The 1969 NCAA University Division men's basketball tournament involved 25 schools playing to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8, 1969, and ended with the championship game on March 22 in Louisville, Kentucky. Including consolation games in each of the regions and an overall consolation game, a total of 29 games were played.
| Season | 1968–69 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 25 | ||||
| Finals site | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky | ||||
| Champions | UCLA Bruins (5th title, 5th title game, 6th Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up | Purdue Boilermakers (1st title game, 1st Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
| ||||
| Winning coach | John Wooden (5th title) | ||||
| MOP | Lew Alcindor (UCLA) | ||||
| Attendance | 165,712 | ||||
| Top scorer | Rick Mount (Purdue) (122 points) | ||||
| |||||
UCLA, coached by John Wooden, won the national title with a 92–72 victory in the final game over Purdue, coached by George King. Lew Alcindor of UCLA was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
In the game, John Vallely, the "Money Man", scored 22 points and Alcindor had 37 points, to give UCLA a win over Purdue, which is Wooden's alma mater. Purdue was hampered due to injuries to starting point guard Billy Keller and forward Herm Gilliam; Purdue had also lost 7'0" center Chuck Bavis to a broken collarbone during the Mideast Regionals against Miami, (OH). In earlier matchups, Bavis had provided an ample challenge to Alcindor. Wooden was an All-American guard for the Boilermakers from 1928 to 1932.
The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1969 tournament, and their host(s):
First round
Regional semifinals, 3rd-place games, and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)
National semifinals, 3rd-place game, and championship (Final Four and championship)
| Region | Team | Coach | Conference | Finished | Final Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | ||||||
| East | Davidson | Lefty Driesell | Southern | Regional Runner-up | North Carolina | L 87–85 |
| East | Duquesne | John Manning | Independent | Regional third place | St. John's | W 75–72 |
| East | North Carolina | Dean Smith | Atlantic Coast | Fourth Place | Drake | L 104–84 |
| East | Princeton | Pete Carril | Ivy League | First round | St. John's | L 72–63 |
| East | St. John's | Lou Carnesecca | Independent | Regional Fourth Place | Duquesne | L 75–72 |
| East | Saint Joseph's | Jack McKinney | Middle Atlantic | First round | Duquesne | L 74–52 |
| East | Villanova | Jack Kraft | Independent | First round | Davidson | L 75–61 |
| Mideast | ||||||
| Mideast | Kentucky | Adolph Rupp | Southeastern | Regional third place | Miami (OH) | W 72–71 |
| Mideast | Marquette | Al McGuire | Independent | Regional Runner-up | Purdue | L 75–73 |
| Mideast | Miami (OH) | Tates Locke | Mid-American | Regional Fourth Place | Kentucky | L 72–71 |
| Mideast | Murray State | Cal Luther | Ohio Valley | First round | Marquette | L 82–62 |
| Mideast | Notre Dame | John Dee | Independent | First round | Miami (OH) | L 63–60 |
| Mideast | Purdue | George King | Big Ten | Runner Up | UCLA | L 92–72 |
| Midwest | ||||||
| Midwest | Colorado | Sox Walseth | Big Eight | Regional third place | Texas A&M | W 97–82 |
| Midwest | Colorado State | Jim Williams | Independent | Regional Runner-up | Drake | L 84–77 |
| Midwest | Dayton | Don Donoher | Independent | First round | Colorado State | L 52–50 |
| Midwest | Drake | Maury John | Missouri Valley | Third Place | North Carolina | W 104–84 |
| Midwest | Texas A&M | Shelby Metcalf | Southwest | Regional Fourth Place | Colorado | L 97–82 |
| Midwest | Trinity (TX) | Bob Polk | Southland | First round | Texas A&M | L 81–66 |
| West | ||||||
| West | BYU | Stan Watts | Western Athletic | First round | New Mexico State | L 74–62 |
| West | New Mexico State | Lou Henson | Independent | Regional Fourth Place | Weber State | L 58–56 |
| West | Santa Clara | Dick Garibaldi | West Coast | Regional Runner-up | UCLA | L 90–52 |
| West | Seattle | Morris Buckwalter | Independent | First round | Weber State | L 75–73 |
| West | UCLA | John Wooden | Pac-8 | Champion | Purdue | W 92–72 |
| West | Weber State | Phil Johnson | Big Sky | Regional third place | New Mexico State | W 58–56 |
* – Denotes overtime period
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| North Carolina | 79 | |||||||||||||
| Duquesne | 78 | |||||||||||||
| Duquesne | 74 | |||||||||||||
| Saint Joseph's | 52 | |||||||||||||
| North Carolina | 87 | |||||||||||||
| Davidson | 85 | |||||||||||||
| Davidson | 75 | |||||||||||||
| Villanova | 61 | |||||||||||||
| Davidson | 79 | |||||||||||||
| St. John's | 69 | |||||||||||||
| St. John's | 72 | |||||||||||||
| Princeton | 63 | |||||||||||||
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| Purdue | 91 | |||||||||||||
| Miami (OH) | 71 | |||||||||||||
| Miami (OH) | 63 | |||||||||||||
| Notre Dame | 60 | |||||||||||||
| Purdue | 75 | |||||||||||||
| Marquette | 73 | |||||||||||||
| Kentucky | 74 | |||||||||||||
| Marquette | 81 | |||||||||||||
| Marquette | 82 | |||||||||||||
| Murray State | 62 | |||||||||||||
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| Drake | 81 | |||||||||||||
| Texas A&M | 63 | |||||||||||||
| Texas A&M | 81 | |||||||||||||
| Trinity (TX) | 66 | |||||||||||||
| Drake | 84 | |||||||||||||
| Colorado State | 77 | |||||||||||||
| Colorado | 56 | |||||||||||||
| Colorado State | 64 | |||||||||||||
| Colorado State | 52 | |||||||||||||
| Dayton | 50 | |||||||||||||
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| UCLA | 53 | |||||||||||||
| New Mexico State | 38 | |||||||||||||
| New Mexico State | 74 | |||||||||||||
| BYU | 62 | |||||||||||||
| UCLA | 90 | |||||||||||||
| Santa Clara | 52 | |||||||||||||
| Santa Clara | 63 | |||||||||||||
| Weber State | 59* | |||||||||||||
| Weber State | 75 | |||||||||||||
| Seattle | 73 | |||||||||||||
| National semifinals | National Final | ||||||||
| E | North Carolina | 65 | |||||||
| ME | Purdue | 92 | |||||||
| ME | Purdue | 72 | |||||||
| W | UCLA | 92 | |||||||
| MW | Drake | 82 | |||||||
| W | UCLA | 85 | |||||||
| National third-place game [1] | ||||
| E | North Carolina | 84 | ||
| MW | Drake | 104 | ||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||