The 1944 NCAA basketball tournament involved eight schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of the 1943âÂÂ44 NCAA men's basketball season. The 6th annual edition of the tournament began on March 24, 1944, and ended with the championship game on March 28, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. A total of nine games were played, including a third place game in each region.
Utah, coached by Vadal Peterson, won the national title with a 42âÂÂ40 victory in the final game over Dartmouth, coached by Earl Brown. Arnie Ferrin of Utah was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Utah became the third team to play in both the NIT and NCAA tournament in the same season. Utah was given a second chance to play in the NCAA Tournament after a March 1944 automobile accident killed a coaching aide and seriously injured two players on the Arkansas team.
Utah's winning team featured Wataru Misaka, who later joined the New York Knicks to become the first person of color (in his case, being an Asian-American by being of Japanese descent) to play in modern professional basketball.
The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1944 tournament: