List of NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player (MOP) winners
Each year since the start of the NCAA Tournament in 1939, the Associated Press (AP) has named one player from the Division I men’s tournament as the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player (MOP). The AP has also awarded a MOP title on the women’s side, starting with the first women’s tournament in 1982. UCLA is the program with the most men’s winners (nine), followed by Kentucky (seven), Duke, Kansas (six each), and North Carolina (five). UCLA‘s Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) is the only player to win three times, while four others have won it twice.
The award is usually given to a member of the title-winning team, as has been the case every year since 1984. However, there are 12 instances – notated with a (*) below – in which the MOP’s team did not win the title. See also: NCAA Champions/Final Four Teams.
| Year | Player | School |
| 1939* | Jimmy Hull | Ohio State |
| 1940 | Marvin Huffman | Indiana |
| 1941 | John Kotz | Wisconsin |
| 1942 | Howie Dallmar | Stanford |
| 1943 | Ken Sailors | Wyoming |
| 1944 | Arnie Ferrin | Utah |
| 1945 | Bob Kurland | Oklahoma A&M |
| 1946 | Bob Kurland (2) | Oklahoma A&M (2) |
| 1947 | George Kaftan | Holy Cross |
| 1948 | Alex Groza | Kentucky |
| 1949 | Alex Groza (2) | Kentucky (2) |
| 1950 | Irwin Dambrot | CCNY |
| 1951 | Bill Spivey | Kentucky (3) |
| 1952 | Clyde Lovellette | Kansas |
| 1953* | B. H. Born | Kansas (2) |
| 1954 | Tom Gola | La Salle |
| 1955 | Bill Russell | San Francisco |
| 1956* | Hal Lear | Temple |
| 1957* | Wilt Chamberlain | Kansas (3) |
| 1958* | Elgin Baylor | Seattle |
| 1959* | Jerry West | West Virginia |
| 1960 | Jerry Lucas | Ohio State (2) |
| 1961* | Jerry Lucas (2) | Ohio State (3) |
| 1962* | Paul Hogue | Cincinnati |
| 1963* | Art Heyman | Duke |
| 1964 | Walt Hazzard | UCLA |
| 1965* | Bill Bradley | Princeton |
| 1966* | Jerry Chambers | Utah (2) |
| 1967 | Lew Alcindor | UCLA (2) |
| 1968 | Lew Alcindor (2) | UCLA (3) |
| 1969 | Lew Alcindor (3) | UCLA (4) |
| 1970 | Sidney Wicks | UCLA (5) |
| 1971^ | vacated | |
| 1972 | Bill Walton | UCLA (6) |
| 1973 | Bill Walton (2) | UCLA (7) |
| 1974 | David Thompson | NC State |
| 1975 | Richard Washington | UCLA (8) |
| 1976 | Kent Benson | Indiana (2) |
| 1977 | Butch Lee | Marquette |
| 1978 | Jack Givens | Kentucky (4) |
| 1979 | Earvin “Magic” Johnson | Michigan State |
| 1980 | Darrell Griffith | Louisville |
| 1981 | Isiah Thomas | Indiana (3) |
| 1982 | James Worthy | North Carolina |
| 1983* | Akeem Olajuwon | Houston |
| 1984 | Patrick Ewing | Georgetown |
| 1985 | Ed Pinckney | Villanova |
| 1986 | Pervis Ellison | Louisville (2) |
| 1987 | Keith Smart | Indiana (4) |
| 1988 | Danny Manning | Kansas (4) |
| 1989 | Glen Rice | Michigan |
| 1990 | Anderson Hunt | UNLV |
| 1991 | Christian Laettner | Duke (2) |
| 1992 | Bobby Hurley | Duke (3) |
| 1993 | Donald Williams | North Carolina (2) |
| 1994 | Corliss Williamson | Arkansas |
| 1995 | Ed O’Bannon | UCLA (9) |
| 1996 | Tony Delk | Kentucky (5) |
| 1997 | Miles Simon | Arizona |
| 1998 | Jeff Sheppard | Kentucky (6) |
| 1999 | Richard Hamilton | Connecticut |
| 2000 | Mateen Cleaves | Michigan State (2) |
| 2001 | Shane Battier | Duke (4) |
| 2002 | Juan Dixon | Maryland |
| 2003 | Carmelo Anthony | Syracuse |
| 2004 | Emeka Okafor | Connecticut (2) |
| 2005 | Sean May | North Carolina (3) |
| 2006 | Joakim Noah | Florida |
| 2007 | Corey Brewer | Florida (2) |
| 2008 | Mario Chalmers | Kansas (5) |
| 2009 | Wayne Ellington | North Carolina (4) |
| 2010 | Kyle Singler | Duke (5) |
| 2011 | Kemba Walker | Connecticut (3) |
| 2012 | Anthony Davis | Kentucky (7) |
| 2013 | Luke Hancock | Louisville (3) |
| 2014 | Shabazz Napier | Connecticut (4) |
| 2015 | Tyus Jones | Duke (6) |
| 2016 | Ryan Arcidiacono | Villanova (2) |
| 2017 | Joel Berry II | North Carolina (5) |
| 2018 | Donte DiVincenzo | Villanova (3) |
| 2019 | Kyle Guy | Virginia |
| 2020 | tournament cancelled | |
| 2021 | Jared Butler | Baylor |
| 2022 | Ochai Agbaji | Kansas (6) |
| 2023 | ||
^ The 1971 award was given to Villanova‘s Howard Porter, but was vacated when Porter was found to have been ineligible
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