The 1972 Paris Open, also known as the Jean Becker Open Championships, was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. The event was part of the Grand Prix circuit and classified as a B category tournament. It was the 4th edition of the Paris Open (later known as the Paris Masters) and took place at the Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from October 30 through November 5, 1972. Stan Smith won the singles title.

The 1972 Omloop Het Volk was the 27th edition of the Omloop Het Volk cycle race and was held on 4 March 1972. The race started and finished in Ghent. The race was won by Frans Verbeeck.

1972 National Invitation Tournament

1972 Oregon Webfoots football team

1972 Oregon State Beavers football season

1972 NCAA University Division Men's Soccer Championship

1972 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team

1972 New York Jets football

The 1972 NCAA University Division Baseball Tournament was played at the end of the 1972 NCAA University Division baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series, a double-elimination tournament in its twenty-sixth year. Eight regional districts sent representatives to the College World Series with preliminary rounds within each district serving to determine each representative. These events would later become known as regionals. Each district had its own format for selecting teams, resulting in 28 teams participating in the tournament at the conclusion of their regular season, and in some cases, after a conference tournament. The twenty-sixth tournament's champion was Southern California, coached by Rod Dedeaux. The Most Outstanding Player was Russ McQueen of the University of Southern California.

1972 National Basketball Association Draft

1972 Palestine Cup of Nations

1972 Oakland Athletics season

The 1972 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the 1972 Big Ten Conference football season. In their fourth season under head coach Bo Schembechler, the Wolverines compiled a 10–1 record, outscored opponents 264–57, and were ranked sixth in both final polls (Coaches and AP). Offensive guard Tom Coyle and defensive back Randy Logan were the team captains. Michigan won its first ten games with four conference shutouts (Northwestern, Michigan State, Minnesota, Iowa), and was ranked third in the AP Poll prior to its 14–11 road loss to rival Ohio State in late November. Two Wolverines were consensus first-team All-Americans – senior team captain Randy Logan and offensive tackle Paul Seymour. Schembecher won the first Big Ten Football Coach of the Year Award based on a poll of news media covering the conference.

1972 NCAA Skiing Championships

1972 Norwegian Football Cup

1972 Oklahoma Sooners football

The 1972 Montreal Expos season was the fourth season in the history of the franchise. The Expos finished in fifth place in the National League East with a record of 70–86, 26½ games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates.

1972 Pacific-8 Conference football season

1972 Moroccan coup d'état

The 1972 New Orleans Saints season was the team's sixth as a member of the National Football League (NFL). They failed to improve on their previous season’s output of 4–8–2, winning only two games. The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. The Saints suffered through their second 2–11–1 season in three years, tying with the Philadelphia Eagles for the second worst record in the league, only surpassed by the Houston Oilers’ 1–13. It would be their worst until they went 2–12 in 1975.

The 1972 PGA Tour season was played from January 6 to December 3. The season consisted of 47 official money events. Jack Nicklaus won the most tournaments, seven, and there were five first-time winners. The tournament results and award winners are listed below.

1972 New England Patriots season

The following poll makes up the 1971 NCAA University Division baseball rankings. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper published its first human poll of the top 20 teams in college baseball in 1957, and expanded to rank the top 30 teams in 1961.

1972 Oklahoma Sooners football season

1972 Nicholls State Colonels football team

1972 North Yemen–South Yemen war

The 1972 Nicholls State Colonels football team represented Nicholls State University in the 1972 NCAA College Division football season. The Colonels were led by first-year head coach Gary Kinchen. They played their home games at Colonel Stadium and were a member of the Gulf South Conference. They finished the season 3–8, 1–5 in Gulf South play.

1972 New England Patriots football

1972 Masters Tournament

The 7th National Society of Film Critics Awards, given on 29 December 1972, honored the best filmmaking of 1972. The member critics voting were Hollis Alpert of World, Gary Arnold of The Washington Post, Vincent Canby of The New York Times, Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times, Jay Cocks of Time, Judith Crist of New York, David Denby of The Atlantic, Bernard Drew of the Gannett News Service, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, Joseph Gelmis of Newsday, Penelope Gilliatt of The New Yorker, Roger Greenspun of The New York Times, Molly Haskell of The Village Voice, Pauline Kael of The New Yorker, Michael Korda of Glamour, Arthur Knight of Saturday Review, Thomas Meehan of Saturday Review, William S. Pechter of Commentary, Andrew Sarris of The Village Voice, Richard Schickel of Life, Br

Two human polls comprised the 1972 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football rankings. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship, instead that title is bestowed by one or more different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason—the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll.

1972 NCAA University Division Baseball Tournament

1972 Northwestern Wildcats football

1972 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship

The 1972 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships were contested March 10−11, 1972 at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan at the eighth annual NCAA-sanctioned track meet to determine the individual and team national champions of men's collegiate indoor track and field events in the United States. USC topped the team standings, the Trojans' second indoor team title.

1972 NCAA University Division Soccer Championship

The 1972 NAIA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament involved four schools playing in single-elimination bracket to determine the national champion of men's NAIA college ice hockey. The 1972 tournament was the fifth men's ice hockey tournament to be sponsored by the NAIA. The tournament began on March 4, 1972, and ended with the championship game on March 5. Gustavus Adolphus attended the tournament for the fifth straight year with Lake Superior State making a fourth tournament appearance; both University of Wisconsin–Superior and University of St. Thomas made the tournament for the first time. Lake Superior State reached the championship game for the fourth year in program history. Led my head coach Ron Mason, the Lakers defeated Gustavus Adolphus to win the team's first national championship.

1972 New Zealand Open

The 1972 National Invitation Tournament was the 1972 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition.

1972 New York Jets

1972 Miami Dolphins football

1972 Olympic

1972 Ohio Bobcats football season

1972 Men's Grand Prix (tennis)

The 1972 National Challenge Cup was the 59th edition of the United States Soccer Football Association's annual open soccer championship. Teams from the North American Soccer League declined to participate. Elizabeth S.C. defeated the San Pedro Yugoslavs in the final game.

1972 Orszagos Bajnoksag I (men's water polo)

1972 Mississippi State Bulldogs football season

1972 Milan-San Remo

1972 NASL Final

The 1972 NCAA University Division Outdoor Track and Field Championships were contested June 1−3 at the 50th annual NCAA-sanctioned track meet to determine the individual and team national champions of men's collegiate University Division outdoor track and field events in the United States. This year's outdoor meet was hosted by the University of Oregon at Hayward Field in Eugene, OR. UCLA easily finished atop the team standings, capturing their second consecutive, and fourth overall, team national title.

1972 Miami Dolphins season

1972 Nebraska Cornhuskers football season

1972 NBA Finals

1972 Next Generation Adelaide International - Singles

1972 Minnesota Golden Gophers football

1972 Milwaukee Panthers football season

1972 Pakistani Census

1972 New York Jets season

The 1972 New York Giants season was the franchise's 48th season in the National Football League (NFL). The Giants had an 8–6 record and finished in third place in the National Football Conference East Division, three games behind the Washington Redskins.

The 1972 Northern 300 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on July 16, 1972, at Trenton Speedway in Trenton, New Jersey.

1972 Munich Massacre

The 1972 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1972 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first year under head coach Cal Stoll, the Golden Gophers compiled a 4–7 record and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 304 to 185. Fullback John King received the team's Most Valuable Player award. King was also named All-Big Ten first team. Defensive back Tim Alderson was named All-Big Ten second team. Offensive lineman Doug Kingsriter was named Academic All-Big Ten.

The 1972 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship was the fourth annual tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA men's college water polo. Tournament matches were played at the in Albuquerque, New Mexico during December 1972. UCLA defeated UC Irvine in the final, 10–5, to win their third, and second consecutive, national title. The leading scorer for the tournament was from UC Irvine (31 goals). The Most Outstanding Player of the tournament was Eric Lindroth from UCLA. Additionally, an All-Tournament Team was named for the first time this year.

