 | This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "1980 NCAA Division I basketball championship game" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| National championship game | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [REDACTED] | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Date | March 24, 1980 | ||||||||||||
| Venue | Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana | ||||||||||||
| MVP | Darrell Griffith, Louisville | ||||||||||||
| Favorite | Louisville | ||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||
| Announcers | Dick Enberg (play-by-play) Billy Packer and Al McGuire (color) | ||||||||||||
| ← 19791981 → | |||||||||||||
![[REDACTED]](https://u3vuiephb.global.ssl.fastly.net/File:NCAA_primary_logo_1980.svg){kind=link}
The 1980 NCAA Division I Basketball Championship Game was the finals of the 1980 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament and it determined the national champion for the 1979-80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The game was played on March 24, 1980, at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, and featured the Midwest Regional Champion, #2-seeded Louisville and the West Regional Champion, #8-seeded UCLA.
The Cardinals narrowly defeated the Bruins to win their first national championship in program history.
Participating teams
UCLA Bruins
Main article: 1979–80 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team- West
- UCLA (8) 87, Old Dominion (9) 74
- UCLA 77, DePaul (1) 71
- UCLA 72, Ohio State (4) 68
- UCLA 85, Clemson (6) 74
- Final Four
- UCLA 67, Purdue (6) 62
Louisville Cardinals
Main article: 1979–80 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team- Midwest
- Louisville (2) 71, Kansas State (7) 69 (OT)
- Louisville 66, Texas A&M (6) 55 (OT)
- Louisville 86, LSU (1) 66
- Final Four
- Louisville 80, Iowa (5) 72
Starting lineups
| UCLA | Position | Louisville | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Holton 3 | G | Jerry Eaves 3 | ||
| Rod Foster 2 | G | † Darrell Griffith 1 | ||
| James Wilkes 3 | F | Derek Smith 2 | ||
| Kiki Vandeweghe 1 | F | Wiley Brown | ||
| Mike Sanders 4 | C | Rodney McCray 1 | ||
| † 1980 Consensus First Team All-American | ||||
| Players selected in an NBA draft (number indicates round) | ||||
Source
Game summary
| NBC |
| March 24 |
| Box Score |
| #W8 | ||
| Scoring by half: 28–26, 26–33 | ||
| Pts: Rod Foster 16 Rebs: Kiki Vandeweghe 7 Asts: Rod Foster 5 |
Pts: Darrell Griffith 23 Rebs: Rodney McCray 11 Asts: 3 tied with 3 | |
| Market Square Arena - Indianapolis, Indiana |
Aftermath
UCLA would later be forced to vacate their appearance in the championship game and the 1980 NCAA tournament after players representing the school were declared ineligible by the NCAA. The Bruins would not return to the championship game until 1995, where they defeated Arkansas to win their most recent national championship.
Louisville would return to the national championship game six years later, where they upset Duke to win another title. They would also return to the title game in 2013, where they defeated Michigan to win what was their third title. However, Louisville was forced to vacate their third title due to a massive sex scandal involving players on the team, and as a result the Cardinals had four seasons worth of wins wiped from the record books.
References
- "UCLA Will Not Appeal NCAA Ban: Basketball Team Is on Probation, Ineligible for Tournament". Los Angeles Times. December 9, 1981. ProQuest 152965876.
- The Bruins' five NCAA tournament wins and championship game appearance were later vacated after the NCAA had determined UCLA committed nine violations.
- "UCLA vs. Louisville Box Score, March 24, 1980". Sports Reference. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
- U.C.L.A. ON PROBATION IN BASKETBALL – New York Times (UPI) December 9, 1981
| Louisville Cardinals men's basketball 1979–80 NCAA champions | |
|---|---|
|
- 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
- NCAA Division I men's basketball championship games
- Louisville Cardinals men's basketball
- UCLA Bruins men's basketball
- College basketball tournaments in Indiana
- Basketball competitions in Indianapolis
- 1980 in sports in Indiana
- 1980s in Indianapolis
- March 1980 sports events in the United States