2000 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

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

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.

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»

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

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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	4th	1984
West Coast	Gonzaga	3rd	1999

Tournament seeds

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

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.^[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.

• Jim Nantz/Billy Packer/Bonnie Bernstein – First & Second Round at Winston-Salem, North Carolina; East Regional at Syracuse, New York; Final Four at Indianapolis, Indiana
• Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery/Armen Keteyian – First & Second Round at Minneapolis, Minnesota; Midwest Regional at Auburn Hills, Michigan
• Dick Enberg/James Worthy/Spencer Tillman – 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/Jim Spanarkel/Dwayne Ballen – First & Second Round at Buffalo, New York
• Tim Brando/Rolando Blackman/Jimmy Dykes – 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. "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 2008-03-06.
3. "2000 NCAA National semifinals: (E5) Florida 71, (S8) North Carolina 59". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. from the original on 26 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
4. "2000 NCAA national championship: (MW1) Michigan State 89, (E5) Florida 76". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. Retrieved 2008-03-06.