basketball-men-d1 flag

NCAA.com | May 27, 2020

1951 NCAA tournament: Bracket, scores, stats, records

Everything you need to know about March Madness

Kentucky won its third national championship with a 68-58 win against Kansas State in the title game.

This year's tournament was the first to have 16 teams, as the size doubled. Kentucky's Bill Spivey took Most Outstanding Player honors.

1951 NCAA tournament: Bracket

Click or tap here for a closer look at the 1951 March Madness bracket.

This is the 1951 NCAA tournament bracket

1951 NCAA tournament: Scores

  • First Round
    • West Region
      • Kansas State 61, Arizona 59
      • BYU 68, San Jose State 61
      • Oklahoma A&M 50, Montana State 46
      • Washington 62, Texas A&M 40
    • East Region
      • Illinois 79, Columbia 71
      • NC State 67, Villanova 62
      • Kentucky 79, Louisville 68
      • St. John's 63, UConn 52
  • Regional semifinals
    • West Region
      • Kansas State 64, BYU 54
      • Oklahoma A&M 61, Washington 57
    • East Region
      • Illinois 84, NC State 70
      • Kentucky 59, St. John's 43
  • Regional third place games
    • West Region
      • Washington 80, BYU 67
    • East Region
      • St. John's 71, NC State 59
  • Regional finals
    • Kansas State 68, Oklahoma A&M 44
    • Kentucky 76, Illinois 74
  • National third place game
    • Illinois 61, Oklahoma A&M 46
  • National championship (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
    • Kentucky 68, Kansas State 58

1951 NCAA tournament: Stats, records

Here are the tournament leaders, with games in parentheses (minimum three games):

Individual scoring

  • Bill Kukoy, NC State (3) — 23.0 points per game

Individual rebounding

  • Bill Spivey, Kentucky (4) — 16.3 rebounds per game

Tournament history

  • The tournament field doubled to 16 teams, 10 conferences champions qualifying automatically for the first time: Big Seven (Big Eight), Big Ten, Border, Eastern (Ivy), Missouri Valley, Mountain States (also known as Skyline), Pacific Coast), Southeastern, Southern and Southwest.

Andy Katz's 10 Final Four dark horses for the 2024-25 men’s basketball season

Andy Katz shares his top 10 Final Four dark horses for the 2024-25 men’s basketball season — featuring teams poised to make a surprise run in March Madness.
READ MORE

Kansas, Alabama, UConn lead men's basketball AP preseason poll

Kansas tops the preseason men's college basketball poll for the second straight year, with UConn ranked No. 3. Here are the full rankings and what to expect from this season's contenders.
READ MORE

Alabama leads Andy Katz's preseason Power 37 rankings

Andy Katz gives his preseason Power 37 rankings less than one month away from the start of the 2024-2025 men's college basketball season.
READ MORE