1961 NCAA University Division basketball tournament

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1961 NCAA University Division
basketball tournament

Cincinnati Bearcats, champions, celebrating
Season	1960–61
Teams	24
Finals site	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri
Champions	Cincinnati Bearcats (1st title, 1st title game, 3rd Final Four)
Runner-up	Ohio State Buckeyes (3rd title game, 6th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Saint Joseph's Hawks (Vacated) (1st Final Four) Utah Redskins (2nd Final Four)
Winning coach	Ed Jucker (1st title)
MOP	Jerry Lucas (Ohio State)
Attendance	169,520
Top scorer	Billy McGill (Utah) (119 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments «1960 1962»

The 1961 NCAA University Division basketball tournament involved 24 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 14, 1961, and ended with the championship game on March 25 in Kansas City, Missouri. A total of 28 games were played, including a third place game in each region and a national third place game.

Cincinnati, coached by Ed Jucker, won the national title with a 70–65 victory in the final game over in-state rival and defending national champion Ohio State, coached by Fred Taylor. Jerry Lucas of Ohio State was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

The national third-place game, won by Saint Joseph's over Utah by the score of 127–120 in four overtimes, tied the record for the longest game in NCAA Division I tournament history, set in 1956 in a first-round game between Canisius and North Carolina State. As of the regional finals of the 2019 tournament, no NCAA Division I tournament games since then have gone to a fourth overtime period.^[1] Saint Joseph's victory was later vacated because of the 1961 gambling scandal.^[2]