1980 NCAA Division I basketball tournament

The 1980 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's  NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 6, 1980, and ended with the championship game on March 24 at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. A total of 48 games were played, including a national third-place game.

Louisville, coached by Denny Crum, won the national title with a 59–54 victory in the final game over UCLA, coached by Larry Brown. Darrell Griffith of Louisville was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Structurally speaking, this was the first tournament of the modern era. For the first time:
 An unlimited number of at-large teams could come from any conference. (From 1975 to 1979, conferences were allowed only one at-large entry.)
 The bracket was seeded to make each region as evenly competitive as possible. (Previously, geographic considerations had trumped this.)
 All teams were seeded solely based on the subjective judgment of the committee. (In 1979, seeding was partially based on the prior performance of a conference winner's conference.)

In this, the second year the tournament field was seeded, no #1 seed reached the Final Four. Since then, it has happened three other times, in 2006, 2011, and 2023.

UCLA would forfeit its second place in the standings in 1981 after players representing the school were declared ineligible by the NCAA.

Schedule and venues

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1980 tournament:

First and Second Rounds
March 6 and 8
East Region
 Greensboro Memorial Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina (Host: Atlantic Coast Conference)
Mideast Region
 Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, Indiana (Host: Purdue University)
Midwest Region
 Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, Nebraska (Host: University of Nebraska-Lincoln)
West Region
 Dee Events Center, Ogden, Utah (Host: Weber State University)
March 7 and 9
East Region
 Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island (Host: Providence College)
Mideast Region
 E.A. Diddle Arena, Bowling Green, Kentucky (Host: Western Kentucky University)
Midwest Region
 UNT Coliseum, Denton, Texas (Host: North Texas State University)
West Region
 ASU Activity Center, Tempe, Arizona (Host: Arizona State University)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)
March 13 and 15
Mideast Regional, Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky)
West Regional, McKale Center, Tucson, Arizona (Host: University of Arizona)
March 14 and 16
East Regional, The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Hosts: The Philadelphia Big 5 - Villanova University, Temple University, La Salle University, Saint Joseph's University, University of Pennsylvania)
Midwest Regional, The Summit, Houston, Texas (Hosts: University of Houston, Rice University, Southwest Conference)

National semifinals, 3rd-place game, and championship (Final Four and championship)
March 22 and 24
Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana (Hosts: Butler University, Midwestern City Conference)

Teams

Bracket
* – Denotes overtime period.

East region

Midwest region

Mideast region

West region

Final Four

Announcers
 Dick Enberg, Billy Packer, and Al McGuire – Mideast Regional Final at Lexington, Kentucky; Midwest Regional Final at Houston, Texas; Final Four at Indianapolis, Indiana
 Don Criqui and Gary Thompson – East Regional Final at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; West Regional Final at Tucson, Arizona
 Bill O'Donnell and Bucky Waters – East Regional semifinals at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
 Fred White and Larry Conley – Mideast Regional semifinals at Lexington, Kentucky
 Jay Randolph and Jeff Mullins – Midwest Regional semifinals at Houston, Texas
 Dick Enberg and Al McGuire – second round at Lincoln, Nebraska (Louisville–Kansas State, Notre Dame–Missouri); Second Round at Tempe, Arizona (DePaul–UCLA, Ohio State–Arizona State)
 Don Criqui and Billy Packer – second round at West Lafayette, Indiana (St. John's–Purdue, Duke–Pennsylvania); Second Round at Bowling Green, Kentucky (Indiana–Virginia Tech, Kentucky–Florida State)
 Merle Harmon and Joe Dean – second round at Greensboro, North Carolina (North Carolina State–Iowa, Maryland–Tennessee)
 Bob Costas and Bucky Waters – second round at Providence, Rhode Island (Georgetown–Iona, Syracuse–Villanova)
 Charlie Jones and Lynn Shackelford – second round at Ogden, Utah (Brigham Young–Clemson, Oregon State–Lamar)
 Jay Randolph and Gary Thompson – first round at Lincoln, Nebraska (Kansas State–Arkansas, Missouri–San Jose State); Second Round at Denton, Texas (LSU–Alcorn State, North Carolina–Texas A&M)

See also
 1980 NCAA Division II basketball tournament
 1980 NCAA Division III basketball tournament
 1980 National Invitation Tournament
 1980 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
 1980 National Women's Invitation Tournament

References

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
 
NCAA
Basketball in Houston
NCAA
NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament