The 1992 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 colleges playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 54th annual edition of the tournament began on March 19, 1992, and ended with the championship game on April 6, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis. A total of 63 games were played.
Duke, coached by Mike Krzyzewski, defeated Michigan, coached by Steve Fisher, 71–51 to claim their second consecutive national championship. Bobby Hurley of Duke was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Michigan subsequently vacated its final two tournament games due to sanctions involving the eligibility of Chris Webber in the University of Michigan basketball scandal.
This tournament is best remembered for the East regional final pitting Duke and Kentucky at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. With 2.1 seconds remaining in overtime, Duke trailed 103–102. Grant Hill threw a pass the length of the court to Christian Laettner, who dribbled once, turned, and hit a jumper as time expired for the 104–103 win. Sports Illustrated deemed it the greatest college basketball game of all time,Matthew Waxman = 16 Greatest Games Sports Illustrated (On Campus), March 10, 2004 and ESPN ranked it No. 17 among the top 100 sports moments of the past 25 years (see ESPN25). In 2002, USA Today ranked it the greatest NCAA tournament game of all time.Mike Douchant – Greatest 63 games in NCAA Tournament history. The Sports Xchange, published in USA Today, March 25, 2002
The tournament also saw dark horse Cincinnati crash the Final Four and return to national prominence.
Schedule and venues
The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1992 tournament:
First and Second Rounds March 19 and 21 East Region Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina (Host: Atlantic Coast Conference) Midwest Region Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Hosts: Marquette University, Great Midwest Conference) Southeast Region Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio (Hosts: University of Cincinnati, Xavier University) West Region BSU Pavilion, Boise, Idaho (Host: Boise State University) March 20 and 22 East Region Centrum in Worcester, Worcester, Massachusetts (Host: College of the Holy Cross) Midwest Region University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton) Southeast Region Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia (Host: Georgia Institute of Technology) West Region ASU Activity Center, Tempe, Arizona (Host: Arizona State University)
Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) March 26 and 28 East Regional, Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Hosts: Temple University, Villanova University) West Regional, University Arena ("The Pit"), Albuquerque, New Mexico (Host: University of New Mexico) March 27 and 29 Midwest Regional, Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Big 8 Conference) Southeast Regional, Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky)
National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) April 4 and 6 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota) This year marked the first time since 1985 the East Regional semifinals and final were not held at the Meadowlands Arena (then known as Brendan Byrne Arena) in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Teams There were 30 automatic bids awarded to the tournament - of these, 27 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).
Three conferences, the East Coast Conference, Great Midwest Conference, and Metro Conference, did not receive automatic bids to the tournament. This meant that the play-in games played prior to the 1991 tournament were not necessary for the 1992 tournament.
Three conference champions made their first NCAA tournament appearances: Campbell (Big South), Delaware (NAC), and Eastern Illinois (Mid-Continent). Additionally, Tulane received an at-large bid for its first appearance in the NCAA tournament.
Automatic qualifiers +Automatic qualifiersConferenceTeamAppearanceLast bidACCDuke17th1991Atlantic 10UMass2nd1962Big EastSyracuse20th1991Big EightKansas21st1991Big SkyMontana3rd1991Big SouthCampbell1stBig TenOhio State18th1991Big WestNew Mexico State (vacated)–1991CAAOld Dominion5th1986Ivy LeaguePrinceton18th1991MAACLa Salle11th1990MACMiami (OH)13th1986MCCEvansville3rd1989MEACHoward2nd1981Mid-ContinentEastern Illinois1stMissouri ValleySouthwest Missouri State5th1990NACDelaware1stNECRobert Morris5th1990Ohio ValleyMurray State6th1991Pac-10UCLA27th1991PatriotFordham4th1971SECKentucky33rd1987SouthernEast Tennessee State5th1991SouthlandNortheast Louisiana5th1991Sun BeltSouthwestern Louisiana3rd1983SWACMississippi Valley State2nd1986SWCHouston18th1990TAACGeorgia Southern3rd1987WACBYU16th1991West CoastPepperdine10th1991
