1950 NCAA basketball tournament

1950 NCAA basketball tournament

Season	1949–50
Teams	8
Finals site	Madison Square Garden New York City
Champions	CCNY Beavers (1st title, 1st title game, 2nd Final Four)
Runner-up	Bradley Braves (1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Semifinalists	Baylor Bears (2nd Final Four) NC State Wolfpack (1st Final Four)
Winning coach	Nat Holman (1st title)
MOP	Irwin Dambrot (CCNY)
Attendance	75,464
Top scorer	Sam Ranzino (NC State) (75 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments «1949 1951»

The 1950 NCAA basketball tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA college basketball. It began on March 23, 1950, and ended with the championship game on March 28 in New York City. A total of 10 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.

CCNY, coached by Nat Holman, won the national title with a 71–68 victory in the final game over Bradley, coached by Forddy Anderson. Irwin Dambrot of CCNY was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. CCNY became the only team to ever win both the NIT and NCAA tournaments in the same year. Because of participation changes, this currently cannot happen. CCNY is also the only championship team which is not currently a member of Division I. They dropped down to the NCAA College Division in the 1963–64 season. The CCNY point shaving scandal of 1950–51 had hit the program hard, and they had 12 sub-par seasons from 1951–52 through 1962–63 before dropping down to the College Division.

The 1950 tournament was the last tournament to feature eight teams. The field would expand to sixteen teams the next year.

Locations

The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1950 tournament:

Regionals

March 23, 24, and 25

East Regional, Madison Square Garden, New York, New York (Host: Metropolitan New York Conference)

March 23 and 25

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

Championship Game

March 28

Madison Square Garden, New York, New York (Host: Metropolitan New York Conference)

Teams

Region	Team	Coach	Conference	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	Ohio State	Tippy Dye	Big Ten	Regional third place	Holy Cross	W 72–52
East	Holy Cross	Buster Sheary	Independent	Regional Fourth Place	Ohio State	L 72–52
East	North Carolina State	Everett Case	Southern	Third Place	Baylor	W 53–41
East	CCNY	Nat Holman	Metro NY	Champion	Bradley	W 71–68
West
West	Baylor	Bill Henderson	Southwest	Fourth Place	North Carolina State	L 53–41
West	Bradley	Forddy Anderson	Missouri Valley	Runner Up	CCNY	L 71–68
West	BYU	Stan Watts	Mountain States	Regional third place	UCLA	W 83–62
West	UCLA	John Wooden	Pacific Coast	Regional Fourth Place	BYU	L 83–62

Bracket

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
		CCNY	56
		Ohio State	55
							CCNY	78
							NC State	73
		NC State	87
		Holy Cross	74
												CCNY	71
												Bradley	68
		Baylor	56
		BYU	55
							Baylor	66			Third place
							Bradley	68
		Bradley	73								NC State		53
		UCLA	59								Baylor		41

Regional third place games

	East Regional third place
	Ohio State		72
	Holy Cross		52

	West Regional third place
	BYU		83
	UCLA		62

Point shaving scandal

Further information: CCNY point shaving scandal

Further reading

• Cohen, Stanley (2001). The Game They Played. New York: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0-7867-0821-2.

See also

• 1950 National Invitation Tournament
• 1950 NAIA Basketball Tournament