The 1985 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. This was the first year the field was expanded to 64 teams, from 53 in the previous year's tournament. The 47th annual edition of the tournament began on March 14, 1985, and ended with the championship game on April 1, at Rupp Arena in Lexington. A total of 63 games were played.
Eighth-seed Villanova, coached by Rollie Massimino, won their first national title with a 66–64 victory in the final game over Georgetown, coached by John Thompson. Ed Pinckney of Villanova was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. The game, often cited as "The Perfect Game", is widely considered among the greatest upsets in college basketball history, and is the second biggest point-spread upset in Championship Game history.Sports IllustratedUSA Today This Villanova team remains the lowest-seeded team to win the tournament. The Wildcats are also notable as the most recent Division I men's national champion to represent a school that did not sponsor varsity football at the time of its title (Villanova had dropped football after the 1980 season and did not reinstate the sport until the 1985 season, the first after the championship game). The game is also notable as the last played without a shot clock.
This year's Final Four saw an unprecedented and unmatched three teams from the same conference, with Big East members Villanova and Georgetown joined by St. John's. The only "interloper" in the Big East party was Memphis State, then of the Metro Conference (Memphis State's 1985 Final Four appearance was vacated due to using ineligible players, as were all of its tournament appearances from 1982 to 1986). Lehigh, champion of the East Coast Conference Tournament, became the first team in NCAA Tournament history to compete with a record below .500, as they were 12–18 at the time they played in the First Round.
This was also the first year that one of the regionals was named "Southeast", replacing "Mideast". This name was used until 1998, when the regional was renamed "South". This was also the last tournament until 2010 to feature two private schools in the title game. This tournament was also the last until 2012 to feature no teams in the Sweet 16 from the Mountain or Pacific Time Zones. No metropolitan area as small as Lexington has hosted the Final Four to date, though Lexington has hosted regionals throughout the years.
Schedule and venues
The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1985 tournament:
First and Second Rounds March 14 and 16 East Region Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut (Host: University of Connecticut) Midwest Region Mabee Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma (Host: Oral Roberts University) Southeast Region Athletic & Convocation Center, South Bend, Indiana (Host: University of Notre Dame) West Region Special Events Center, Salt Lake City, Utah (Host: University of Utah) March 15 and 17 East Region Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia (Host: Georgia Tech) Midwest Region Hofheinz Pavilion, Houston, Texas (Host: University of Houston) Southeast Region University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton) West Region University Arena ("The Pit"), Albuquerque, New Mexico (Host: University of New Mexico)
Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) March 21 and 23 East Regional, Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island (Host: Providence College) Midwest Regional, Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas (Host: Southwest Conference) March 22 and 24 Southeast Regional, BJCC Coliseum, Birmingham, Alabama (Host: Southeastern Conference) West Regional, McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, Colorado (Host: Big 8 Conference)
National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) March 30 and April 1 Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky)
