The 1952 NCAA basketball tournament involved 16 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 14th annual edition of the tournament began on March 21, 1952, and ended with the championship game on March 26 in Seattle. A total of 20 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.

Kansas, coached by Phog Allen, won the national title with an 80–63 victory in the final game over St. John's, coached by Frank McGuire. Clyde Lovellette of Kansas was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

This tournament was the first to have a true "Final Four" format, with the winners at four regional sites advancing to the final site—although the four regionals did not receive distinct names until the 1956 tournament. It was also the first to have regional television coverage.

Locations

The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1952 tournament:

Regionals

March 21 and 22

East-1 Regional, Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University)

East-2 Regional, Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois (Hosts: Northwestern University, Loyola University Chicago, DePaul University)

West-1 Regional, Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)

West-2 Regional, Oregon State Coliseum, Corvallis, Oregon (Host: Oregon State University)

Final Four

March 25 and 26

Hec Edmundson Pavilion, Seattle, Washington (Host: University of Washington)

Teams

Bracket

National Third Place Game

Regional third place games

Source:^[1]