1989 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament


The 1989 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16, 1989, and ended with the championship game on April 3 in Seattle. A total of 63 games were played.
Michigan, coached by Steve Fisher, won the national title with an 80–79 overtime victory in the final game over Seton Hall, coached by P. J. Carlesimo. Glen Rice of Michigan set an NCAA tournament record by scoring 184 points in six games and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Just prior to the start of this tournament, Michigan coach Bill Frieder had announced that he would accept the head coaching position at Arizona State University at the end of the season. Michigan athletic director Bo Schembechler promptly fired Frieder and appointed top assistant Fisher as interim coach, stating famously, that "a Michigan man is going to coach a Michigan team."
Two 16-seeded teams came within one point of victory in the first round, and a third came within six points. This tournament was also unusual in that all four 11-seeds advanced out of the first round.
The 1989 Tournament was the second one since 1980, with 1987 being the first, in which the defending national champion did not participate in the tournament. Kansas, winner of the 1988 NCAA title, had been placed on probation for violations committed by former coach Larry Brown and was barred from the tournament. Brown left Kansas immediately after winning the national championship to return to coaching in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs, leaving first-year coach Roy Williams to coach the team. It is the only time the Jayhawks have missed the NCAA tournament from 1984 to the present day. The defending champion would not be left out of the next year's tournament again until 2008. The tournament was notable for the poor performance of the SEC. After traditional stalwart Kentucky missed the postseason after experiencing its first losing season since 1927, none of the five SEC teams won a game in the tournament.

Locations

First & Second Rounds

Regional Sites and Final Four

The Kingdome was the host city of the Final Four for the second time in six years. Once again, all four venues in the regional rounds were former or future Final Four venues. For the first time since 1964, there were no new host cities or venues used for the tournament. Additionally, no venues were retired after this year.

Teams

RegionSeedTeamCoachFinishedFinal OpponentScore
East1GeorgetownElite Eight2 DukeL 85–77
East2DukeFinal Four3 Seton HallL 95–78
East3StanfordRound of 6414 SienaL 80–78
East4IowaRound of 325 NC StateL 102–96
East5NC StateSweet Sixteen1 GeorgetownL 69–61
East6Kansas StateRound of 6411 MinnesotaL 86–75
East7West VirginiaRound of 322 DukeL 70–63
East8VanderbiltRound of 649 Notre DameL 81–65
East9Notre DameRound of 321 GeorgetownL 81–74
East10TennesseeRound of 647 West VirginiaL 84–68
East11MinnesotaSweet Sixteen2 DukeL 87–70
East12South CarolinaRound of 645 NC StateL 81–66
East13RutgersRound of 644 IowaL 87–73
East14SienaRound of 3211 MinnesotaL 80–67
East15South Carolina StateRound of 642 DukeL 90–69
East16PrincetonRound of 641 GeorgetownL 50–49
Midwest1IllinoisFinal Four3 MichiganL 83–81
Midwest2SyracuseElite Eight1 IllinoisL 89–86
Midwest3MissouriSweet Sixteen2 SyracuseL 83–80
Midwest4LouisvilleSweet Sixteen1 IllinoisL 83–69
Midwest5ArkansasRound of 324 LouisvilleL 93–84
Midwest6Georgia TechRound of 6411 TexasL 76–70
Midwest7FloridaRound of 6410 Colorado StateL 68–46
Midwest8PittsburghRound of 649 Ball StateL 68–64
Midwest9Ball StateRound of 321 IllinoisL 72–60
Midwest10Colorado StateRound of 322 SyracuseL 65–50
Midwest11TexasRound of 323 MissouriL 108–89
Midwest12Loyola MarymountRound of 645 ArkansasL 120–101
Midwest13Arkansas–Little RockRound of 644 LouisvilleL 76–71
Midwest14CreightonRound of 643 MissouriL 85–69
Midwest15BucknellRound of 642 SyracuseL 104–81
Midwest16McNeese StateRound of 641 IllinoisL 77–71
RegionSeedTeamCoachFinishedFinal OpponentScore
Southeast1OklahomaSweet Sixteen5 VirginiaL 86–80
Southeast2North CarolinaSweet Sixteen3 MichiganL 92–87
Southeast3MichiganChampion3 Seton HallW 80–79
Southeast4Florida StateRound of 6413 Middle TennesseeL 97–83
Southeast5VirginiaElite Eight3 MichiganL 102–65
Southeast6AlabamaRound of 6411 South AlabamaL 86–84
Southeast7UCLARound of 322 North CarolinaL 88–81
Southeast8La SalleRound of 649 Louisiana TechL 83–74
Southeast9Louisiana TechRound of 321 OklahomaL 124–81
Southeast10Iowa StateRound of 647 UCLAL 84–74
Southeast11South AlabamaRound of 323 MichiganL 91–82
Southeast12ProvidenceRound of 645 VirginiaL 100–97
Southeast13Middle TennesseeRound of 325 VirginiaL 104–88
Southeast14XavierRound of 643 MichiganL 92–87
Southeast15SouthernRound of 642 North CarolinaL 93–79
Southeast16East Tennessee StateRound of 641 OklahomaL 72–71
West1ArizonaSweet Sixteen4 UNLVL 68–67
West2IndianaSweet Sixteen3 Seton HallL 78–65
West3Seton HallRunner Up3 MichiganL 80–79
West4UNLVElite Eight3 Seton HallL 84–61
West5Memphis StateRound of 6412 DePaulL 66–63
West6Oregon StateRound of 6411 EvansvilleL 94–90
West7UTEPRound of 322 IndianaL 92–69
West8Saint Mary'sRound of 649 ClemsonL 83–70
West9ClemsonRound of 321 ArizonaL 94–68
West10LSURound of 647 UTEPL 85–74
West11EvansvilleRound of 323 Seton HallL 87–73
West12DePaulRound of 324 UNLVL 85–70
West13IdahoRound of 644 UNLVL 68–56
West14Southwest Missouri StateRound of 643 Seton HallL 60–51
West15George MasonRound of 642 IndianaL 99–85
West16Robert MorrisRound of 641 ArizonaL 94–60

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East Regional – East Rutherford, New Jersey

First round summary

Second round summary

Regional Semi-final summary

Regional Final summary

West Regional – Denver, Colorado

First round summary

Second round summary

Regional Semi-final summary

Regional Final summary

Southeast Regional – Lexington, Kentucky

First round summary

Second round summary

Regional Semi-final summary

Regional Final summary

Midwest Regional – Minneapolis

First round summary

Second round summary

Regional Semi-final summary

Regional Final summary

Final Four – Seattle

Game summaries

National Championship

Announcers

Television

ESPN and NCAA Productions

First and second rounds

Regionals

RegionSeedTeamsFlagship stationPlay-by-play announcerColor analyst
West3Seton HallWPAT–AM 930

Legacy

The story of the Wolverines' success was cited as inspiration in another sport. When the Spain national football team manager Julen Lopetegui was sacked days before the 2018 FIFA World Cup started after agreeing to join Real Madrid after the tournament, Spanish defender Gerard Piqué drew parallels with Michigan's NCAA win amid similar circumstances.