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1966 NCAA University Division
basketball tournament
Season	1965–66
Teams	22
Finals site	Cole Field House; College Park, Maryland
Champions	Texas Western Miners (1st title, 1st title game,; 1st Final Four)
Runner-up	Kentucky Wildcats (5th title game,; 6th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Duke Blue Devils (3rd Final Four); Utah Redskins (3rd Final Four);
Winning coach	Don Haskins (1st title)
MOP	Jerry Chambers (Utah)
Attendance	140,925
Top scorer	Jerry Chambers (Utah); (143 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments
«1965	1967»

The 1966 NCAA University Division basketball tournament involved 22 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national men's basketball champion of the NCAA University Division, now Division I. It began on March 7 and ended with the championship game on March 19 in College Park, Maryland. A total of 26 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.

Third-ranked Texas Western (now UTEP), coached by Don Haskins, won the national title with a 72–65 victory in the final over top-ranked Kentucky, led by head coach Adolph Rupp. Haskins started five black players for the first time in NCAA Championship history. Jerry Chambers of Utah was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

The 2006 film Glory Road is based on the story of the 1966 Texas Western team. Their tournament games against fourth-ranked Kansas and Kentucky are depicted in the film.

The tournament is also significant in that it was the last tournament until 2021, and one of two since the league's official founding, that the Ivy League did not send a representative to the tournament. The league champion, Penn, refused to comply with an NCAA edict that all teams must certify a 1.6 GPA for all student-athletes; the Ivy League and the university did not believe that the NCAA had the power to dictate such things, and as such the team was banned. They would have played Syracuse in the East regional at Blacksburg.^[1]

This was the only NCAA tournament between 1961 and 1982 which did not include UCLA.

Locations

Round	Region	Site	Venue	Host
First Round	East	Blacksburg, Virginia	Cassell Coliseum	Virginia Tech
	Mideast	Kent, Ohio	Memorial Gymnasium	Kent State
	Midwest & West	Wichita, Kansas	WSU Field House	Wichita State
Regionals	East	Raleigh, North Carolina	Reynolds Coliseum	N.C. State
	Mideast	Iowa City, Iowa	Iowa Field House	Iowa
	Midwest	Lubbock, Texas	Lubbock Municipal Coliseum	Texas Tech
	West	Los Angeles, California	Pauley Pavilion	UCLA
Final Four		College Park, Maryland	Cole Field House	Maryland

Teams

Region	Team	Coach	Conference	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	Davidson	Lefty Driesell	Southern	Regional Fourth Place	Saint Joseph's	L 92–76
East	Duke	Vic Bubas	Atlantic Coast	Third Place	Utah	W 79–77
East	Providence	Joe Mullaney	Independent	First round	Saint Joseph's	L 65–48
East	Rhode Island	Ernie Calverley	Yankee	First round	Davidson	L 95–65
East	Saint Joseph's	Jack Ramsay	Middle Atlantic	Regional third place	Davidson	W 92–76
East	Syracuse	Fred Lewis	Independent	Regional Runner-up	Duke	L 91–81
Mideast
Mideast	Dayton	Don Donoher	Independent	Regional Fourth Place	Western Kentucky	L 82–62
Mideast	Kentucky	Adolph Rupp	Southeastern	Runner Up	Texas Western	L 72–65
Mideast	Loyola–Chicago	George Ireland	Independent	First round	Western Kentucky	L 105–86
Mideast	Miami (OH)	Dick Shrider	Mid-American	First round	Dayton	L 58–51
Mideast	Michigan	Dave Strack	Big Ten	Regional Runner-up	Kentucky	L 84–77
Mideast	Western Kentucky	Johnny Oldham	Ohio Valley	Regional third place	Dayton	W 82–62
Midwest
Midwest	Cincinnati	Tay Baker	Missouri Valley	Regional Fourth Place	SMU	L 89–84
Midwest	Kansas	Ted Owens	Big Eight	Regional Runner-up	Texas Western	L 81–80
Midwest	Oklahoma City	Abe Lemons	Independent	First round	Texas Western	L 89–74
Midwest	SMU	Doc Hayes	Southwest	Regional third place	Cincinnati	W 89–84
Midwest	Texas Western	Don Haskins	Independent	Champion	Kentucky	W 72–65
West
West	Colorado State	Jim Williams	Independent	First round	Houston	L 82–76
West	Houston	Guy Lewis	Independent	Regional third place	Pacific	W 102–91
West	Oregon State	Paul Valenti	AAWU	Regional Runner-up	Utah	L 70–64
West	Pacific	Dick Edwards	West Coast Athletic	Regional Fourth Place	Houston	L 102–91
West	Utah	Jack Gardner	Western Athletic	Fourth Place	Duke	L 79–77