The 1972 National League Championship Series was played between the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates from October 7 to 11. Cincinnati won the series three games to two to advance to the World Series against the Oakland A's. The Reds became the first team in major league history to advance to the World Series without the best record in their respective league, made possible by the Junior and Senior Circuits each splitting into two divisions in 1969. In the previous three post seasons, the team with the best record in each league advanced to the World Series.

The 1972 Old Dominion 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that was held on September 24, 1972, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia. The race car drivers still had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend's race through a policy of homologation (and under their own power). This policy was in effect until roughly 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore.

1972 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

1972 NHL Expansion Draft

1972 NCAA University Division Cross Country Championships

1972 NASCAR Cup Series

1972 NCAA University Division Outdoor Track and Field Championships

1972 NBA Draft

The 1972 New Zealand eight was a team of Olympic gold medallists in rowing from New Zealand, having previously won the 1971 European Rowing Championships. At the time, the eight was regarded as the blue ribbon class of rowing, and the sport still had amateur-status in New Zealand, unlike many other nations competing in rowing. After a disappointing Olympic performance at the 1968 Summer Olympics by the New Zealand eight, national selectors Rusty Robertson, Don Rowlands, and were tasked with assembling a new crew. Robertson was also the team's coach. The next time a New Zealand eight competed was at the 1970 World Rowing Championships, where they came third. The team was once again significantly changed for the next rowing season, with the 1971 edition of the European Rowing Championships and other international regattas beforehand seen as the ultimate test for the 1972 Summer Olympics. The team put up an impressive performance, beat the highly favoured East German eight, and became European champion; at the time the win was regarded to hold world championship status. No further changes were made to the team, not even their seating position, for the 1972 season. Despite a shoe-string budget, financial constraints, and all rowers working part-time, the 1971 success was repeated and the team won Olympic gold in Munich. The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Avery Brundage, was a zealous advocate of amateurism; he was so impressed by the New Zealand performance that he insisted on handing out the gold medals himself. During the medal ceremony, much to almost everybody's surprise, "God Defend New Zealand" was played instead of the national anthem, "God Save the Queen". It was the impetus for a campaign to make "God Defend New Zealand" the New Zealand anthem, and in 1977 it was gazetted as having equal status to the traditional anthem. The team won some significant awards and recognition for its successes. The rules of the "Sportsman of the Year Award" had to be changed so that a team could win the supreme award; this was awarded after their European championship win. Brundage also awarded the Taher Pacha Trophy to the team for distinction in amateur sport in 1971. After the Olympic success, the team was again awarded "Sportsman of the Year"; the first time a back-to-back award had been handed out. Rowlands, their manager, was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1973 New Year Honours. Over time, coach Robertson, manager Rowlands, and then the team as a whole were inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame.

The 1972 New Zealand Grand Prix was a race held at the Pukekohe Park Raceway on 8 January 1972. The race had 20 starters. It was the 18th New Zealand Grand Prix, and doubled as the first round of the 1972 Tasman Series. Australian Frank Gardner won his first NZGP in his McLaren Formula 5000 ahead of British Grand Prix motorcycle racing champion Mike Hailwood. The first New Zealand driver to finish was Robbie Francevic in the McLaren Formula 5000 who came in 9th place.

1972 New Orleans Saints football

1972 NHL Entry Draft

The 1972 Maureen Connolly Brinker International was a women's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts at the T-BAR-M Racquet Club in Dallas, Texas in the United States that was part of the 1972 WT Pro Tour. It was the inaugural edition of the tournament and was held from March 7 through March 12, 1972. Unseeded Nancy Gunter won the singles title and earned $11,000 first-prize money.

The 1972 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 1972 Big Ten Conference football season. In their 19th season under head coach Duffy Daugherty, the Spartans compiled a 5–5–1 overall record (5–2–1 against Big Ten opponents) and finished in fourth place in the Big Ten Conference.

The 1972 NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship (then named the NCAA College Division Men's Soccer Championship) was the inaugural Division II men's college soccer tournament held by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Since 1959, all schools had competed in a single division. The SIU Edwardsville Cougars won their first NCAA title in any sport by defeating the Oneonta Red Dragons in the championship game, 1-0. The final match was played on December 9, 1972, in Edwardsville, Illinois, at SIUE's Cougar Field, which also hosted the Division I College Cup in 1970 and 1975.

1972 New York Mets season

The 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 24th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 1st modern-era NASCAR Cup series season. The season began on Sunday January 23 and ended on Sunday November 12. Richard Petty won his second consecutive Winston Cup Championship and fourth overall. Larry Smith was named NASCAR Rookie of the Year. This season is considered to be the first of NASCAR's "modern era". The number of races was reduced from 48 to 31, all dirt tracks were removed from the schedule, and a minimum race distance of 250 miles (402 km) was established for oval tracks.

1972 Michigan Wolverines football team

1972 New England Patriots football team

1972 New Zealand rugby league season

1972 Oscars

1972 Michigan vs. Navy football game

The 1972 Missouri Southern Lions football team represented Missouri Southern State College during the 1972 NAIA Division II football season, and completed the 6th season of Lion football at the senior college level. The Lions played their home games in Joplin, Missouri. The 1972 team came off a 4–6 record from the prior season. The 1972 team was headed by coach . The team finished the regular season with an undefeated 10–0 record and made the program's first appearance in the NAIA playoffs. They won their first NAIA Division II Football National Championship with a 21–14 win over Northwestern College.

The 1972 NCAA University Division Cross Country Championships were the 34th annual cross country meet to determine the team and individual national champions of men's collegiate cross country running in the United States. Held on November 20, 1972, the meet was hosted by the University of Houston at the in Houston, Texas. The distance for this race was 6 miles (9.7 kilometers). All NCAA University Division members were eligible to qualify for the meet. In total, 25 teams and 241 individual runners contested this championship. The team national championship was won by the Tennessee Volunteers, their first title. The individual championship was won by Neil Cusack, from East Tennessee State, with a time of 28:23.00.

1972 Pakistan Census

1972 Olympic Men's Basketball Final

The 1972 Miami Gatos season was the first and only season of the new team, and the club's sixth season in professional soccer. It is also the first ever incarnation of the club's new name. Previously, they were known as the Washington Darts.This year, the team finished in fourth place in the Southern Division. They did not make the North American Soccer League playoffs. At the end of the year the club folded the team, relocated to a new stadium, rebranded themselves, and fielded a new team for the 1973 season called the Miami Toros.

1972 Meath Intermediate Football Championship

The 1972 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament was the second annual NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament. This was the last NCAA championship in which the Wingate Memorial Trophy was also presented to the national champion. Prior to NCAA Lacrosse Championships, the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) awarded the Wingate Memorial Trophy to the NCAA annual champion based on regular season records.

The 1972 New York Cosmos season was the second season for the New York Cosmos in the now-defunct North American Soccer League. In the Cosmos' second year of existence, the club finished 1st in the Northern Division and 1st in the overall league table. In the playoffs, the Cosmos defeated the Dallas Tornado in the semifinal and the St. Louis Stars in the final, winning their first league championship and completing the first double by a club in the national era.

1972 NAIA Ice Hockey Championship

1972 Montana Grizzlies football

1972 Olympics

1972 North Carolina Tar Heels football

1972 National Hockey League Amateur Draft

1972 National Basketball Association Finals

The 1972 NAIA Division II football season, as part of the 1972 college football season in the United States and the 17th season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the third season of play of the NAIA's lower division for football. The season was played from August to November 1972 and culminated in the 1972 NAIA Division II Football National Championship, played on December 9, 1972 in Joplin, Missouri on the campus of Missouri Southern State College. Missouri Southern State defeated Northwestern (IA) in the championship game, 21–14, to win their first NAIA national title. As of 2015, this was the earliest championship to feature a team that remains a NAIA member.

