The 1982 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 44th annual edition of the tournament began on March 11, 1982, and ended with the championship game on March 29 in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. A total of 47 games were played.

North Carolina, coached by Dean Smith, won the national title with a 63–62 victory in the final game over Georgetown, coached by John Thompson. James Worthy of North Carolina was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

This tournament was the first to eliminate the national third-place game, which had been held every year since the 1946 tournament. It was also the first tournament to be televised by CBS after it acquired the broadcasting rights from NBC. Gary Bender and Billy Packer (also from NBC Sports) called the Final Four and National Championship games. In addition, it was the first tournament to include the word "Men's" in its official title, as the NCAA began sponsoring national championships in women's sports (including basketball) in the 1981–82 school year.

This was the last NCAA tournament to grant automatic bids to the winners of ECAC regional tournaments for Northeastern Division I independents organized by the Eastern College Athletic Conference, a loose sports federation of Northeastern colleges and universities. The practice had begun with the 1975 tournament to ensure that Northeastern independents would not be excluded, but was discontinued when all remaining Northeastern independents formed new conferences or joined existing ones after this season.Varsity Pride: ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments

For the first time since 1966, the tournament field did not include UCLA.

Championship game

The 1982 NCAA Division I Men's Championship Game was between the Georgetown Hoyas and the North Carolina Tar Heels. Both teams had Hall of Fame coaches, Dean Smith for the Tar Heels and John Thompson for the Hoyas. As for players, five future NBA All-Stars were included between the two sides—the Hoyas featured center Patrick Ewing and Eric "Sleepy" Floyd, while the Tar Heels answered with forward James Worthy, forward and center Sam Perkins, and young guard Michael Jordan. This also marked the only NCAA championship game to feature three of the NBA 50 Greatest Players (Jordan, Ewing and Worthy) chosen in 1996 on the occasion of the NBA's 50th anniversary.

The championship matchup was tightly contested throughout, with no team ever leading by more than a few points, and 15 lead changes in the game overall. With slightly over a minute to go, Floyd scored to put Georgetown on top, 62–61. During the ensuing timeout, Smith predicted that Georgetown would heavily guard Worthy and Perkins and drew up a play that would work the ball around to Jordan and then met Jordan's eyes and told him to not be afraid to shoot if he was open. When the ball was worked around, Jimmy Black found Jordan on the left wing, and he rose and hit a jumper with 17 seconds to go to put Carolina back on top, 63–62. Georgetown did not call timeout but immediately pushed the ball up the court. However, guard Fred Brown mistook Carolina's James Worthy for a teammate and passed the ball right to his opponent. Worthy was fouled by Eric Smith with two seconds to go. He missed both free throws, but with no timeouts left (Georgetown coach John Thompson, in a questionable move, used his last one before Worthy's free throws rather than save it to set up a final play) the Hoyas' last desperation shot fell short. On the other hand, Dean Smith's decision to draw up a play for Jordan, rather than Worthy or Perkins, is often regarded as a brilliant coaching move.

Aside from the dramatic finish in the final minute, the 1982 NCAA championship game is today primarily remembered as being the stage on which several eventual basketball legends were introduced to a national audience, particularly North Carolina's Jordan and Georgetown's Ewing, both 19-year-old freshmen at the time of this game. Both had outstanding games - Jordan with 16 points including the game-winner, and Ewing with 23 points and 10 rebounds (but also a few goaltends on blocks that John Thompson supported for intimidation purposes). Jordan and Ewing would go on to have more memorable clashes in the National Basketball Association with the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks respectively, and both would be inducted into the Hall of Fame. For Jordan's part, his game-winner is often seen as the launching point of his career - the moment that gave him the confidence to become one of the greatest basketball players of all time, in no small part due to his clutch performance. Jordan has said multiple times that before he would take game-winning shots with the Bulls, he would sometimes think back to his shot in the 1982 game that propelled North Carolina past Georgetown.

The best player of the 1982 title game, and a third player in this game who would eventually be inducted to the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame, was Carolina's James Worthy. Worthy scored a game-high 28 points, showing the blazing speed and some of the same authoritative drives to the basket that later became familiar sights during his career with the Los Angeles Lakers during the 1980s. Beyond these three players, two other noticeable players of the 1980s and early 90s appeared in this 1982 game: Georgetown's Sleepy Floyd, who went on to an All-Star career in the NBA (including a still-standing record for most points in a quarter and in a half for a playoff game) and Carolina's Sam Perkins, who distinguished himself over a durable NBA career lasting 17 seasons.

Schedule and venues

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1982 tournament:

First and Second Rounds March 11 and 13 East Region Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina (Host: University of North Carolina at Charlotte) Mideast Region Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville, Tennessee (Host: Vanderbilt University) Midwest Region Mabee Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma (Host: Oral Roberts University) West Region Dee Glen Smith Spectrum, Logan, Utah (Host: Utah State University) March 12 and 14 East Region Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York (Host: Hofstra University) Mideast Region Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana (Hosts: Butler University, Midwestern City Conference) Midwest Region Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas (Host: Southwest Conference) West Region Beasley Coliseum, Pullman, Washington (Host: Washington State University)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) March 18 and 20 Mideast Regional, BJCC Coliseum, Birmingham, Alabama (Host: Southeastern Conference) West Regional, Marriott Center, Provo, Utah (Host: Brigham Young University) March 19 and 21 East Regional, Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University) Midwest Regional, The Checkerdome, St. Louis, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) March 27 and 29 Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana (Host: Tulane University)

