1983 NCAA tournament: Bracket, scores, stats, records

The 1983 NCAA tournament ended with NC State's Cinderella title thanks to a 54-52 upset win against No. 1 seed Houston. The No. 6 seeded Wolfpack, led by coach Jim Valvano, won on Lorenzo Charles' buzzer-beating dunk after a missed desperation shot.

Even though NC State won the championship, Houston's Akeem Olajuwon was named the Most Outstanding Player.

1983 NCAA tournament: Bracket

Click or tap here for a closer look at the 1983 March Madness bracket.

1983 NCAA tournament: Scores

• Preliminary Round
  • East No. 12 seed
    • La Salle 70, Boston University 58
  • Mideast No. 12 seed
    • Robert Morris 64, Georgia Southern 54
  • Midwest No. 12 seed
    • Alcorn State 81, Xavier 75
  • West No. 12 seed
    • Princeton 51, North Carolina A&T 42
• First Round
  • East Region
    • No. 9 Rutgers 60, No. 8 Southwest Louisiana 53
    • No. 5 VCU 76, No. 12 La Salle 67
    • No. 6 Syracuse 74, No. 11 Morehead State 59
    • No. 10 James Madison 57, No. 7 West Virginia 50
  • West Region
    • No. 8 Washington State 62, No. 9 Weber State 52
    • No. 12 Princeton 56, No. 5 Oklahoma State 53
    • No. 6 NC State 69, No. 11 Pepperdine 67 (2OT)
    • No. 10 Utah 52, No. 7 Illinois 49
  • Mideast Region
    • No. 8 Tennessee 57, No. 9 Marquette 56
    • No. 5 Purdue 55, No. 12 Robert Morris 53
    • No. 11 Ohio 51, No. 6 Illinois State 49
    • No. 7 Oklahoma 71, No. 10 UAB 63
  • Midwest Region
    • No. 8 Maryland 52, No. 9 Chattanooga 51
    • No. 5 Georgetown 68, No. 12 Alcorn State 63
    • No. 11 Lamar 73, No. 6 Alabama 50
    • No. 7 Iowa 64, No. 10 Utah State 59
• Second Round
  • East Region
    • No. 1 St. John's 66, No. 9 Rutgers 55
    • No. 4 Georgia 56, No. 5 VCU 54
    • No. 3 Ohio State 79, No. 6 Syracuse 74
    • No. 2 North Carolina 68, No. 10 James Madison 49
  • West Region
    • No. 1 Virginia 54, No. 8 Washington State 49
    • No. 4 Boston College 51, No. 12 Princeton 42
    • No. 6 NC State 71, No. 3 UNLV 70
    • No. 10 Utah 67, No. 2 UCLA 61
  • Mideast Region
    • No. 1 Louisville 70, No. 8 Tennessee 57
    • No. 4 Arkansas 78, No. 5 Purdue 68
    • No. 3 Kentucky 57, No. 11 Ohio 40
    • No. 2 Indiana 63, No. 7 Oklahoma 49
  • Midwest Region
    • No. 1 Houston 60, No. 8 Maryland 50
    • No. 4 Memphis State 66, No. 5 Georgetown 57
    • No. 3 Villanova 60, No. 11 Lamar 58
    • No. 7 Iowa 77, No. 2 Missouri 63
• Regional Semifinals
  • East Region
    • No. 4 Georgia 70, No. 1 St. John's 67
    • No. 2 North Carolina 64, No. 3 Ohio State 51
  • West Region
    • No. 1 Virginia 95, No. 4 Boston College 92
    • No. 6 NC State 75, No. 10 Utah 56
  • Mideast Region
    • No. 1 Louisville 65, No. 4 Arkansas 63
    • No. 3 Kentucky 64, No. 2 Indiana 59
  • Midwest Region
    • No. 1 Houston 70, No. 4 Memphis State 63
    • No. 3 Villanova 55, No. 7 Iowa 54
• Regional Finals
  • East Region
    • No. 4 Georgia 82, No. 2 North Carolina 77
  • West Region
    • No. 6 NC State 63, No. 1 Virginia 62
  • Mideast Region
    • No. 1 Louisville 80, No. 3 Kentucky 68 (OT)
  • Midwest Region
    • No. 1 Houston 89, No. 3 Villanova 71
• Final Four (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
  • National semifinals
    • No. 6 NC State 67, No. 4 Georgia 60
    • No. 1 Houston 94, No. 1 Louisville 81
  • National championship
    • No. 6 NC State 54, No. 1 Houston 52 | Watch full game

1983 NCAA tournament: Upsets

The following double-digit seeds won games:

1983 NCAA tournament: Stats, records

Here are the tournament leaders, with games in parentheses (minimum three games):

Individual scoring

• Greg Stokes, Iowa (3) — 20.3 points per game

Individual rebounding

• Akeem Olajuwon, Houston (5) — 13.0 rebounds per game

Team records

• NC State became the first team to win six NCAA tournament games to win the championship.
• Houston's Akeem Olajuwon was named Most Outstanding Player despite the Cougars not winning the title. As of 2020, this is the last time a player won MOP without winning the championship.
• Louisville beat Kentucky in the regional final in the rivals' first meeting since 1959.
• Georgia advanced to the Final Four in its first NCAA tournament appearance.