The 1989

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams fro ...

involved 64 schools playing in

single-elimination A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

play to determine the national champion of men's

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

. It began on March 16, 1989, and ended with the championship game on April 3 in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

. A total of 63 games were played.

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

, coached by

Steve Fisher Steve Fisher may refer to: * Steve Fisher (American basketball coach) (born 1945), American college basketball coach * Steve Fisher (writer) Stephen Gould Fisher (August 29, 1912 – March 27, 1980) was an American author best known for h ...

, won the national title with an 80–79 overtime victory in the final game over Seton Hall, coached by

P. J. Carlesimo Peter John Carlesimo (born May 30, 1949) is an American basketball coach who coached in both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and college basketball for nearly 40 years. He is also a television broadcaster, having worked with ESPN, '' Th ...

. Glen Rice of Michigan set an NCAA tournament record by scoring 184 points in six games and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Just prior to the start of this tournament, Michigan coach Bill Frieder had announced that he would accept the head coaching position at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

at the end of the season. Michigan athletic director

Bo Schembechler Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler Jr. ( ; April 1, 1929 – November 17, 2006) was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the University o ...

promptly fired Frieder and appointed top assistant Fisher as interim coach, stating famously, that "a Michigan man is going to coach a Michigan team." Two 16-seeded teams came within one point of victory in the first round ( Georgetown vs. Princeton, Oklahoma vs. East Tennessee State), and a third came within six points. This tournament was also unusual in that all four 11-seeds advanced out of the first round. The 1989 Tournament was the second one since 1980, with 1987 being the first, in which the defending national champion did not participate in the tournament.

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

, winner of the 1988 NCAA title, had been placed on probation for violations committed by former coach Larry Brown and was barred from the tournament. Brown left Kansas immediately after winning the national championship to return to coaching in the NBA with the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

, leaving first-year coach Roy Williams to coach the team. It is the only time the Jayhawks have missed the NCAA tournament from 1984 to the present day. The defending champion would not be left out of the next year's tournament again until

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. The tournament was notable for the poor performance of the SEC. After traditional stalwart Kentucky missed the postseason after experiencing its first losing season since 1927, none of the five SEC teams won a game in the tournament.

Schedule and venues

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1989 tournament, and their hosts: First and Second Rounds *March 16 and 18 **East Region ***

Greensboro Coliseum The Greensboro Coliseum Complex, commonly referred to as Greensboro Coliseum (the first and biggest building on the site), is an entertainment and sports complex located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Opened in 1959, the complex holds eight ven ...

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte, North Car ...

(

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Assoc ...

) **Midwest Region *** Hoosier Dome,

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mar ...

(

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantry ...

/ IUPUI) **Southeast Region *** Memorial Gymnasium,

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

( Vanderbilt) **West Region *** BSU Pavilion,

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ar ...

(

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a pub ...

) *March 17 and 19 **East Region *** Providence Civic Center,

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

(

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

) **Midwest Region ***

Reunion Arena Reunion Arena was an indoor arena located in the Reunion district of downtown Dallas, Texas. The arena served as the primary home of the National Hockey League's Dallas Stars and the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks. The ...

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

(

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma ...

) **Southeast Region ***

Omni Coliseum Omni Coliseum (often called The Omni) was an indoor arena in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Completed in 1972, the arena seated 16,378 for basketball and 15,278 for hockey. It was part of the Omni Complex, now known as the CNN Center. It ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...

(

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

) **West Region ***

McKale Center McKale Memorial Center is an athletic arena in the southwest United States, located on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. As the home of the university's Wildcats basketball team of the Pac-12 Conference, it is primar ...

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

(

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

) Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) *March 23 and 25 **Southeast Regional, Rupp Arena,

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County. By population, it is the second-largest city in Kentucky and 57th-largest city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 28th-largest ...

(

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

) **West Regional, McNichols Sports Arena,

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

(

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

) *March 24 and 26 **East Regional, Brendan Byrne Arena,

East Rutherford, New Jersey East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 10,022, reflecting an increase of 1,109 (+12.4%) from the 8,913 counted in the 2010 census.

( Seton Hall) **Midwest Regional,

Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (commonly called the Metrodome) was a domed sports stadium located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It opened in 1982 as a replacement for Metropolitan Stadium, the former home of the National Football League' ...

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origi ...

