March Madness History: Mens and Womens Tournament MOPs

When I was a kid, I always thought the term MOP was curious. Perhaps it was because I was so used to the term MVP, and the NCAA Tournament was the only place I ever heard the term MOP, or Most Outstanding Player, used. It makes sense, I suppose; and “valuable” and “outstanding” are relatively interchangeable within the context of a 6-game tournament.

Still, there was always something about MOP that seemed less prestigious to me than MVP. Maybe it has something to do with the unavoidable mental connection to mops, the actual physical things used to clean floors, and of course terms like “mop-up duty” or “mop-up time”. I always associated those terms with the scrubs at the end of the bench getting to play — clearly a stark contrast from what MOP is meant to symbolize.

But it what it is — and I may be the only idiot to overanalyze this in such a way — and when it comes to the NCAA Tournament, the best player is named the Most Outstanding Player. And the history of the Most Outsanding Player Award is the subject of today’s March Madness history lesson.

Before we jump into the All-Time NCAA Tournament MOP table, with both the mens and womens award winners, a quick rundown of our other recent March Madness links, and even a couple of ticket resources if you are thinking of make the (wise) decision to attend some NCAA Tournament games this year.

• 2009 NCAA Mens Tournament Dates and Site Breakdown
• 2009 NCAA Womens Tournament Dates and Site Breakdown
• NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament History: Past Champions, Final Four participants, Final Four locations by year, and interesting tournament tidbits
• NCAA Champions – Mens Basketball: All-time list of mens basketball NCAA Tournament champions, ordered from most won to least.
• NCAA Women’s Basketball Championships: All-time list of womens basketball NCAA Tournament champions.
• StubHub Tickets: 2009 NCAA Mens Tournament Tickets
• StubHub Tickets: 2009 NCAA Womens Tournament Tickets

And now, here is the table that displays the all-time list of MOP winners for the mens and womens NCAA Tournament:

NCAA Basketball Tournament MOP Award Winners: Men and Women

Year	Tournament MOP - Men	School		Tournament MOP - Women	School
2009	Wayne Ellington	North Carolina		Tina Charles	UConn
2008	Mario Chalmers	Kansas		Candace Parker	Tennessee
2007	Corey Brewer	Florida		Candace Parker	Tennessee
2006	Joakim Noah	Florida		Laura Harper	Maryland
2005	Sean May	North Carolina		Sophia Young	Baylor
2004	Emeka Okafor	UConn		Diana Taurasi	UConn
2003	Carmelo Anthony	Syracuse		Diana Taurasi	UConn
2002	Juan Dixon	Maryland		Swin Cash	UConn
2001	Shane Battier	Duke		Ruth Riley	Notre Dame
2000	Mateen Cleaves	Michigan State		Shea Ralph	UConn
1999	Richard Hamilton	UConn		Ukari Figgs	Purdue
1998	Jeff Sheppard	Kentucky		Chamique Holdsclaw	Tennessee
1997	Miles Simon	Arizona		Chamique Holdsclaw	Tennessee
1996	Tony Delk	Kentucky		Michelle Marciniak	Tennessee
1995	Ed O'Bannon	UCLA		Rebecca Lobo	UConn
1994	Corliss Williamson	Arkansas		Charlotte Smith	North Carolina
1993	Donald Williams	North Carolina		Sheryl Swoopes	Texas Tech
1992	Bobby Hurley	Duke		Molly Goodenbour	Stanford
1991	Christian Laettner	Duke		Dawn Staley	Virginia
1990	Anderson Hunt	UNLV		Jennifer Azzi	Stanford
1989	Glen Rice	Michigan		Bridgette Gordon	Tennessee
1988	Danny Manning	Kansas		Erica Westbrooks	Louisiana Tech
1987	Keith Smart	Indiana		Tonya Edwards	Tennessee
1986	Pervis Ellison	Louisville		Clarissa Davis	Texas
1985	Ed Pinckney	Villanova		Tracy Claxton	Old Dominion
1984	Patrick Ewing	Georgetown		Cheryl Miller	USC
1983	Hakeen Olajuwon	Houston		Cheryl Miller	USC
1982	James Worthy	North Carolina		Janice Lawrence	Louisiana Tech
1981	Isiah Thomas	Indiana
1980	Darrell Griffith	Louisville
1979	Magic Johnson	Michigan State
1978	Jack Givens	Kentucky
1977	Butch Lee	Marquette
1976	Kent Benson	Indiana
1975	Richard Washington	UCLA
1974	David Thompson	NC State
1973	Bill Walton	UCLA
1972	Bill Walton	UCLA
1971	None (Howard Porter*)	(Villanova)		*later ruled ineligible
1970	Sidney Wicks	UCLA
1969	Lew Alcindor	UCLA
1968	Lew Alcindor	UCLA
1967	Lew Alcindor	UCLA
1966	Jerry Chambers	Utah
1965	Bill Bradley	Princeton
1964	Walt Hazzard	UCLA
1963	Art Heyman	Duke
1962	Paul Hogue	Cincinnati
1961	Jerry Lucas	Ohio State
1960	Jerry Lucas	Ohio State
1959	Jerry West	West Virginia
1958	Elgin Baylor	Seattle
1957	Wilt Chamberlain	Kansas
1956	Hal Lear	Temple
1955	Bill Russell	San Francisco
1954	Tom Gola	LaSalle
1953	B. H. Born	Kansas
1952	Clyde Lovellette	Kansas
1951	Bill Spivey	Kentucky
1950	Irwin Dambrot	CCNY
1949	Alex Groza	Kentucky
1948	Alex Groza	Kentucky
1947	George Kaftan	Holy Cross
1946	Bob Kurland	Oklahoma A&M*		*now Oklahoma State
1945	Bob Kurland	Oklahoma A&M*
1944	Arnie Ferrin	Utah
1943	Ken Sailors	Wyoming
1942	Howie Dallmer	Stanford
1941	John Kotz	Wisconsin
1940	Marvin Huffman	Indiana
1939	Jimmy Hull	Ohio State

A few interesting tidbits that I noticed while putting this list together:

• There have been 4 two-time winners of the Womens NCAA Tournament MOP Award since 1982. During that same time span, not one player on the mens side has won the award twice in a row. It did happen on the mens’ side back in the day, however, when guys like Bill Walton, Lew Alcindor, and Jerry Lucas took home multiple NCAA Tournament MOPs.
• 2004 was a hell of a year for UConn. The mens and womens teams took home the titles, with Emeka Okafor and Diani Taurasi both winning the MOP.
• Since 1982, only 14 different schools on the womens’ side have had MOP winners. In that same timespan, 20 different schools on the mens’ side have had MOP winners.
• Damn, Baylor just beat Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament.

Tags: College Basketball, march madness, ncaa tournament

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