| Year: | 1939 |
| Teams: | 8 |
| Finalfourarena: | Patten Gymnasium |
| Finalfourcity: | Evanston, Illinois |
| Champions: | Oregon Webfoots |
| Titlecount: | 1st |
| Champgamecount: | 1st |
| Champffcount: | 1st |
| Runnerup: | Ohio State Buckeyes |
| Gamecount: | 1st |
| Runnerffcount: | 1st |
| Semifinal1: | Oklahoma Sooners |
| Finalfourcount: | 1st |
| Semifinal2: | Villanova Wildcats |
| Finalfourcount2: | 1st |
| Coach: | Howard Hobson |
| Coachcount: | 1st |
| Mop: | Jimmy Hull, |
| Mopteam: | Ohio State |
| Attendance: | 15,025 |
| Topscorer: | Jimmy Hull, |
| Topscorerteam: | Ohio State |
| Points: | 58 |
The 1939 NCAA basketball tournament involved eight schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. It was the first NCAA basketball national championship tournament, although it was operated by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) at the time.
The tournament began on March 17 and ended with the championship game on March 27 on Northwestern University's campus in Evanston, Illinois.[1] [2] [3] [4] A total of eight games were played, including a single third-place game in the West region. The East region did not hold a third-place game until 1941, and there was no national third-place game until 1946.
Oregon, coached by Howard Hobson, won the national title with a 46–33 victory in the final game over Ohio State, coached by Harold Olsen. Jimmy Hull of Ohio State was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Despite its success in this first tournament, Oregon would not make another Final Four until 2017.
| East Regional - Philadelphia | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| School | Coach | Conference | Record | |
| Eck Allen | Independent | 16–3 | ||
| Ohio State | Harold Olsen | Big Ten | 14–6 | |
| Villanova | Alex Severance | Independent | 19–4 | |
| Murray Greason | Southern | 18–5 | ||
| West Regional - San Francisco | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| School | Coach | Conference | Record | |
| Oklahoma | Bruce Drake | Big Six | 11–8 | |
| Oregon | Howard Hobson | Pacific Coast | 26–5 | |
| Texas | Jack Gray | Southwest | 19–4 | |
| Dick Romney | Mountain States | 16–6 | ||