# 1952 NCAA basketball tournament

The 1952 NCAA basketball tournament involved 16 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 14th annual edition of the tournament began on March 21, 1952, and ended with the championship game on March 26 in Seattle. A total of 20 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.
Kansas, coached by Phog Allen, won the national title with an 80–63 victory in the final game over St. John's, coached by Frank McGuire. Clyde Lovellette of Kansas was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
This tournament was the first to have a true "Final Four" format, with the winners at four regional sites advancing to the final site—although the four regionals did not receive distinct names until the 1956 tournament. It was also the first to have regional television coverage.

## Locations

The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1952 tournament:

### Regionals
#### March 21 and 22

    East-1 Regional, Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University)
    East-2 Regional, Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois (Hosts: Northwestern University, Loyola University Chicago, DePaul University)
    West-1 Regional, Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)
    West-2 Regional, Oregon State Coliseum, Corvallis, Oregon (Host: Oregon State University)

### Final Four
#### March 25 and 26

    Hec Edmundson Pavilion, Seattle, Washington (Host: University of Washington)

## Teams

| Region | Team | Coach | Conference | Finished | Final Opponent | Score |
| East |||||||
| East | Dayton | Tom Blackburn | Independent | Regional third place | Princeton | W 77–61 |
| East | Duquesne | Dudey Moore | Independent | Elite Eight | Illinois | L 74–68 |
| East | Illinois | Harry Combes | Big Ten | Third Place | Santa Clara | W 67–64 |
| East | Kentucky | Adolph Rupp | Southeastern | Elite Eight | St. John's | L 64–57 |
| East | NC State | Everett Case | Southern | Regional third place | Penn State | W 69–60 |
| East | Penn State | Elmer Gross | Independent | Regional Fourth Place | NC State | L 69–60 |
| East | Princeton | Franklin Cappon | Ivy League | Regional Fourth Place | Dayton | L 77–61 |
| East | St. John's | Frank McGuire | Metro NY | Runner-up | Kansas | L 80–63 |
| West |||||||
| West | Kansas | Phog Allen | Big 7 | Champion | St. John's | W 80–63 |
| West | New Mexico A&M | George McCarty | Border | Regional Fourth Place | TCU | L 61–44 |
| West | Oklahoma City | Doyle Parrack | Independent | Regional third place | UCLA | W 55–53 |
| West | Santa Clara | Bob Feerick | Independent | Fourth Place | Illinois | L 67–64 |
| West | Saint Louis | Eddie Hickey | Missouri Valley | Elite Eight | Kansas | L 74–55 |
| West | TCU | Buster Brannon | Southwest | Regional third place | New Mexico A&M | W 61–44 |
| West | UCLA | John Wooden | Pacific Coast | Regional Fourth Place | Oklahoma City | L 55–53 |
| West | Wyoming | Everett Shelton | Mountain States | Elite Eight | Santa Clara | L 56–53 |

## Bracket
### East-1 regional – Raleigh, North Carolina

| Regional Semifinals March 21 | Regional Semifinals March 21 | Regional Finals March 22 | Regional Finals March 22 |
| Kentucky | 82 | | |
| Penn State | 54 | | |
| Penn State | 54 | Kentucky | 57 |
| | | St John's | 64 |
| St. John's | 60 | St John's | 64 |
| NC State | 49 | Third place | Third place |
| | | NC State | 69 |
| | | Penn State | 60 |

### East-2 regional – Chicago, Illinois

| Regional Semifinals March 21 | Regional Semifinals March 21 | Regional Finals March 22 | Regional Finals March 22 |
| Illinois | 80 | | |
| Dayton | 61 | | |
| Dayton | 61 | Illinois | 74 |
| | | Duquesne | 68 |
| Duquesne | 60 | Duquesne | 68 |
| Princeton | 49 | Third place | Third place |
| | | Dayton | 77 |
| | | Princeton | 61 |

### West-1 regional – Kansas City, Missouri

| Regional Semifinals March 21 | Regional Semifinals March 21 | Regional Finals March 22 | Regional Finals March 22 |
| Kansas | 68 | | |
| TCU | 64 | | |
| TCU | 64 | Kansas | 74 |
| | | Saint Louis | 55 |
| Saint Louis | 62 | Saint Louis | 55 |
| New Mexico A&M | 53 | Third place | Third place |
| | | TCU | 61 |
| | | New Mexico A&M | 44 |

### West-2 regional – Corvallis, Oregon

| Regional Semifinals March 21 | Regional Semifinals March 21 | Regional Finals March 22 | Regional Finals March 22 |
| Santa Clara | 68 | | |
| UCLA | 59 | | |
| UCLA | 59 | Santa Clara | 56 |
| | | Wyoming | 53 |
| Wyoming | 54 | Wyoming | 53 |
| Oklahoma City | 48 | Third place | Third place |
| | | Oklahoma City | 55 |
| | | UCLA | 53 |

### Final Four – Seattle, Washington

| National Semifinals March 25 | National Semifinals March 25 | National Semifinals March 25 | National Finals March 26 | National Finals March 26 | National Finals March 26 |
| St John's | St John's | 61 | | | |
| Illinois | Illinois | 59 | | | |
| Illinois | Illinois | 59 | St. John's | St. John's | 63 |
| | | | Kansas | Kansas | 80 |
| Kansas | Kansas | 74 | Kansas | Kansas | 80 |
| Santa Clara | Santa Clara | 55 | Third place | Third place | Third place |
| | | | Illinois | Illinois | 67 |
| | | | Santa Clara | Santa Clara | 64 |
    Source: