2000 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

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

2000 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament is located in the United States

Tucson

Salt Lake City

Minneapolis

Cleveland

Nashville

Birmingham

Winston-Salem

Buffalo

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2000 first and second rounds

Albuquerque

Austin

Auburn Hills

Syracuse

Indianapolis

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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, 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 Conference)

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 (Hosts: Butler University, IUPUI)

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]
- 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.^[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 and only title, from his second straight final four appearance. Morris Peterson led the Spartans with 21 points.^[4]

Bracket

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^OT

9	DePaul	77
						1	Duke	78

						5	Florida	87
5	Florida	69^OT

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^OT
			10	Seton Hall	67^OT
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

# — Ohio State vacated 16 games including all NCAA Tournament wins from the 1999–00 season due to the Jim O’Brien scandal.^[5]^[6] Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with Ohio State removing the wins from its own record.

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	85^2OT

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.

Jim Nantz/Billy Packer/Bonnie Bernstein – First and Second Rounds at Winston-Salem, North Carolina; East Regional at Syracuse, New York; Final Four and National Championship at Indianapolis, Indiana
Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery/Armen Keteyian – First and Second Rounds at Minneapolis, Minnesota; Midwest Regional at Auburn Hills, Michigan
Dick Enberg/James Worthy/Spencer Tillman – First and Second Rounds at Birmingham, Alabama; South Regional at Austin, Texas
Gus Johnson/Dan Bonner/Beth Mowins – First and Second Rounds at Tucson, Arizona; West Regional at Albuquerque, New Mexico
Kevin Harlan/Jon Sundvold/Debbie Antonelli – First and Second Rounds at Cleveland, Ohio
Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel/Dwayne Ballen – First and Second Rounds at Buffalo, New York
Tim Brando/Rolando Blackman/Jimmy Dykes – First and Second Rounds at Nashville, Tennessee
Craig Bolerjack/Barry Booker/Mike Harris – First and Second Rounds 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)	Final Four	Indiana

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

References

^ "MWC granted automatic bids". Deseret News. April 29, 2000. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
^ "2000 NCAA National semifinals: (MW1) Michigan State 53, (W8) Wisconsin 41". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. Archived from the original on November 22, 2001. Retrieved March 6, 2008.
^ "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.
^ "2000 NCAA national championship: (MW1) Michigan State 89, (E5) Florida 76". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. Archived from the original on May 19, 2001. Retrieved March 6, 2008.
^ "OSU gets probation". ESPN.com. March 10, 2006. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
^ "Forfeits and Vacated Games". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 30, 2024.

[1] "MWC granted automatic bids". Deseret News. April 29, 2000. Retrieved April 9, 2023.

[CNNSI4.1-1-2] "2000 NCAA National semifinals: (MW1) Michigan State 53, (W8) Wisconsin 41". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. Archived from the original on November 22, 2001. Retrieved March 6, 2008.

[CNNSI4.1-2-3] "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.

[CNNSI4.3-4] "2000 NCAA national championship: (MW1) Michigan State 89, (E5) Florida 76". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. Archived from the original on May 19, 2001. Retrieved March 6, 2008.

[5] "OSU gets probation". ESPN.com. March 10, 2006. Retrieved June 5, 2017.

[6] "Forfeits and Vacated Games". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 30, 2024.

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