Edition of USA college basketball tournament
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
1985 first and second rounds
1985 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)
The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1985 tournament:
First and Second Rounds
- March 14 and 16
- East Region
- Midwest Region
- Southeast Region
- West Region
- March 15 and 17
- East Region
- Midwest Region
- Southeast Region
- West Region
Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)
- March 21 and 23
- March 22 and 24
National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)
Teams
Bracket
* – Denotes overtime period
East Regional – Providence, Rhode Island
Regional Final Summary
West Regional – Denver, Colorado
First round Summary
Second Round Summary
Regional semifinal Summary
Regional Final Summary
Southeast Regional – Birmingham, Alabama
Regional Final Summary
Midwest Regional – Dallas, Texas
* - denotes overtime
Regional Final Summary
Final Four – Lexington, Kentucky
# - 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]
Game summaries
National Championship
Announcers
Television
CBS Sports
- Brent Musburger First round (Kentucky–Washington), (Arizona–Alabama), second round & Dick Stockton Regional, Final Four served as studio hosts and Bill Raftery Regional, Final Four served as studio analyst.
- Dick Stockton/Brent Musburger and Billy Packer – Stockton/Packer, first round (Kentucky–Washington), second round at Salt Lake City, Utah & Houston, Texas; Musburger/Packer, East Regionals at Providence, Rhode Island, Southeast Regional Finals at Birmingham, Alabama, Final Four at Lexington, Kentucky
- Gary Bender and Doug Collins – Second Round at South Bend, Indiana & Dayton, Ohio, West Regionals at Denver, Colorado
- Frank Glieber and James Brown – Second Round at Hartford, Connecticut, Midwest Regionals at Dallas, Texas
- Pat Summerall/Verne Lundquist and Larry Conley – Summerall/Conley, second round at Atlanta, Georgia; Lundquist/Conley, Southeast Regional semifinals (Auburn–North Carolina) at Birmingham, Alabama
- Verne Lundquist and Steve Grote – First round (Arizona–Alabama) & Second Round at Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Tim Ryan and Bill Raftery – Second Round at Tulsa, Oklahoma
ESPN and NCAA Productions
- Bob Ley (NCAA Tournament Today/NCAA Tournament Tonight) served as studio host and Dick Vitale served as studio analyst.
- – First round (Lehigh–Georgetown) & (Old Dominion–SMU) at Hartford, Connecticut
- – First round (Virginia Tech–Temple) & (Iona–Loyola-Chicago) at Hartford, Connecticut
- Mike Patrick and Larry Conley – First round (Northeastern–Illinois) & (Mercer–Georgia Tech) at Atlanta, Georgia
- – First round (Wichita State–Georgia) & (DePaul–Syracuse) at Atlanta, Georgia
- – First round (Iowa State–Ohio State) & (Illinois State–Southern California) at Tulsa, Oklahoma
- – First round (Pittsburgh–Louisiana Tech) & (North Carolina A&T–Oklahoma) at Tulsa, Oklahoma
- – First round (Penn–Memphis State) & (Pepperdine–Duke) at Houston, Texas
- – First round (Navy–Louisiana State) & (Dayton–Villanova) at Dayton, Ohio
- Frank Herzog/Ralph Hacker and Joe Dean– First round (Miami (OH)–Maryland) & (Fairleigh Dickinson–Michigan) at Dayton, Ohio
- – First round (Ohio–Kansas) & (Oregon State–Notre Dame) at South Bend, Indiana
- Tom Hammond and Jack Givens – First round (Auburn–Purdue) & (Middle Tennessee–North Carolina) at South Bend, Indiana
- – First round (Southern–St. John's) at Salt Lake City, Utah
- – First round (Arkansas–Iowa) & (San Diego State–UNLV) at Salt Lake City, Utah
- Larry Zimmer and Ted Owens – First round (Nevada–NC State) at Albuquerque, New Mexico
- – First round (UTEP–Tulsa) & (Marshall–VCU) at Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Frank Fallon and Gary Thompson- First round (Michigan State–UAB) & (Boston College–Texas Tech) at Houston, Texas Midwest Regional semifinals (Louisiana Tech–Oklahoma) at Dallas, Texas
- Mike Patrick and Larry Conley – Southeast Regional semifinals (Villanova–Maryland) at Birmingham, Alabama
Radio
Regionals
CBS Radio
- – East Regionals at Providence, Rhode Island
- – Midwest Regionals at Dallas, Texas
- – Southeast Regionals at Birmingham, Alabama
- – West Regionals at Denver, Colorado
Final four
Further reading
- Pinckney, Ed; Gordon, Robert (2004). Ed Pinckney's Tales from the Villanova Hardwood: The Story of the 1985 NCAA champs. Champaign: Sports Publishing. ISBN 1-58261-809-7.
See also
References
- ^ Sports Illustrated
- ^ USA Today
- ^ "Teams with the worst records to make the men's NCAA tournament | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
- ^ "TROUBLED TIMES AT MEMPHIS STATE". Sports Illustrated. June 24, 1985. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
- ^ Mauro, Patrick (August 22, 2009). "The NCAA's Toothless Punishment Of Memphis". Bleacher Report. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