1972 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament

1972 Paris Open

1972 Ole Miss Rebels football

The 1972 New Zealand eight was a team of Olympic gold medallists in rowing from New Zealand, having previously won the 1971 European Rowing Championships. At the time, the eight was regarded as the blue ribbon class of rowing, and the sport still had amateur-status in New Zealand, unlike many other nations competing in rowing. After a disappointing Olympic performance at the 1968 Summer Olympics by the New Zealand eight, national selectors Rusty Robertson, Don Rowlands, and were tasked with assembling a new crew. Robertson was also the team's coach. The next time a New Zealand eight competed was at the 1970 World Rowing Championships, where they came third. The team was once again significantly changed for the next rowing season, with the 1971 edition of the European Rowing Championships

The 1972 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 12th in the National Football League. It marked the return of Fran Tarkenton to the Vikings after he had been traded to the New York Giants in 1967. In return, Minnesota sent three players to the Giants (Norm Snead, Bob Grim and Vince Clements), plus a first and second round draft choice. Tarkenton's return also led to the previous season's QB, Gary Cuozzo, being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in a deal which sent wide receiver John Gilliam to the Vikings along with second- and fourth-round draft picks in 1973. Cardinals coach Bob Hollway was familiar with Cuozzo, having served as Minnesota's defensive coordinator under Bud Grant prior to leaving for St. Louis in 1971. The Vikings finished with a record of seven wins and seven losses and failed to improve on their 11–3 record from 1971. This would be one of only two times during the 1970s in which the Vikings failed to reach the playoffs, as they would win the NFC Central six straight years from 1973–1978 before posting a 7–9 record in 1979. The Vikings started the season with just one win in their first four games, including a surprising 19-17 loss to the lightly-regarded Cardinals in week four, when Gary Cuozzo bested his former team as Vikings kicker Fred Cox hit the upright on a potential game-winning field goal. The team recovered from their slow start, winning five of their next six to sit at 6–4. However, the Vikings would lose three of their final four games to finish the season at an even 7–7.

1972 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football

1972 NLCS

1972 New York Giants football team

The 1972 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round played at the conclusion of the 1971–72 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks in five games. The Lakers got their first NBA championship since the franchise moved to Los Angeles from Minneapolis. It was a rematch of the 1970 NBA Finals that the Knicks had won in a full seven-game series.

The 1972 NCAA University Division baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began in the spring of 1972. The season progressed through the regular season and concluded with the 1972 College World Series. The College World Series, held for the twenty sixth time in 1972, consisted of one team from each of eight geographical districts and was held in Omaha, Nebraska at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium as a double-elimination tournament. Southern California claimed the championship for the third year in a row, en route to five consecutive titles.

1972 Montreal Expos season

The 1972 Orange Bowl was played the night of January 1 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. In the final game of the 1971 college football season, the top-ranked and defending national champion Nebraska Cornhuskers of the Big Eight Conference soundly defeated the #2 Alabama Crimson Tide of the Southeastern Conference, 38–6.

1972 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament

1972 Oregon State Beavers football

The 1972 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy (USNA) during the 1972 college football season. Navy competed as an independent with no conference affiliation. The team was led by fourth-year head coach Rick Forzano.

The 1972 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round played at the conclusion of the 1971–72 National Basketball Association (NBA) season. The Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Eastern Conference champion New York Knicks in five games. The Lakers got their first NBA championship since the franchise moved to Los Angeles from Minneapolis. It was a rematch of the 1970 NBA Finals that the Knicks had won in a full seven-game series. This season's team won a then NBA-record 69 regular season games, including 33 wins in a row -- a record which still stands. The 69 wins would remain a record for the most wins in a season until the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (who were coached by former Knick Phil Jackson) broke it en route to a 72-win season that also resulted in a championship of their own. They were led by Wilt Chamberlain, the NBA's top rebounder that season. Guards Gail Goodrich and Jerry West were each among the NBA's top ten scorers that season, spearheading the NBA's top offense at 121 points per game. West also led the NBA in assists. The Lakers as a team led all NBA teams in rebounds and assists that season. Los Angeles had swept a solid 57-win Chicago Bulls team in the playoff's opening round, then defeated the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks (record of 63-19) in six games to win the Western Conference. That historic series had matched Chamberlain against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and West against Oscar Robertson. Having defeated tough Milwaukee, 48-win New York figured to be an easy formality for the Lakers. New York was a top defensive team that allowed just 98.2 points per game and made 47% of their shots as a team. They had defeated the 38-win Baltimore Bullets and then upset the 56-win Boston Celtics to win the Eastern Conference final.

The 1972 October Revolution Parade was held in commemoration of the 55th anniversary of the 1917 October Revolution and the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Soviet Union in 1922. It was the 100th Soviet military parade on Red Square. Notable attendees were Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev and Soviet Prime Minister Nikolai Podgorny. The parade's commander was Colonel General Vladimir Govorov, head of the Moscow Garrison. The parade's mobile column exhibited military equipment, prominently including Katyusha rocket launchers. The Parade's motto was "On Red Square under the Red Banner". Revolution Day was also celebrated in Leningrad with a military parade on Palace Square, inspected by the commander of the Leningrad Military District Lieutenant General, Ivan Shavrov.

1972 Paris Open - Doubles

1972 Olympic Games

Champion seeds are indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which those seeds were eliminated. All four seeded teams received byes to the second round. 1.
* Frew McMillan / Ilie Năstase (Quarterfinals) 2.
* Tom Gorman / Stan Smith (Quarterfinals) 3.
* Jimmy Connors / Ion Ţiriac (Quarterfinals) 4.
* Jan Kodeš / František Pala (Second Round)

1972 New York Mosque Incident

1972 Pacific hurricane season

1972 Meistaradeildin

1972 Paris Open – Doubles

1972 Oregon Webfoots football

1972 National Football League season

The 1972 NCAA University Division Tennis Championships were the 27th annual tournaments to determine the national champions of NCAA University Division men's singles, doubles, and team collegiate tennis in the United States. Trinity (TX) captured the team championship, the Tigers' first such title. Trinity finished six points ahead of Stanford in the final team standings (36–30).

1972 Montana Grizzlies football season

The 1972 NAIA Division II football season, as part of the 1972 college football season in the United States and the 17th season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the third season of play of the NAIA's lower division for football. The season was played from August to November 1972 and culminated in the 1972 NAIA Division II Football National Championship, played on December 9, 1972 in Joplin, Missouri on the campus of Missouri Southern State College.

The 38th New York Film Critics Circle Awards, announced on 3 January 1973, honored the best filmmaking of 1972.

1972 New York Giants season

1972 New Zealand Grand Prix

1972 Mr. Olympia

1972 Paris-Nice

1972 North Yemen-South Yemen war

The 1972 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1972 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first year under head coach Cal Stoll, the Golden Gophers compiled a 4–7 record and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 304 to 185. Fullback John King received the team's Most Valuable Player award. King was also named All-Big Ten first team. Defensive back Tim Alderson was named All-Big Ten second team. Offensive lineman Doug Kingsriter was named Academic All-Big Ten. Total attendance for the season was 221,553, which averaged to 36,925. The season high for attendance was against Iowa.

The 1972 Miami Redskins football team was an American football team that represented Miami University in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during the 1972 college football season. In their fourth season under head coach Bill Mallory, Miami compiled a 7–3 record (2–3 against MAC opponents), finished in a tie for fourth place in the MAC, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 207 to 117. The team's defense allowed only 11.7 points per game, which ranked 12th among 128 NCAA University Division football teams.

The 1972 New York Yankees season was the 70th season for the Yankees in New York, and the 72nd season overall. The team finished with a record of 79–76, finishing 6½ games behind the Detroit Tigers. New York was managed by Ralph Houk. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

The Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature winners in the year 1972 (rank, title of winning entry, name of author).

