The 1994 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 56th annual edition of the tournament began on March 17, 1994, and ended with the championship game at Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, on April 4, 1994. The tournament consisted of 63 games.
The Final Four consisted of Arkansas, making its fifth trip and first since 1990, Arizona, Florida, making its first trip, and Duke, making its sixth trip in the last seven tournaments.
In the national championship game, Arkansas defeated Duke by a score of 76–72 and won its first-ever national championship.
Schedule and venues
The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1994 tournament:
First and Second Rounds March 17 and 19 East Region Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York (Hosts: St. John's University, Big East Conference) Midwest Region Kansas Coliseum, Wichita, Kansas (Host: Wichita State University) Southeast Region Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky) West Region Dee Events Center, Ogden, Utah (Host: Weber State University) March 18 and 20 East Region USAir Arena, Landover, Maryland (Host: George Mason University) Midwest Region Myriad Convention Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Host: University of Oklahoma) Southeast Region Thunderdome, St. Petersburg, Florida (Host: University of South Florida) West Region ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California (Hosts: University of the Pacific, Big West Conference)
Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) March 24 and 26 Southeast Regional, Thompson–Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee (Hosts: University of Tennessee, Southeastern Conference) West Regional, Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California (Hosts: University of Southern California, Pacific-10 Conference) March 25 and 27 East Regional, Miami Arena, Miami, Florida (Host: University of Miami) Midwest Regional, Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas (Host: Southwest Conference)
National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) April 2 and 4 Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina (Host: University of North Carolina at Charlotte)
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 Midwestern Collegiate Conference, did not receive automatic bids to the tournament.
Four conference champions made their first NCAA tournament appearances: Liberty (Big South), Loyola (MD) (MAAC), Southwest Texas State (Southland), and UCF (TAAC). Additionally, College of Charleston received an at-large bid for its first appearance in the NCAA tournament.
Automatic qualifiers +Automatic qualifiersConferenceTeamAppearanceLast bidACCNorth Carolina28th1993Atlantic 10UMass4th1993Big EastProvidence12th1990Big EightNebraska5th1993Big SkyBoise State4th1993Big SouthLiberty1stBig TenPurdue13th1993Big WestNew Mexico State (vacated)–1991CAAJames Madison4th1983Ivy LeaguePenn15th1993MAACLoyola (MD)1stMACOhio10th1985MEACNorth Carolina A&T8th1988MetroLouisville24th1993Mid-ContinentGreen Bay2nd1991Missouri ValleySouthern Illinois3rd1993NACDrexel2nd1986NECRider3rd1993Ohio ValleyTennessee State2nd1993Pac-10Arizona13th1993PatriotNavy9th1987SECKentucky35th1993SouthernChattanooga6th1993SouthlandSouthwest Texas State1stSun BeltSouthwestern Louisiana3rd1992SWACTexas Southern2nd1990SWCTexas13th1992TAACUCF1stWACHawaii2nd1972West CoastPepperdine11th1992
Tournament seeds
+East Regional – Miami Arena, Miami, FloridaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1North CarolinaACC27–6Automatic2ConnecticutBig East27–4At-Large3FloridaSEC25–7At-Large4TempleAtlantic 1022–7At-Large5IndianaBig Ten19–8At-Large6NebraskaBig Eight20–9Automatic7UABGreat Midwest22–7At-Large8Washington StatePac-1020–10At-Large9Boston CollegeBig East20–10At-Large10George WashingtonAtlantic 1017–11At-Large11PennIvy League24–2Automatic12OhioMAC25–7Automatic13DrexelNAC25–4Automatic14James MadisonCAA20–9Automatic15RiderNEC21–8Automatic16LibertyBig South18–11Automatic+Midwest Regional – Reunion