2000 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

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2000 NCAA Division I
men's basketball tournament
Season1999–00
Teams64
Finals siteRCA Dome
Indianapolis, Indiana
ChampionsMichigan State Spartans (2nd title, 2nd title game,
4th Final Four)
Runner-upFlorida Gators (1st title game,
2nd Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coachTom Izzo (1st title)
MOPMateen Cleaves (Michigan State)
Attendance624,777
Top scorerMorris Peterson (Michigan State)
(105 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments
«1999 2001»

The 2000 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16, 2000, and ended with the championship game on April 3 in Indianapolis, Indiana at the RCA Dome. A total of 63 games were played.

Due to a string of upsets throughout the tournament, only one top-four seed advanced to the Final Four. That was Michigan State, who finished the season as the #2 team in the nation and was given the top seed in the Midwest Region. The highest seeded of the other three Final Four teams was Florida, who won the East Region as the fifth seed. Two eight-seeds made the Final Four, with Wisconsin and North Carolina rounding the bracket out. Wisconsin won the West Region while North Carolina won the South Region, with both regions seeing their top three seeds eliminated during the first weekend of play.

Michigan State won their first national championship since 1979 by defeating Florida 89–76 in the final game. Mateen Cleaves of Michigan State was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, while Morris Peterson was its leading scorer.

Despite the string of upsets, no seed lower than 11 won a game in the tournament. The only 11 seed to win was Pepperdine, which defeated Indiana in the East Region's first round in what turned out to be Bob Knight's last game coaching the Hoosiers before his firing that offseason. Also, two teams that qualified as 10 seeds advanced to the Sweet Sixteen as Seton Hall in the East and Gonzaga in the West both advanced.

Because of the upsets, the Elite Eight consisted of one top seed (Michigan State), one second seed (Iowa State), one third seed (Oklahoma State), one fifth seed (Florida), one sixth seed (Purdue), one seventh seed (Tulsa), and two eighth seeds (Wisconsin and North Carolina). This is the most recent title won by the Big Ten Conference.

Schedule and venues

2000 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament is located in the United States
Tucson
Tucson
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City
Minneapolis
Minneapolis
Cleveland
Cleveland
Nashville
Nashville
Birmingham
Birmingham
Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem
Buffalo
Buffalo
2000 first and second rounds
2000 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament is located in the United States
Albuquerque
Albuquerque
Austin
Austin
Auburn Hills
Auburn Hills
Syracuse
Syracuse
Indianapolis
Indianapolis
2000 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 2000 tournament:

First and Second Rounds

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

Teams

There were 30 automatic bids awarded to the tournament - of these, 28 were given to the winners of their conference's tournament, while two were awarded to the team with the best regular-season record in their conference (Ivy League and Pac-10).

Three conference champions made their first NCAA tournament appearances: UNC Wilmington (CAA), Central Connecticut State (NEC), and Southeast Missouri State (Ohio Valley).

While the Mountain West Conference held a conference tournament, the conference was not granted an automatic bid to the tournament until the 2000–01 season.[1]

Automatic qualifiers

Automatic qualifiers
Conference Team Appearance Last bid
ACC Duke 24th 1999
America East Hofstra 3rd 1977
Atlantic 10 Temple 24th 1999
Big 12 Iowa State 11th 1997
Big East St. John's 26th 1999
Big Sky Northern Arizona 2nd 1998
Big South Winthrop 2nd 1999
Big Ten Michigan State 14th 1999
Big West Utah State 13th 1998
CAA UNC Wilmington 1st Never
Conference USA Saint Louis 6th 1998
Ivy League Penn 18th 1999
MAAC Iona 5th 1998
MAC Ball State 7th 1995
MCC Butler 4th 1998
MEAC South Carolina State 4th 1998
Mid-Continent Valparaiso 5th 1999
Missouri Valley Creighton 11th 1999
NEC Central Connecticut State 1st Never
Ohio Valley Southeast Missouri State 1st Never
Pac-10 Arizona 18th 1999
Patriot Lafayette 3rd 1999
SEC Arkansas 25th 1999
Southern Appalachian State 2nd 1979
Southland Lamar 5th 1983
SWAC Jackson State 2nd 1997
Sun Belt Louisiana–Lafayette 5th 1994
TAAC Samford 2nd 1999
WAC Fresno State (vacated) 1984
West Coast Gonzaga 3rd 1999

