The 1939 NCAA tournament was the first time a college basketball national champion was crowned. Oregon won the inaugural NCAA tournament, beating Ohio State 46-33 in the title game. Despite the Buckeyes' loss, Jim Hull was named Most Outstanding Player in addition to finishing as the tournament's leading scorer (58 points).
Oklahoma and Villanova also participated in the national semifinals in 1939.
Oregon would not return to the Final Four again until 2017, the same year the 1939 championship host school — Northwestern — made its first NCAA tournament appearance.
1939 NCAA tournament: Bracket
Click or tap here for a printable bracket.
1939 NCAA tournament: Scores
- Regional Semifinals
- East Region
- Villanova 42, Brown 30
- Ohio State 64, Wake Forest 52
- West Region
- Oregon 56, Texas 41
- Oklahoma 50, Utah State 39
- East Region
- Regional Finals
- East Region
- Ohio State 53, Villanova 36
- West Region
- Oregon 55, Oklahoma 37
- East Region
- Regional Third-Place Games
- West Region
- Utah State 51, Texas 49
- West Region
- National championship (Evanston, Illinois)
- Oregon 46, Ohio State 33
1939 NCAA tournament: Stats, records
Here are the 1939 NCAA tournament leaders (number of games in parentheses):
Individual scoring
- Jim Hull, Ohio State (3) — 19.3
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