Arena, Dallas, TexasSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1ArkansasSEC25–3At-Large2UMassAtlantic 1027–6Automatic3MichiganBig Ten21–7At-Large4Oklahoma StateBig Eight23–9At-Large5UCLAPac-1021–6At-Large6TexasSWC25–7Automatic7Saint LouisGreat Midwest23–5At-Large8IllinoisBig Ten17–10At-Large9GeorgetownBig East18–11At-Large10MarylandACC16–11At-Large11Western KentuckySun Belt20–10At-Large12TulsaMissouri Valley21–7At-Large13New Mexico State (vacated)Big West23–7Automatic14PepperdineWCC19–10Automatic15Southwest Texas StateSouthland25–6Automatic16North Carolina A&TMEAC16–13Automatic+Southeast Regional – Thompson–Boling Arena, Knoxville, TennesseeSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1PurdueBig Ten26–4Automatic2DukeACC23–5At-Large3KentuckySEC26–6Automatic4KansasBig Eight25–7At-Large5Wake ForestACC20–11At-Large6MarquetteGreat Midwest22–8At-Large7Michigan StateBig Ten19–11At-Large8ProvidenceBig East20–9Automatic9AlabamaSEC19–9At-Large10Seton HallBig East17–12At-Large11Southwestern LouisianaSun Belt22–7Automatic12College of CharlestonTAAC24–3At-Large13ChattanoogaSouthern23–6Automatic14Tennessee StateOhio Valley19–11Automatic15Texas SouthernSWAC19–10Automatic16UCFTAAC21–8Automatic+West Regional – Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CaliforniaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1Missouri (vacated)Big Eight25–3At-Large2ArizonaPac-1025–5Automatic3LouisvilleMetro26–5Automatic4SyracuseBig East21–6At-Large5CaliforniaPac-1022–7At-Large6Minnesota (vacated)Big Ten20–11At-Large7VirginiaACC17–12At-Large8CincinnatiGreat Midwest22–9At-Large9WisconsinBig Ten17–10At-Large10New MexicoWAC23–7At-Large11Southern IllinoisMissouri Valley23–6Automatic12UW–Green BayMid-Continent22–6Automatic13HawaiiWAC18–14Automatic14Boise StateBig Sky17–12Automatic15Loyola (MD)MAAC17–12Automatic16NavyPatriot17–12Automatic
Bracket East Regional – Miami, Florida
Southeast Regional – Knoxville, Tennessee
Midwest Regional – Dallas, Texas
West Regional – Los Angeles, California
Minnesota vacated its NCAA Tournament appearance from the 1993–94 season due to an academic fraud scandal. Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with Minnesota removing the wins from its own record.
West Region First round
West Region Second Round
Final Four – Charlotte, North Carolina
Broadcast information On television, CBS Sports covered all 63 games of the tournament, with regional splits until the Regional Finals followed by national telecasts.
Exclusive national radio coverage was provided by CBS Radio Sports.
CBS announcers James Brown or Jim Nantz and Billy Packer – Brown/Packer, First & Second Round at Uniondale, New York; Nantz/Packer, Midwest Regional at Dallas, Texas; Final Four at Charlotte, North Carolina Dick Stockton and Al McGuire – First & Second Round at Lexington, Kentucky; West Regional at Los Angeles Greg Gumbel/Bill Raftery/Lesley Visser – First & Second Round at Landover, Maryland; Southeast Regional at Knoxville, Tennessee Verne Lundquist and Dan Bonner or Clark Kellogg – Lundquist/Bonner, First & Second Round at St. Petersburg, Florida; Lundquist/Kellogg, East Regional at Miami Sean McDonough and Derrek Dickey – First & Second Round at Wichita, Kansas Ted Robinson and Greg Kelser – First & Second Round at Oklahoma City Tim Ryan and Ann Meyers – First & Second Round at Ogden, Utah Dave Sims and Larry Farmer – First & Second Round at Sacramento, California
Local radio RegionSeedTeamsFlagship stationPlay-by-play announcerColor analyst(s)West1234SyracuseWSYR–AM 570 (Syracuse, NY)5CaliforniaKSFO–AM 560 (Berkeley, CA)6789101112UW–Green BayWDUZ–AM 1400 (Green Bay, WI)13141516
See also 1994 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament 1994 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament 1994 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament 1994 National Invitation Tournament 1994 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament 1994 NAIA Division II men's basketball tournament 1994 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament
References