🏀 The 1972-73 men’s college basketball season

What the record holds for this season: the champion, the tournament bracket, the AP poll week by week, the conference tables, and the Elo ratings with the biggest upsets.

Source: Citizen of Nowhere college basketball database · 20 conferences · 25-team tournament

← 1972 1974 →All seasons

Jump to any season1896–2027

2020s

2027livein progress 2026Michigan 2025Florida 2024Connecticut 2023Connecticut 2022Kansas 2021Baylor 2020cancelled

2010s

2019Virginia 2018Villanova 2017North Carolina 2016Villanova 2015Duke 2014Connecticut 2013Louisville 2012Kentucky 2011Connecticut 2010Duke

2000s

2009North Carolina 2008Kansas 2007Florida 2006Florida 2005North Carolina 2004Connecticut 2003Syracuse 2002Maryland 2001Duke 2000Michigan State

1990s

1999Connecticut 1998Kentucky 1997Arizona 1996Kentucky 1995UCLA 1994Arkansas 1993North Carolina 1992Duke 1991Duke 1990UNLV

1980s

1989Michigan 1988Kansas 1987Indiana 1986Louisville 1985Villanova 1984Georgetown 1983North Carolina State 1982North Carolina 1981Indiana 1980Louisville

1970s

1979Michigan State 1978Kentucky 1977Marquette 1976Indiana 1975UCLA 1974North Carolina State 1973UCLA 1972UCLA 1971UCLA 1970UCLA

1960s

1969UCLA 1968UCLA 1967UCLA 1966Texas Western 1965UCLA 1964UCLA 1963Loyola-Chicago 1962Cincinnati 1961Cincinnati 1960Ohio State

1950s

1959California 1958Kentucky 1957North Carolina 1956San Francisco 1955San Francisco 1954La Salle 1953Indiana 1952Kansas 1951Kentucky 1950CCNY

1940s

1949Kentucky 1948Kentucky 1947Holy Cross 1946Oklahoma A&M 1945Oklahoma A&M 1944Utah 1943Wyoming 1942Stanford 1941Wisconsin 1940Indiana

1930s

1939Oregon 1938Temple 1937Stanford 1936 1935 1934 1933 1932Purdue 1931Northwestern 1930

1920s

1929Montana State 1928Pittsburgh 1927 1926Syracuse 1925Princeton 1924North Carolina 1923 1922 1921 1920Pennsylvania

1910s

1919 1918Syracuse 1917Washington State 1916Wisconsin 1915Illinois 1914Wisconsin 1913Navy 1912Wisconsin 1911St. John's 1910

1900s

1909Chicago 1908 1907 1906 1905Columbia 1904Columbia 1903 1902Minnesota 1901 1900

1890s

1899 1898 1897 1896

1973season

← 1972 1974 →

1972-73 national champion

The NCAA tournament winner.

National champion

UCLA

30-0Final AP #1

Title gameMemphis State 66, UCLA 87 (Mar 26)

Final FourUCLAMemphis StateIndianaProvidence

The 1973 NCAA tournament

25 teams. Winners in bold, seeds before each team.

25-team field · 4 regions

First Round

Second Round

Indiana75

Marquette69

Austin Peay100

Kentucky106

Regional Finals

Indiana72

Kentucky65

Mideast region

First Round

Second Round

Indiana75

Marquette69

Austin Peay100

Kentucky106

Regional Finals

Indiana72

Kentucky65

West region

First Round

Second Round

UCLA98

Regional Finals

San Francisco39

UCLA54

East region

First Round

Furman82

Second Round

Regional Finals

Providence103

Midwest region

First Round

Houston89

Second Round

Regional Finals

Final Four and the title game

Final Four

Indiana59

UCLA70

Mideast vs West · Mar 24

Memphis State98

Providence85

Mar 24

Championship game: UCLA

Memphis State66

UCLA87

Mar 26

Third-place games

Pennsylvania68

Syracuse69

Regional Third Place · East · Mar 17

Arizona State80

Long Beach State84

Regional Third Place · West · Mar 17

SW Louisiana85

South Carolina90

Regional Third Place · Mar 17

Austin Peay73

Marquette88

Regional Third Place · Mideast · Mar 17

Indiana97

Providence79

Third Place Game · Mideast vs East · Mar 26

Conference tournaments

The champion and the other finalist of each of the 3 conference tournaments held in 1972-73.