1972 Pacific typhoon season

The 1972 Oregon Webfoots football team represented the University of Oregon during the 1972 college football season. Home games were played in Eugene at Autzen Stadium. Led by first-year head coach Dick Enright, the Ducks were 4–7 overall and 2–5 in the Pacific-8 Conference. Tied for sixth place in the Pac-8, Oregon was outscored by their opponents, 285 to 194. Oregon met five ranked teams and won once. In the Civil War at Parker Stadium in Corvallis, the Ducks broke an eight-game losing streak against Oregon State, beating OSU head coach Dee Andros for the first time in the series. Oregon was led on the field by senior quarterback Dan Fouts, who was selected in the third round of the 1973 NFL Draft, 64th overall. He played fifteen seasons in the NFL for the San Diego Chargers and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

1972 North and South Yemen war

The 1972 New York Mets season was the 11th regular season for the Mets, who played home games at Shea Stadium. Led by manager Yogi Berra, the team had an 83–73 record and finished in third place in the National League's Eastern Division.

The 1972 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 65th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. Twelve teams, including six of 1908's foundation clubs and another six from across Sydney, competed for the J. J. Giltinan Shield during the season, which culminated in a grand final match between the Manly-Warringah and Eastern Suburbs clubs.

1972 Orange Bowl

The 1972 NCAA Skiing Championships were contested in Winter Park, Colorado at the 19th annual NCAA-sanctioned ski tournament to determine the individual and team national champions of men's collegiate alpine, cross country skiing, and ski jumping in the United States. Hosts Colorado, coached by Bill Marolt, captured their third national championship (and first since 1960), finishing 5.2 points ahead of three-time defending champions Denver in the team standings.

1972 Ohio State Buckeyes football

1972 Nixon visit to China

1972 Merdeka Tournament

1972 Northern Illinois Huskies football

1972 Országos Bajnokság I (men's water polo) was the 66th water polo championship in Hungary. There were ten teams who played two-round match for the title.

1972 NCAA University Division Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

1972 Munich massacre

The 1972 New York Jets season was the 13th season for the team and the third in the National Football League. It began with the team trying to improve upon its 6–8 record from 1971 under legendary head coach Weeb Ewbank. The Jets star quarterback Joe Namath was healthy for a full season for the first time in three years but the rest of the squad was decimated by injuries and, after a strong start, the Jets finished with a record of 7–7.

1972 Navy Midshipmen football season

1972 Missouri Southern Lions football team

The 1972 Merdeka Tournament was held from 12 July to 29 July 1972 in Malaysia. Twelve teams from 11 nations participated.

NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship

The 1972 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the 1972 Big Ten Conference football season. In their fourth season under head coach Bo Schembechler, the Wolverines compiled a 10–1 record, outscored opponents 264–57, and were ranked sixth in both final polls (Coaches and AP). Offensive guard Tom Coyle and defensive back Randy Logan were the team captains.

1972 New Orleans Saints season

1972 New England Patriots

1972 PHS

The 1972 Milan–San Remo was the 63rd edition of the Milan–San Remo cycle race and was held on 18 March 1972. The race started in Milan and finished in San Remo. The race was won by Eddy Merckx of the Molteni team.

1972 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

1972 Olympics Black Power salute

1972 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament

1972 Paris Open - Singles

1972 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships

The 1972 New England Patriots season was the franchise's 3rd season in the National Football League and 13th overall. The Patriots ended the season with a record of three wins and eleven losses and finished last in the AFC East Division. The Patriots continued their period of futility as they slumped to another horrendous record of 3–11, and missed the playoffs for the 9th straight season. After getting embarrassed 31–7 in their home opener against Cincinnati, the Patriots would win their next 2 games against Atlanta and Washington. However, the Patriots would continue their midseason misery, as they would lose 9 straight games to slide to 2–10 before winning their first (and only) road game against the New Orleans Saints. New England went winless against AFC opponents. Besides their embar

1972 Milwaukee Panthers football

1972 Ottawa Rough Riders season

The 1972 Palestine Cup was the 1st edition of the Palestine Cup of Nations, it was held in Baghdad, Iraq between 1 January and 14 January. The tournament apparently acted as replacement for the Arab Nations Cup (or was just another name for it), which was otherwise not held between 1966 and 1985. Nine nations took part in the competition of which Egypt won.

1972 Palanca Awards

1972 National Society of Film Critics Awards

1972 Maureen Connolly Brinker International

The 1972 Miami Dolphins season was the team’s seventh season, and third season in the National Football League (NFL). The 1972 Dolphins are the only NFL team to win the Super Bowl with a perfect season. The undefeated campaign was led by coach Don Shula and notable players Bob Griese, Earl Morrall, and Larry Csonka. The 1972 Dolphins went 14–0 in the regular season and won all three post-season games, including Super Bowl VII against the Washington Redskins, to finish 17–0. The team remains the only NFL team to complete an entire season undefeated and untied from the opening game through the Super Bowl (or championship game). The closest team to repeating this feat was the 2007 New England Patriots, who recorded the most wins in a season in NFL history by going 18–0 before shockingly losing to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII (the Dolphins won 18 straight through and until the first week of the 1973 season). Besides the 1972 Dolphins and 2007 Patriots, the only other team to ever complete the regular season undefeated and untied is the Chicago Bears, who accomplished the feat in both 1934 and 1942. Both of those Bears teams however failed to win the NFL Championship Game. During the 1972 season, Bob Griese’s ankle was broken in Week 5 as he was sacked by San Diego Chargers defensive tackle Ron East and defensive end Deacon Jones. He was replaced by veteran Earl Morrall for the rest of the regular season. Griese returned to the field as a substitute in the final regular season game against the Baltimore Colts and then also relieved Morrall for the second half of the AFC Championship game versus the Pittsburgh Steelers and then started for Miami in Super Bowl VII. On the ground, running backs Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris became the first teammates to each rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Paul Warfield led the receivers, averaging over 20 yards per catch on 29 receptions. The offensive line included future Hall of Fame members Jim Langer and Larry Little and Pro Bowler Norm Evans. The 1972 Dolphins defensive unit, called the No-Name Defense because Miami’s impressive offense received much more publicity, as well as Cowboys coach Tom Landry coining the phrase in an interview, was the league’s best that year. It was led by linebacker Nick Buoniconti, end Bill Stanfill, tackle Manny Fernandez, and safeties Dick Anderson and Jake Scott. In all, nine players—Csonka, Morris, Warfield, Little, Evans, Buoniconti, Stanfill, Anderson and Scott—were selected to the Pro Bowl, and Morrall, Stanfill and Anderson were named 1st team All-Pro. On August 20, 2013, four decades after their accomplishment, President Barack Obama hosted the 1972 Dolphins, noting that they "never got their White House visit".

1972 NCAA University Division Swimming and Diving Championships

1972 National League Championship Series

The 1972 Open Championship was the 101st Open Championship, held 12–15 July at Muirfield Golf Links in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. Lee Trevino won his second straight Claret Jug, the first to successfully defend his title since Arnold Palmer in 1962. Trevino finished one stroke ahead of runner-up Jack Nicklaus, ending his bid for the grand slam. Nicklaus had won the first two majors in 1972 and was the odds-on favorite at Muirfield, where he won his first Open in 1966. He also held the PGA Championship title from February 1971; a win at Muirfield and he would become the first to hold all four major titles at once. Six strokes back at even-par after 54 holes, Nicklaus shot a final round 66 (−5) on Saturday to tie the course record, but played the final three holes at one-over par. Trevino posted his own 66 in the third round and held on with an even-par 71, which included a chip-in for par at 17, to gain the fourth of his six major titles. It was the third of four times that Nicklaus was a runner-up to Trevino in a major championship. Trevino's win ended a stretch where American-born golfers won eight consecutive major championship.This is the fourth-longest stretch in history for American-born golfers after stretches that ended at the 1930 Open Championship, 1947 U.S. Open, and the 1977 PGA Championship. Thirty years later, Tiger Woods became the first since Nicklaus to win the first two majors of the year. His bid for a grand slam in 2002 also ended at Muirfield, foiled by stormy weather during his third round. Woods is the only one to hold all four major titles at once, completed at the Masters in April 2001.