(

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

) National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) *April 1 and 3 **

Kingdome The Kingdome (officially the King County Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium located in the Industrial District (later SoDo) neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. Owned and operated by King County, it was best known as the hom ...

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

(

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

) The Kingdome was the host city of the Final Four for the second time in six years. Once again, all four venues in the regional rounds were former or future Final Four venues. For the first time since 1964, there were no new host cities or venues used for the tournament. Additionally, no venues were retired after this year.

Teams

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East Regional – East Rutherford, New Jersey

First round summary

Second round summary

Regional Semi-final summary

Regional Final summary

West Regional – Denver, Colorado

First round summary

Second round summary

Regional Semi-final summary

Regional Final summary

Southeast Regional – Lexington, Kentucky

First round summary

Second round summary

Regional Semi-final summary

Regional Final summary

Midwest Regional – Minneapolis

First round summary

Second round summary

Regional Semi-final summary

Regional Final summary

Final Four – Seattle

(* – Denotes Overtime)

Game summaries

National Championship

Announcers

Television

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W ...

Jim Nantz James William Nantz III (born May 17, 1959) is an American sportscaster who has worked on telecasts of the National Football League (NFL), NCAA Division I men's basketball, the NBA and the PGA Tour for CBS Sports since the 1980s. He has ancho ...

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the hono ...

served as studio hosts. *

Brent Musburger Brent Woody Musburger (born May 26, 1939) is an American sportscaster, currently the lead broadcaster and managing editor at Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN). With CBS Sports from 1973 until 1990, he was one of the original members ...

and Billy Packer – First round (DePaul–Memphis State) at Boise, Idaho; Second Round at Indianapolis, Indiana and Atlanta, Georgia; East Regionals at East Rutherford, New Jersey; Final Four at Seattle, Washington *

Dick Stockton Richard Edward Stokvis (born November 22, 1942), known professionally as Dick Stockton, is an American retired sportscaster. Stockton began his career in Philadelphia, then moved to Pittsburgh, where he worked as the sports director for KDKA-TV. ...

and

Bill Raftery William Joseph Raftery (born April 19, 1943) is an American basketball analyst and former college basketball coach. High school and college years Raftery attended Saint Cecilia High School in Kearny, New Jersey, where he starred in basketball an ...

– Second Round at Greensboro, North Carolina and Dallas, Texas; West Regionals at Denver, Colorado *

Tim Brant Tim Brant (born February 26, 1949) is a retired American sportscaster. Brant most recently worked for Raycom Sports and was formerly Vice President, Sports for WJLA-TV in Washington, DC. He has spent more than forty years covering sports nation ...

and Len Elmore – Second Round at Boise, Idaho; Southeast Regionals at Lexington, Kentucky * Verne Lundquist and

Tom Heinsohn Thomas William Heinsohn (August 26, 1934 – November 9, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. He was associated with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) for six decades as a player, coach and broadcast ...

– First round (Louisiana State–UTEP) and Second Round at Tucson, Arizona; Midwest Regionals at Minneapolis, Minnesota *

Steve Zabriskie Steven Kenneth Zabriskie (born May 13, 1947 in Palo Alto, California) is a retired American television sports announcer who is best known for calling Major League Baseball and college football. Announcing career Zabriskie was a television sports ...

and Curry Kirkpatrick – Second Round at Nashville, Tennessee *

Greg Gumbel Greg Gumbel (born May 3, 1946) is an American television sportscaster. He is best known for his various assignments for CBS Sports (most notably, the National Football League and NCAA basketball). The older brother of news and sportscaster Brya ...

and

Quinn Buckner William Quinn Buckner (born August 20, 1954) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played collegiate basketball for the Indiana University Hoosiers, and won a national championship in 1976. He was a captain of both ...

– Second Round at Providence, Rhode Island

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

and NCAA Productions * Tim Brando (NCAA Tournament Today) and John Saunders (NCAA Tournament Tonight) served as studio hosts and

Dick Vitale Richard John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadcaster f ...

served as studio analyst. * Bob Carpenter and

– First round (South Carolina–North Carolina State) & (Notre Dame–Vanderbilt) at Providence, Rhode Island * Mike Gorman and Ron Perry – First round (Rutgers–Iowa) & (Princeton–Georgetown) at Providence, Rhode Island *

Mike Patrick Michael Patrick (born September 9, 1944) is a retired American sportscaster, known for his long tenure with ESPN. Early career Patrick began his broadcasting career in the fall of 1966 at WVSC-Radio in Somerset, Pennsylvania. In 1970, he was ...