Conference	Champion	Runner-up	Final
Atlantic Coast	North Carolina State 76-74, Mar 10	Maryland	76-74, Mar 10
Mid-Eastern	North Carolina A&T	Howard
Southern	Furman 99-81, Mar 3	Davidson	99-81, Mar 3

The 1972-73 AP poll, week by week

Each team's rank in every poll. Tap a rank to read it.

Team	Nov28	Dec5	12	19	26	Jan2	9	16	23	30	Feb6	13	20	27	Mar6	13
UCLA	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
North Carolina State	8	6	6	4	4	4	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Long Beach State	6	7	7	6	6	5	6	5	5	4	3	3	3	4	4	3
Providence		19	14	18	17	13	11	9	14	12	12	8	7	6	5	4
Marquette	5	5	4	3	3	3	4	7	10	10	7	5	5	5	6	5
Indiana			15	9	15	20	16	16	6	5	4	11	10	12	9	6
SW Louisiana	7	10	8	8	9	8	13	13	12	13	13	14	12	11	14	7
Maryland	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	3	4	3	9	10	8	9	10	8
Kansas State	17	16	20	17	16	18	17	14	18	18	18	15	13	16	11	9
Minnesota	4	4	5	5	5	6	8	6	8	9	5	4	4	3	3	10
North Carolina		13	11	13	11	9	7	4	3	8	6	6	6	7	8	11
Memphis State	11	11	19						17	17	15	16	14	10	15	12
Houston	15	20	16	14	13	10	10	12	11	11	11	7	9	8	7	13
Syracuse														14	13	14
Missouri			12	10	7	7	5	8	7	7	8	12	16	13	12	15
Arizona State																16
Kentucky	13	8													19	17
Pennsylvania	9	9	9	11	8	17										18
Austin Peay																19
San Francisco					20	12	12	10	16	16	17				19	20
Jacksonville							15	15	13	15	16	13	20	18	16
St. John's							18	17	15	14	14	9	11	17	17
St. Joseph's															18
New Mexico						16			19		20	18	15	15
South Carolina	16													19
Purdue									20				17	20
Alabama					18	14	14	11	9	6	10	17	18
Virginia Tech												19	19
BYU	12		17	15	14	15						20
Oral Roberts	18	12	10	16						19	19
USC	20	17								20
Vanderbilt			13	12	10	11	9	18
Florida State	2	2	2	7	12	19	18	19
Louisville	20						20	20
Oklahoma				19	19
Santa Clara				20
Michigan	19	18	18
Tennessee	14	14
Ohio State	10	15

Tap a rank to read it.

1973 final AP Top 20

The last Associated Press ranking of the season, with each team's record.

1973 final AP Top 20AP

1973 standings by conference

Overall and conference record. A star marks the regular-season champion, a trophy the conference-tournament champion.

1973 standings by conference20 conferences

Atlantic Coast7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
North Carolina State	27-0	12-0	★ 🏆 AP 2
North Carolina	25-8	8-4	AP 11
Maryland	23-7	7-5	NCAA AP 8
Virginia	13-12	4-8
Clemson	12-14	4-8
Duke	12-14	4-8
Wake Forest	12-15	3-9

Big Eight8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Kansas State	23-5	12-2	★ NCAA AP 9
Missouri	21-6	9-5	AP 15
Colorado	13-13	9-5
Oklahoma	18-8	8-6
Iowa State	16-10	7-7
Nebraska	9-17	4-10
Kansas	8-18	4-10
Oklahoma State	7-19	3-11

Big Sky8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Weber State	20-7	13-1	★ NCAA
Idaho State	18-8	10-4
Montana State	17-9	9-5
Montana	13-13	7-7
Gonzaga	14-12	6-8
Boise State	11-15	5-9
Idaho	7-19	3-11
Northern Arizona	6-20	3-11

Big Ten10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Indiana	22-6	11-3	★ NCAA AP 6
Minnesota	21-5	10-4	AP 10
Purdue	15-9	8-6
Illinois	14-10	8-6
Ohio State	14-10	8-6
Iowa	13-11	6-8
Michigan	13-11	6-8
Michigan State	13-11	6-8
Wisconsin	11-13	5-9
Northwestern	5-19	2-12

