# 1969 NCAA University Division basketball tournament

The 1969 NCAA University Division men's basketball tournament involved 25 schools playing to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8, 1969, and ended with the championship game on March 22 in Louisville, Kentucky. Including consolation games in each of the regions and an overall consolation game, a total of 29 games were played.
UCLA, coached by John Wooden, won the national title with a 92–72 victory in the final game over Purdue, coached by George King. Lew Alcindor of UCLA was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
In the game, John Vallely, the "Money Man", scored 22 points and Alcindor had 37 points, to give UCLA a win over Purdue, which is Wooden's alma mater. Purdue was hampered due to injuries to starting point guard Billy Keller and forward Herm Gilliam; Purdue had also lost 7'0" center Chuck Bavis to a broken collarbone during the Mideast Regionals against Miami, (OH). In earlier matchups, Bavis had provided an ample challenge to Alcindor. Wooden was an All-American guard for the Boilermakers from 1928 to 1932.

## Schedule and venues

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1969 tournament, and their host(s):
First round
* March 8
** East Region
*** Keaney Gymnasium, Kingston, Rhode Island (Host: University of Rhode Island)
*** Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University)
** Mideast Region
*** SIU Arena, Carbondale, Illinois (Host: Southern Illinois University Carbondale)
** Midwest Region
*** Daniel-Meyer Coliseum, Fort Worth, Texas (Host: Texas Christian University)
** West Region
*** Pan American Center, Las Cruces, New Mexico (Host: New Mexico State University)
Regional semifinals, 3rd-place games, and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)
* March 13 and 15
** East Regional, Cole Field House, College Park, Maryland (Host: University of Maryland, College Park)
** Mideast Regional, Wisconsin Field House, Madison, Wisconsin (Host: University of Wisconsin-Madison)
** Midwest Regional, Ahearn Field House, Manhattan, Kansas (Host: Kansas State University)
** West Regional, Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, California (Host: UCLA)
National semifinals, 3rd-place game, and championship (Final Four and championship)
* March 20 and 22
** Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky (Host: University of Louisville)

## Teams

| Region | Team | Coach | Conference | Finished | Final Opponent | Score |
| East |||||||
| East | Davidson | Lefty Driesell | Southern | Regional Runner-up | North Carolina | L 87–85 |
| East | Duquesne | John Manning | Independent | Regional third place | St. John's | W 75–72 |
| East | North Carolina | Dean Smith | Atlantic Coast | Fourth Place | Drake | L 104–84 |
| East | Princeton | Pete Carril | Ivy League | First round | St. John's | L 72–63 |
| East | St. John's | Lou Carnesecca | Independent | Regional Fourth Place | Duquesne | L 75–72 |
| East | Saint Joseph's | Jack McKinney | Middle Atlantic | First round | Duquesne | L 74–52 |
| East | Villanova | Jack Kraft | Independent | First round | Davidson | L 75–61 |
| Mideast |||||||
| Mideast | Kentucky | Adolph Rupp | Southeastern | Regional third place | Miami (OH) | W 72–71 |
| Mideast | Marquette | Al McGuire | Independent | Regional Runner-up | Purdue | L 75–73 |
| Mideast | Miami (OH) | Tates Locke | Mid-American | Regional Fourth Place | Kentucky | L 72–71 |
| Mideast | Murray State | Cal Luther | Ohio Valley | First round | Marquette | L 82–62 |
| Mideast | Notre Dame | John Dee | Independent | First round | Miami (OH) | L 63–60 |
| Mideast | Purdue | George King | Big Ten | Runner Up | UCLA | L 92–72 |
| Midwest |||||||
| Midwest | Colorado | Sox Walseth | Big Eight | Regional third place | Texas A&M | W 97–82 |
| Midwest | Colorado State | Jim Williams | Independent | Regional Runner-up | Drake | L 84–77 |
| Midwest | Dayton | Don Donoher | Independent | First round | Colorado State | L 52–50 |
| Midwest | Drake | Maury John | Missouri Valley | Third Place | North Carolina | W 104–84 |
| Midwest | Texas A&M | Shelby Metcalf | Southwest | Regional Fourth Place | Colorado | L 97–82 |
| Midwest | Trinity (TX) | Bob Polk | Southland | First round | Texas A&M | L 81–66 |
| West |||||||
| West | BYU | Stan Watts | Western Athletic | First round | New Mexico State | L 74–62 |
| West | New Mexico State | Lou Henson | Independent | Regional Fourth Place | Weber State | L 58–56 |
| West | Santa Clara | Dick Garibaldi | West Coast | Regional Runner-up | UCLA | L 90–52 |
| West | Seattle | Morris Buckwalter | Independent | First round | Weber State | L 75–73 |
| West | UCLA | John Wooden | Pac-8 | Champion | Purdue | W 92–72 |
| West | Weber State | Phil Johnson | Big Sky | Regional third place | New Mexico State | W 58–56 |

## Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

### East region

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| | | North Carolina | 79 | | |
| | | Duquesne | 78 | | |
| Duquesne | 74 | Duquesne | 78 | | |
| Saint Joseph's | 52 | | | | |
| Saint Joseph's | 52 | | | North Carolina | 87 |
| | | | | Davidson | 85 |
| Davidson | 75 | | | | | Davidson | 85 |
| Villanova | 61 | | | | |
| Villanova | 61 | Davidson | 79 | | |
| | | St. John's | 69 | | |
| St. John's | 72 | St. John's | 69 | | |
| Princeton | 63 | | | | |

### Mideast region

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| | | Purdue | 91 | | |
| | | Miami (OH) | 71 | | |
| Miami (OH) | 63 | Miami (OH) | 71 | | |
| Notre Dame | 60 | | | | |
| Notre Dame | 60 | | | Purdue | 75 |
| | | | | Marquette | 73 |
| | | Kentucky | 74 | | |
| | | Marquette | 81 | | |
| Marquette | 82 | Marquette | 81 | | |
| Murray State | 62 | | | | |

### Midwest region

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| | | Drake | 81 | | |
| | | Texas A&M | 63 | | |
| Texas A&M | 81 | Texas A&M | 63 | | |
| Trinity (TX) | 66 | | | | |
| Trinity (TX) | 66 | | | Drake | 84 |
| | | | | Colorado State | 77 |
| | | Colorado | 56 | | |
| | | Colorado State | 64 | | |
| Colorado State | 52 | Colorado State | 64 | | |
| Dayton | 50 | | | | |

### West region

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| | | UCLA | 53 | | |
| | | New Mexico State | 38 | | |
| New Mexico State | 74 | New Mexico State | 38 | | |
| BYU | 62 | | | | |
| BYU | 62 | | | UCLA | 90 |
| | | | | Santa Clara | 52 |
| | | Santa Clara | 63 | | |
| | | Weber State | 59* | | |
| Weber State | 75 | Weber State | 59* | | |
| Seattle | 73 | | | | |

### Final Four

| National semifinals | National semifinals | National semifinals | National Final | National Final | National Final |
| E | North Carolina | 65 | | | |
| ME | Purdue | 92 | | | |
| ME | Purdue | 92 | ME | Purdue | 72 |
| | | | W | UCLA | 92 |
| MW | Drake | 82 | W | UCLA | 92 |
| W | UCLA | 85 | | | |

### National third-place game

| National third-place game | National third-place game | National third-place game |
| E | North Carolina | 84 |
| MW | Drake | 104 |

### Regional third-place games

| East Regional third place | East Regional third place | East Regional third place |
| Duquesne | Duquesne | 75 |
| St. John's | St. John's | 72 |
| Mideast Regional third place | Mideast Regional third place | Mideast Regional third place |
| Kentucky | Kentucky | 72 |
| Miami (OH) | Miami (OH) | 71 |
| Midwest Regional third place | Midwest Regional third place | Midwest Regional third place |
| Colorado | Colorado | 97 |
| Texas A&M | Texas A&M | 82 |
| West Regional third place | West Regional third place | West Regional third place |
| Weber State | Weber State | 58 |
| New Mexico State | New Mexico State | 56 |