1949 NCAA basketball tournament

The 1949 NCAA basketball tournament involved eight schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 18, 1949, and ended with the championship game on March 26 in Seattle, Washington. A total of 10 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.

Kentucky, coached by Adolph Rupp, won the national title with a 46–36 victory in the final game over Oklahoma A&M, coached by Henry Iba. Alex Groza of Kentucky was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Locations
The following were the sites selected to host each round of the 1949 tournament:

Regionals

 * March 18 and 19
 * West Regional, Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)


 * March 21 and 22
 * East Regional, Madison Square Garden, New York, New York (Host: Metropolitan New York Conference)

Championship Game

 * March 26:
 * Hec Edmundson Pavilion, Seattle, Washington (Host: University of Washington)