2000 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament

See also: 2000 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game

2000 NCAA Division I
Men's Basketball Tournament

Season	1999–00
Teams	64
Finals site	RCA Dome Indianapolis, Indiana
Champions	Michigan State Spartans (2nd title, 2nd title game, 4th Final Four)
Runner-up	Florida Gators (1st title game, 2nd Final Four)
Semifinalists	North Carolina Tar Heels (15th Final Four) Wisconsin Badgers (2nd Final Four)
Winning coach	Tom Izzo (1st title)
MOP	Mateen Cleaves (Michigan State)
Attendance	624,777
Top scorer	Morris 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

Tucson

Salt Lake City

Minneapolis

Cleveland

Nashville

Birmingham

Winston-Salem

Buffalo

class=notpageimage|

2000 first and second rounds

Albuquerque

Austin

Auburn Hills

Syracuse

Indianapolis

class=notpageimage|

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

• March 16 and 18
  • Midwest Region
    • CSU Convocation Center, Cleveland, Ohio (Host: Cleveland State University)
    • Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota)
  • West Region
    • Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah (Host: University of Utah)
    • McKale Center, Tucson, Arizona (Host: University of Arizona)
• March 17 and 19
  • East Region
    • HSBC Arena, Buffalo, New York (Hosts: Canisius College, Niagara University, and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
    • Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem, North Carolina (Host: Wake Forest University)
  • South Region
    • BJCC Arena, Birmingham, Alabama (Host: Southeastern Conference)
    • Gaylord Entertainment Center, Nashville, Tennessee (Host: Ohio Valley University)

Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 23 and 25
  • Midwest Regional, The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan (Host: Mid-American Conference)
  • West Regional, University Arena ("The Pit"), Albuquerque, New Mexico (Host: University of New Mexico)
• March 24 and 26
  • East Regional, Carrier Dome, Syracuse, New York (Host: Syracuse University)
  • South Regional, Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas (Host: University of Texas at Austin)

National Semifinals and Championship (Final Four and Championship)

• April 1 and 3
  • RCA Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana (Host: Butler University and IUPUI)

For the third time in a decade, and fourth time overall, Indianapolis was the host city of the Final Four. The tournament saw one new host city and three new host venues included for the first time. The tournament came to Cleveland for the first time ever, hosted on the campus of Cleveland State University. This marked the first new host venue on a college campus since the first appearance of Thompson–Boling Arena in 1990, and the first host city to debut on a college campus since Boise in 1983. The tournament returned to Nashville at the then-four-year-old Gaylord Entertainment Center downtown, with previous tournaments having been hosted in Memorial Gym on the campus of Vanderbilt University. And for the first time since 1954, the tournament returned to Buffalo, at the HSBC Arena (now KeyBank Center). The first round tournament games coincided with the date of the arena's name change; previously it had been known as Marine Midland Arena. For the fifth, and as of 2018 ^[update] most recent, time, both the Huntsman Center and McKale Center were chosen as the two first and second round hosts of the West regionals. All 13 venues have gone on to host more tournament games since this season. Any future tournament games to be held in Cleveland would be played at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse; if in Salt Lake City, Vivint Arena.

Teams

East Regional – Syracuse
Seed	School	Coach	Conference	Record	Bid Type
#1	Duke	Mike Krzyzewski	ACC	27–4	Automatic
#2	Temple	John Chaney	Atlantic 10	26–5	Automatic
#3	Oklahoma State	Eddie Sutton	Big 12	24–6	At-Large
#4	Illinois	Lon Kruger	Big Ten	21–9	At-Large
#5	Florida	Billy Donovan	SEC	24–7	At-Large
#6	Indiana	Bob Knight	Big Ten	20–8	At-Large
#7	Oregon	Ernie Kent	Pac-10	22–7	At-Large
#8	Kansas	Roy Williams	Big 12	23–9	At-Large
#9	DePaul	Pat Kennedy	Conference USA	21–10	At-Large
#10	Seton Hall	Tommy Amaker	Big East	20–9	At-Large
#11	Pepperdine	Jan van Breda Kolff	West Coast	24–8	At-Large
#12	Butler	Barry Collier	MCC	23–7	Automatic
#13	Penn	Fran Dunphy	Ivy League	21–7	Automatic
#14	Hofstra	Jay Wright	America East	24–6	Automatic
#15	Lafayette	Fran O'Hanlon	Patriot League	24–6	Automatic
#16	Lamar	Mike Deane	Southland	15–15	Automatic

South Regional – Austin
Seed	School	Coach	Conference	Record	Bid Type
#1	Stanford	Mike Montgomery	Pac-10	26–3	At-Large
#2	Cincinnati	Bob Huggins	Conference USA	28–3	At-Large
#3	Ohio State	Jim O'Brien	Big Ten	22–6	At-Large
#4	Tennessee	Jerry Green	SEC	24–6	At-Large
#5	Connecticut	Jim Calhoun	Big East	24–9	At-Large
#6	Miami (FL)	Leonard Hamilton	Big East	21–10	At-Large
#7	Tulsa	Bill Self	WAC	29–4	At-Large
#8	North Carolina	Bill Guthridge	ACC	18–13	At-Large
#9	Missouri	Quin Snyder	Big 12	18–12	At-Large
#10	UNLV	Bill Bayno	Mountain West	20–9	Automatic
#11	Arkansas	Nolan Richardson	SEC	19–14	Automatic
#12	Utah State	Stew Morrill	Big West	28–5	Automatic
#13	Louisiana-Lafayette	Jessie Evans	Sun Belt	25–8	Automatic
#14	Appalachian State	Buzz Peterson	Southern	23–8	Automatic
#15	UNC-Wilmington	Jerry Wainwright	CAA	18–12	Automatic
#16	South Carolina State	Cy Alexander	MEAC	20–13	Automatic

Midwest Regional – Auburn Hills
Seed	School	Coach	Conference	Record	Bid Type
#1	Michigan State	Tom Izzo	Big Ten	26–7	Automatic
#2	Iowa State	Larry Eustachy	Big 12	29–4	Automatic
#3	Maryland	Gary Williams	ACC	24–9	At-Large
#4	Syracuse	Jim Boeheim	Big East	24–5	At-Large
#5	Kentucky	Tubby Smith	SEC	22–9	At-Large
#6	UCLA	Steve Lavin	Pac-10	19–11	At-Large
#7	Auburn	Cliff Ellis	SEC	23–9	At-Large
#8	Utah	Rick Majerus	Mountain West	22–8	At-Large
#9	Saint Louis	Lorenzo Romar	Conference USA	19–13	Automatic
#10	Creighton	Dana Altman	Missouri Valley	23–9	Automatic
#11	Ball State	Ray McCallum	Mid-American	22–8	Automatic
#12	St. Bonaventure	Jim Baron	Atlantic 10	21–9	At-Large
#13	Samford	Jimmy Tillette	TAAC	21–10	Automatic
#14	Iona	Jeff Ruland	MAAC	20–10	Automatic
#15	Central Connecticut State	Howie Dickenman	NEC	25–5	Automatic
#16	Valparaiso	Homer Drew	Mid-Continent	19–12	Automatic

West Regional – Albuquerque
Seed	School	Coach	Conference	Record	Bid Type
#1	Arizona	Lute Olson	Pac-10	26–6	Automatic
#2	St. John's	Mike Jarvis	Big East	24–7	Automatic
#3	Oklahoma	Kelvin Sampson	Big 12	26–6	At-Large
#4	LSU	John Brady	SEC	26–5	At-Large
#5	Texas	Rick Barnes	Big 12	23–8	At-Large
#6	Purdue	Gene Keady	Big Ten	21–9	At-Large
#7	Louisville	Denny Crum	Conference USA	19–11	At-Large
#8	Wisconsin	Dick Bennett	Big Ten	18–13	At-Large
#9	Fresno State	Jerry Tarkanian	WAC	24–9	At-Large
#10	Gonzaga	Mark Few	West Coast	24–8	Automatic
#11	Dayton	Oliver Purnell	Atlantic 10	22–8	At-Large
#12	Indiana State	Royce Waltman	Missouri Valley	22–9	At-Large
#13	Southeast Missouri State	Gary Garner	Ohio Valley	22–6	Automatic
#14	Winthrop	Gregg Marshall	Big South	21–8	Automatic
#15	Northern Arizona	Mike Adras	Big Sky	20–10	Automatic
#16	Jackson State	Andy Stoglin	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. ^[1]

  • Florida (E5) 71, North Carolina (S8) 59

  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. ^[2]

Championship Game

Main article: 2000 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball 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. ^[3]

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East Regional – Syracuse, New York

	First round					Second round					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

Southeast Regional – Austin, Texas

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Stanford	84
	16	South Carolina St	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 St	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 St	62
	3	Ohio St	87
	14	Appalachian St	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					Second round					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					Second round					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.

• Jim Nantz and Billy Packer – First & Second Round at Winston-Salem, North Carolina; East Regional at Syracuse, New York; Final Four at Indianapolis, Indiana
• Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery – First & Second Round at Minneapolis, Minnesota; Midwest Regional at Auburn Hills, Michigan
• Dick Enberg and James Worthy – First & Second Round at Birmingham, Alabama; South Regional at Austin, Texas
• Gus Johnson and Dan Bonner – First & Second Round at Tucson, Arizona; West Regional at Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Kevin Harlan and Jon Sundvold – First & Second Round at Cleveland, Ohio
• Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel – First & Second Round at Buffalo, New York
• Tim Brando and Rolando Blackman – First & Second Round at Nashville, Tennessee
• Craig Bolerjack and Barry Booker – First & Second Round at Salt Lake City, Utah

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
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

• 2000 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament
• 2000 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament
• 2000 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament
• 2000 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament
• 2000 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament
• 2000 National Invitation Tournament
• 2000 Women's National Invitation Tournament
• 2000 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
• 2000 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament
• 2000 NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament
• 2000 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament

References

1. CNN Sports Illustrated. "2000 NCAA National Semifinals: (MW1) Michigan State 53, (W8) Wisconsin 41". CNNSI.com. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
2. CNN Sports Illustrated. "2000 NCAA National Semifinals: (E5) Florida 71, (S8) North Carolina 59". CNNSI.com. Archived from the original on 26 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
3. CNN Sports Illustrated. "2000 NCAA National Championship: (MW1) Michigan State 89, (E5) Florida 76". CNNSI.com. Retrieved 2008-03-06.