Teams Region Seed Team Coach Conference Finished Final Opponent Score East East 1 Georgetown John Thompson Big East Runner-up8 VillanovaL 66–64 East 2 Georgia Tech Bobby Cremins Atlantic Coast Regional Runner-up1 GeorgetownL 60–54 East 3 Illinois Lou Henson Big Ten Sweet Sixteen2 Georgia TechL 61–53 East 4 Loyola Chicago Gene Sullivan Midwestern City Sweet Sixteen1 GeorgetownL 65–53 East 5 SMU Dave Bliss Southwest Round of 324 Loyola–ChicagoL 70–57 East 6 Georgia Hugh Durham Southeastern Round of 323 IllinoisL 74–58 East 7 Syracuse Jim Boeheim Big East Round of 322 Georgia TechL 70–53 East 8 Temple John Chaney Atlantic 10 Round of 321 GeorgetownL 63–46 East 9 Virginia Tech Charles Moir Metro Round of 648 TempleL 60–57 East 10 DePaul Joey Meyer Independent Round of 647 SyracuseL 70–65 East 11 Wichita State Gene Smithson Missouri Valley Round of 646 GeorgiaL 67–59 East 12 Old Dominion Paul Webb Sun Belt Round of 645 SMUL 85–68 East 13 Iona Pat Kennedy Metro Atlantic Round of 644 Loyola–ChicagoL 59–58 East 14 Northeastern Jim Calhoun ECAC North Round of 643 IllinoisL 76–57 East 15 Mercer Bill Bibb Trans America Round of 642 Georgia TechL 65–58 East 16 Lehigh Tom Schneider East Coast Round of 641 GeorgetownL 68–43 Midwest Midwest 1 Oklahoma Billy Tubbs Big Eight Regional Runner-up2 Memphis StateL 63–61 Midwest 2 Memphis State Dana Kirk Metro National semifinals8 VillanovaL 52–45 Midwest 3 Duke Mike Krzyzewski Atlantic Coast Round of 3211 Boston CollegeL 74–73 Midwest 4 Ohio State Eldon Miller Big Ten Round of 325 Louisiana TechL 79–67 Midwest 5 Louisiana Tech Andy Russo Southland Sweet Sixteen1 OklahomaL 86–84 Midwest 6 Texas Tech Gerald Myers Southwest Round of 6411 Boston CollegeL 55–53 Midwest 7 UAB Gene Bartow Sun Belt Round of 322 Memphis StateL 67–66 Midwest 8 USC Stan Morrison Pacific-10 Round of 649 Illinois StateL 58–55 Midwest 9 Illinois State Bob Donewald Missouri Valley Round of 321 OklahomaL 75–69 Midwest 10 Michigan State Jud Heathcote Big Ten Round of 647 UABL 70–68 Midwest 11 Boston College Gary Williams Big East Sweet Sixteen2 Memphis StateL 59–57 Midwest 12 Pittsburgh Roy Chipman Big East Round of 645 Louisiana TechL 78–54 Midwest 13 Iowa State Johnny Orr Big Eight Round of 644 Ohio StateL 75–64 Midwest 14 Pepperdine Jim Harrick West Coast Round of 643 DukeL 75–62 Midwest 15 Penn Craig Littlepage Ivy League Round of 642 Memphis StateL 67–55 Midwest 16 North Carolina A&T Don Corbett Mid-Eastern Round of 641 OklahomaL 96–83 Southeast Southeast 1 Michigan Bill Frieder Big Ten Round of 328 VillanovaL 59–55 Southeast 2 North Carolina Dean Smith Atlantic Coast Regional Runner-up8 VillanovaL 56–44 Southeast 3 Kansas Larry Brown Big Eight Round of 3211 AuburnL 66–64 Southeast 4 LSU Dale Brown Southeastern Round of 6413 NavyL 78–55 Southeast 5 Maryland Lefty Driesell Atlantic Coast Sweet Sixteen8 VillanovaL 46–43 Southeast 6 Purdue Gene Keady Big Ten Round of 6411 AuburnL 59–58 Southeast 7 Notre Dame Digger Phelps Independent Round of 322 North CarolinaL 60–58 Southeast 8 Villanova Rollie Massimino Big East Champion1 GeorgetownW 66–64 Southeast 9 Dayton Don Donoher Independent Round of 648 VillanovaL 51–49 Southeast 10 Oregon State Ralph Miller Pacific-10 Round of 647 Notre DameL 79–70 Southeast 11 Auburn Sonny Smith Southeastern Sweet Sixteen2 North CarolinaL 62–56 Southeast 12 Miami (OH) Jerry Peirson Mid-American Round of 645 MarylandL 69–68 Southeast 13 Navy Paul Evans ECAC South Round of 325 MarylandL 64–59 Southeast 14 Ohio Danny Nee Mid-American Round of 643 KansasL 49–38 Southeast 15 Middle Tennessee State Bruce Stewart Ohio Valley Round of 642 North CarolinaL 76–57 Southeast 16 Fairleigh Dickinson Tom Green ECAC Metro Round of 641 MichiganL 59–55 West West 1 St. John's Lou Carnesecca Big East National semifinals1 GeorgetownL 77–59 West 2 VCU J. D. Barnett Sun Belt Round of 327 AlabamaL 63–59 West 3 NC State Jim Valvano Atlantic Coast Regional Runner-up1 St. John'sL 69–60 West 4 