennessee Don DeVoe Southeastern Round of 322 MarylandL 86–75 East 8 Villanova Rollie Massimino Eastern Round of 321 SyracuseL 97–83 East 9 Marquette Hank Raymonds Independent Round of 488 VillanovaL 77–59 East 10 Furman Eddie Holbrook Southern Round of 487 TennesseeL 80–69 East 11 Holy Cross George Blaney ECAC North Round of 486 IonaL 84–78 East 12 VCU J. D. Barnett Sun Belt Round of 485 IowaL 86–72 Mideast Mideast 1 Kentucky Joe B. Hall Southeastern Sweet Sixteen4 DukeL 55–54 Mideast 2 Indiana Bob Knight Big Ten Sweet Sixteen6 PurdueL 76–69 Mideast 3 St. John's Lou Carnesecca Big East Round of 326 PurdueL 87–72 Mideast 4 Duke Bill E. Foster Atlantic Coast Regional Runner-up6 PurdueL 68–60 Mideast 5 Washington State George Raveling Pacific-10 Round of 4812 PennL 62–55 Mideast 6 Purdue Lee Rose Big Ten 3rd Place5 IowaW 75–58 Mideast 7 Virginia Tech Charles Moir Metro Round of 322 IndianaL 68–59 Mideast 8 Florida State Joe Williams Metro Round of 321 KentuckyL 97–78 Mideast 9 Toledo Bob Nichols Mid-American Round of 488 Florida StateL 94–91 Mideast 10 Western Kentucky Gene Keady Ohio Valley Round of 487 Virginia TechL 89–85 Mideast 11 La Salle Lefty Ervin East Coast Round of 486 PurdueL 90–82 Mideast 12 Penn Bob Weinhauer Ivy League Round of 324 DukeL 52–42 Midwest Midwest 1 LSU Dale Brown Southeastern Regional Runner-up2 LouisvilleL 86–66 Midwest 2 Louisville Denny Crum Metro Champion8 UCLAW 59–54 Midwest 3 North Carolina Dean Smith Atlantic Coast Round of 326 Texas A&ML 78–61 Midwest 4 Notre Dame Digger Phelps Independent Round of 325 MissouriL 87–84 Midwest 5 Missouri Norm Stewart Big Eight Sweet Sixteen1 LSUL 68–63 Midwest 6 Texas A&M Shelby Metcalf Southwest Sweet Sixteen2 LouisvilleL 66–55 Midwest 7 Kansas State Jack Hartman Big Eight Round of 322 LouisvilleL 71–69 Midwest 8 Alcorn State Davey Whitney Southwestern Athletic Round of 321 LSUL 98–88 Midwest 9 South Alabama Cliff Ellis Sun Belt Round of 488 Alcorn StateL 70–62 Midwest 10 Arkansas Eddie Sutton Southwest Round of 487 Kansas StateL 71–53 Midwest 11 Bradley Dick Versace Missouri Valley Round of 486 Texas A&ML 55–53 Midwest 12 San Jose State Bill Berry Pacific Coast Round of 485 MissouriL 61–51 West West 1 DePaul Ray Meyer Independent Round of 328 UCLAL 77–71 West 2 Oregon State Ralph Miller Pacific-10 Round of 3210 LamarL 81–77 West 3 BYU Frank Arnold Western Athletic Round of 326 ClemsonL 71–66 West 4 Ohio State Eldon Miller Big Ten Sweet Sixteen8 UCLAL 72–68 West 5 Arizona State Ned Wulk Pacific-10 Round of 324 Ohio StateL 89–75 West 6 Clemson Bill Foster Atlantic Coast Regional Runner-up8 UCLAL 85–74 West 7 Weber State Neil McCarthy Big Sky Round of 4810 LamarL 87–86 West 8 UCLA Larry Brown Pacific-10 Runner Up2 LouisvilleL 59–54 West 9 Old Dominion Paul Webb ECAC South Round of 488 UCLAL 87–74 West 10 Lamar Billy Tubbs Southland Sweet Sixteen6 ClemsonL 74–66 West 11 Utah State Rod Tueller Pacific Coast Round of 486 ClemsonL 76–73 West 12 Loyola Marymount Ron Jacobs West Coast Round of 485 Arizona StateL 99–71

Bracket * – Denotes overtime period.

East region

Midwest region

Mideast region

West region

Final Four

# — UCLA vacated its appearance in the 1980 NCAA Tournament after the NCAA had determined that the Bruins committed nine major violations. Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with the removal of any UCLA wins from all records.

Announcers Dick Enberg, Billy Packer, and Al McGuire – Mideast Regional Final at Lexington, Kentucky; Midwest Regional Final at Houston, Texas; Final Four at Indianapolis, Indiana Don Criqui and Gary Thompson – East Regional Final at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; West Regional Final at Tucson, Arizona Bill O'Donnell and Bucky Waters – East Regional semifinals at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Fred White and Larry Conley – Mideast Regional semifinals at Lexington, Kentucky Jay Randolph and Jeff Mullins – Midwest Regional semifinals at Houston, Texas Dick Enberg and Al McGuire – second round at Lincoln, Nebraska (Louisville–Kansas State, Notre Dame–Missouri); Second Round at Tempe, Arizona (DePaul–UCLA, Ohio State–Arizona State) Don Criqui and Billy Packer – second round at West Lafayette, Indiana (St. John's–Purdue, Duke–Pennsylvania); Second Round at Bowling Green, Kentucky (Indiana–Virginia Tech, Kentucky–Florida State) Merle Harmon and Joe Dean – second round at Greensboro, North Carolina (North Carolina State–Iowa, Maryland–Tennessee) Bob Costas and Bucky Waters – second round at Providence, Rhode Island (Georgetown–Iona, Syracuse–Villanova) Charlie Jones and Lynn Shackelford – second round at Ogden, Utah (Brigham Young–Clemson, Oregon State–Lamar) Jay Randolph and Gary Thompson – first round at Lincoln, Nebraska (Kansas State–Arkansas, Missouri–San Jose State); Second Round at Denton, Texas (LSU–Alcorn State, North Carolina–Texas A&M)

See also 1980 NCAA Division II basketball tournament 1980 NCAA Division III basketball tournament 1980 National Invitation Tournament 1980 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament 1980 National Women's Invitation Tournament

References