Listed by region and seeding

East Regional – Carrier Dome, Syracuse, New York
Seed School Conference Record Berth type
1 Duke ACC 28–4 Automatic
2 Temple Atlantic 10 26–5 Automatic
3 Oklahoma State Big 12 24–6 At-Large
4 Illinois Big Ten 21–9 At-Large
5 Florida SEC 24–7 At-Large
6 Indiana Big Ten 20–8 At-Large
7 Oregon Pac-10 22–7 At-Large
8 Kansas Big 12 23–9 At-Large
9 DePaul Conference USA 21–10 At-Large
10 Seton Hall Big East 20–9 At-Large
11 Pepperdine West Coast 24–8 At-Large
12 Butler MCC 23–7 Automatic
13 Penn Ivy League 21–7 Automatic
14 Hofstra America East 24–6 Automatic
15 Lafayette Patriot 24–6 Automatic
16 Lamar Southland 15–15 Automatic
Midwest Regional – The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan
Seed School Conference Record Berth type
1 Michigan State Big Ten 26–7 Automatic
2 Iowa State Big 12 29–4 Automatic
3 Maryland ACC 24–9 At-Large
4 Syracuse Big East 24–5 At-Large
5 Kentucky SEC 22–9 At-Large
6 UCLA Pac-10 19–11 At-Large
7 Auburn SEC 23–9 At-Large
8 Utah Mountain West 22–8 At-Large
9 Saint Louis Conference USA 19–13 Automatic
10 Creighton Missouri Valley 23–9 Automatic
11 Ball State MAC 22–8 Automatic
12 St. Bonaventure Atlantic 10 21–9 At-Large
13 Samford TAAC 21–10 Automatic
14 Iona MAAC 20–10 Automatic
15 Central Connecticut State Northeast 25–5 Automatic
16 Valparaiso Mid-Continent 19–12 Automatic
South Regional – Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas
Seed School Conference Record Berth type
1 Stanford Pac-10 26–3 At-Large
2 Cincinnati Conference USA 28–3 At-Large
3 Ohio State (vacated) Big Ten 22–6 At-Large
4 Tennessee SEC 24–6 At-Large
5 Connecticut Big East 24–9 At-Large
6 Miami (FL) Big East 21–10 At-Large
7 Tulsa WAC 29–4 At-Large
8 North Carolina ACC 18–13 At-Large
9 Missouri Big 12 18–12 At-Large
10 UNLV Mountain West 20–9 At-Large
11 Arkansas SEC 19–14 Automatic
12 Utah State Big West 28–5 Automatic
13 Louisiana-Lafayette Sun Belt 25–8 Automatic
14 Appalachian State Southern 23–8 Automatic
15 UNC Wilmington CAA 18–12 Automatic
16 South Carolina State MEAC 20–13 Automatic
West Regional – The Pit, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Seed School Conference Record Berth type
1 Arizona Pac-10 26–6 Automatic
2 St. John's Big East 24–7 Automatic
3 Oklahoma Big 12 26–6 At-Large
4 LSU SEC 26–5 At-Large
5 Texas Big 12 23–8 At-Large
6 Purdue Big Ten 21–9 At-Large
7 Louisville Conference USA 19–11 At-Large
8 Wisconsin Big Ten 18–13 At-Large
9 Fresno State (vacated) WAC 24–9 Automatic
10 Gonzaga West Coast 24–8 Automatic
11 Dayton Atlantic 10 22–8 At-Large
12 Indiana State Missouri Valley 22–9 At-Large
13 Southeast Missouri State Ohio Valley 22–6 Automatic
14 Winthrop Big South 21–8 Automatic
15 Northern Arizona Big Sky 20–10 Automatic
16 Jackson State SWAC 17–15 Automatic

Bids by conference

Bids by Conference
Bids Conference(s)
6 Big Ten, Big 12, SEC
5 Big East
4 C-USA, Pac-10
3 ACC, Atlantic 10
2 Mountain West, Missouri Valley, WAC, WCC
1 19 others