Tournament seeds +East Regional – Spectrum, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1DukeACC28–2Automatic2KentuckySEC26–6Automatic3UMassAtlantic 1028–4Automatic4Seton HallBig East21–8At-Large5MissouriBig Eight20–8At-Large6SyracuseBig East21–9Automatic7UNC CharlotteMetro23–8At-Large8TexasSWC23–11At-Large9IowaBig Ten18–10At-Large10Iowa StateBig Eight20–12At-Large11PrincetonIvy League22–5Automatic12West VirginiaAtlantic 1020–11At-Large13La SalleMAAC20–10Automatic14FordhamPatriot18–12Automatic15Old DominionCAA15–14Automatic16CampbellBig South19–11Automatic+Midwest Regional – Hy-Vee Arena, Kansas City, MissouriSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1KansasBig Eight26–4Automatic2USCPac-1023–5At-Large3ArkansasSEC25–7At-Large4CincinnatiGreat Midwest25–4At-Large5Michigan StateBig Ten21–7At-Large6Memphis StateGreat Midwest20–10At-Large7Georgia TechACC21–11At-Large8EvansvilleMCC24–5Automatic9UTEPWAC25–6At-Large10HoustonSWC25–5Automatic11PepperdineWest Coast24–6Automatic12Southwest Missouri StateMissouri Valley23–7Automatic13DelawareNAC27–3Automatic14Murray StateOhio Valley17–12Automatic15Northeast LouisianaSouthland19–9Automatic16HowardMEAC17–13Automatic+West Regional – The Pit, Albuquerque, New MexicoSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1UCLAPac-1025–4Automatic2IndianaBig Ten23–6At-Large3Florida StateACC20–9At-Large4OklahomaBig Eight21–8At-Large5DePaulGreat Midwest20–8At-Large6GeorgetownBig East21–9At-Large7LSUSEC20–9At-Large8LouisvilleMetro18–10At-Large9Wake ForestACC17–11At-Large10BYUWAC25–6Automatic11South FloridaMetro19–9At-Large12New Mexico State (vacated)Big West23–7Automatic13Southwestern LouisianaSun Belt20–10Automatic14MontanaBig Sky27–3Automatic15Eastern IllinoisMid-Continent17–13Automatic16Robert MorrisNEC19–11Automatic+Southeast Regional – Rupp Arena, Lexington, KentuckySeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1Ohio StateBig Ten23–5Automatic2Oklahoma StateBig Eight26–7At-Large3ArizonaPac-1024–6At-Large4North CarolinaACC21–9At-Large5AlabamaSEC25–8At-Large6Michigan (vacated Final Four)Big Ten20–8At-Large7St. John'sBig East19–10At-Large8NebraskaBig Eight19–9At-Large9ConnecticutBig East19–9At-Large10TulaneMetro21–8At-Large11TempleAtlantic 1017–12At-Large12StanfordPac-1018–10At-Large13Miami (OH)MAC23–7Automatic14East Tennessee StateSouthern23–6Automatic15Georgia SouthernTAAC25–5Automatic16Mississippi Valley StateSWAC16–13Automatic
Bracket East Regional – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
West Regional – Albuquerque, New Mexico
New Mexico State vacated its appearance in the 1992 NCAA tournament due to sanctions from the Neil McCarthy scandal. Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with New Mexico State removing the wins from its own record.
Southeast Regional – Lexington, Kentucky
Midwest Regional – Kansas City, Missouri
Final Four – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Michigan's final two games in the 1992 Final Four were vacated on November 7, 2002, as part of the settlement of the University of Michigan basketball scandal due to Chris Webber’s ineligibility. Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with the removal of any Michigan wins from all records.
Announcers Jim Nantz/Billy Packer/Curry Kirkpatrick – Southeast Regional at Lexington, Kentucky; Final Four at Minneapolis, Minnesota Dick Stockton and Al McGuire/Greg Kelser (afternoon session of first round only) – First & Second Round at Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Midwest Regional at Kansas City, Missouri Verne Lundquist/Len Elmore/Lesley Visser – First & Second Round at Cincinnati; East Regional at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Greg Gumbel and Quinn Buckner – First & Second Round at Atlanta, Georgia; West Regional at Albuquerque, New Mexico James Brown and Bill Raftery – First & Second Round at Worcester, Massachusetts Tim Ryan and Digger Phelps – First & Second Round at Dayton, Ohio Sean McDonough and Bill Walton – First & Second Round at Boise, Idaho Brad Nessler and Ann Meyers – First & Second Round at Tempe, Arizona Mel Proctor and Dan Bonner – First & Second Round at Greensboro, North Carolina
See also 1992 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament 1992 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament 1992 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament 1992 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament 1992 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament 1992 National Invitation Tournament 1992 National Women's Invitation Tournament 1992 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament 1992 NAIA Division II men's basketball tournament 1992 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament 1992 NAIA Division II women's basketball tournament
References