In the final, North Carolina defeated Georgetown 63–62, with the Tar Heels scoring the winning points on a jumper by freshman Michael Jordan with 16 seconds remaining.

The game featured several future National Basketball Association stars and Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductees, including Jordan, James Worthy and Sam Perkins of North Carolina, and Patrick Ewing of Georgetown, along with legendary coaches Dean Smith (North Carolina) and John Thompson (Georgetown).

Five years later, CBS first used "One Shining Moment" for tournament highlights, a tradition which continues to this day.

The 1982 NCAA tournament was CBS' first after NBC Sports held the broadcast rights from 1969 to 1981.

Daft Punk sampled "Il Macquillage Lady" for their track Aerodynamic, from the album Discovery.