The Final Four consisted of Kansas, making their second straight appearance, Marquette, making their first appearance since they won the national championship in 1977, Syracuse, making their first appearance since 1996, and Texas, making their first appearance since 1947. Texas was the only top seed to advance to the Final Four; the other three (Arizona, Kentucky, and Oklahoma) advanced as far as the Elite Eight but fell.
Syracuse won their first national championship in three tries under 27th year Head Coach Jim Boeheim, defeating Kansas 81–78 a position he would held until his retirement after the 2022–2023 season. In what would be Roy Williams' final game as head coach of the team; he would depart to become the head coach at North Carolina, a position he held before retiring after the 2020–2021 season.[cleanup needed]
Syracuse beat four Big 12 teams on its way to the title: Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas. Those victories helped earn Boeheim the national title that had eluded him in 1987 and 1996.
The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2003 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament (except for the Ivy League, whose regular-season champion received the automatic bid).
When the bracket was first revealed, it contained a mistake that would have forced BYU, a Mormon-run school, to play its potential Elite 8 game on a Sunday, which is against school policy. As a solution, the selection committee had a plan to switch BYU, the 12 seed in the Friday-Sunday South regional, with the team that reached the Sweet 16 in the Thursday-Saturday Midwest regional (either Wisconsin, Weber State, Dayton, or Tulsa) should the Cougars advance to the Sweet 16.[1] BYU lost its first-round game to Connecticut, which meant no switches were necessary.
Freshman Carmelo Anthony scored 33 points leading the Syracuse Orangemen past the Texas Longhorns in the night cap of the national semifinal doubleheader. Syracuse opened up a comfortable 2nd half lead, but that was trimmed to four with just 1:08 remaining. However, freshman Gerry McNamara iced the game with clutch foul shooting in the final minutes. The win put Syracuse and coach Jim Boeheim one win away from their first ever National Championship. Texas was the last number one seed remaining in the tournament.[2]
Leading up to the championship game, much of the conversation revolved around how, no matter the outcome, one of the well-known head coaches would win their first championship.[4] In Jim Boeheim's 27 years as head coach at Syracuse his team had been to two previous Final Fours, and finished runner-up each time (1987, 1996).[4] Roy Williams, during his fifteen seasons as Kansas head coach, had reached the Final Four three previous times, and finished runner up once (1991).[4] Syracuse dominated with a hot shooting first half to lead by 11 at the break. Gerry McNamara connected on an impressive six three-pointers in the half, which were his 18 points for the game. Kansas fought back to within 80–78 in the final minute and had a chance to tie after Hakim Warrick missed a pair of free throws in the final moments; free throws were a major problem throughout the game for Kansas, who went 12-for-30 in attempts. Warrick then blocked Michael Lee's three point attempt with 1.5 seconds remaining on the game clock, followed by Kirk Hinrich's three-pointer at the buzzer going over the net. Kansas' free throw struggles would prove costly in giving Syracuse and Jim Boeheim their first ever national championship. Carmelo Anthony was named Most Outstanding Player (MOP) with 20 points and 10 Rebounds in the win. Syracuse also avenged a second-round loss to Kansas two years earlier.[5]
BracketEdit
* – Denotes overtime period
Opening Round gameEdit
Winner advances to 16th seed in South Regional vs. (1) Texas.
Originally, CBS Sports was to have shown all 63 games of the tournament following the opening round, which was on ESPN. However, because of the start of the Iraq War the night before, the afternoon games on Thursday and Friday were moved to ESPN while retaining CBS graphics and production. CBS News then joined other broadcast and non-broadcast outlets in showing extended news coverage.
Thursday and Friday night's games were shown on CBS, albeit with frequent news updates. To make up for lost advertising revenue, an additional time slot was opened the following Sunday evening for more CBS telecasts.
2003 also marked the debut of Mega March Madness as an exclusive package on DirecTV. This offered additional game broadcasts not available to the viewer's home market during the first three rounds of the tournament. All games from the 4th round (Elite Eight) onward were national telecasts.
Westwood One had exclusive national radio coverage.
CBS Sports announcersEdit
Jim Nantz/Billy Packer/Bonnie Bernstein – First & Second Round at Nashville, Tennessee; West Regional at Anaheim, California; Final Four at New Orleans, Louisiana
^Katz, Andy (March 16, 2003). "BYU would switch regionals if it wins two". ESPN.com. ESPN.com. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
^"2003 NCAA National semifinals: (E3) Syracuse 95, (S1) Texas 84". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. Retrieved March 6, 2008.
^"2003 NCAA National semifinals: (W2) Kansas 94, (MW3) Marquette 61". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. Retrieved March 6, 2008.