Ivy8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Pennsylvania	21-7	12-2	★ NCAA AP 18
Princeton	16-9	11-3
Brown	14-12	10-4
Harvard	14-12	7-7
Yale	9-16	6-8
Columbia	7-18	5-9
Dartmouth	6-20	4-10
Cornell	4-22	1-13

Mid-American7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Miami (OH)	18-9	9-2	★ NCAA
Toledo	15-11	7-5
Bowling Green	13-13	7-5
Ohio	16-10	6-5
Kent State	10-16	5-7
Western Michigan	8-18	2-10
Central Michigan	13-13

Mid-Eastern7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
South Carolina State	17-14	3-9
MD-Eastern Shore	20-2		★
Howard	19-4
Morgan State	18-7
North Carolina A&T	13-11		🏆
Delaware State	10-13
North Carolina Central	5-18

Middle Atlantic12 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
St. Joseph's	22-6	6-0	★ NCAA
Temple	17-10	5-1
Lafayette	16-10	7-3	★
American	21-5	4-2
Delaware	14-11	6-4
Gettysburg	14-11	6-4
Bucknell	11-14	6-4
La Salle	15-10	3-3
Lehigh	8-17	3-7
Rider	12-14	2-8
Hofstra	8-16	1-5
West Chester	5-21

Missouri Valley10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Memphis State	24-6	12-2	★ NCAA AP 12
Louisville	23-7	11-3
Saint Louis	19-7	10-4
Tulsa	18-8	10-4
New Mexico State	12-14	6-8
Wichita State	10-16	6-8
Drake	14-12	5-9
Bradley	12-14	4-10
North Texas	9-16	4-10
West Texas State	9-17	2-12

Ohio Valley8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Austin Peay	22-7	11-3	★ NCAA AP 19
Murray State	17-8	9-5
Morehead State	14-11	9-5
Tennessee Tech	14-11	7-7
Eastern Kentucky	12-13	7-7
Western Kentucky	10-16	6-8
Middle Tennessee State	12-13	5-9
East Tennessee State	9-17	2-12

Pacific Coast7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Long Beach State	26-3	10-2	★ NCAA AP 3
UC Santa Barbara	17-9	8-4
San Diego State	15-11	7-5
Pacific	14-12	6-6
San Jose State	11-14	6-6
CSU-Los Angeles	11-14	4-8
Fresno State	10-16	1-11

Pacific-88 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
UCLA	30-0	14-0	★ NCAA AP 1
USC	18-10	9-5
Oregon	16-10	8-6
Stanford	14-11	7-7
Washington	16-11	6-8
Oregon State	15-11	6-8
California	11-15	4-10
Washington State	6-20	2-12

Southeastern10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Kentucky	20-8	14-4	★ NCAA AP 17
Vanderbilt	20-6	13-5
Alabama	22-8	13-5
Tennessee	15-9	13-5
LSU	14-10	9-9
Mississippi	14-12	8-10
Florida	11-15	7-11
Georgia	10-16	5-13
Mississippi State	11-15	4-14
Auburn	6-20	4-14

Southern8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Davidson	18-9	9-1	★
Furman	20-9	11-2	🏆 NCAA
East Carolina	13-13	7-7
Citadel	11-15	6-7
William & Mary	10-17	5-6
Richmond	8-16	5-9
VMI	6-20	3-9
Appalachian State	6-20

Southland7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
SW Louisiana	24-5	12-0	NCAA AP 7
Texas-Arlington	13-13	6-6
Lamar	11-13	4-8
Arkansas State	7-17	2-10
Abilene Christian	6-20	2-10
McNeese State	21-5
Louisiana Tech	20-6		★

Southwest8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Texas Tech	19-8	12-2	★ NCAA
Texas A&M	17-9	9-5
Arkansas	16-10	9-5
Baylor	14-11	8-6
Texas	13-12	7-7
SMU	10-15	7-7
Rice	7-19	2-12
TCU	4-21	2-12

West Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
San Francisco	23-5	12-2	★ NCAA AP 20
Santa Clara	19-7	11-3
Pepperdine	14-11	7-7
Loyola Marymount	10-16	7-7
Seattle	13-13	6-8
UNLV	13-15	6-8
Nevada	10-16	5-9
St. Mary's	7-19	2-12

