# 1956 NCAA basketball tournament

The 1956 NCAA basketball tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA college basketball. It began on March 12, 1956, and ended with the championship game on March 24 on Northwestern University's campus in Evanston, Illinois. A total of 29 games were played, including a third-place game in each region and a national third-place game.
The 1955–56 season was the last in which only one NCAA Tournament was held. Effective in 1956–57, the NCAA divided its membership into two competitive levels. The larger and more competitive athletic programs were placed in the University Division, and smaller programs in the College Division. Accordingly, that season would see separate tournaments contested in the University and College Divisions. In 1973, the University Division would be renamed NCAA Division I, while the College Division would be split into today's Divisions II and III.
This was the first NCAA tournament in which the four regionals were given distinct names, although the concept of four regional winners advancing to a single site for the "Final Four" had been introduced in 1952.
San Francisco, coached by Phil Woolpert, won the national title with an 83–71 victory in the final game over Iowa, coached by Bucky O'Connor. Hal Lear of Temple was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

## Locations

| Round | Region | Site | Venue |
| First Round | East | New York, New York | Madison Square Garden |
| First Round | Far West | Seattle, Washington | Hec Edmundson Pavilion |
| First Round | Midwest | Fort Wayne, Indiana | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum |
| First Round | West | Wichita, Kansas | U. of Wichita Field House |
| Regionals | East | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | The Palestra |
| Regionals | Far West | Corvallis, Oregon | Oregon State Coliseum |
| Regionals | Midwest | Iowa City, Iowa | Iowa Field House |
| Regionals | West | Lawrence, Kansas | Allen Fieldhouse |
| Final Four | Final Four | Evanston, Illinois | McGaw Memorial Hall |

## Teams

| Region | Team | Coach | Conference | Finished | Final Opponent | Score |
| East |||||||
| East | Canisius | Joseph Curran | WNY3 | Regional Runner-up | Temple | L 60–58 |
| East | Connecticut | Hugh Greer | Yankee | Regional Fourth Place | Dartmouth | L 85–64 |
| East | Dartmouth | Doggie Julian | Ivy League | Regional third place | Connecticut | W 85–64 |
| East | Holy Cross | Roy Leenig | Independent | First round | Temple | L 74–72 |
| East | Manhattan | Ken Norton | Metro NY | First round | Connecticut | L 84–75 |
| East | NC State | Everett Case | Atlantic Coast | First round | Canisius | L 79–78 |
| East | Temple | Harry Litwack | Independent | Third Place | SMU | W 90–81 |
| East | West Virginia | Fred Schaus | Southern | First round | Dartmouth | L 61–59 |
| Far West |||||||
| Far West | Idaho State | Steve Belko | Independent | First round | Seattle | L 68–66 |
| Far West | San Francisco | Phil Woolpert | CBA | Champion | Iowa | W 83–71 |
| Far West | Seattle | Al Brightman | Independent | Regional Fourth Place | UCLA | L 94–70 |
| Far West | UCLA | John Wooden | Pacific Coast | Regional third place | Seattle | W 94–70 |
| Far West | Utah | Jack Gardner | Mountain States | Regional Runner-up | San Francisco | L 92–77 |
| Midwest |||||||
| Midwest | DePaul | Ray Meyer | Independent | First round | Wayne State (MI) | L 72–63 |
| Midwest | Iowa | Bucky O'Connor | Big Ten | Runner Up | San Francisco | L 83–71 |
| Midwest | Kentucky | Adolph Rupp | Southeastern | Regional Runner-up | Iowa | L 89–77 |
| Midwest | Marshall | Jule Rivlin | Mid-American | First round | Morehead State | L 107–92 |
| Midwest | Morehead State | Bobby Laughlin | Ohio Valley | Regional third place | Wayne State (MI) | W 95–84 |
| Midwest | Wayne State (MI) | Joel Mason | Independent | Regional Fourth Place | Morehead State | L 95–84 |
| West |||||||
| West | Houston | Alden Pasche | Missouri Valley | Regional Fourth Place | Kansas State | L 89–70 |
| West | Kansas State | Tex Winter | Big 7 | Regional third place | Houston | W 89–70 |
| West | Memphis State | Eugene Lambert | Independent | First round | Oklahoma City | L 97–81 |
| West | Oklahoma City | Abe Lemons | Independent | Regional Runner-up | SMU | L 84–63 |
| West | SMU | Doc Hayes | Southwest | Fourth Place | Temple | L 90–81 |
| West | Texas Tech | Polk Robison | Border | First round | SMU | L 68–67 |

## Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

### East Region

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| Connecticut | 84 | | | | |
| Manhattan | 75 | | | | |
| Manhattan | 75 | Connecticut | 59 | | |
| | | Temple | 65 | | |
| Temple | 74 | Temple | 65 | | |
| Holy Cross | 72 | | | | |
| Holy Cross | 72 | | | Temple | 60 |
| | | | | Canisius | 58 |
| Dartmouth | 61 | | | | | Canisius | 58 |
| West Virginia | 59* | | |
| West Virginia | 59* | Dartmouth | 58 | Third place | Third place |
| | | Canisius | 66 |
| Canisius | 79 | Canisius | 66 | Dartmouth | 85 |
| NC State | 78**** | | | Connecticut | 64 |

### Midwest Region

| First round | First round | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| | | Iowa | 97 | | |
| Morehead State | 107 | Morehead State | 83 | | |
| Marshall | 92 | | | Iowa | 89 |
| | | | | Kentucky | 77 |
| | | Kentucky | 84 | | |
| Wayne State (MI) | 72 | Wayne State | 64 | Third place | Third place |
| DePaul | 63 | | | | |
| | | | | Morehead State | 95 |
| | | | | Wayne State | 84 |

### West Region

| First round | First round | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| | | Houston | 74 | | |
| SMU | 68 | SMU | 89 | | |
| Texas Tech | 67 | | | SMU | 84 |
| | | | | Oklahoma City | 63 |
| | | Kansas State | 93 | | |
| Oklahoma City | 97 | Oklahoma City | 97 | Third place | Third place |
| Memphis State | 81 | | | | |
| | | | | Kansas State | 89 |
| | | | | Houston | 70 |

### Far West Region

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| | | Utah | 81 | | |
| | | Seattle | 72 | | |
| Seattle | 68 | Seattle | 72 | | |
| Idaho State | 66 | | | | |
| Idaho State | 66 | | | Utah | 77 |
| | | | | San Francisco | 92 |
| | | San Francisco | 72 | Third place | Third place |
| | | UCLA | 61 |
| | | UCLA | 61 | UCLA | 94 |
| | | | | Seattle | 70 |

### Final Four

| National Semifinals | National Semifinals | National Semifinals | National Championship Game | National Championship Game | National Championship Game |
| E | Temple | 76 | | | |
| MW | Iowa | 83 | | | |
| MW | Iowa | 83 | MW | Iowa | 71 |
| | | | FW | San Francisco | 83 |
| W | SMU | 68 | FW | San Francisco | 83 |
| FW | San Francisco | 86 | National third-place game | National third-place game | National third-place game |
| | | | Temple | Temple | 90 |
| | | | SMU | SMU | 81 |