1945 NCAA basketball tournament

The 1945 NCAA basketball tournament was an eight-team single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) college basketball. It began on March 22, 1945, and ended with the championship game on March 27 in New York City. A total of nine games were played, including a third place game in each region.

Oklahoma A&M, coached by Henry Iba, won the national title with a 49–45 victory in the final game over NYU, coached by Howard Cann. Bob Kurland of Oklahoma A&M was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Locations
The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1945 tournament:

Regionals

 * March 22 and 24
 * East Regional, Madison Square Garden, New York, New York (Host: Metropolitan New York Conference)


 * March 23 and 24
 * West Regional, Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)

Championship Game

 * March 27:
 * Madison Square Garden, New York, New York (Host: Metropolitan New York Conference)

Bracket
* – Denotes overtime period