The 1972 Pacific typhoon season has no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1972, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between June and December. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean, north of the equator and west of the international date line. Storms that form east of the date line and north of the equator are called hurricanes; see 1972 Pacific hurricane season. Tropical Storms formed in the entire west Pacific basin were assigned a name by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Tropical depressions in this basin have the "W" suffix added to their number. Tropical depressions that enter or form in the Philippine area of responsibility are assigned a name by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration or PAGASA. This can often result in the same storm having two names.

The 1972 New York Giants season was the franchise's 48th season in the National Football League (NFL). The Giants had an 8–6 record and finished in third place in the National Football Conference East Division, three games behind the Washington Redskins. The Giants had two first-round selections in the 1972 NFL Draft, and chose Eldridge Small and Larry Jacobson with the 17th and 24th overall picks, respectively. Before the season, New York traded their starting quarterback, Fran Tarkenton, to the Minnesota Vikings for a package of players and draft picks that included quarterback Norm Snead, who led the league in pass completion average in 1972. The Giants lost twice to open the season, but went on a four-game winning streak afterwards. In their 11th game, the Giants defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 62–10, setting the franchise record for the most points scored in a game; it was also an Eagles record for the most points allowed. The victory put the team at 7–4 and in contention for a playoff berth. Two losses ended their postseason chances, but New York beat the Dallas Cowboys in the final game of the season to finish with 8 wins in 14 games. Halfback Ron Johnson scored nine touchdowns on running plays to top the NFL, and his 1,182 rushing yards broke the Giants' single-season record. This was the last winning season for the Giants until 1981.

1972 Miami Redskins football season

1972 Munich Olympics terrorist attack

The 1972 Oakland Athletics season involved the A's winning the American League West with a record of 93 wins and 62 losses. In the playoffs, they defeated the Detroit Tigers in a five-game ALCS, followed by a seven-game World Series, in which they defeated the Cincinnati Reds for their first World Championship since 1930, when the club was in Philadelphia.

1972 Navy Midshipmen football

The 1972 National Football League draft was held February 1–2, 1972, at the Essex House in New York City, New York. During round 17, after Falcons coach Norm Van Brocklin yelled to his staff "Do we want the roughest, toughest s.o.b. in the draft?!", the team drafted the then-64-year-old actor John Wayne, "of Fort Apache State" (Wayne actually attended the University of Southern California and was a member of the USC Trojans football team in his youth); NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle disallowed the selection, however.

The 1972 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team represented Mississippi State University during the 1972 NCAA University Division football season. After the season, head coach Charles Shira, who had compiled a 16–45–2 record over six seasons, stepped down and focused solely on athletic director duties.

The consensus 1972 College Basketball All-American team, as determined by aggregating the results of four major All-American teams. To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors from a majority of the following teams: the Associated Press, the USBWA, The United Press International and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

1972 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship

1972 Next Generation Adelaide International

The 1972 Major League Baseball strike was the first players' strike in Major League Baseball history. The strike occurred from April 1 to 13, 1972.

1972 New Orleans Saints football team

1972 North Indian Ocean cyclone season

1972 NHL Expansion

1972 Navy Midshipmen football team

1972 Milan - San Remo

1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

The 1972 NAIA Division I football season, as part of the 1972 college football season in the United States, was the 17th season of college football sponsored by the NAIA and the third season of the league's two-division structure. The season was played from August to November 1972 and culminated in the 1972 NAIA Champion Bowl, played on December 9, 1972 in Commerce, Texas. East Texas State (now Texas A&M–Commerce) defeated Carson–Newman in the Division I Championship Bowl, 21–18, to win their first NAIA national title.

The 1972 NCAA University Division Wrestling Championships were the 42nd NCAA University Division Wrestling Championships to be held. The University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland hosted the tournament at Cole Field House. Iowa State was took home the team championship with 103 points and three individual champions. Wade Schalles of Clarion was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler and John Panning of Minnesota received the Gorriaran Award.

1972 NHL Draft

1972 NBA All-Star Game

1972 PGA Tour

The 1972 Memorial Cup occurred May 8–14 at the Ottawa Civic Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was the 54th annual Memorial Cup competition, organized by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) to determine the champion of major junior A ice hockey. Participating teams were the winners of the Ontario Hockey Association, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Western Hockey League which were the Peterborough Petes, Cornwall Royals and Edmonton Oil Kings. Cornwall won their 1st Memorial Cup, defeating Peterborough in the final game. 1972 was the first year the Memorial Cup was contested as a round robin tournament between three teams.

The 1972 New Zealand Open, also known as Benson and Hedges Open for sponsorship reasons, was a combined men's and women's professional tennis tournament held at the Stanley Street Courts in Auckland, New Zealand. It was an independent event, i.e. not part of the 1972 Grand Prix or 1972 World Championship Tennis circuit. The tournament was played on outdoor grass courts and was held from 7 December through 12 December 1971. Ray Ruffels and Kerry Melville won the singles titles.

1972 Miami Redskins football

The 1972 Mongolian National Championship was the ninth recorded edition of the Mongolian National Championship for football, with the first tournament taking place in 1955 and no tournament held the previous year. It would appear however that championships were contested between 1956 and 1963, as sources note that a team called won the title on numerous occasions during that time. Nonetheless, the 1971 national championship was won by (literally: Labour or Workers and also romanised as Hödölmör), their third title following victory in the 1964 and 1966 championships.

Brann won the Norwegian Cup by beating Rosenborg 1–0 on 22 October. The goal scorer for Brann was who scored in the 13th minute. 17 700 spectators watched the game at Ullevål stadion in Oslo. The referee was . This was the third time Brann won the Norwegian Cup. Brann's winning squad: , Helge Karlsen, , , Tore Nordtvedt, Frode Larsen ( 60), ( 75), , Roald Jensen, and . Rosenborg's squad: , Erling Meirik, Kåre Rønnes, Bjørn Rime, Øystein Wormdal, , , , Harald Sunde, Bjørn Wirkola and Arne Hanssen.

1972 Pacific Southwest Open

1972 Palestine Cup

1972 NASL Championship

1972 Open Championship

1972 Nicaragua earthquake

1972 Ohio Bobcats football

1972 Mississippi State Bulldogs football

1972 Ohio Bobcats football team

1972 Miami Redskins football team

1972 NFL Draft

1972 New York Giants

1972 NCAA University Division football rankings

The 1972 Meath Intermediate Football Championship is the 46th edition of the Meath GAA's premier club Gaelic football tournament for intermediate graded teams in County Meath, Ireland. The tournament consists of 23 teams. The championship starts with a group stage and then progresses to a knock out stage. Drumree were relegated from the S.F.C. the previous year after 2 years as a top flight club. Donaghmore and Boardsmill were promoted after claiming the 1971 Meath Junior Football Championship title and Junior 'A' Divisional runners-up spot respectively. St. Brigid's were also promoted after plying their trade in the Junior B (or Division II) ranks in 1971. On 1 October 1972, Summerhill claimed their 1st Intermediate championship title when they defeated Martry 3-7 to 2-4 in the final in Pairc Tailteann, and thus returned the top flight of Meath club football, only their third period in the top flight and third year in total. St. Colmcille's were relegated to the 1973 J.F.C. after just two years in the middle grade.

