1979 NCAA Tournament (March Madness)

    

Play In Round    Round of 64    Round of 32    Sweet 16   Elite 8   Final 4

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Winning Team highlighted in Green Box

 

 It began on March 9 and ended with the championship game on March 26 in Salt Lake City. A total of 40 games were played, including a national third-place game. 

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1979 tournament:

First Year of Regional Seeding

 

 

 

First Round

945

East REGIONAL

March 9
Favorite Site Seed Team Seed Team Score  
    7  Temple 

  		 10  St. John's  75-70

  		  
      8  Iona 9 Penn 73-69  

   Mideast REGIONAL

March 9
Favorite Site Seed Team Seed Team  Score
  Murphy Center, Murfreesboro, Tennessee 7 Detroit

10  Lamar 95-87
  Murphy Center, Murfreesboro, Tennessee 8 Tennessee  9 Eastern Kentucky 97-81

Midwest  REGIONAL

March 9

Favorite Site Seed Team Seed Team  Score  
  Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, Kansas 7  
Weber State
   		 10 New Mexico State 81-78 (OT)  
  Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, Kansas 8 Virginia Tech 9 Jacksonville 70-53  

West  REGIONAL

March 9

Favorite Site Seed Team Seed Team  Score  
  Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles 7 Southern Cal
10 Utah State 86-67
  Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles 8 Utah 88 (OT) 9 Pepperdine 92-88 (OT)

Round of 32

East  REGIONAL

Favorite Site Seed Team Seed Team  Score Star Efforts
March  11 Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, North C 1



#9 72, #1 No. Carolina 71
  

 9 Penn 72-71  
March  11 Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, North C 2 #10 80, #2 Duke 78 10  St. John's 80-78  
March  10 Providence Civic Center 3 #6 64, #3 Georgetown 58 6 Rutgers 64-58  
March  10 Providence Civic Center 4 #4 Syracuse 89, #5 81
5 Connecticut 89-81  

  Mideast REGIONAL
Favorite Site Seed Team Seed Team  Score Star Efforts
March  11 Murphy Center, Murfreesboro, Tennessee

 1

Notre Dame 

8 Tennessee 73-67
March  11 Murphy Center, Murfreesboro, Tennessee

 2  Michigan State 10 Lamar 95-64
March  10 Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana 3 Louisiana State 6 Appalachian State 71-57  
March  10 Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana 4 Iowa  5 Toledo 74-72  

 Midwest   REGIONAL
Favorite Site Seed Team Seed Team  Score Star Efforts
March  11 Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, Kansas 1 Indiana State  8 Virginia Tech 86-69  
March  11 Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, Kansas 2

 Arkansas

 7 Weber State 74-63  
March  10 Moody Coliseum, Dallas, Texas 3 Louisville 6 South Alabama 69-66  
March  10 Moody Coliseum, Dallas, Texas 4 Texas 5 Oklahoma 90-76  

West REGIONAL
Favorite Site Seed Team Seed Team

 Score

Star Efforts
March  10 Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles

 1 UCLA
9 Pepperdine 7671
March  10 Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles  2  DePaul  7 Southern Cal 89-78
March  10 McKale Center, Tucson, Arizona 3  Marquette  6 Pacific 73-48  
March  10 McKale Center, Tucson, Arizona 4 San Francisco 5 Brigham Young 86-63  

Sweet 16

 East REGIONAL at Greensboro Memorial Coliseum March 16

Favorite Seed Team Seed Team  Score Star Efforts
4 Syracuse 9 Penn 84-76  
6  Rutgers 10 St. John's 67-65  

     Mideast REGIONAL at  Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, IndianaMarch 16

Favorite Seed Team Seed Team  Score Star Efforts
1 Notre Dame 5  Toledo 79-71  
2 Michigan State 3  Louisiana State 87-71  

 Midwest REGIONAL at  Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, OhioMarch 15

Favorite Seed Team Seed Team  Score Star Efforts
  1 Indiana State 5  Oklahoma 93-72  
  2 Arkansas 3 Louisville 73-62  

 West  REGIONAL at   Marriott Center, Provo, UtahMarch 15

Favorite Seed Team Seed Team  Score Star Efforts
  1
UCLA		 4  San Francisco 62-56  
  2 DePaul 3 Marquette 99-81  

Elite 8

 East  REGIONAL at March   18
Favorite Seed Team Seed Team  Score Star Efforts
  9 Penn 10  St. John's

64-62

  

   Mideast REGIONAL atMarch 18
Favorite Seed Team Seed Team

Score

 Star Efforts
1

 Notre Dame

2 Michigan State

80-68

  

Midwest REGIONAL at March  17
Favorite Seed Team Seed Team Score Star Efforts
  1 Indiana State 2  Arkansas

73-71

 West REGIONAL at March  17
Favorite Seed Team Seed Team Score Star Efforts
  1  UCLA  2 DePaul

95-91

  

 

Final 4

at Salt Lake City, UTMarch 24 and 26

NATIONAL SEMI-FINALS
Favorite Seed Team Seed Team  Score Star Efforts
2 

Michigan State 

9 Penn

101-67

  
  1 Indiana State 2  DePaul

76-74

  

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

at Salt Lake City, UT

National Third Place
DePaul 96, Penn 93 (OT)

Favorite Seed Team Seed Team  Score Star Efforts
1 Indiana State 2 Michigan State 75-64  

 

 

  




Michigan State leaders: Greg Kelser, Sr., F; Earvin Johnson, So., G; Jay Vincent, So., C; Ron Charles, Jr., F; Mike Brkovich, So., F
Top 10 Teams
Rank Team W-L Post-Season Result
1. Indiana State 33-1 NCAA 2nd Place
2. UCLA 25-5 Lost NCAA regionals
3 Michigan State 26-6 NCAA 1st Place
4. Notre Dame 25-6 Lost NCAA regionals
5. Arkansas 25-5 Lost NCAA regionals
6. DePaul 26-6 NCAA 3rd Place
7. LSU 23-6 Lost NCAA regionals
8. Syracuse 26-4 Lost NCAA regionals
9. North Carolina 23-6 Lost NCAA regionals
10. Marquette 22-7 Lost NCAA regionals
All-America Team
Pos Name Cl. School
F David Greenwood Sr. UCLA
F-C Larry Bird Sr. Indiana State
C Mike Gminski Jr. Duke
G-F Sidney Moncrief Sr. Arkansas
G Earvin “Magic” Johnson So. Michigan State


All NCAA Tournament Team
Name Cl. Pos Team
Mark Aguirre Fr. F DePaul
Greg Kelser Sr. F Michigan State
Larry Bird Sr. F-C Indiana State
Gary Garland Sr. G DePaul
Earvin “Magic” Johnson So. G Michigan State
Team Offense

UNLV, 93.1
Notes
  • The NCAA final, featuring Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, generated the largest basketball game rating (24.1) and share (38) in television history. Johnson outscored Bird, 24-19.
  • Indiana def. state rival and 15th-ranked Purdue (27-8).
Team Defense

Princeton, 55.8
Individual Scoring
1. Lawrence Butler Idaho State 30.1
2. Larry Bird Indiana State 28.6
3. Nick Galis Seton Hall 27.5
4. James Tillman Eastern Kentucky 26.9
5. Paul Dawkins Northern Illinois 26.7
6. John Gerdy Davidson 26.7
Individual Rebounding
1. Monti Davis Tennessee State 16.2
2. Bill Cartwright San Francisco 15.7
3. Lionel Garrett Southern 15.5