1979 NCAA Division I basketball tournament

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The 1979 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament had 40 teams in a single-elimination format, with 40 games played from March 9 to March 26. The event finished at the Special Events Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Michigan State Spartans, coached by Jud Heathcote, won the national title by beating the Indiana State Sycamores, coached by Bill Hodges, 75–64 in the final. Indiana State entered the final undefeated, a streak not matched by another finalist until 2021. This was Michigan State’s first championship, their first title game, and their second Final Four. Magic Johnson of Michigan State was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Tony Price of Penn was the top scorer with 142 points.

Key facts from this tournament:
- It was the only edition with 40 teams; previous year had 32 teams and the field would expand to 48 in 1980.
- This tournament introduced a full seeding of all teams by the NCAA Committee. The top six seeds in each region received byes to the second round; seeds 7–10 played in the first round.
- All four Final Four teams were from the East (Michigan State, Indiana State, DePaul, and Penn); it was the last Final Four to be held on a university campus (Utah) for some time.
- The East Round of 32 included upsets that gave the round the nickname “Black Sunday,” with Penn defeating top-seeded North Carolina and St. John’s upsetting Duke, both in Raleigh. Penn then beat Syracuse and St. John’s to reach the Final Four, where they lost to Michigan State.
- This tournament was the first to use three officials in every game.
- Attendance for the tournament totaled 262,101.