and Dan Bonner – First round (Minnesota–Kansas State) & (South Carolina State–Duke) at Greensboro, North Carolina * Bob Rathbun and Bucky Waters – First round (Siena–Stanford) & (Tennessee–West Virginia) at Greensboro, North Carolina * Tom Hammond and Clark Kellogg – First round (UALR–Louisville) & (Ball State–Pittsburgh) at Indianapolis, Indiana * Mick Hubert and Jim Gibbons – First round (Loyola Marymount–Arkansas) & (McNeese State–Illinois) at Indianapolis, Indiana *

Ron Franklin Ronald Franklin (February 2, 1942January 18, 2022) was an American sportscaster. He was employed by ESPN from 1987 to 2011. He was fired by ESPN on January 4, 2011, after making sexist comments to a colleague.Bob Ortegel Robert Frank Ortegel (born September 15, 1940 in Evanston, Illinois) was the color commentator for Dallas Mavericks television broadcasts. Ortegel had previously been head coach for Drake University Drake University is a private university in ...

– First round (Colorado State–Florida), (Creighton–Missouri), & (Syracuse–Bucknell) at Dallas, Texas * Wayne Larrivee and

Jack Givens Jack "Goose" Givens (born September 21, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats, earning consensus second-team All-American honors. He led the team to the 1978 NCAA Men ...

– First round (Louisiana Tech–LaSalle) & (Middle Tennessee State–Florida State) at Nashville, Tennessee * John Sanders and Gary Thompson – First round (East Tennessee State–Oklahoma) & (Providence–Virginia) at Nashville, Tennessee *Ralph Hacker and Dan Belluomini – First round (Xavier–Michigan) & (Iowa State–UCLA) at Atlanta, Georgia * Fred White and Larry Conley – First round (South Alabama–Alabama) & (Southern–North Carolina) at Atlanta, Georgia * Brad Nessler and

Irv Brown Irv Brown (March 30, 1935 – February 3, 2019) was an American sportscaster, and basketball and baseball player, coach, executive, and official. Early life Brown earned seven letters at North High School in Denver, where he starred in footbal ...

– First round (Robert Morris–Arizona) & (Idaho–UNLV) at Boise, Idaho * Ted Robinson and – First round (Clemson–Saint Mary's) at Boise, Idaho *Pete Solomon and Bob Elliott – First round (Evansville–Oregon State) at Tucson, Arizona * Barry Tompkins and Bruce Larson – First round (SW Missouri State–Seton Hall) & (George Mason–Indiana) at Tucson, Arizona

Radio

First and second rounds

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broad ...

Regionals

* – East Regionals at East Rutherford, New Jersey * – Midwest Regionals at Minneapolis, Minnesota * – Southeast Regionals at Lexington, Kentucky * Ted Robinson and – West Regionals at Denver, Colorado

Final Four

* – at Seattle, Washington

Legacy

The story of the Wolverines' success was cited as inspiration in another sport. When the

Spain national football team The Spain national football team ( es, Selección Española de Fútbol) has represented Spain in international men's football competitions since 1920. It is governed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football ...

manager Julen Lopetegui was sacked days before the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

started after agreeing to join

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

after the tournament, Spanish defender

Gerard Piqué Gerard Piqué Bernabeu (, ; born 2 February 1987) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is considered one of the best defenders of his generation. Initially a highly promising student at La Masia, Piqu ...

drew parallels with Michigan's NCAA win amid similar circumstances. Unfortunately, Spain failed to advance beyond the round of 16 while

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

won the tournament.

References

{{1989 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball navbox NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Naia Basketball in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Sports competitions in Seattle

1980s in Seattle

Basketball in Seattle

Schedule and venues

Teams

Bracket

East Regional – East Rutherford, New Jersey

First round summary

Second round summary

Regional Semi-final summary

Regional Final summary

West Regional – Denver, Colorado

First round summary

Second round summary

Regional Semi-final summary

Regional Final summary

Southeast Regional – Lexington, Kentucky

First round summary

Second round summary

Regional Semi-final summary

Regional Final summary

Midwest Regional – Minneapolis

First round summary

Second round summary

Regional Semi-final summary

Regional Final summary

Final Four – Seattle

Game summaries

National Championship

Announcers

Television

Radio

First and second rounds

Regionals

Final Four

Legacy

See also

References