Bracket

East region

Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Finals

				Duke	76

				Saint Joseph's	74
	Saint Joseph's	65

	Providence	48
							Duke	91

							Syracuse	81



				Syracuse	94

				Davidson	78
	Davidson	96

	Rhode Island	65

Mideast region

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

Kentucky

86

Dayton

79

Dayton

58

Miami (OH)

51

Kentucky

84

Michigan

77

Michigan

80

Western Kentucky

79

Western Kentucky

105

Loyola–Chicago

86

Midwest region

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Finals

Kansas

76

SMU

70

Kansas

80**

Texas Western

81

Cincinnati

76*

Texas Western

78

Texas Western

89

Oklahoma City

74

West region

Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Finals

				Utah	83

				Pacific	74



							Utah	70

							Oregon State	64



				Oregon State	63

				Houston	60
	Houston	82

	Colorado State	76

Final Four

National Semifinals			National Championship Game

E	Duke	79

ME	Kentucky	83
			ME	Kentucky	65

			MW	Texas Western	72
MW	Texas Western	85

W	Utah	78

National Third Place Game

National Third Place Game ^[2]

E	Duke	79

W	Utah	77

Regional third place games

	East Regional third place

	Saint Joseph's		92

	Davidson		76

	Mideast Regional third place

	Western Kentucky		82

	Dayton		62

	Midwest Regional third place

	SMU		89

	Cincinnati		84

	West Regional third place

	Houston		102

	Pacific		91

Game summaries

The Tournament is most remembered for the all-black starting five of Texas Western defeating an all-white starting five for Kentucky in the championship game.^[3]

Clem Haskins and Dwight Smith became the first black athletes to integrate the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers basketball program in the Fall of 1963.^[4] This put Western Kentucky at the forefront to integrate college basketball in the Southeast.^[5] The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers were 2 points away from defeating Michigan and meeting the University of Kentucky Wildcats in the Mideast regional final. A controversial foul called against Smith during a jump ball put Cazzie Russell on the free throw line for Michigan, where he scored the tying and winning baskets.^[6]

References

^ Fifty years ago, Penn was banned from the NCAA tournament because of...grades?, Justin Feil, Philly Voice, March 10, 2016, last accessed April 17, 2022
^ "1954 NCAA basketball tournament Bracket". Retrieved October 14, 2011.
^ Fitzpatrick, Frank - Texas Western's 1966 title left lasting legacy. ESPN Classic, November 19, 2003
^ Hilltopper Legend Dwight Smith Hilltopper Haven. Accessed 2009-06-24. Archived 2009-07-21.
^ Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem - My thoughts on UCLA in the Final Four Los Angeles Times, March 31, 2008. Western Kentucky was the forefront of the fight to integrate college basketball in the 1960s and early '70s.
^ O'Donnell, Chuck - Cazzie Russell: converting two free throws with no time left advanced Michigan in the 1966 NCAA Tournament - The Game I'll Never Forget - University of Michigan versus Western Kentucky University. Basketball Digest, January/February 2004 issue