UNLV Jerry Tarkanian Pacific Coast Round of 3212 KentuckyL 64–61 West 5 Washington Marv Harshman Pacific-10 Round of 6412 KentuckyL 66–58 West 6 Tulsa Nolan Richardson Missouri Valley Round of 6411 UTEPL 79–75 West 7 Alabama Wimp Sanderson Southeastern Sweet Sixteen3 NC StateL 61–55 West 8 Iowa George Raveling Big Ten Round of 649 ArkansasL 63–54 West 9 Arkansas Eddie Sutton Southwest Round of 321 St. John'sL 68–65 West 10 Arizona Lute Olson Pacific-10 Round of 647 AlabamaL 50–41 West 11 UTEP Don Haskins Western Athletic Round of 323 NC StateL 86–73 West 12 Kentucky Joe B. Hall Southeastern Sweet Sixteen1 St. John'sL 86–70 West 13 San Diego State Smokey Gaines Western Athletic Round of 644 UNLVL 85–80 West 14 Nevada Sonny Allen Big Sky Round of 643 NC StateL 65–56 West 15 Marshall Rick Huckabay Southern Round of 642 VCUL 81–65 West 16 Southern Robert Hopkins Southwestern Athletic Round of 641 St. John'sL 83–59
Bracket * – Denotes overtime period
East Regional – Providence, Rhode Island
Regional Final Summary
West Regional – Denver, Colorado
First round Summary
Second Round Summary
Regional semifinal Summary
Regional Final Summary
Southeast Regional – Birmingham, Alabama
Regional Final Summary
Midwest Regional – Dallas, Texas
* - denotes overtime
Regional Final Summary
Final Four – Lexington, Kentucky
# - Memphis State was forced to vacate its NCAA tournament appearance after a massive gambling scandal and a criminal investigation into head coach Dana Kirk. Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with Memphis removing the wins from its own record.
Game summaries
National Championship
Announcers
Television CBS Sports Brent Musburger First round (Kentucky–Washington), (Arizona–Alabama), second round & Dick Stockton Regional, Final Four served as studio hosts and Bill Raftery Regional, Final Four served as studio analyst. Dick Stockton/Brent Musburger and Billy Packer – Stockton/Packer, first round (Kentucky–Washington), second round at Salt Lake City, Utah & Houston, Texas; Musburger/Packer, East Regionals at Providence, Rhode Island, Southeast Regional Finals at Birmingham, Alabama, Final Four at Lexington, Kentucky Gary Bender and Doug Collins – Second Round at South Bend, Indiana & Dayton, Ohio, West Regionals at Denver, Colorado Frank Glieber and James Brown – Second Round at Hartford, Connecticut, Midwest Regionals at Dallas, Texas Pat Summerall/Verne Lundquist and Larry Conley – Summerall/Conley, second round at Atlanta, Georgia; Lundquist/Conley, Southeast Regional semifinals (Auburn–North Carolina) at Birmingham, Alabama Verne Lundquist and Steve Grote – First round (Arizona–Alabama) & Second Round at Albuquerque, New Mexico Tim Ryan and Bill Raftery – Second Round at Tulsa, Oklahoma ESPN and NCAA Productions Bob Ley (NCAA Tournament Today/NCAA Tournament Tonight) served as studio host and Dick Vitale served as studio analyst. First round (Lehigh–Georgetown) & (Old Dominion–SMU) at Hartford, Connecticut First round (Virginia Tech–Temple) & (Iona–Loyola-Chicago) at Hartford, Connecticut Mike Patrick and Larry Conley – First round (Northeastern–Illinois) & (Mercer–Georgia Tech) at Atlanta, Georgia First round (Wichita State–Georgia) & (DePaul–Syracuse) at Atlanta, Georgia First round (Iowa State–Ohio State) & (Illinois State–Southern California) at Tulsa, Oklahoma First round (Pittsburgh–Louisiana Tech) & (North Carolina A&T–Oklahoma) at Tulsa, Oklahoma First round (Penn–Memphis State) & (Pepperdine–Duke) at Houston, Texas First round (Navy–Louisiana State) & (Dayton–Villanova) at Dayton, Ohio Frank Herzog/Ralph Hacker and Joe Dean– First round (Miami (OH)–Maryland) & (Fairleigh Dickinson–Michigan) at Dayton, Ohio First round (Ohio–Kansas) & (Oregon State–Notre Dame) at South Bend, Indiana Tom Hammond and Jack Givens – First round (Auburn–Purdue) & (Middle Tennessee–North Carolina) at South Bend, Indiana First round (Southern–St. John's) at Salt Lake City, Utah