Final Four

At RCA Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana

National semifinals

  • April 1, Michigan State (M1) 53, Wisconsin (W8) 41
    In the first half it appeared that the Cinderella run of the Wisconsin Badgers had a great chance of continuing. Wisconsin's slow down offense, smothering defense tempo held the game to a Michigan State Spartans 19–17 lead. However, the only number one seed left in the tournament opened the second half with a 13–2 run, including 10 points from senior Morris Peterson. After the run, Michigan State coasted home against Wisconsin's limited offense.[2]
    Despite being behind 18–3 to start the game and trailing at halftime, the North Carolina Tar Heels took control of the early minutes of the second half, and managed to sneak ahead 48–42 on standout freshman guard Joseph Forte's second consecutive three-pointer with 15:44 to play. However, the Florida Gators answered back with a 9–0 run to give them the lead for good. The Gators held the Tar Heels to just six points over a 91/2 minute span to put them in great shape. Foul trouble ultimately doomed the Tar Heels, and the Gators advanced to their first ever National Championship game.[3]

Championship game

  • April 3, 2000
    • Michigan State (M1) 89, Florida (E5) 76
    Michigan State senior Mateen Cleaves limped his way to the Most Outstanding Player (MOP) of the 2000 NCAA Tournament. Cleaves sprained his ankle with 16:18 to play in the 2nd half, and this was after Florida had trimmed Michigan State's double digit halftime lead to 50–44. Cleaves returned about four minutes later, and immediately helped lead the Spartans on a 16–6 run to put the game out of reach. The lone top-seed remaining would bring order to a tournament filled with upsets as they salted away the victory for the school's second national championship (1979). Michigan State coach Tom Izzo earned his first title, from his second straight final four appearance. Morris Peterson led the Spartans with 21 points.[4]

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East Regional – Syracuse, New York

First round Quarter-finals Regional semifinals Regional Finals
            
1 Duke 82
16 Lamar 55
1 Duke 69
Winston-Salem
8 Kansas 64
8 Kansas 81*
9 DePaul 77
1 Duke 78
5 Florida 87
5 Florida 69*
12 Butler 68
5 Florida 93
Winston-Salem
4 Illinois 76
4 Illinois 68
13 Pennsylvania 58
5 Florida 77
3 Oklahoma State 65
6 Indiana 57
11 Pepperdine 77
11 Pepperdine 67
Buffalo
3 Oklahoma State 75
3 Oklahoma State 86
14 Hofstra 66
3 Oklahoma State 68
10 Seton Hall 66
7 Oregon 71
10 Seton Hall 72*
10 Seton Hall 67*
Buffalo
2 Temple 65
2 Temple 73
15 Lafayette 47

South Regional – Austin, Texas

First round Quarter-finals Regional semifinals Regional Finals
            
1 Stanford 84
16 South Carolina State 65
1 Stanford 53
Birmingham
8 North Carolina 60
8 North Carolina 84
9 Missouri 70
8 North Carolina 74
4 Tennessee 69
5 Connecticut 75
12 Utah State 67
5 Connecticut 51
Birmingham
4 Tennessee 65
4 Tennessee 63
13 Louisiana-Lafayette 58
8 North Carolina 59
7 Tulsa 55
6 Miami (FL) 75
11 Arkansas 71
6 Miami (FL) 75
Nashville
3 Ohio State 62
3 Ohio State 87
14 Appalachian State 61
6 Miami (FL) 71
7 Tulsa 80
7 Tulsa 89
10 UNLV 62
7 Tulsa 69
Nashville
2 Cincinnati 61
2 Cincinnati 64
15 UNC Wilmington 47

