| 1980 NCAA Tournament Championship Game | |
| Type: | ncg |
| Date: | March 24, 1980 |
| Year: | 1979-80 |
| Visitor School: | University of California, Los Angeles |
| Visitor Name Short: | UCLA |
| Visitor Nickname: | Bruins |
| Visitor Record: | 22–9 |
| Visitor Conference: | Pac-10 |
| Visitor Ap: | NR |
| Visitor Coaches: | NR |
| Visitor Coach: | Larry Brown |
| Visitor Per1: | 28 |
| Visitor Per2: | 26 |
| Home School: | University of Louisville |
| Home Name Short: | Louisville |
| Home Nickname: | Cardinals |
| Home Record: | 32–3 |
| Home Conference: | Metro |
| Home Ap: | 2 |
| Home Coaches: | 4 |
| Home Coach: | Denny Crum |
| Home Per1: | 26 |
| Home Per2: | 33 |
| Arena: | Market Square Arena |
| City: | Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Mvp: | Darrell Griffith, Louisville |
| Odds: | Louisville |
| Us Network: | NBC |
| Us Announcers: | Dick Enberg (play-by-play) Billy Packer and Al McGuire (color) |
| Previous: | 1979 |
| Next: | 1981 |
The 1980 NCAA Division I Basketball Championship Game was the finals of the 1980 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament and it determined the national champion for the 1979-80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The game was played on March 24, 1980, at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, and featured the Midwest Regional Champion, #2-seeded Louisville and the West Regional Champion, #8-seeded UCLA.
The Cardinals narrowly defeated the Bruins to win their first national championship in program history.
See main article: 1979–80 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team.
See main article: 1979–80 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team.
| UCLA | Position | Louisville | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Holton 3 | G | Jerry Eaves 3 | |||
| Rod Foster 2 | G | † Darrell Griffith 1 | |||
| James Wilkes 3 | F | Derek Smith 2 | |||
| Kiki Vandeweghe 1 | F | Wiley Brown | |||
| Mike Sanders 4 | C | Rodney McCray 1 | |||
| † | |||||
UCLA would later be forced to vacate their appearance in the championship game and the 1980 NCAA tournament after players representing the school were declared ineligible by the NCAA.[2] The Bruins would not return to the championship game until 1995, where they defeated Arkansas to win their most recent national championship.
Louisville would return to the national championship game six years later, where they upset Duke to win another title. They would also return to the title game in 2013, where they defeated Michigan to win what was their third title. However, Louisville was forced to vacate their third title due to a massive sex scandal involving players on the team, and as a result the Cardinals had four seasons worth of wins wiped from the record books.