1972 Munich Olympic Games

1972 Miami Hurricanes football season

The 1972 New England Patriots season was the franchise's 3rd season in the National Football League and 13th overall. The Patriots ended the season with a record of three wins and eleven losses and finished last in the AFC East Division. The Patriots continued their period of futility as they slumped to another horrendous record of 3–11, and missed the playoffs for the 9th straight season. After getting embarrassed 31–7 in their home opener against Cincinnati, the Patriots would win their next 2 games against Atlanta and Washington. However, the Patriots would continue their midseason misery, as they would lose 9 straight games to slide to 2–10 before winning their first (and only) road game against the New Orleans Saints. New England went winless against AFC opponents. Besides their embarrassing home-opening loss, the Patriots had plenty of other bad moments during the season. One good example was a 52–0 thrashing given to them by the powerful Miami Dolphins. The loss went down as the worst loss in Patriots history and the most points ever allowed in a game in franchise history. Although they won three games, the 1972 Patriots had the second-worst point differential (minus-254) of any team in a 14-game NFL season, ahead of only the expansion 1976 Buccaneers. The 1972 Patriots had the franchise’s worst point differential until the 1990 team was outscored by 265 points (181–446) in a 1–15 season. They lost eight of their fourteen games by three touchdowns or more, and their first two wins were by a single point. Pro Football Reference argues that the 1970 and 1972 Patriots were, owing to the tough schedule of the 1990 team, the weakest Patriot teams ever, and rivalled only by the 1991 Colts and 2009 Rams as the weakest team by an established franchise since the NFL–AFL merger.

1972 Paris-Tours

1972 Monte Carlo Open

Statistics of Meistaradeildin in the 1972 season.

1972 Oregon State Beavers football team

1972 Munich Olympics

The 7th National Society of Film Critics Awards, given on 29 December 1972, honored the best filmmaking of 1972. The member critics voting were Hollis Alpert of World, Gary Arnold of The Washington Post, Vincent Canby of The New York Times, Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times, Jay Cocks of Time, Judith Crist of New York, David Denby of The Atlantic, Bernard Drew of the Gannett News Service, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, Joseph Gelmis of Newsday, Penelope Gilliatt of The New Yorker, Roger Greenspun of The New York Times, Molly Haskell of The Village Voice, Pauline Kael of The New Yorker, Michael Korda of Glamour, Arthur Knight of Saturday Review, Thomas Meehan of Saturday Review, William S. Pechter of Commentary, Andrew Sarris of The Village Voice, Richard Schickel of Life, Bruce Williamson of Playboy, and Paul D. Zimmerman of Newsweek.

1972 National Basketball Association All-Star Game

1972 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

1972 National Board of Review Awards

The 1972 NCAA University Division Swimming and Diving Championships were contested in March 1972 at at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York at the 49th annual NCAA-sanctioned swim meet to determine the team and individual national champions of University Division men's collegiate swimming and diving in the United States. Indiana again topped the team standings, the Hoosiers' fifth consecutive and fifth overall title.

1972 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest

The 1972 Ohio Bobcats football team was an American football team that represented Ohio University in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during the 1972 college football season. In their 15th season under head coach Bill Hess, the Bobcats compiled a 3–8 record (1–4 against MAC opponents), finished in sixth place, and were outscored by all opponents by a combined total of 321 to 185.

The 1972 Pacific typhoon season has no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1972, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between June and December. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.

1972 Mongolian National Championship

The 1972 Olympic men's basketball final was one of the most controversial events in Olympic history and was recorded by FIBA as the first ever loss for Team USA since the sport began Olympic play in 1936. The United States team won the previous seven gold medals and was favored to win another in Munich at the 1972 Summer Olympics. The team convincingly won its first eight games of the tournament putting its overall Olympic record at 63–0 and setting up a final against the Soviet Union.

1972 Munich games

1972 Northern Illinois Huskies football season

The 1972 NCAA University Division Baseball Tournament was played at the end of the 1972 NCAA University Division baseball season to determine the national champion of college baseball. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing in the College World Series, a double-elimination tournament in its twenty-sixth year. Eight regional districts sent representatives to the College World Series with preliminary rounds within each district serving to determine each representative. These events would later become known as regionals. Each district had its own format for selecting teams, resulting in 28 teams participating in the tournament at the conclusion of their regular season, and in some cases, after a conference tournament. The twenty-sixth tournament's champion was Southern California

The 1972 Milwaukee Brewers season involved the Brewers' finishing sixth in the American League East with a record of 65 wins and 91 losses. Because of the move of the Washington Senators to Texas, the Brewers shifted from the AL West to the AL East.

1972 New York Cosmos season

1972 Missouri Tigers football season

1972 NAIA football season

1972 Meath Senior Football Championship

1972 Michigan State Spartans football

1972 Minnesota Vikings

1972 Paralympics

1972 Michigan Wolverines football

NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship

The 1972 Mr. Olympia contest was an IFBB professional bodybuilding competition held in October 1972 at the in Essen, West Germany. It was the 8th Mr. Olympia competition held.

1972 New Orleans Saints

The 1972 National League Championship Series was played between the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates from October 7 to 11. Cincinnati won the series three games to two to advance to the World Series against the Oakland A's. The Reds became the first team in major league history to advance to the World Series without the best record in their respective league, made possible by the Junior and Senior Circuits each splitting into two divisions in 1969. In the previous three post seasons, the team with the best record in each league advanced to the World Series. The 1972 NLCS ended with a dramatic ninth inning rally in the fifth and deciding game. The series was also notable as the last on-field appearance by Pittsburgh's future Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, who would die in a plane crash on December 31.

The 1972 Masters Tournament was the 36th Masters Tournament, held April 6–9 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Jack Nicklaus opened with a 68 and led wire-to-wire to win the fourth of his six Masters titles, three strokes ahead of three runners-up. It was the tenth of 18 major titles as a professional for Nicklaus, who also won the U.S. Open in 1972 and was the runner-up at the Open Championship in Scotland, one stroke behind Lee Trevino.

The 1972 Pacific hurricane season was an ongoing event in tropical cyclone meteorology. There were few notable storms this year. No one was killed and storm effects were generally not serious. The most notable systems were Hurricane Celeste and Joanne. Celeste was the strongest storm of the season, and caused heavy damage to Johnston Atoll. Hurricane Joanne brought gale-force winds to the Continental United States and caused flooding in Arizona and northern Mexico, which killed one person. The only other system to directly impact land was Hurricane Annette.

1972 Nebraska Cornhuskers football

The 1972 New Zealand Grand Prix was a race held at the Pukekohe Park Raceway on 8 January 1972. The race had 20 starters. It was the 18th New Zealand Grand Prix, and doubled as the first round of the 1972 Tasman Series. Australian Frank Gardner won his first NZGP in his McLaren Formula 5000 ahead of British Grand Prix motorcycle racing champion Mike Hailwood. The first New Zealand driver to finish was Robbie Francevic in the McLaren Formula 5000 who came in 9th place. The race saw the death of Bryan Faloon who died after an accident on the back straight with Graeme Lawrence in the closing laps of the race.

1972 Ohio State Buckeyes football season

1972 Miami Dolphins football team

1972 Manaslu Nepal avalanche

1972 North Carolina Tar Heels football season

1972 NCAA College Division Basketball Tournament

1972 Oakland Raiders

1972 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

1972 Michigan State Spartans football team

1972 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament

1972 Milwaukee Brewers season

1972 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament

1972 New York Film Critics Circle Awards

The 1972 NHL Expansion Draft was held on June 6, 1972. The draft took place to fill the rosters of the league's two then-new expansion teams for the 1972–73 season, the New York Islanders and the Atlanta Flames.