Teams Region Seed Team Coach Conference Finished Final Opponent Score East East 1 North Carolina Dean Smith ACC Champion1 GeorgetownW 63–62 East 2 Memphis State (Vacated) Dana Kirk Metro Sweet Sixteen3 VillanovaL 70–66 East 3 Villanova Rollie Massimino Big East Regional Runner-up1 North CarolinaL 70–60 East 4 Alabama Wimp Sanderson SEC Sweet Sixteen1 North CarolinaL 74–69 East 5 St. John's Lou Carnesecca Big East Round of 324 AlabamaL 69–68 East 6 Saint Joseph's Jim Boyle East Coast Round of 4811 NortheasternL 63–62 East 7 Wake Forest Carl Tacy ACC Round of 322 Memphis StateL 56–55 East 8 Ohio State Eldon Miller Big Ten Round of 489 James MadisonL 55–48 East 9 James Madison Lou Campanelli ECAC South Round of 321 North CarolinaL 52–50 East 10 Old Dominion Paul Webb ECAC South Round of 487 Wake ForestL 74–57 East 11 Northeastern Jim Calhoun ECAC North Round of 323 VillanovaL 76–72 East 12 Penn Bob Weinhauer Ivy League Round of 485 St. John'sL 66–56 Mideast Mideast 1 Virginia Terry Holland ACC Sweet Sixteen4 UABL 68–66 Mideast 2 Minnesota Jim Dutcher Big Ten Sweet Sixteen3 LouisvilleL 67–61 Mideast 3 Louisville Denny Crum Metro National semifinals1 GeorgetownL 50–46 Mideast 4 UAB Gene Bartow Sun Belt Regional Runner-up3 LouisvilleL 75–68 Mideast 5 Indiana Bob Knight Big Ten Round of 324 UABL 80–70 Mideast 6 Kentucky Joe B. Hall SEC Round of 4811 Middle Tennessee StateL 50–44 Mideast 7 NC State Jim Valvano ACC Round of 4810 ChattanoogaL 58–51 Mideast 8 Southwestern Louisiana Bobby Paschal Southland Round of 489 TennesseeL 61–57 Mideast 9 Tennessee Don DeVoe SEC Round of 321 VirginiaL 54–51 Mideast 10 Chattanooga Murray Arnold Southern Round of 322 MinnesotaL 62–61 Mideast 11 Middle Tennessee State Stan Simpson Ohio Valley Round of 323 LouisvilleL 81–56 Mideast 12 Robert Morris Matthew Furjanic Jr. ECAC Metro Round of 485 IndianaL 94–62 Midwest Midwest 1 DePaul Ray Meyer Independent Round of 328 Boston CollegeL 82–75 Midwest 2 Missouri Norm Stewart Big Eight Sweet Sixteen6 HoustonL 79–78 Midwest 3 Tulsa Nolan Richardson Missouri Valley Round of 326 HoustonL 78–74 Midwest 4 Arkansas Eddie Sutton Southwest Round of 325 Kansas StateL 65–64 Midwest 5 Kansas State Jack Hartman Big Eight Sweet Sixteen8 Boston CollegeL 69–65 Midwest 6 Houston Guy Lewis Southwest National semifinals1 North CarolinaL 68–63 Midwest 7 Marquette Hank Raymonds Independent Round of 322 MissouriL 73–69 Midwest 8 Boston College Tom Davis Big East Regional Runner-up6 HoustonL 99–92 Midwest 9 San Francisco Peter Barry West Coast Round of 488 Boston CollegeL 70–66 Midwest 10 Evansville Dick Walters Midwestern City Round of 487 MarquetteL 67–62 Midwest 11 Davey Whitney SWAC Round of 486 HoustonL 94–84 Midwest 12 Northern Illinois John McDougal Mid-American Round of 485 Kansas StateL 77–68 West West 1 Georgetown John Thompson Big East Runner Up1 North CarolinaL 63–62 West 2 Oregon State Ralph Miller Pacific-10 Regional Runner-up1 GeorgetownL 69–45 West 3 Idaho Don Monson Big Sky Sweet Sixteen2 Oregon StateL 60–42 West 4 Fresno State Boyd Grant Pacific Coast Sweet Sixteen1 GeorgetownL 58–40 West 5 West Virginia Gale Catlett Eastern Round of 324 Fresno StateL 50–46 West 6 Iowa Lute Olson Big Ten Round of 323 IdahoL 69–67 West 7 Pepperdine Jim Harrick West Coast Round of 322 Oregon StateL 70–51 West 8 Wyoming Jim Brandenburg WAC Round of 321 GeorgetownL 51–43 West 9 USC Stan Morrison Pacific-10 Round of 488 WyomingL 61–58 West 10 Pittsburgh Roy Chipman Eastern Round of 487 PepperdineL 99–88 West 11 Mike Vining Trans America Round of 486 IowaL 70–63 West 12 North Carolina A&T Don Corbett MEAC Round of 485 West VirginiaL 102–72

Bracket * – Denotes overtime period

East region

# - Memphis State was forced to vacate its NCAA tournament appearance after a massive gambling scandal and a criminal investigation into head coach Dana Kirk. Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with Memphis removing the wins from its own record.

Midwest region

Mideast region

West region

Final Four

Announcers Gary Bender and Billy Packer – First round at Logan, Utah (Wyoming–USC); Second Round at Logan, Utah (Georgetown–Wyoming, Fresno State–West Virginia); Second Round at Indianapolis, Indiana (Virginia–Tennessee, Minnesota–Chattanooga); East Regional semifinal (North Carolina–Alabama) at Raleigh, North Carolina; East Regional Final at Raleigh, North Carolina; Mideast Regional Final at Birmingham, Alabama; Final Four at New Orleans, Louisiana