Midwest Regional – Auburn Hills, Michigan

First round Quarter-finals Regional semifinals Regional Finals
            
1 Michigan State 65
16 Valparaiso 38
1 Michigan State 73
Cleveland
8 Utah 61
8 Utah 48
9 St. Louis 45
1 Michigan State 75
4 Syracuse 58
5 Kentucky 85**
12 St. Bonaventure 80
5 Kentucky 50
Cleveland
4 Syracuse 52
4 Syracuse 79
13 Samford 65
1 Michigan State 75
2 Iowa State 64
6 UCLA 65
11 Ball State 57
6 UCLA 105
Minneapolis
3 Maryland 70
3 Maryland 74
14 Iona 59
6 UCLA 56
2 Iowa State 80
7 Auburn 72
10 Creighton 69
7 Auburn 60
Minneapolis
2 Iowa State 79
2 Iowa State 88
15 Central Connecticut St 78

West Regional – Albuquerque, New Mexico

First round Quarter-finals Regional semifinals Regional Finals
            
1 Arizona 71
16 Jackson St. 47
1 Arizona 59
Salt Lake City
8 Wisconsin 66
8 Wisconsin 66
9 Fresno St. 56
8 Wisconsin 61
4 LSU 48
5 Texas 77
12 Indiana St. 61
5 Texas 67
Salt Lake City
4 LSU 72
4 LSU 64
13 Southeast Missouri St. 61
8 Wisconsin 64
6 Purdue 60
6 Purdue 62
11 Dayton 61
6 Purdue 66
Tucson
3 Oklahoma 62
3 Oklahoma 74
14 Winthrop 50
6 Purdue 75
10 Gonzaga 66
7 Louisville 66
10 Gonzaga 77
10 Gonzaga 82
Tucson
2 St John's 76
2 St John's 61
15 Northern Arizona 56

Final Four at Indianapolis, Indiana

National semifinals National championship game
      
E5 Florida 71
S8 North Carolina 59
E5 Florida 76
M1 Michigan State 89
M1 Michigan State 53
W8 Wisconsin 41

Broadcast information

Television

CBS Sports had exclusive TV coverage. They were carried on a regional basis until the "Elite Eight", at which point all games were shown nationally.

Greg Gumbel once again served as the studio host, joined by analyst Clark Kellogg.

Radio

Westwood One had exclusive radio coverage.

Play-by-play announcer Color analyst(s) Round(s) Site(s)
John Rooney Midwest 1st/2nd rounds Cleveland
Wayne Larrivee Midwest 1st/2nd rounds Minneapolis
Kevin Harlan Jon Sundvold Midwest Regional Michigan
John Rooney (Michigan State games) Bill Raftery (Michigan State games) Final Four Indiana
Marty Brennaman (Florida – North Carolina) Dave Gavitt (Florida – North Carolina)

Tommy Tighe once again served as studio host.

Local radio

Region Seed Teams Flagship station Play-by-play announcer Color analyst(s)
E 5 Florida WRUF–AM (Florida) Mick Hubert Mark Wise
E 8 Kansas KLWN-AM Bob Davis Max Falkenstein
S 8 North Carolina WCHL–AM (North Carolina) Woody Durham Mick Mixon
MW 1 Michigan State WJIM–AM/WJIM-FM (Michigan State) Mark Champion Gus Ganakas
MW 4 Syracuse (Syracuse)
MW 5 Kentucky (Kentucky)
MW 8 Utah (Utah)
MW 9 Saint Louis (Saint Louis)
MW 12 St. Bonaventure WHDL–AM 1450/WPIG–FM 95.7 (St. Bonaventure) Gary Nease John Watson
MW 13 Samford WVSU–FM 91.1 (Samford) Scott Griffin Mike Royer
MW 16 Valparaiso (Valparaiso)
W 4 LSU WDGL-FM 98.1, WWL-AM 870 Jim Hawthorne Kevin Ford
W 8 Wisconsin WIBA–AM/WOLX-FM (Wisconsin) Matt Lepay Mike Lucas

See also

References

  1. ^ "MWC granted automatic bids". Deseret News. April 29, 2000. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  2. ^ "2000 NCAA National semifinals: (MW1) Michigan State 53, (W8) Wisconsin 41". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. Retrieved March 6, 2008.
  3. ^ "2000 NCAA National semifinals: (E5) Florida 71, (S8) North Carolina 59". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. Archived from the original on March 26, 2008. Retrieved March 6, 2008.
  4. ^ "2000 NCAA national championship: (MW1) Michigan State 89, (E5) Florida 76". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. Retrieved March 6, 2008.