1972 Northern 300

1972 Munich hostage crisis

The 1972 Meath Senior Football Championship is the 80th edition of the Meath GAA's premier club Gaelic football tournament for senior graded teams in County Meath, Ireland. The tournament consists of 15 teams, with the winner going on to represent Meath in the Leinster Senior Club Football Championship. The championship starts with a group stage and then progresses to a knock out stage. This season saw Ballivor's return to the top flight after claiming the 1971 Meath Intermediate Football Championship title.. Kilbride were the defending champions after they defeated Skryne in the previous years final after a replay, however this season relinquished their crown which they held for 3 consecutive years when failing to progress past the Group stage. St. Vincent's applied to be regraded to the 1973 I.F.C. at the end of the campaign. On 5 November 1972, Seneschalstown won their 1st ever Meath S.F.C. title when they defeated Navan O'Mahonys 0-11 to 1-5 in the final replay in Pairc Tailteann. Mickey Collins raised the Keegan Cup for the Furze men.

1972 Missouri Southern Lions football season

The 1972 Nicaragua earthquake occurred at 12:29:44 a.m. local time (06:29:44 UTC) on December 23 near Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. It had a moment magnitude of 6.3 and a maximum MSK intensity of IX (Destructive). The epicenter was 28 kilometers northeast of the city centre and a depth of about 10 kilometers. The earthquake caused widespread casualties among Managua's residents: 4,000–11,000 were killed, 20,000 were injured and over 300,000 were left homeless.

The 1972 Miami Hurricanes football team represented the University of Miami for the 1972 college football season. The Hurricanes played their home games at the Miami Orange Bowl in Miami. The team was coached by Fran Curci, in his second and final year as head coach of the Hurricanes.

The 1972 Miami Redskins football team was an American football team that represented Miami University in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during the 1972 college football season. In their fourth season under head coach Bill Mallory, Miami compiled a 7–3 record (2–3 against MAC opponents), finished in a tie for fourth place in the MAC, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 207 to 117. The team's defense allowed only 11.7 points per game, which ranked 12th among 128 NCAA University Division football teams. The team's statistical leaders included quarterback Steve Williams with 676 passing yards, tailback Bob Hitchens with 1,370 rushing yards, and John Viher with 414 receiving yards. Hitchens won the Miami most valuable player award and the MAC Offensive Player of the Year award. Mike Poff and Bob Williams were the team captains.

The 1972 NAIA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament involved four schools playing in single-elimination bracket to determine the national champion of men's NAIA college ice hockey. The 1972 tournament was the fifth men's ice hockey tournament to be sponsored by the NAIA. The tournament began on March 4, 1972, and ended with the championship game on March 5.

1972 Olympic Winter Games

1972 Minnesota Twins

1972 Major League Baseball strike

1972 Missouri Tigers football

1972 October Revolution Parade

1972 New York Yankees season

1972 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles season

1972 Minnesota Vikings football team

1972 NSWRFL season

1972 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships

The 1972 Monte Carlo Open was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at the Monte Carlo Country Club in Monte Carlo, Monaco . The tournament was part of the WCT Tour, which was incorporated into the 1972 Commercial Union Assurance Grand Prix circuit. It was the 66th edition of the event and was held from 27 March through 3 April 1972. Ilie Năstase won the singles title.

1972 Managua earthquake

1972 Ole Miss Rebels football season

1972 Pacific Tigers football season

The 1972 New York Jets season was the 13th season for the team and the third in the National Football League. It began with the team trying to improve upon its 6–8 record from 1971 under legendary head coach Weeb Ewbank. The Jets star quarterback Joe Namath was healthy for a full season for the first time in three years but the rest of the squad was decimated by injuries and, after a strong start, the Jets finished with a record of 7–7. The 1972 Jets have the distinction of being the last NFL team to play a team from another league. During the 1972 preseason, a squad composed of the Jets’ rookies defeated the Long Island Chiefs of the Seaboard Football League 29–3. Namath threw for 496 yards and six touchdowns (on just 15 of 28 passes) in a 44–34 victory over the Baltimore Colts in Broadway Joe’s first appearance at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium in week two, but the next week, the Jets were humbled 26–20 by the Houston Oilers, the Oilers' only victory of 1972 and their last before embarking on an 18-game losing streak. They Jets were eliminated from playoff contention in the season’s thirteenth week, a Monday Night Game with the Raiders in which a battered and bruised Namath threw for 403 yards and nearly pulled off the upset. After the game Raiders coach John Madden went into the Jets locker room and shook Namath’s hand out of respect; it was the only time in his coaching career Madden ever did that. Eliminated from postseason play, the Jets’ coaches decided Namath would sit out the final game of the season to make sure no serious injuries were incurred prior to the 1973 season.

The 1972 Pacific Southwest Open was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts at the Los Angeles Tennis Center in Los Angeles, California in the United States. The tournament was classified as Grade A and was part of the Grand Prix tennis circuit. It was the 46th edition of the tournament and ran from September 18 through September 24, 1972. Third-seeded Stan Smith won the singles title.

1972 Men's Softball World Championship

1972 NAIA Division II Football National Championship

The 1972 New Zealand rugby league season was the 65th season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand.

1972 Montreal Museum of Fine Arts theft

1972 Munich attack

The 1972 Ottawa Rough Riders finished the season in 2nd place in the Eastern Conference with an 11–3 record, with all three losses coming at the hands of the 1st place Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The team lost in the East Final series to those same Tiger-Cats by a total points score of 30–27.

The 1972 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles season was the 26th in the club's history since their entry into the then New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership in 1947. After 5 previous Grand Final losses, the Sea Eagles broke through for their first premiership win. The 1972 Sea Eagles were coached by former Australian international and Manly fullback Ron Willey. Captaining the side was long serving hooker Fred Jones. The club competed in the New South Wales Rugby Football League's 1972 Premiership season and played its home games at the 20,000 capacity Brookvale Oval.

The 1972 NCAA College Division Basketball Tournament involved 36 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA College Division college basketball as a culmination of the 1971-72 NCAA College Division men's basketball season. It was won by Roanoke College, with Roanoke's Hal Johnston named the Most Outstanding Player.

1972 NIT

1972 Miami Gatos season

The 1972 Northern Illinois Huskies football team represented Northern Illinois University in the 1972 college football season. The Huskies competed in the highest division of football at the time: Division I, also known as the University Division, where they competed among the Independents schools of the league. They were led by head coach Jerry Ippoliti, his second season with the team and the first NIU coach with a winning record in Division I football. They played their home games at Huskie Stadium.

1972 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships

1972 NFL Season

The 1972 Oregon State Beavers football team represented Oregon State University in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) during the 1972 college football season. In their eighth season under head coach Dee Andros, the Beavers compiled a 2–9 record (1–6 against Pac-10 opponents), finished in last place in the Pac-8, and were outscored by their opponents, 295 to 131. Andros lost to Oregon for the first time as head coach of the Beavers. The team played its home games at Parker Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon.

The 1972 Pacific-8 Conference football season took place during the 1972 college football season. The conference featured the eventual national champions in USC.

1972 NCAA Tournament

1972 Missouri Southern Lions football

1972 Old Dominion 500

1972 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

1972 Oakland Raiders football team

1972 New York Jets football team

1972 Oregon Webfoots football season

1972 National Challenge Cup

1972 New Zealand eight

1972 Northwestern Wildcats football season

The 1972 Miami Dolphins season was the team’s seventh season, and third season in the National Football League (NFL). The 1972 Dolphins are the only NFL team to win the Super Bowl with a perfect season. The undefeated campaign was led by coach Don Shula and notable players Bob Griese, Earl Morrall, and Larry Csonka. The 1972 Dolphins went 14–0 in the regular season and won all three post-season games, including Super Bowl VII against the Washington Redskins, to finish 17–0.

1972 Paris-Roubaix

1972 Michigan Wolverines football season

The 1972 Meath Senior Football Championship is the 80th edition of the Meath GAA's premier club Gaelic football tournament for senior graded teams in County Meath, Ireland. The tournament consists of 15 teams, with the winner going on to represent Meath in the Leinster Senior Club Football Championship. The championship starts with a group stage and then progresses to a knock out stage. This season saw Ballivor's return to the top flight after claiming the 1971 Meath Intermediate Football Championship title.. St. Vincent's applied to be regraded to the 1973 I.F.C. at the end of the campaign.

