| Teams | 8 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finals site | Madison Square Garden New York City | ||||
| Champions | Oklahoma A&M Aggies (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up | NYU Violets (1st title game, 1st Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
| ||||
| Winning coach | Henry Iba (1st title) | ||||
| MOP | Bob Kurland (Oklahoma A&M) | ||||
| Attendance | 67,780 | ||||
| Top scorer | Bob Kurland (Oklahoma A&M) (65 points) | ||||
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The 1945 NCAA basketball tournament was an eight-team single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) college basketball. It began on March 22, 1945, and ended with the championship game on March 27 in New York City. A total of nine games were played, including a third place game in each region.
Oklahoma A&M, coached by Henry Iba, won the national title with a 49–45 victory in the final game over NYU, coached by Howard Cann. Bob Kurland of Oklahoma A&M was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1945 tournament:
| Region | Team | Coach | Conference | Finished | Final Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | ||||||
| East | Kentucky | Adolph Rupp | SEC | Regional third place | Tufts | W 66–56 |
| East | NYU | Howard Cann | Middle Atlantic | Runner Up | Oklahoma A&M | L 49–45 |
| East | Ohio State | Harold Olsen | Big Ten | National Semifinals | NYU | L 70–65 |
| East | Tufts | Richard Cochran | New England | Regional Fourth Place | Kentucky | L 66–56 |
| West | ||||||
| West | Arkansas | Eugene Lambert | Southwest | National Semifinals | Oklahoma A&M | L 68–41 |
| West | Oklahoma A&M | Henry Iba | Missouri Valley | Champion | NYU | W 49–45 |
| West | Oregon | John A. Warren | Pacific Coast | Regional third place | Utah | W 69–66 |
| West | Utah | Vadal Peterson | Skyline | Regional Fourth Place | Oregon | L 69–66 |
* – Denotes overtime period
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| NYU | 59 | |||||||||||||
| Tufts | 44 | |||||||||||||
| NYU | 70 | |||||||||||||
| Ohio State | 65* | |||||||||||||
| Ohio State | 45 | |||||||||||||
| Kentucky | 37 | |||||||||||||
| NYU | 45 | |||||||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 49 | |||||||||||||
| Arkansas | 79 | |||||||||||||
| Oregon | 76 | |||||||||||||
| Arkansas | 41 | |||||||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 68 | |||||||||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 62 | |||||||||||||
| Utah | 37 | |||||||||||||
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