The 1955 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, 1955, and ended with the championship game on March 19 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.

1955 NCAA basketball tournament
Season1954–55
Teams24
Finals siteMunicipal Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri
ChampionsSan Francisco Dons (1st title, 1st title game,
1st Final Four)
Runner-upLa Salle Explorers (2nd title game,
2nd Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coachPhil Woolpert (1st title)
MOPBill Russell (San Francisco)
Attendance116,983
Top scorerBill Russell (San Francisco)
(118 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments
«1954 1956»

San Francisco, coached by Phil Woolpert, won the national title with a 77–63 victory in the final game over La Salle, coached by Ken Loeffler. Bill Russell of San Francisco was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Locations

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The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1955 tournament:

East-1 Region

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First round (March 8)
Madison Square Garden, New York, New York (Hosts: Fordham University, Columbia University)
East-1 Regional (March 11 and 12)
The Palestra, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Host: University of Pennsylvania)

East-2 Region

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First round (March 9)
Memorial Coliseum, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky)
East-2 Regional (March 11 and 12)
McGaw Memorial Hall, Evanston, Illinois (Host: Northwestern University)

West-1 Region

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First round (March 8)
Thunderbird Coliseum, El Reno, Oklahoma (Host: Oklahoma City University)
West Regional (March 11 and 12)
Ahearn Field House, Manhattan, Kansas (Host: Kansas State University)

West-2 Region

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First round (March 8)
Cow Palace, San Francisco, California (Hosts: University of San Francisco, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley)
West-2 Regional (March 11 and 12)
Oregon State Coliseum, Corvallis, Oregon (Host: Oregon State University)

Final Four

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March 18 and 19
Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)

Teams

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Region Team Coach Conference Finished Final Opponent Score
East
East Canisius Joseph Curran WNY3 Regional Runner-up La Salle L 99–64
East Duke Harold Bradley Atlantic Coast First round Villanova L 74–73
East Iowa Bucky O'Connor Big Ten Fourth Place Colorado L 75–54
East Kentucky Adolph Rupp Southeastern Regional third place Penn State W 84–59
East La Salle Ken Loeffler Independent Runner Up San Francisco L 77–63
East Marquette Jack Nagle Independent Regional Runner-up Iowa L 86–81
East Memphis State Eugene Lambert Independent First round Penn State L 59–55
East Miami (OH) Bill Rohr Mid-American First round Marquette L 90–79
East Penn State John Egli Independent Regional Fourth Place Kentucky L 84–59
East Princeton Franklin Cappon Ivy League Regional Fourth Place Villanova L 64–57
East Villanova Alex Severance Independent Regional third place Princeton W 64–57
East West Virginia Fred Schaus Southern First round La Salle L 95–61
East Williams Alex Shaw Independent First round Canisius L 73–60
West
West Bradley Bob Vanatta Independent Regional Runner-up Colorado L 93–81
West Colorado Bebe Lee Big 7 Third Place Iowa W 75–54
West Idaho State Steve Belko Independent First round Seattle L 80–63
West Oklahoma City Doyle Parrack Independent First round Bradley L 69–65
West Oregon State Slats Gill Pacific Coast Regional Runner-up San Francisco L 57–56
West San Francisco Phil Woolpert CBA Champion La Salle W 77–63
West Seattle Al Brightman Independent Regional Fourth Place Utah L 108–85
West SMU Doc Hayes Southwest Regional Fourth Place Tulsa L 68–67
West Tulsa Clarence Iba Missouri Valley Regional third place SMU W 68–67
West Utah Jack Gardner Mountain States Regional third place Seattle W 108–85
West West Texas State Gus Miller Border First round San Francisco L 89–66

Bracket

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East-1 Region

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First round Regional semifinals Regional Finals
      
Princeton 46
La Salle 73
La Salle 95
West Virginia 61
La Salle 99
Canisius 64
Canisius 73
Williams 60
Canisius 73 Third place
Villanova 71
Villanova 74 Villanova 64
Duke 73 Princeton 57

East-2 Region

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First roundRegional semifinalsRegional Finals
Kentucky71
Marquette90Marquette79
Miami (OH)79Marquette81
Iowa86
Iowa82
Penn State59Penn State53Third place
Memphis State55
Kentucky84
Penn St.59

West-1 Region

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First round Regional semifinals Regional Finals
      
SMU 79
Bradley 81
Bradley 69
Oklahoma City 65
Bradley 81
Colorado 93
Colorado 69 Third place
Tulsa 59
Tulsa 68
SMU 67

West-2 Region

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First roundRegional semifinalsRegional Finals
Oregon State83
Seattle80Seattle71
Idaho State63Oregon State56
San Francisco57
Utah59
San Francisco89San Francisco78Third place
West Texas State66
Utah108
Seattle85

Final Four

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National semifinal National Championship
    
Iowa 73
La Salle 76
La Salle 63
San Francisco 77
Colorado 50
San Francisco 62 National third-place game
Iowa 54
Colorado 75

Notes

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  • The 1955 tournament saw a record eleven teams - Canisius, Duke, Iowa, Marquette, Memphis State, San Francisco, Southern Methodist, Tulsa, West Texas State, West Virginia and Williams College - make the tournament for the first time. This beat the record of ten teams set in 1953 (the first year which the tournament expanded to include a regional quarterfinal round), and would be beat in 1981 when 12 teams made the tournament.
  • Two teams in the field, West Texas State College (now known as West Texas A&M University) and Williams College of Williamstown, Massachusetts, are no longer in Division I. Neither team would make the tournament again; West Texas is now in Division II and Williams is in Division III. The NCAA would split into University and College Divisions in 1956, thus ending the chances for smaller teams such as these to make the tournament.

See also

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References

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