^ abcWojciechowski, Gene (April 6, 2003). "Boeheim, Williams say title won't define careers". ESPN.com. ESPN the Magazine. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
^"2003 NCAA national championship: (E3) Syracuse 81, (W2) Kansas 78". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. Retrieved March 6, 2008.
October 21, 2023
2003, ncaa, division, basketball, tournament, involved, schools, playing, single, elimination, play, determine, national, champion, ncaa, division, college, basketball, began, march, 2003, ended, with, championship, game, april, orleans, louisiana, superdome, . The 2003 NCAA Division I men s basketball tournament involved 65 schools playing in single elimination play to determine the national champion of men s NCAA Division I college basketball It began on March 18 2003 and ended with the championship game on April 7 in New Orleans Louisiana at the Superdome A total of 64 games were played 2003 NCAA Division Imen s basketball tournamentSeason2002 03Teams65Finals siteLouisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans LouisianaChampionsSyracuse Orangemen 1st title 3rd title game 4th Final Four Runner upKansas Jayhawks 7th title game 12th Final Four SemifinalistsMarquette Golden Eagles 3rd Final Four Texas Longhorns 3rd Final Four Winning coachJim Boeheim 1st title MOPCarmelo Anthony Syracuse Attendance54 524Top scorerCarmelo Anthony Syracuse 121 points NCAA Division I men s tournaments 2002 2004 The Final Four consisted of Kansas making their second straight appearance Marquette making their first appearance since they won the national championship in 1977 Syracuse making their first appearance since 1996 and Texas making their first appearance since 1947 Texas was the only top seed to advance to the Final Four the other three Arizona Kentucky and Oklahoma advanced as far as the Elite Eight but fell Syracuse won their first national championship in three tries under 27th year Head Coach Jim Boeheim defeating Kansas 81 78 a position he would held until his retirement after the 2022 2023 season In what would be Roy Williams final game as head coach of the team he would depart to become the head coach at North Carolina a position he held before retiring after the 2020 2021 season cleanup needed Carmelo Anthony of Syracuse was named the tournament s Most Outstanding Player Syracuse beat four Big 12 teams on its way to the title Oklahoma State Oklahoma Texas and Kansas Those victories helped earn Boeheim the national title that had eluded him in 1987 and 1996 Contents 1 Schedule and venues 2 Qualifying teams 2 1 Automatic bids 2 2 Listed by region and seeding 2 3 BYU bracketing switch 3 Bids by conference 4 Final Four 4 1 National semifinals 4 2 Championship game 5 Bracket 5 1 Opening Round game 5 2 East Regional Albany New York 5 3 South Regional San Antonio Texas 5 4 Midwest Regional Minneapolis Minnesota 5 5 West Regional Anaheim California 5 6 Final Four New Orleans Louisiana 6 Broadcast information 6 1 CBS Sports announcers 6 2 Westwood One announcers 6 2 1 First and second rounds 6 2 2 Regionals 6 2 3 Final Four 7 See also 8 ReferencesSchedule and venues Edit nbsp nbsp Spokane nbsp Salt Lake City nbsp Oklahoma City nbsp Indianapolis nbsp Tampa nbsp Boston nbsp Nashville nbsp Birminghamclass notpageimage 2003 first and second rounds note the play in game was held in Dayton Ohio nbsp nbsp Anaheim nbsp Minneapolis nbsp San Antonio nbsp Albany nbsp New Orleansclass notpageimage 2003 Regionals blue and Final Four red The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 2003 tournament Opening Round March 18 University of Dayton Arena Dayton Ohio Host University of Dayton First and Second Rounds March 20 and 22 Ford Center Oklahoma City Oklahoma Host Big 12 Conference Jon M Huntsman Center Salt Lake City Utah Host University of Utah RCA Dome Indianapolis Indiana Hosts Butler University and Horizon League Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena Spokane Washington Host Washington State University March 21 and 23 BJCC Arena Birmingham Alabama Host Southeastern Conference FleetCenter Boston Massachusetts Host Boston College Gaylord Entertainment Center Nashville Tennessee Host Vanderbilt University St Pete Times Forum Tampa Florida Host University of South Florida