Past winners of the NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player award are:
- 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, Oklahoma A&M
- 1947 -- George Kaftan, Holy Cross
- 1948 -- Alex Groza, Kentucky
- 1949 -- Alex Groza, Kentucky
- 1950 -- Irwin Dambrot, CCNY
- 1951 -- (none selected)
- 1952 -- Clyde Lovellette, Kansas
- 1953 -- B. H. Born, Kansas
- 1954 -- Tom Gola, La Salle
- 1955 -- Bill Russell, San Francisco
- 1956 -- Hal Lear, Temple
- 1957 -- Wilt Chamberlain, Kansas
- 1958 -- Elgin Baylor, Seattle
- 1959 -- Jerry West, West Virginia
- 1960 -- Jerry Lucas, Ohio State
- 1961 -- Jerry Lucas, Ohio State
- 1962 -- Paul Hogue, Cincinnati
- 1963 -- Art Heyman, Duke
- 1964 -- Walt Hazzard, UCLA
- 1965 -- Bill Bradley, Princeton
- 1966 -- Jerry Chambers, Utah
- 1967 -- Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), UCLA
- 1968 -- Lew Alcindor, UCLA
- 1969 -- Lew Alcindor, UCLA
- 1970 -- Sidney Wicks, UCLA
- 1971 -- (none) (Howard Porter, Villanova - later ruled ineligible)
- 1972 -- Bill Walton, UCLA
- 1973 -- Bill Walton, UCLA
- 1974 -- David Thompson, NC State
- 1975 -- Richard Washington, UCLA
- 1976 -- Kent Benson, Indiana
- 1977 -- Butch Lee, Marquette
- 1978 -- Jack Givens, Kentucky
- 1979 -- Earvin Johnson, Michigan State
- 1980 -- Darrell Griffith, Louisville
- 1981 -- Isiah Thomas, Indiana University Indiana
- 1982 -- James Worthy, North Carolina
- 1983 -- Akeem Olajuwon, Houston
- 1984 -- Patrick Ewing, Georgetown
- 1985 -- Ed Pinckney, Villanova
- 1986 -- Pervis Ellison, Louisville
- 1987 -- Keith Smart, Indiana
- 1988 -- Danny Manning, Kansas
- 1989 -- Glen Rice, Michigan
- 1990 -- Anderson Hunt, UNLV
- 1991 -- Christian Laettner, Duke
- 1992 -- Bobby Hurley, Duke
- 1993 -- Donald Williams, North Carolina
- 1994 -- Corliss Williamson, Arkansas
- 1995 -- Ed O'Bannon, UCLA
- 1996 -- Tony Delk, Kentucky
- 1997 -- Miles Simon, Arizona
- 1998 -- Jeff Sheppard, Kentucky
- 1999 -- Richard Hamilton, UConn
- 2000 -- Mateen Cleaves, Michigan State
- 2001 -- Shane Battier, Duke
- 2002 -- Juan Dixon, Maryland
- 2003 -- Carmelo Anthony, Syracuse
- 2004 -- Emeka Okafor, UConn
- 2005 -- Sean May, North Carolina
- 2006 -- Joakim Noah, Florida