1985 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament explained

Year:1985
Teams:64
Finalfourarena:Rupp Arena
Finalfourcity:Lexington, Kentucky
Champions:Villanova Wildcats
Titlecount:1st
Champgamecount:1st
Champffcount:2nd
Runnerup:Georgetown Hoyas
Gamecount:4th
Runnerffcount:5th
Semifinal1:Memphis State Tigers (Vacated)
Finalfourcount:2nd
Semifinal2:St. John's Redmen
Finalfourcount2:2nd
Coach:Rollie Massimino
Coachcount:1st
Mop:Ed Pinckney
Mopteam:Villanova
Attendance:422,519
Topscorer:Chris Mullin
Topscorerteam:St. John's
Points:110

The 1985 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. This was the first year the field was expanded to 64 teams, from 53 in the previous year's tournament. It began on March 14, 1985, and ended with the championship game on April 1 in Lexington, Kentucky. A total of 63 games were played.

Eighth-seed Villanova, coached by Rollie Massimino, won their first national title with a 66–64 victory in the final game over Georgetown, coached by John Thompson. Ed Pinckney of Villanova was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. The game, often cited as "The Perfect Game", is widely considered among the greatest upsets in college basketball history, and is the second biggest point-spread upset in Championship Game history.[1] [2] This Villanova team remains the lowest-seeded team to win the tournament. The Wildcats are also notable as the last Division I men's national champion to date to represent a school that did not sponsor varsity football at the time of its title (Villanova had dropped football after the 1980 season and did not reinstate the sport until the 1985 season, the first after the championship game). The game is also notable as the last played without a shot clock.

This year's Final Four saw an unprecedented and unmatched three teams from the same conference, with Big East members Villanova and Georgetown joined by St. John's. The only "interloper" in the Big East party was Memphis State, then of the Metro Conference (Memphis State's 1985 Final Four appearance was vacated due to using ineligible players, as were all of its tournament appearances from 1982 to 1986). Lehigh, champion of the East Coast Conference Tournament, became the first team in NCAA Tournament history to compete with a record below .500, as they were 12–18 at the time they played in the First Round.[3]

This was also the first year that one of the regionals was named "Southeast", replacing "Mideast". This name was used until 1998, when the regional was renamed "South". This was also the last tournament until 2010 to feature two private schools in the title game. This tournament was also the last until 2012 to feature no teams in the Sweet 16 from the Mountain or Pacific Time Zones.

This tournament's East Region is the only one in NCAA Tournament history in which the higher-seeded team won every game.

Schedule and venues

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1985 tournament:

