SAN FRANCISCO — The NCAA Tournament’s West Regional is making its 12th appearance on Bay Area hardwood this week at Chase Center, a mere 86 years since debuting on Treasure Island.
This may not identify as a college basketball hotbed, but the Bay Area has an extensive history of hosting the men’s NCAA Tournanment, from first-round games at Stanford (1953, Burnham Pavilion) and Cal (1958, Haas Pavilion) to a lone Final Four appearance at the Cow Palace, where Pete Newell’s 1960 Cal squad beat Cincinnati before falling to Ohio State in the national championship game.
The regionals will return to San Jose next March, then circle back to Chase Center in 2028. As for the Final Four, it is booked elsewhere through 2031, so enjoy the next-closest rounds this week, and bask in its history here:
1939 California Coliseum
Champion: Oregon
The first-ever NCAA Tournament featured only eight teams, and half that field played in the West Regional on Treasure Island during the Golden Gate International Exposition. Oregon’s “Tall Firs,” led by All-American center Slim Wintermute, beat Oklahoma 55-37 for the regional crown and went on to win the national championship over Ohio State in Evanston, Ill.; Oregon didn’t make it back to the Final Four until 2017. The regional offered a third-place game in which Utah State edged Texas 51-49.
1958 Cow Palace
Champion: Seattle
A six-team regional came down to Cal falling in the finals to Elgin Baylor and the Seattle Chieftains 66-62. Cal had advanced with a 54-43 win over Idaho State in the semifinals, which is where San Francisco fell 69-67 to Seattle.
1959 Cow Palace
Champion: Cal
Cal, in the wake of its second straight Elite Eight exit, used the West Regional as a stepping stone to the national championship (over Jerry West and West Virginia in Louisville). The Bears were led by future All-American Darrall Imhoff, whose jersey number (40) is among four retired at Cal.
Imhoff, Denny Fitzpatrick, Bob Dalton and Bill McClintock scored in double figures as the Bears trounced Saint Mary’s 66-46 in the regional finals. Cal advanced there with a 71-53 win over Utah. Witgh Tom Meschery totaling 19 points and 13 rebounds, Saint Mary’s won its NCAA Tournament debut 80-71 over Idaho State to reach the finals.
1990 Coliseum Arena
Champion: UNLV
Oakland’s first of three regionals saw championship-bound UNLV crush Loyola Marymount 131-101 in the regional finals, after surviving a 69-67 semifinal scare to Ball State. Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony, Larry Johnson and Anderson Hunt all scored at least 20 points in the regional final for coach Jerry Tarkanian’s Runnin’ Rebels.
Loyola Marymount, playing in the emotional wake of star Hank Gathers’ death, posted a 149-115 win in a second-round upset of Michigan to make the regionals, where it opened with a 62-60 victory over Alabama. In the loss to UNLV, Bo Kimble poured in 42 points, including a left-handed free throw in honor of Gathers that drew a standing ovation.
1995 Coliseum Arena
Champion: UCLA
Again, the national champion emerged from the West Region final in Oakland, and this time it was UCLA, which outlasted Connecticut 102-96 en route to the Final Four.
The Bruins were led by Tyus Edney, Ed and Charles O’Bannon, and Toby Bailey. They had a reserve forward named Bob Myers who, 20 years later, would win the first of four NBA championships as the Warriors’ general manager. Edney’s epic winning shot against Missouri sent UCLA into the West Regional, which opened with wins by the Bruins over Mississippi State (86-67) and Connecticut over Maryland (99-89).
1997 San Jose Arena
Champion: Kentucky
San Jose’s first regional included its neighbor 20 miles up the road. Stanford’s first Sweet 16 appearance ended with an 82-77 overtime loss to Utah, after previously upsetting Wake Forest and Tim Duncan in the second round. The Cardinal forced overtime against Utah on a late 3-pointer by Brevin Knight in his Stanford finale under coach Mike Montgomery.
Coach Rick Pitino’s Kentucky cruised into the Final Four with wins over St. Joseph’s (83-68) and Utah (72-59); Kentucky lost to Arizona in overtime in the national championship game. Pitino would have returned to the West Region this week if his No. 2-seed St. John’s squad had avoided Saturday’s upset by Arkansas.
2002 Compaq Center
Champion: Oklahoma
The Sooners routed No. 3 Arizona 88-67 in the Sweet 16 before finishing off Missouri 81-75 in the finals. Hollis Price hit a 3-pointer before the first-half buzzer and finished with 18 points for the champs. UCLA’s streak of cutting down Bay Area nets ended in the Sweet 16 with an 82-73 loss to No. 12-seed Missouri.
2006 Oracle Arena
Champion: UCLA
As was the case in 1995, the Bruins left Oakland with a Final Four ticket, advancing past No. 1-seed Memphis 50-45 in the lowest-scoring regional final since the shot-clock era began 20 years earlier. Memphis’ coach was John Calipari, who returns to the Bay Area and brings No. 10 Arkansas into this Thursday night’s West Regional matchup against No. 3 Texas Tech.
In the regional semifinals, UCLA put an end to Adam Morrison’s Gonzaga career by rallying from a nine-point deficit in the final three minutes for a 73-71 win.
2007 HP Pavilion
Champion: UCLA
The Bruins emerged yet again from a Bay Area-hosted regional, upsetting Kansas 68-55 in a matchup of the top two seeds. UCLA’s second straight, in-state route to the Final Four opened with wins in Sacramento over Weber State and Indiana, then the Bruins arrived in San Jose and dispatched No. 3-seeded Pittsburgh 64-55.
Darren Collison’s 3-pointer with 4:43 remaining barely beat the shot clock and extended UCLA’s lead to eight points. Collison had 14 points and Arron Afflalo a game-high 24.
2017 SAP Center
Champion: Gonzaga
Coach Mark Few and top-seeded Gonzaga reached their initial Final Four with an 83-59 win over No. 11 Xavier. The more dramatic action came in the Sweet 16: No. 2-seed Arizona got upset 73-71 by Xavier, and Gonzaga edged West Virginia 61-58.
Gonzaga was led by three players — Nigel Williams-Goss, Johnathan Williams and Jordan Mathews – who transferred in (before the modern-day portal that’s ravishing the sport).
2022 Chase Center
Champion: Duke
In Chase Center’s NCAA Tournament debut, Duke made its 13th and last Final Four under the retiring Mike Krzyzewski. “To see the joy, I can’t explain it, because, you know, I’m a grandfather, I’ve lived through my daughters, I’m living through my grandchildren but now I’m living through these guys,” Coach K said before cutting down the net after a 78-69 win over Arkansas. “Holy mackerel!”
When Arkansas returns Thursday night to San Francisco’s waterfront arena, it will face the other team Duke beat in the 2022 regionals, Texas Tech. Paulo Banchero, the regional MVP, scored 22 points in that 78-73 win over Texas Tech.
Three months later, the Warriors were playing NBA Finals games inside that 3-year-old home en route to a championship.