See also: 1981 NCAA Division I basketball tournament.
| 1981 NCAA Tournament Championship Game | |
| Type: | ncg |
| Date: | March 30, 1981 |
| Year: | 1980–81 |
| Visitor School: | University of North Carolina |
| Visitor Name Short: | North Carolina |
| Visitor Nickname: | Tar Heels |
| Visitor Record: | 29–7 |
| Visitor Conference: | ACC |
| Visitor Ap: | 6 |
| Visitor Coaches: | 6 |
| Visitor Coach: | Dean Smith |
| Visitor Per1: | 26 |
| Visitor Per2: | 24 |
| Home School: | Indiana |
| Home Name Short: | Indiana |
| Home Nickname: | Hoosiers |
| Home Record: | 25–9 |
| Home Conference: | Big Ten |
| Home Ap: | 9 |
| Home Coaches: | 7 |
| Home Coach: | Bob Knight |
| Home Per1: | 27 |
| Home Per2: | 36 |
| Arena: | The Spectrum |
| City: | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Us Network: | NBC |
| Us Announcers: | Dick Enberg, Billy Packer, and Al McGuire |
| Referee: | Ken Lauderdale, Lou Moser, & Booker Turner[1] |
| Previous: | 1980 |
| Next: | 1982 |
The 1981 NCAA Division I Basketball Championship Game took place on March 30, 1981, between the North Carolina Tar Heels and Indiana Hoosiers at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. The matchup was the final one of the forty-third consecutive NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship single-elimination tournament — commonly referred to as the NCAA Tournament — organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is used to crown a national champion for men's basketball at the Division I level.
Because of the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley, there was talk of postponing or cancelling the title game; but once NCAA officials learned that Reagan had made it through surgery and would survive his injuries, the game was played as scheduled.[2] Howard Cosell criticized the NCAA for not postponing the game due to the Reagan assassination attempt.
Indiana defeated North Carolina by a 63–50 score to win their second national title in six years and fourth overall. As of 2024, this remains the only time a team from the Big Ten defeated an ACC team in the championship game.
The 1980–81 season was the last before the NCAA began sponsoring a championship for Division I women's basketball. All future NCAA men's tournaments and championship games would include "Men's" in their official titles.
It was the first national championship game between the schools. Indiana was seeking its fourth national championship (1940, 1953, 1976) while North Carolina was looking for its second, having last won in 1957.
See main article: 1980–81 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team.
See main article: 1980–81 North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team.
| Indiana | Position | North Carolina | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| † Isiah Thomas 1 | G | Jimmy Black | |||
| G | Mike Pepper | ||||
| F | James Worthy | ||||
| F | Al Wood 1 | ||||
| Ray Tolbert 1 | C | Sam Perkins | |||
| † | |||||
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