# 1957 NCAA University Division basketball tournament

The 1957 NCAA University Division basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament involving 23 teams to determine the national champion of men's college basketball in the NCAA University Division, which was replaced in 1973 by NCAA Division I. The 1956–57 school year was the first in which NCAA members were formally divided into separate competitive levels, with larger and more competitive athletic programs placed in the University Division and smaller programs placed in the College Division (which would be replaced by NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III in 1973).
The 19th edition of the NCAA tournament began on March 11, 1957, and ended with the championship game on March 23 in Kansas City, Missouri. A total of 27 games were played, including a third-place game in each region and a national third-place game. North Carolina, coached by Frank McGuire, won the national title with a 54–53 triple-overtime victory in the final game over Kansas, coached by Dick Harp. Wilt Chamberlain of Kansas became the fourth player to be named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player despite not playing for the championship team.

## Tournament notes

North Carolina won two consecutive triple overtime games to win the championship. The North Carolina – Michigan State semi final game and North Carolina – Kansas final game both made USA Today's list of the greatest NCAA tournament games of all time at 11 and 6 respectively.

## Locations

| Round | Region | Site | Venue |
| First Round | East | New York, New York | Madison Square Garden |
| First Round | Mideast | Columbus, Ohio | St. John Arena |
| First Round | Midwest | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | Capitol Hill High School Arena |
| First Round | West | Pocatello, Idaho | ISU Gymnasium |
| Regionals | East | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | The Palestra |
| Regionals | Mideast | Lexington, Kentucky | Memorial Coliseum |
| Regionals | Midwest | Dallas, Texas | SMU Coliseum |
| Regionals | West | Corvallis, Oregon | Oregon State Coliseum |
| Final Four | Final Four | Kansas City, Missouri | Municipal Auditorium |

## Teams

| Region | Team | Coach | Conference | Finished | Final Opponent | Score |
| East |||||||
| East | Canisius | Joseph Curran | WNY3 | Regional third place | Lafayette | W 82–76 |
| East | Connecticut | Hugh Greer | Yankee | First round | Syracuse | L 82–76 |
| East | Lafayette | George Davidson | Independent | Regional Fourth Place | Canisius | L 82–76 |
| East | North Carolina | Frank McGuire | Atlantic Coast | Champion | Kansas | W 54–53 |
| East | Syracuse | Marc Guley | Independent | Regional Runner-up | North Carolina | L 67–58 |
| East | West Virginia | Fred Schaus | Southern | First round | Canisius | L 64–56 |
| East | Yale | Joe Vancisin | Ivy League | First round | North Carolina | L 90–74 |
| Mideast |||||||
| Mideast | Kentucky | Adolph Rupp | Southeastern | Regional Runner-up | Michigan State | L 80–68 |
| Mideast | Miami (OH) | Bill Rohr | Mid-American | First round | Notre Dame | L 89–77 |
| Mideast | Michigan State | Forddy Anderson | Big Ten | Fourth Place | San Francisco | L 67–60 |
| Mideast | Morehead State | Bobby Laughlin | Ohio Valley | First round | Pittsburgh | L 86–85 |
| Mideast | Notre Dame | John Jordan | Independent | Regional third place | Pittsburgh | W 86–85 |
| Mideast | Pittsburgh | Bob Timmons | Independent | Regional Fourth Place | Notre Dame | L 86–85 |
| Midwest |||||||
| Midwest | Kansas | Dick Harp | Big 7 | Runner Up | North Carolina | L 54–53 |
| Midwest | Loyola (LA) | Jim McCafferty | Independent | First round | Oklahoma City | L 76–55 |
| Midwest | Oklahoma City | Abe Lemons | Independent | Regional Runner-up | Kansas | L 81–61 |
| Midwest | SMU | Doc Hayes | Southwest | Regional third place | Saint Louis | W 78–68 |
| Midwest | Saint Louis | Eddie Hickey | Missouri Valley | Regional Fourth Place | SMU | L 78–68 |
| West |||||||
| West | BYU | Stan Watts | Mountain States | Regional third place | Idaho State | W 65–54 |
| West | California | Pete Newell | Pacific Coast | Regional Runner-up | San Francisco | L 50–46 |
| West | Hardin–Simmons | Bill Scott | Border | First round | Idaho State | L 68–57 |
| West | Idaho State | John Grayson | Independent | Regional Fourth Place | BYU | L 65–54 |
| West | San Francisco | Phil Woolpert | West Coast Athletic | Third Place | Michigan State | W 67–60 |

## Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

### East region

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| | | Lafayette | 71 | | | |
| | | Syracuse | 75 | | | |
| Syracuse | 82 | Syracuse | 75 | | | |
| Connecticut | 76 | | | | | |
| Connecticut | 76 | | | | Syracuse | 58 |
| | | | | | North Carolina | 67 |
| Canisius | 64 | | | | | | North Carolina | 67 |
| West Virginia | 56 | | |
| West Virginia | 56 | Canisius | 75 | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | North Carolina | 87 |
| North Carolina | 90 | North Carolina | 87 | Canisius | Canisius | 82 |
| Yale | 74 | | | Lafayette | Lafayette | 76 |

### Mideast region

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| | | Kentucky | 98 | | | |
| | | Pittsburgh | 92 | | | |
| Pittsburgh | 86 | Pittsburgh | 92 | | | |
| Morehead State | 85 | | | | | |
| Morehead State | 85 | | | | Kentucky | 68 |
| | | | | | Michigan State | 80 |
| Notre Dame | 89 | | | | | | Michigan State | 80 |
| Miami (OH) | 77 | | |
| Miami (OH) | 77 | Notre Dame | 83 | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | Michigan State | 85 |
| | | Michigan State | 85 | Notre Dame | Notre Dame | 86 |
| | | | | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | 85 |

### Midwest region

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| | | Saint Louis | 66 | | | |
| | | Oklahoma City | 75 | | | |
| Oklahoma City | 76 | Oklahoma City | 75 | | | |
| Loyola (LA) | 55 | | | | | |
| Loyola (LA) | 55 | | | | Oklahoma City | 61 |
| | | | | | Kansas | 81 |
| | | Kansas | 73 | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | SMU | 65* |
| | | SMU | 65* | SMU | SMU | 78 |
| | | | | Saint Louis | Saint Louis | 68 |

### West region

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| | | California | 86 | | | |
| | | BYU | 59 | | | |
| | | | | | California | 46 |
| | | | | | San Francisco | 50 |
| Idaho State | 68 | | | | | | San Francisco | 50 |
| Hardin–Simmons | 57 | | |
| Hardin–Simmons | 57 | Idaho State | 51 | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | San Francisco | 66 |
| | | San Francisco | 66 | BYU | BYU | 65 |
| | | | | Idaho St. | Idaho St. | 54 |

### Final Four

| National Semifinals | National Semifinals | National Semifinals | National Championship Game | National Championship Game | National Championship Game |
| E | North Carolina | 74 | | | |
| ME | Michigan State | 70*** | | | |
| ME | Michigan State | 70*** | E | North Carolina | 54 |
| | | | MW | Kansas | 53*** |
| MW | Kansas | 80 | MW | Kansas | 53*** |
| W | San Francisco | 56 | National Third Place Game | National Third Place Game | National Third Place Game |
| | | | W | San Francisco | 67 |
| | | | ME | Michigan State | 60 |