1986 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament


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. The 48th annual edition of the tournament began on March 13, 1986, and ended with the championship game on March 31, at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas. A total of 63 games were played.
[1985–86 1985–86 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team|Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team|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. 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 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 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.
[1985–86 1985–86 LSU Tigers basketball team|LSU Tigers basketball team|LSU]'s 1985–86 team is tied for the lowest-seeded team 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, 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.
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
National semifinals and championship

Bracket

Southeast Regional – Atlanta, Georgia

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.

Final Four Officials

  • Joe Forte
  • Dick Paparo
  • Lenny Wirtz
  • Paul Galvan
  • John Clougherty
  • Tom Fincken
  • Hank Nichols
  • Pete Pavia
  • Don Rutledge
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, and Jim Nantz
ESPN:
Bob Ley and Dick Vitale