 | |||||
| Season | 1986–87 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 64 | ||||
| Finals site | Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana | ||||
| Champions | Indiana Hoosiers (5th title, 5th title game, 6th Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up | Syracuse Orangemen (1st title game, 2nd Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
| ||||
| Winning coach | Bob Knight (3rd title) | ||||
| MOP | Keith Smart (Indiana) | ||||
| Attendance | 654,744 | ||||
| Top scorers | Steve Alford (Indiana) Rony Seikaly (Syracuse) (138 points) | ||||
| |||||
The 1987 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 1987, and ended with the championship game on March 30 in New Orleans, Louisiana. A total of 63 games were played.
Indiana, coached by Bob Knight, won the national title with a 74–73 victory in the final game over Syracuse, coached by Jim Boeheim. Keith Smart of Indiana, who hit the game-winner in the final seconds, and intercepted the full court pass at the last second, was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
The tournament also featured a "Cinderella team" in the Final Four, as Providence College, led by a then-unknown Rick Pitino, made their first Final Four appearance since 1973.
One year after reaching the Final Four as a #11 seed, LSU made another deep run as a #10 seed in the Midwest region. The Tigers ousted #2 seed Temple in the second round and #3 seed DePaul in the Sweet 16 before losing 77–76 to top seeded Indiana in the Elite Eight.
This was the last tournament in which teams were allowed to have home court advantage: national runner-up Syracuse (2E), DePaul (3MW), Arizona (10W) and UAB (11SE) all opened the tournament playing on their home courts. UAB and Arizona each lost in the first round, while DePaul won twice at the Rosemont Horizon. Under rules adopted in 1988, teams cannot play in a facility in which they play four or more regular season games.
The 1987 NCAA men's basketball tournament was also the first tournament to use the three-point shot.