The 1942 NCAA basketball tournament involved eight schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 20, 1942, and ended with the championship game on March 28 in Kansas City, Missouri. A total of nine games were played, including a third place game in each region.
Stanford, coached by Everett Dean, won the national title with a 53–38 victory in the final game over Dartmouth, coached by O. B. Cowles. Howie Dallmar of Stanford was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. The Indians' success, however, was not to last, as they would not make the tournament again for 47 years, which is currently tied for the eighth-longest drought in NCAA tournament history.
Everett Dean is the only coach to have never lost an NCAA tournament game. Dean was 3–0 in his lone appearance.
Colorado, Dartmouth, Kansas and Rice became the first teams to appear in multiple NCAA Tournaments by appearing in the 1942 tournament.
The following were the sites selected to host each round of the 1942 tournament:
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