1972 Oakland Raiders football

1972 National Hockey League Expansion Draft

1972 Masters Doubles WCT

The 1972 Meath Intermediate Football Championship is the 46th edition of the Meath GAA's premier club Gaelic football tournament for intermediate graded teams in County Meath, Ireland. The tournament consists of 23 teams. The championship starts with a group stage and then progresses to a knock out stage. Drumree were relegated from the S.F.C. the previous year after 2 years as a top flight club. St. Colmcille's were relegated to the 1973 J.F.C. after just two years in the middle grade.

1972 NHL All-Star Game

1972 Miami Dolphins

1972 Norwegian First Division

1972 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament

The 1972 Olympics Black Power Salute was a political protest by two US Olympic runners Vincent Matthews and Wayne Collett during the 1972 Summer Olympics at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, West Germany. This event is sometimes referred to as "The Forgotten Protest." This event came four years after the 1968 Olympics Black Power salute.

The 1972 NCAA Men's University Division Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 1971–72 NCAA University Division men's ice hockey season, the 25th such tournament in NCAA history. It was held between March 16 and 18, 1972, and concluded with Boston University defeating Cornell 4-0. All games were played at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.

1972 NCAA University Division Men's Cross Country Championships

1972 Munich

1972 Országos Bajnokság I (men's water polo)

1972 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

1972 National Football League Draft

1972 NCAA University Division Wrestling Championships

1972 NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship

The 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 24th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 1st modern-era NASCAR Cup series season. The season began on Sunday January 23 and ended on Sunday November 12. Richard Petty won his second consecutive Winston Cup Championship and fourth overall. Larry Smith was named NASCAR Rookie of the Year.

The 1972 Open Championship was the 101st Open Championship, held 12–15 July at Muirfield Golf Links in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. Lee Trevino won his second straight Claret Jug, the first to successfully defend his title since Arnold Palmer in 1962. Trevino finished one stroke ahead of runner-up Jack Nicklaus, ending his bid for the grand slam. Nicklaus had won the first two majors in 1972 and was the odds-on favorite at Muirfield, where he won his first Open in 1966. He also held the PGA Championship title from February 1971; a win at Muirfield and he would become the first to hold all four major titles at once.

1972 Michigan State Spartans football season

1972 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship

1972 NFL draft

1972 NAIA Division II football season

1972 NAIA Division I football season

1972 Montréal Expos season

1972 Minnesota Vikings football

1972 NCAA University Division baseball season

1972 Memorial Cup

The 1972 Masters Tournament was the 36th Masters Tournament, held April 6–9 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Jack Nicklaus opened with a 68 and led wire-to-wire to win the fourth of his six Masters titles, three strokes ahead of three runners-up. It was the tenth of 18 major titles as a professional for Nicklaus, who also won the U.S. Open in 1972 and was the runner-up at the Open Championship in Scotland, one stroke behind Lee Trevino. It was the first Masters played without founder Bobby Jones, who died in December 1971 at age 69. The 1972 Masters was also the debut of 20 year old University of Texas golfer and future two-time champion Ben Crenshaw who was low amateur at 295 (T19). Banned from the last five Masters, commentator Jack Whitaker returned to the CBS telecast in 1972. At the end of the 18-hole Monday playoff in 1966, he had referred to the portion of the gallery trailing the players as a "mob." Nicklaus became the third wire-to-wire winner in Masters history, following Craig Wood in 1941 and Arnold Palmer in 1960. Through 2016, there have been five; the next were Raymond Floyd in 1976 and Jordan Spieth in 2015.

1972 Miami RedHawks football team

1972 Milan – San Remo

1972 New York Giants football

1972 NCAA Division I Men's Cross Country Championships

1972 Miami Hurricanes football

1972 Minnesota Golden Gophers football season

1972 Olympics (disambiguation)

1972 NASL season

The 1972 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 1972 Big Ten Conference football season. In their 19th season under head coach Duffy Daugherty, the Spartans compiled a 5–5–1 overall record (5–2–1 against Big Ten opponents) and finished in fourth place in the Big Ten Conference. Five Spartans were selected by either the Associated Press (AP) or the United Press International (UPI) as first-team players on the 1972 All-Big Ten Conference football team: tight end Billy Joe Dupree (AP-2, UPI-1); offensive guard Joe DeLamielleure (AP-1, UPI-1); linebacker Gail Clark (AP-1, UPI-1); and defensive backs Bill Simpson (AP-1, UPI-1) and Brad Van Pelt (AP-1, UPI-1). On November 3, 1972, Duffy Daugherty announced that he would resign as Michigan State's head football coach at the end of the 1972 season. In 19 years as the head coach, he compiled a 109–69–5 record and won two Big Ten championships. Denny Stolz, who had been the Spartans' defensive coordinator for two years, was hired in December 1972 to replace Daugherty.

1972 NCAA College Division Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1972 Pacific hurricane season was an ongoing event in tropical cyclone meteorology. There were few notable storms this year. No one was killed and storm effects were generally not serious. The most notable systems were Hurricane Celeste and Joanne. Celeste was the strongest storm of the season, and caused heavy damage to Johnston Atoll. Hurricane Joanne brought gale-force winds to the Continental United States and caused flooding in Arizona and northern Mexico, which killed one person. The only other system to directly impact land was Hurricane Annette. The season began on May 15, 1972, in the east Pacific, and on June 1, 1972, in the central Pacific. It ended on November 30, 1972. These dates conventionally delimit the period of time when tropical cyclones form in the east Pacific Ocean. This season had a below average number of storms. There were twenty tropical cyclones, four of which were in the central Pacific. Of those, four were tropical storms, eight were hurricanes, and four were major hurricanes that reached Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. In the central Pacific, two tropical storms and two tropical depressions formed. One of the depressions and one of the storms crossed the International Date Line to become typhoons in the 1972 Pacific typhoon season.

1972 Pacific Tigers football

The 1972 Oregon Webfoots football team represented the University of Oregon during the 1972 college football season. Home games were played in Eugene at Autzen Stadium. Led by first-year head coach Dick Enright, the Ducks were 4–7 overall and 2–5 in the Pacific-8 Conference. Tied for sixth place in the Pac-8, Oregon was outscored by their opponents, 285 to 194. Oregon met five ranked teams and won once. In the Civil War at Parker Stadium in Corvallis, the Ducks broke an eight-game losing streak against Oregon State, beating OSU head coach Dee Andros for the first time in the series.

1972 Mongolia National Championship

1972 Olympics medal count

1972 Milan–San Remo

The 1972 NCAA University Division Cross Country Championships were the 34th annual cross country meet to determine the team and individual national champions of men's collegiate cross country running in the United States. Held on November 20, 1972, the meet was hosted by the University of Houston at the in Houston, Texas. The distance for this race was 6 miles (9.7 kilometers). All NCAA University Division members were eligible to qualify for the meet. In total, 25 teams and 241 individual runners contested this championship.

1972 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football season

1972 Miami Hurricanes football team

1972 Omloop Het Volk

1972 Minnesota Vikings season

1972 Masters

The 1972 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 12th in the National Football League. It marked the return of Fran Tarkenton to the Vikings after he had been traded to the New York Giants in 1967. In return, Minnesota sent three players to the Giants (Norm Snead, Bob Grim and Vince Clements), plus a first and second round draft choice. Tarkenton's return also led to the previous season's QB, Gary Cuozzo, being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in a deal which sent wide receiver John Gilliam to the Vikings along with second- and fourth-round draft picks in 1973. Cardinals coach Bob Hollway was familiar with Cuozzo, having served as Minnesota's defensive coordinator under Bud Grant prior to leaving for St. Louis in 1971.

1972 NCAA University Division baseball rankings

1972 NCAA University Division Tennis Championships

1972 Munich Olympics massacre