1963 NCAA University Division basketball tournament

1963 NCAA University Division
basketball tournament

Cover from the official program
Season	1962–63
Teams	25
Finals site	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Champions	Loyola Ramblers (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Final Four)
Runner-up	Cincinnati Bearcats (3rd title game, 5th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Duke Blue Devils (1st Final Four) Oregon State Beavers (2nd Final Four)
Winning coach	George Ireland (1st title)
MOP	Art Heyman (Duke)
Attendance	153,065
Top scorer	Mel Counts (Oregon State) (123 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments «1962 1964»

The 1963 NCAA University Division basketball tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball in the United States. It began on March 9, 1963, and ended with the championship game on March 23 in Louisville, Kentucky. A total of 29 games were played, including a third-place game in each region and a national third-place game.

Loyola University Chicago, coached by George Ireland, won the national title with a 60–58 overtime victory in the final game, over the University of Cincinnati, coached by Ed Jucker. Art Heyman, of Duke University, was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. This tournament marked the last time that a city was host to two straight Final Fours.

Philadelphia

Evanston

Lubbock

Eugene

College Park

East Lansing

Lawrence

Provo

Louisville

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First round (green), Regionals (blue), and Final Four (red)

* – Denotes overtime period

• 1963 NCAA College Division basketball tournament
• 1963 National Invitation Tournament
• 1963 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
• Black participation in college basketball

• In the Loyola vs. Mississippi State game at East Lansing, Michigan in a Mideast regional semifinal, Mississippi State, an all-white team, played despite protests from the governor and state police of Mississippi. Mississippi State overcame a state prohibition against playing integrated teams. Loyola beat Mississippi State and went on to the Mideast Region Championship game. The Loyola–Mississippi State has since been dubbed the "Game of Change".
• In the National Championship game, Loyola started four African-Americans and Cincinnati started three, marking the first time that a majority of African-Americans participated in the championship game.
• Loyola was the tenth and, as of 2022, most recent team to win the tournament in their first appearance, joining Oregon (1939), Indiana (1940), Wisconsin (1941), Stanford (1942), Utah (1944), Oklahoma State (1945), Holy Cross (1947), La Salle (1954) and San Francisco (1955).
• Loyola's first-round regional victory over Tennessee Tech, 111–42, continues to be a record margin of victory for an NCAA men's basketball tournament game. That game also remains Tennessee Tech's most recent tournament game, as the Golden Eagles have not been back since. Tennessee Tech's 59-year drought is the second longest active drought after Dartmouth, who has not made the tournament since 1959, and third all-time behind Dartmouth and Harvard, who went 66 years (1946–2012) between tournament appearances.
• In addition to Loyola, two other teams - Mississippi State and Texas Western - both made their tournament debuts. The Bulldogs had been eligible three times before (in 1959, 1961 and 1962, the last year being tied with Kentucky), but all three times had been prohibited by the state due to its prohibition against playing integrated teams. Texas Western, who were an independent team following the disbandment of the Border Conference the year prior, lost their first tournament game to in-state rival Texas, whom they had beaten 45–40 on December 29 at home. They would also make history three years later when they won the 1966 tournament with an all-black starting five.