| National championship game | |||||||||||||
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| Date | March 31, 1986 | ||||||||||||
| Venue | Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas | ||||||||||||
| MVP | Pervis Ellison, Louisville | ||||||||||||
| Favorite | Duke by 1.5[1] | ||||||||||||
| Referees | Hank Nichols, Don Rutledge, Pete Pavia | ||||||||||||
| Attendance | 16,493 | ||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||
| Announcers | Brent Musburger (play-by-play) Billy Packer (color) | ||||||||||||
The 1986 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game was the finals of the 1986 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and it determined the national champion for the 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The game was played on March 31, 1986, at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas,[1] and featured the East Regional Champion, #1-seeded Duke and the West Regional Champion, #2-seeded Louisville.[1]
This was the last national championship that was played in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex until 2014 which was played at AT&T Stadium in nearby Arlington, Texas due to the NCAA's preference for domed stadiums. This was also the last championship game to ever feature a team from the Metro Conference, which disbanded in 1995.