Western Athletic8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Arizona State	19-9	10-4	★ NCAA AP 16
New Mexico	21-6	9-5
BYU	19-7	9-5
Arizona	16-10	9-5
UTEP	16-10	6-8
Colorado State	13-15	5-9
Wyoming	9-17	4-10
Utah	8-19	4-10

Yankee7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Massachusetts	20-7	10-2	★
Connecticut	15-10	9-3
Boston University	15-10	7-4
Maine	13-10	6-6
Rhode Island	7-18	5-6
New Hampshire	11-15	2-10
Vermont	7-17	2-10

Independent72 teams

School	W-L	Note
Providence	27-4	NCAA AP 4
Marquette	25-4	NCAA AP 5
Houston	23-4	NCAA AP 13
Syracuse	24-5	NCAA AP 14
Virginia Tech	22-5
Jacksonville	21-6	NCAA
Oklahoma City	21-6	NCAA
Oral Roberts	21-6
South Carolina	22-7	NCAA
Marshall	20-7
Northeastern	19-7
St. John's	19-7	NCAA
Centenary	19-8
Florida State	18-8
Northern Illinois	17-8
Duquesne	16-8
Fairfield	18-9
Cincinnati	17-9
Denver	17-9
George Washington	17-9
Penn State	15-8
Detroit	16-9
Hardin-Simmons	16-9
Indiana State	16-10
Manhattan	16-10
Utah State	16-10
Notre Dame	18-12
Air Force	14-10
Creighton	15-11
Hawaii	15-11
Rutgers	15-11
Stetson	15-11
DePaul	14-11
South Alabama	14-11
Trinity	14-11
Canisius	13-11
Butler	14-12
Charlotte	14-12
Illinois State	13-12
LIU-Brooklyn	13-12
Navy	13-12
Dayton	13-13
Fairleigh Dickinson	13-13
Portland State	12-12
St. Bonaventure	13-13
Georgetown	12-14
Pittsburgh	12-14
Tulane	12-14
Army	11-13
Boston College	11-14
Colgate	11-14
Villanova	11-14
Fordham	12-16
Southern Illinois	11-15
West Virginia	10-15
Cleveland State	9-14
Ball State	9-15
Niagara	9-16
Loyola-Chicago	8-15
Holy Cross	9-17
Southern Mississippi	8-16
St. Francis (NY)	8-16
Portland	9-19
Seton Hall	8-17
Georgia Southern	8-18
St. Peter's	8-18
Georgia Tech	7-18
Iona	6-16
Samford	5-20
St. Francis (PA)	5-21
Texas-Pan American	4-22
Xavier	3-23

Elo ratings and upsets use the games in our record for this season, which is incomplete before 1995-96; team records come from the season standings.

1973 Elo and upsets

The ten highest-rated teams when the season ended, and the results the ratings gave the winner the least chance of.

1973 Elo and upsetsElo

Elo, top 10

Biggest upsets

Wyoming 61, New Mexico 60
Feb 23 · regular season · 3.7% win chance
Miami (OH) 102, North Carolina 92
Feb 21 · regular season · 4.4% win chance
Colorado 81, Missouri 79
Jan 15 · regular season · 4.9% win chance
Massachusetts 62, Pennsylvania 58
Jan 10 · regular season · 4.9% win chance
Idaho 68, Washington State 53
Dec 12 · regular season · 5.0% win chance
St. Mary's 72, California 70
Dec 2 · regular season · 5.2% win chance
Richmond 75, Canisius 73
Dec 16 · regular season · 6.0% win chance
Notre Dame 71, Marquette 69
Jan 13 · regular season · 7.1% win chance
Seattle 79, Santa Clara 77
Feb 15 · regular season · 7.6% win chance
Virginia 84, North Carolina 78
Jan 25 · regular season · 7.9% win chance

Where these numbers come from

Enough to disbelieve this page on purpose rather than by accident.

Champions, brackets, polls and standings are read from the Citizen of Nowhere college basketball database, one season at a time. A section appears only where the database holds its data: the NCAA tournament began in 1939 (earlier champions are retroactive selections), the AP poll in 1949, and game-by-game results, and so the Elo ratings and upsets, in 1950.

Elo ratings and upsets come from the site’s own men’s college basketball Elo, built from every game since 1950. An upset’s win chance is the winner’s pre-game probability from those ratings.