# 1954 NCAA basketball tournament

The 1954 NCAA basketball tournament involved 24 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8 and ended with the championship game on March 20 in Kansas City, Missouri. A total of 28 games were played, including a third-place game in each region and a national third-place game.
La Salle, coached by Ken Loeffler, won the national title with a 92–76 victory in the final game over Bradley, coached by Forddy Anderson. Tom Gola of La Salle was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Of note, Kentucky, the top-ranked team in the nation (with a record of 25–0) did not participate in any post-season tournament. Since several key players had technically graduated the year before (when Kentucky was banned from playing a competitive schedule due to the point-shaving scandal a few years earlier), those players were ruled ineligible for the NCAA tournament. Despite the wishes of the players, Adolph Rupp ultimately decided his team would not play.
LSU represented the Southeastern Conference in the tournament, its last appearance until 1979, well after the graduation of NCAA all-time leading scorer Pete Maravich. LSU made only one postseason appearance over the next 24 seasons, the 1970 National Invitation Tournament, during Maravich's senior season.

## Locations

The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1954 tournament:

### East-1 Region
#### First round (March 8)

    Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York (Hosts: Canisius College, Niagara University)
    Duke Indoor Stadium, Durham, North Carolina (Host: Duke University)

#### East-1 Regional (March 12 and 13)

    The Palestra, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Hosts: University of Pennsylvania, Ivy League)

### East-2 Region
#### First round (March 9)

    Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana (Host: Big Ten Conference)

#### East-2 Regional (March 12 and 13)

    Iowa Field House, Iowa City, Iowa (Host: University of Iowa)

### West-1 Region
#### First round (March 8)

    Robertson Memorial Field House, Peoria, Illinois (Host: Bradley University)

#### West-1 Regional (March 12 and 13)

    Gallagher Hall, Stillwater, Oklahoma (Host: Oklahoma A&M University)

### West-2 Region
#### First round (March 9) and West-2 Regional (March 12 and 13)

    Oregon State Coliseum, Corvallis, Oregon (Host: Oregon State University)

### Final Four
#### March 19 and 20

    Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)

## Teams

| Region | Team | Coach | Conference | Finished | Final Opponent | Score |
| East |||||||
| East | Connecticut | Hugh Greer | Yankee | First round | Navy | L 85–80 |
| East | Cornell | Royner Greene | Ivy League | Regional Fourth Place | NC State | L 65–54 |
| East | Fordham | Johnny Bach | Metro NY | First round | La Salle | L 76–74 |
| East | George Washington | William Reinhart | Southern | First round | NC State | L 75–73 |
| East | Indiana | Branch McCracken | Big Ten | Regional third place | LSU | W 73–62 |
| East | La Salle | Ken Loeffler | Independent | Champion | Bradley | W 92–76 |
| East | LSU | Harry Rabenhorst | Southeastern | Regional Fourth Place | Indiana | L 73–62 |
| East | Loyola (LA) | Jim McCafferty | Independent | First round | Notre Dame | L 80–70 |
| East | Navy | Ben Carnevale | Independent | Elite Eight | La Salle | L 64–48 |
| East | NC State | Everett Case | Atlantic Coast | Regional third place | Cornell | W 65–54 |
| East | Notre Dame | John Jordan | Independent | Elite Eight | Penn State | L 71–63 |
| East | Penn State | Elmer Gross | Independent | National Third Place | USC | W 70–61 |
| East | Toledo | Jerry Bush | Mid-American | First round | Penn State | L 62–50 |
| West |||||||
| West | Bradley | Forddy Anderson | Independent | Runner Up | La Salle | L 92–76 |
| West | Colorado | Bebe Lee | Big 7 | Regional Fourth Place | Rice | L 78–55 |
| West | Colorado A&M | Bill Strannigan | Mountain States | Regional Fourth Place | Idaho State | L 62–57 |
| West | Idaho State | Steve Belko | Independent | Regional third place | Colorado A&M | W 62–57 |
| West | Oklahoma City | Doyle Parrack | Independent | First round | Bradley | L 61–55 |
| West | Oklahoma A&M | Henry Iba | Missouri Valley | Elite Eight | Bradley | L 71–57 |
| West | Rice | Don Suman | Southwest | Regional third place | Colorado | W 78–55 |
| West | Santa Clara | Bob Feerick | CBA | Elite Eight | USC | L 66–65 |
| West | Seattle | Al Brightman | Independent | First round | Idaho State | L 77–75 |
| West | USC | Forrest Twogood | Pacific Coast | National Fourth Place | Penn State | L 70–61 |
| West | Texas Tech | Polk Robison | Border | First round | Santa Clara | L 73–64 |

## Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

### East-1 Region

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| | | Cornell | 67 | | |
| | | Navy | 69 | | |
| Navy | 85 | Navy | 69 | | |
| Connecticut | 80 | | | | |
| Connecticut | 80 | | | Navy | 48 |
| | | | | La Salle | 64 |
| NC State | 75 | | | | | La Salle | 64 |
| George Washington | 73 | | |
| George Washington | 73 | NC State | 81 | Third place | Third place |
| | | La Salle | 88 |
| La Salle | 76 | La Salle | 88 | NC State | 65 |
| Fordham | 74* | | | Cornell | 54 |

### East-2 Region

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| | | LSU | 70 | | |
| Penn State | 62 | Penn State | 78 | | |
| Toledo | 50 | | | Penn State | 71 |
| | | | | Notre Dame | 63 |
| | | Indiana | 64 | | |
| Notre Dame | 80 | Notre Dame | 65 | Third place | Third place |
| Loyola (LA) | 70 | | | | |
| | | | | Indiana | 73 |
| | | | | LSU | 62 |

### West-1 Region

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| | | Colorado | 64 | | |
| | | Bradley | 76 | | |
| Bradley | 61 | Bradley | 76 | | |
| Oklahoma City | 55 | | | | |
| Oklahoma City | 55 | | | Bradley | 71 |
| | | | | Oklahoma A&M | 57 |
| | | Oklahoma A&M | 51 | Third place | Third place |
| | | Rice | 45 |
| | | Rice | 45 | Rice | 78 |
| | | | | Colorado | 55 |

### West-2 Region

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| | | USC | 73 | | |
| Idaho State | 77 | Idaho State | 59 | | |
| Seattle | 75* | | | USC | 66 |
| | | | | Santa Clara | 65** |
| | | Colorado A&M | 50 | | |
| Santa Clara | 73 | Santa Clara | 73 | Third place | Third place |
| Texas Tech | 64 | | | | |
| | | | | Idaho State | 62 |
| | | | | Colorado A&M | 57 |

### Final Four

| National semifinal | National semifinal | National Championship | National Championship |
| Penn State | 54 | | |
| La Salle | 69 | | |
| La Salle | 69 | La Salle | 92 |
| | | Bradley | 76 |
| Bradley | 74 | Bradley | 76 |
| USC | 72 | National third-place game | National third-place game |
| | | USC | 61 |
| | | Penn State | 70 |