1986 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament explained

Year:1986
Teams:64
Finalfourarena:Reunion Arena
Finalfourcity:Dallas, Texas
Champions:Louisville Cardinals
Titlecount:2nd
Champgamecount:2nd
Champffcount:7th
Runnerup:Duke Blue Devils
Gamecount:3rd
Runnerffcount:5th
Semifinal1:Kansas Jayhawks
Finalfourcount:7th
Semifinal2:LSU Tigers
Finalfourcount2:3rd
Coach:Denny Crum
Coachcount:2nd
Mop:Pervis Ellison
Mopteam:Louisville
Attendance:499,704
Topscorer:Johnny Dawkins
Topscorerteam:Duke
Points:153

The 1986 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. It began on March 13, 1986, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in Dallas, Texas. A total of 63 games were played.

Louisville, coached by Denny Crum, won the national title with a 72–69 victory in the final game over Duke, coached by Mike Krzyzewski. Pervis Ellison of Louisville was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.[1] Louisville became the first team from outside a power conference to win the championship since the expansion to 64 teams, and remains one of only two teams to do so (the other team was UNLV in 1990).

The 1986 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Tournament was the first tournament to use a shot clock limiting the amount of time for any one offensive possession by a team prior to taking a shot at the basket. Beginning with the 1986 tournament, the shot clock was set at 45 seconds, which it would remain until being shortened to 35 seconds beginning in the 1994 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, and further shortened to 30 seconds (the same as NCAA women's basketball) starting with the 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The 1986 tournament was also the last to not feature the three-point shot as of 2023.

LSU's 1985–86 team is tied for the lowest-seeded team (#11) to ever make the Final Four with the 2005–06 George Mason Patriots, the 2010–11 VCU Rams, the 2017–18 Loyola-Chicago Ramblers, the 2020–21 UCLA Bruins, and the 2023-24 NC State Wolfpack. As of 2018, they are the only team in tournament history to beat the top 3 seeds from their region. LSU began its run to the Final Four by winning two games on its home court, the LSU Assembly Center, leading to a change two years later which prohibited teams from playing NCAA tournament games on a court which they have played four or more games in the regular season. Cleveland State University became the first #14 seed to reach the Sweet Sixteen, losing to their fellow underdog, Navy, by a single point. This was also the first year in which two #14 seeds reached the second round in the same year, as Arkansas-Little Rock beat #3-seed Notre Dame; however, they lost their second-round game in overtime. Both feats have only occurred one other time. Chattanooga reached the Sweet Sixteen as a 14-seed in 1997, and Old Dominion and Weber State both reached the second round as 14-seeds in 1995.

Every regional final featured a #1 or #2 seed playing a team seeded #6 or lower. The lone #1 seed to not reach the Elite Eight, St. John's (West), was knocked out in the second round by #8 Auburn, which lost to #2 Louisville in the regional final.

It can be argued that these upsets by the 14-seeds launched the NCAA tournament's reputation for having unknown teams surprise well-known basketball powers, and both happened on the same day. Indiana's stunning loss to Cleveland State would be part of the climax in the best-selling book A Season On The Brink.[2]

Another story of the tournament was when Navy reached the Elite 8 thanks to stunning performances by David Robinson. This tournament had no Pac 10 teams advance beyond the round of 64. This did not occur again until 2018.

Schedule and venues

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1986 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
West
West 1Big East Round of 328 AuburnL 81–65
West 2Metro Champion1 DukeW 72–69
West 3Atlantic Coast Sweet Sixteen2 LouisvilleL 94–79
West 4Pacific Coast Sweet Sixteen8 AuburnL 70–63
West 5Atlantic Coast Round of 324 UNLVL 70–64
West 6Sun Belt Round of 323 North CarolinaL 77–59
West 7Missouri Valley Round of 322 LouisvilleL 82–68
West 8Southeastern Regional Runner-up2 LouisvilleL 84–76
West 9Pacific-10 Round of 648 AuburnL 73–63
West 10Western Athletic Round of 647 BradleyL 83–65
West 11Big Eight Round of 646 UABL 66–64
West 12West Coast Round of 645 MarylandL 69–64
West 13Southland Round of 644 UNLVL 74–51
West 14Western Athletic Round of 643 North CarolinaL 84–72
West 15East Coast Round of 642 LouisvilleL 93–73
West 16Big Sky Round of 641 St. John'sL 83–74
Midwest
Midwest 1Big Eight National semifinals1 DukeL 71–67
Midwest 2Big Ten Round of 327 Iowa StateL 72–69
Midwest 3Independent Round of 6414 Arkansas–Little RockL 90–83
Midwest 4Big East Round of 325 Michigan StateL 80–68
Midwest 5Big Ten Sweet Sixteen1 KansasL 96–86
Midwest 6Atlantic Coast Regional Runner-up1 KansasL 75–67
Midwest 7Big Eight Sweet Sixteen6 NC StateL 70–66
Midwest 8Sun Belt Round of 649 TempleL 61–50
Midwest 9Atlantic 10 Round of 321 KansasL 65–43
Midwest 10Mid-American Round of 647 Iowa StateL 81–79
Midwest 11Big Ten Round of 646 NC StateL 66–64
Midwest 12Pacific-10 Round of 645 Michigan StateL 72–70
Midwest 13Southwest Round of 644 GeorgetownL 70–64
Midwest 14Trans America Round of 326 NC StateL 80–66
Midwest 15Ohio Valley Round of 642 MichiganL 70–64
Midwest 16Mid-Eastern Round of 641 KansasL 71–46
Southeast
Southeast 1Southeastern Regional Runner-up11 LSUL 59–57
Southeast 2Atlantic Coast Sweet Sixteen11 LSUL 70–64
Southeast 3Memphis State (Vacated) Metro Round of 3211 LSUL 83–81
Southeast 4Big Ten Round of 325 AlabamaL 58–56
Southeast 5Southeastern Sweet Sixteen1 KentuckyL 68–63
Southeast 6Big Ten Round of 6411 LSUL 94–87
Southeast 7Metro Round of 6410 VillanovaL 71–62
Southeast 8Sun Belt Round of 321 KentuckyL 71–64
Southeast 9Big Eight Round of 648 Western KentuckyL 67–59
Southeast 10Big East Round of 322 Georgia TechL 66–61
Southeast 11Southeastern National semifinals2 LouisvilleL 88–77
Southeast 12Midwestern Round of 645 AlabamaL 97–80
Southeast 13Metro Atlantic Round of 644 IllinoisL 75–51
Southeast 14Mid-American Round of 643 Memphis StateL 95–63
Southeast 15ECAC Metro Round of 642 Georgia TechL 68–53
Southeast 16Southern Round of 641 KentuckyL 75–55
East
East 1Atlantic Coast Runner Up2 LouisvilleL 72–69
East 2Big East Round of 327 NavyL 97–85
East 3Big Ten Round of 6414 Cleveland StateL 83–79
East 4Big Eight Round of 3212 DePaulL 74–69
East 5Atlantic Coast Round of 6412 DePaulL 72–68
East 6Atlantic 10 Round of 3214 Cleveland StateL 75–69
East 7Colonial Regional Runner-up1 DukeL 71–50
East 8Sun Belt Round of 321 DukeL 89–61
East 9Atlantic 10 Round of 648 Old DominionL 72–64
East 10Missouri Valley Round of 647 NavyL 87–68
East 11Colonial Round of 646 Saint Joseph'sL 60–59
East 12Independent Sweet Sixteen1 DukeL 74–67
East 13ECAC North Round of 644 OklahomaL 80–74
East 14Mid-Continent Sweet Sixteen7 NavyL 71–70
East 15Ivy League Round of 642 SyracuseL 101–52
East 16Southwest Athletic Round of 641 DukeL 85–78

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

Southeast Regional – Atlanta, Georgia

  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.[3] [4]

Final Four – Dallas, Texas

Final Four Officials

The 1986 Final Four was the first in which the NCAA assigned a separate three-man crew for the championship game. Previously, three of the six officials from the semifinals were melded into a crew for the championship.

The championship game was the last for future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Hank Nichols, who became the NCAA's national supervisor of officials. The Louisville-Duke matchup was Nichols' sixth championship game assignment.

Announcers

Studio Hosts:

CBS:Brent Musburger (First and Second Rounds), and Jim Nantz (Regional Semifinals to National Championship Game)

ESPN:Bob Ley and Dick Vitale

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Wittry. Andy. May 8, 2020. March 10, 2022. 1986 NCAA tournament: Bracket, scores, stats, rounds. live. NCAA official website. https://web.archive.org/web/20200617083628/https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2020-05-07/1986-ncaa-tournament-bracket-scores-stats-rounds . 2020-06-17 .
  2. Web site: Fagan. Ryan. March 15, 2019. March 10, 2022. Ranking the top 80 upsets in March Madness history . live. Sporting News. https://web.archive.org/web/20190317193613/http://www.sportingnews.com:80/us/ncaa-basketball/news/ranking-top-80-upsets-in-march-madness-history/hlhpeb6aoenx1opujyons33ms . 2019-03-17 .
  3. Web site: TROUBLED TIMES AT MEMPHIS STATE. Sports Illustrated. June 24, 1985. May 15, 2024.
  4. Web site: The NCAA's Toothless Punishment Of Memphis. Mauro, Patrick. Bleacher Report. August 22, 2009. May 15, 2024.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "1986 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.