1986 NCAA tournament: Bracket, scores, stats, rounds (2024)

The 1986 NCAA tournament was the second NCAA tournament with a 64-team bracket, after the NCAA tournament expanded from 53 teams in 1984 to 64 teams in 1985. Every team that made the Final Four in 1986 had made the Final Four multiple times previously — Louisville, Duke, Kansas and LSU — and the Cardinals knocked off the Blue Devils to win their second national championship. Louisville's Pervis Ellison was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player while Duke's Johnny Dawkins was the tournament's leading scorer with 153 points.

LSU's 1986 team is on the short list of greatest Cinderellas ever thanks to its Final Four run as a No. 11 seed, becoming the first No. 11 seed (and just one of four all-time) to making the Final Four. Every regional final featured a team seeded No. 6 or worse: No. 6 seed N.C. State in the Midwest Regional, No. 7 seed Navy in the East, No. 8 seed Auburn in the West and No. 11 seed LSU in the Southeast.

1986 NCAA tournament: Bracket

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1986 NCAA tournament: Scores

• First Round (Round of 64)
  • East Regional
    • No. 1 Duke 85, No. 16 Mississippi Valley State 78
    • No. 8 Old Dominion 72, No. 9 West Virginia 64
    • No. 12 DePaul 72, No. 5 Virginia 68
    • No. 4 Oklahoma 80, No. 13 Northeastern 74
    • No. 6 Saint Joseph's 60, No. 11 Richmond 59
    • No. 14 Cleveland State 83, No. 3 Indiana 79
    • No. 7 Navy 87, No. 10 Tulsa 68
    • No. 2 Syracuse 101, No. 15 Brown 52
  • Midwest Regional
    • No. 1 Kansas 71, No. 16 North Carolina A&T 46
    • No. 9 Temple 61, No. 8 Jacksonville 50
    • No. 5 Michigan State 72, No. 12 Washington 70
    • No. 4 Georgetown 70, No. 13 Texas Tech 64
    • No. 6 N.C. State 66, No. 11 Iowa 64
    • No. 14 Arkansas-Little Rock 90, No. 3 Notre Dame 83
    • No. 7 Iowa State 81, No. 10 Miami (OH) 79
    • No. 2 Michigan 70, No. 15 Akron 64
  • Southeast Regional
    • No. 1 Kentucky 75, No. 16 Davidson 55
    • No. 8 Western Kentucky 67, No. 9 Nebraska 59
    • No. 5 Alabama 97, No. 12 Xavier 80
    • No. 4 Illinois 75, No. 13 Fairfield 51
    • No. 11 LSU 94, No. 6 Purdue 87
    • No. 3 Memphis State 95, No. 14 Ball State 63
    • No. 10 Villanova 71, No. 7 Virginia Tech 62
    • No. 2 Georgia Tech 68, No. 15 Marist 53
  • West Regional
    • No. 1 St. John's 83, No. 16 Montana State 74
    • No. 8 Auburn 73, No. 9 Arizona 63
    • No. 5 Maryland 69, No. 12 Pepperdine 64
    • No. 4 UNLV 74, No. 13 Northeast Louisiana 51
    • No. 6 UAB 66, No. 11 Missouri 64
    • No. 3 North Carolina 84, No. 14 Utah 72
    • No. 7 Bradley 83, No. 10 UTEP 65
    • No. 2 Louisville 93, No. 15 Drexel 73
• Second Round (Round of 32)
  • East Regional
    • No. 1 Duke 89, No. 8 Old Dominion 61
    • No. 12 DePaul 74, No. 4 Oklahoma 69
    • No. 14 Cleveland State 75, No. 6 Saint Joseph's 69
    • No. 7 Navy 97, No. 2 Syracuse 85
  • Midwest Regional
    • No. 1 Kansas 65, No. 9 Temple 43
    • No. 5 Michigan State 80, No. 4 Georgetown 68
    • No. 6 N.C. State 80, No. 14 Arkansas-Little Rock 66
    • No. 7 Iowa State 72, No. 2 Michigan 69
  • Southeast Regional
    • No. 1 Kentucky 71, No. 8 Western Kentucky 64
    • No. 5 Alabama 58, No. 4 Illinois 56
    • No. 11 LSU 83, No. 3 Memphis State 81
    • No. 2 Georgia Tech 66, No. 10 Villanova 61
  • West Regional
    • No. 8 Auburn 81, No. 1 St. John's 65
    • No. 4 UNLV 70, No. 5 Maryland 64
    • No. 3 North Carolina 77, No. 6 UAB 59
    • No. 2 Louisville 82, No. 7 Bradley 68
• Sweet 16
  • East Regional
    • No. 1 Duke 74, No. 12 DePaul 67
    • No. 7 Navy 71, No. 14 Cleveland State 70
  • Midwest Regional
    • No. 1 Kansas 96, No. 5 Michigan State 86
    • No. 6 N.C. State 70, No. 7 Iowa State 66
  • Southeast Regional
    • No. 1 Kentucky 68, No. 5 Alabama 63
    • No. 11 LSU 70, No. 2 Georgia Tech
  • West Regional
    • No. 8 Auburn 70, No. 4 UNLV 63
    • No. 2 Louisville 94, No. 3 North Carolina 79
• Elite Eight
  • East Regional
    • No. 1 Duke 71, No. 7 Navy 50
  • Midwest Regional
    • No. 1 Kansas 75, No. 6 N.C. State 67
  • Southeast Regional
    • No. 11 LSU 59, No. 1 Kentucky 57
  • West Regional
    • No. 2 Louisville 84, No. 8 Auburn 76
• Final Four (Dallas, Texas)
  • National semifinals
    • No. 1 Duke 71, No. 1 Kansas 67
    • No. 2 Louisville 88, No. 11 LSU 77
  • National championship
    • No. 2 Louisville 72, No. 1 Duke 69

1986 NCAA tournament: Upsets

The following double-digit seeds won games:

1986 NCAA tournament: Stats, records

Here are the 1986 NCAA tournament leaders (number of games in parentheses):

Individual scoring

• David Robinson, Navy (4): 27.5 points per game

Individual rebounding

• David Robinson, Navy (4): 11.8 rebounds per game