First and Second Rounds

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

Teams

Region Seed Team Coach Conference Finished Final Opponent Score
East
East 1Big East Runner-up8 VillanovaL 66–64
East 2Atlantic Coast Regional Runner-up1 GeorgetownL 60–54
East 3Big Ten Sweet Sixteen2 Georgia TechL 61–53
East 4Sweet Sixteen1 GeorgetownL 65–53
East 5Southwest Round of 324 Loyola–ChicagoL 70–57
East 6Southeastern Round of 323 IllinoisL 74–58
East 7Big East Round of 322 Georgia TechL 70–53
East 8Atlantic 10 Round of 321 GeorgetownL 63–46
East 9Metro Round of 648 TempleL 60–57
East 10Independent Round of 647 SyracuseL 70–65
East 11Missouri Valley Round of 646 GeorgiaL 67–59
East 12Sun Belt Round of 645 SMUL 85–68
East 13Metro Atlantic Round of 644 Loyola–ChicagoL 59–58
East 14Round of 643 IllinoisL 76–57
East 15Round of 642 Georgia TechL 65–58
East 16Tom Schneider East Coast Round of 641 GeorgetownL 68–43
Midwest
Midwest 1Big Eight Regional Runner-up2 Memphis StateL 63–61
Midwest 2Metro National semifinals8 VillanovaL 52–45
Midwest 3Atlantic Coast Round of 3211 Boston CollegeL 74–73
Midwest 4Big Ten Round of 325 Louisiana TechL 79–67
Midwest 5Southland Sweet Sixteen1 OklahomaL 86–84
Midwest 6Southwest Round of 6411 Boston CollegeL 55–53
Midwest 7Sun Belt Round of 322 Memphis StateL 67–66
Midwest 8Pacific-10 Round of 649 Illinois StateL 58–55
Midwest 9Missouri Valley Round of 321 OklahomaL 75–69
Midwest 10Big Ten Round of 647 UABL 70–68
Midwest 11Big East Sweet Sixteen2 Memphis StateL 59–57
Midwest 12Big East Round of 645 Louisiana TechL 78–54
Midwest 13Big Eight Round of 644 Ohio StateL 75–64
Midwest 14West Coast Round of 643 DukeL 75–62
Midwest 15Ivy League Round of 642 Memphis StateL 67–55
Midwest 16Mid-Eastern Round of 641 OklahomaL 96–83
Southeast
Southeast 1Big Ten Round of 328 VillanovaL 59–55
Southeast 2Atlantic Coast Regional Runner-up8 VillanovaL 56–44
Southeast 3Big Eight Round of 3211 AuburnL 66–64
Southeast 4Southeastern Round of 6413 NavyL 78–55
Southeast 5Atlantic Coast Sweet Sixteen8 VillanovaL 46–43
Southeast 6Big Ten Round of 6411 AuburnL 59–58
Southeast 7Independent Round of 322 North CarolinaL 60–58
Southeast 8Big East Champion1 GeorgetownW 66–64
Southeast 9Independent Round of 648 VillanovaL 51–49
Southeast 10Pacific-10 Round of 647 Notre DameL 79–70
Southeast 11Southeastern Sweet Sixteen2 North CarolinaL 62–56
Southeast 12Mid-American Round of 645 MarylandL 69–68
Southeast 13Round of 325 MarylandL 64–59
Southeast 14Mid-American Round of 643 KansasL 49–38
Southeast 15Ohio Valley Round of 642 North CarolinaL 76–57
Southeast 16Round of 641 MichiganL 59–55
West
West 1Big East National semifinals1 GeorgetownL 77–59
West 2Sun Belt Round of 327 AlabamaL 63–59
West 3Atlantic Coast Regional Runner-up1 St. John'sL 69–60
West 4Round of 3212 KentuckyL 64–61
West 5Pacific-10 Round of 6412 KentuckyL 66–58
West 6Missouri Valley Round of 6411 UTEPL 79–75
West 7Southeastern Sweet Sixteen3 NC StateL 61–55
West 8Big Ten Round of 649 ArkansasL 63–54
West 9Southwest Round of 321 St. John'sL 68–65
West 10Pacific-10 Round of 647 AlabamaL 50–41
West 11Western Athletic Round of 323 NC StateL 86–73
West 12Southeastern Sweet Sixteen1 St. John'sL 86–70
West 13Western Athletic Round of 644 UNLVL 85–80
West 14Big Sky Round of 643 NC StateL 65–56
West 15Southern Round of 642 VCUL 81–65
West 16Southwestern Athletic Round of 641 St. John'sL 83–59

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East Regional – Providence, Rhode Island

Regional Final Summary

West Regional – Denver, Colorado

Regional Final Summary

Southeast Regional – Birmingham, Alabama

Regional Final Summary

Midwest Regional – Dallas, Texas

Regional Final Summary

Final Four – Lexington, Kentucky

  1. - Memphis State was forced to vacate its NCAA tournament appearance after a massive gambling scandal and a criminal investigation into head coach Dana Kirk. Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with Memphis removing the wins from its own record.[4] [5]

National Championship

See main article: 1985 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game.

Announcers

Television

CBS Sports

ESPN and NCAA Productions

Radio

Regionals

CBS Radio

Final four

Further reading

See also

Notes and References

  1. https://www.si.com/longform/2015/1985/villanova/ Sports Illustrated
  2. http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/04/31-years-later-villanova-wildcats-played-another-perfect-game-at-the-final-four-oklahoma-buddy-hield USA Today
  3. Web site: Teams with the worst records to make the men's NCAA tournament NCAA.com . 2023-04-03 . www.ncaa.com . en.
  4. Web site: TROUBLED TIMES AT MEMPHIS STATE. Sports Illustrated. June 24, 1985. May 15, 2024.
  5. Web site: The NCAA's Toothless Punishment Of Memphis. Mauro, Patrick. Bleacher Report. August 22, 2009. May 15, 2024.

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