The 1943 NCAA basketball tournament involved eight schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 5th annual edition of the tournament began on March 24, 1943, and ended with the championship game on March 30, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. A total of nine games were played, including a third place game in each region. Top-ranked Illinois declined to participate in the NCAA tournament or NIT after three of its starters were drafted into the Army.
Wyoming, coached by Everett Shelton, won the national title with a 46–34 victory in the final game over Georgetown, coached by Elmer Ripley. Ken Sailors of Wyoming was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. The Cowboys were the first team in the 5-year history of the tournament to win after making a previous appearance in the tournament, having appeared in the 1941 tournament.
Locations Only two venues hosted the 1943 tournament:
Regionals
March 24 and 25 East Regional, Madison Square Garden, New York, New York (Host: Metropolitan New York Conference) March 26 and 27 West Regional, Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)
Championship Game
March 30 Madison Square Garden, New York, New York (Host: Metropolitan New York Conference)
Teams
East Regional - New York CitySchoolCoachConferenceRecord Osborne Cowles EIBL 19–2 DePaul Ray Meyer Independent 18–4 Georgetown Elmer Ripley Independent 20–4 Howard Cann Metropolitan New York 16–4
West Regional - Kansas CitySchoolCoachConferenceRecord Bruce Drake Big Six 17–8 Texas Bully Gilstrap Southwest 18–6 Washington Hec Edmundson Pacific Coast 24–5 Wyoming Everett Shelton Mountain States 28–2
Bracket
Regional third place
See also 1943 National Invitation Tournament 1943 NAIA Basketball Tournament
References