1979 NCAA Division I basketball championship game

See also: 1979 NCAA Division I basketball tournament

1979 NCAA Tournament Championship Game
National championship game
A black circle with white "ncaa" in the middle
Michigan State Spartans Indiana State Sycamores
Big Ten MVC
(25–6) (33–0)
75 64
Head coach:
Jud Heathcote		 Head coach:
Bill Hodges
1st half2nd half Total
Michigan State Spartans 3738 75
Indiana State Sycamores 2836 64
DateMarch 26, 1979
VenueSpecial Events Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
RefereesGary Muncy, Lenny Wirtz,
Hank Nichols[1]
Attendance15,410[2]
United States TV coverage
NetworkNBC
AnnouncersDick Enberg, Billy Packer,
and Al McGuire
← 1978
1980 →

The 1979 NCAA Division I Basketball Championship Game was the final of the 1979 NCAA Division I basketball tournament and determined the national champion for the 1978–79 season.[a] The game was held on March 26, at the Special Events Center (now the Jon M. Huntsman Center) at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah.[5][6]

In the game, the Indiana State Sycamores of the Missouri Valley Conference faced the Michigan State Spartans of the Big Ten Conference. The Sycamores entered the contest undefeated for the season, while the Spartans had six losses. Spartans guard Magic Johnson and Sycamores forward Larry Bird competed against each other for the first time; the pair developed a rivalry in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the 1980s.

Michigan State won 75–64 to claim the school's first national championship in men's basketball.[7] The 1979 NCAA tournament final had the highest Nielsen ratings of any game in the history of American basketball.

  1. ^ 2016 Men's Final Four Records Book (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2016. p. 32. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference special was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Mitchell and Ennis, p. 11.
  4. ^ Shepard, Terry (February 27, 1979). "40 Teams, Seedings: NCAA Tournament Has a New and Bigger Look". Los Angeles Times. pp. D1, D4.
  5. ^ Taylor, Scott (March 4, 2005). "Huntsman Center taxing on many Utah opponents". Deseret News. Archived from the original on August 24, 2017. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  6. ^ Taylor, Scott (March 26, 2004). "25th Anniversary: 1979 Final Four". Deseret News. Archived from the original on December 6, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  7. ^ Keith, Larry (April 2, 1979). "They caged the Bird". Sports Illustrated. p. 16.


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