Regional semifinals and finals Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight March 27 and 29 Midwest Regional Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis Minnesota Host University of Minnesota West Regional Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Anaheim California Host Big West Conference March 28 and 30 East Regional Pepsi Arena Albany New York Host Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and Siena College South Regional Alamodome San Antonio Texas Host University of Texas at San Antonio National semifinals and championship Final Four and championship April 5 and 7 Louisiana Superdome New Orleans Louisiana Host Sun Belt Conference and University of New Orleans Qualifying teams EditFurther information 2003 NCAA Division I men s basketball tournament qualifying teams Automatic bids Edit The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2003 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference s tournament except for the Ivy League whose regular season champion received the automatic bid Conference School Appearance Last bidACC Duke 27th 2002America East Vermont 1st NeverAtlantic 10 Dayton 12th 2000Atlantic Sun Troy State 1st NeverBig 12 Oklahoma 22nd 2002Big East Pittsburgh 15th 2002Big Sky Weber State 13th 1999Big South UNC Asheville 1st NeverBig Ten Illinois 23rd 2002Big West Utah State 15th 2001Colonial UNC Wilmington 3rd 2002C USA Louisville 30th 2000Horizon UW Milwaukee 1st NeverIvy League Penn 20th 2002MAAC Manhattan 5th 1995MAC Central Michigan 4th 1987MEAC South Carolina State 5th 2000Mid Con IUPUI 1st NeverMissouri Valley Creighton 14th 2002Mountain West Colorado State 8th 1990Northeast Wagner 1st NeverOhio Valley Austin Peay 5th 1996Pac 10 Oregon 8th 2002Patriot Holy Cross 11th 2002SEC Kentucky 45th 2002Southern East Tennessee State 6th 1992Southland Sam Houston State 1st NeverSun Belt Western Kentucky 19th 2002SWAC Texas Southern 4th 1995WAC Tulsa 14th 2002West Coast San Diego 3rd 1987Listed by region and seeding Edit East Regional AlbanySeed School Conference Record Berth Type 1 Oklahoma Big 12 24 6 Automatic 2 Wake Forest ACC 24 5 At large 3 Syracuse Big East 24 5 At large 4 Louisville C USA 24 6 Automatic 5 Mississippi State SEC 20 10 At large 6 Oklahoma State Big 12 21 9 At large 7 Saint Joseph s Atlantic 10 23 6 At large 8 California Pac 10 21 8 At large 9 North Carolina State ACC 18 12 At large 10 Auburn SEC 20 11 At large 11 Pennsylvania Ivy League 22 5 Automatic 12 Butler Horizon 25 5 At large 13 Austin Peay OVC 23 7 Automatic 14 Manhattan MAAC 23 6 Automatic 15 East Tennessee State Southern 20 10 Automatic 16 South Carolina State MEAC 20 10 Automatic South Regional San AntonioSeed School Conference Record Berth Type 1 Texas Big 12 22 6 At large 2 Florida SEC 24 7 At large 3 Xavier Atlantic 10 25 5 At large 4 Stanford Pac 10 23 8 At large 5 Connecticut Big East 21 9 At large 6 Maryland ACC 19 9 At large 7 Michigan State Big Ten 19 12 At large 8 LSU SEC 21 10 At large 9 Purdue Big Ten 18 10 At large 10 Colorado Big 12 20 11 At large 11 UNC Wilmington CAA 24 6 Automatic 12 BYU Mountain West 23 8 At large 13 San Diego WCC 18 11 Automatic 14 Troy State Atlantic Sun 26 5 Automatic 15 Sam Houston State Southland 23 6 Automatic 16 UNC Asheville Big South 14 16 AutomaticTexas Southern SWAC 18 12 AutomaticMidwest Regional MinneapolisSeed School Conference Record Berth Type 1 Kentucky SEC 29 3 Automatic 2 Pittsburgh Big East 26 4 Automatic 3 Marquette C USA 23 5 At large 4 Dayton Atlantic 10 24 5 Automatic 5 Wisconsin Big Ten 22 7 At large 6 Missouri Big 12 21 10 At large 7 Indiana Big Ten 20 12 At large 8 Oregon Pac 10 23 9 Automatic 9 Utah Mountain West 24 7 At large 10 Alabama SEC 17 11 At large 11 Southern Illinois Missouri Valley 24 6 At large 12 Weber State Big Sky 26 5 Automatic 13 Tulsa WAC 22 9 Automatic 14 Holy Cross Patriot 26 4 Automatic 15 Wagner Northeast 21 10 Automatic 16 IUPUI Mid Continent 20 13 Automatic West Regional AnaheimSeed School Conference Record Berth Type 1 Arizona Pac 10 25 3 At large 2 Kansas Big 12 25 7 At large 3 Duke ACC 24 6 Automatic 4 Illinois Big Ten 24 6 Automatic 5 Notre Dame Big East 22 9 At large 6 Creighton Missouri Valley 29 4 Automatic 7 Memphis C USA 23 6 At large 8 Cincinnati C USA 17 11 At large 9 Gonzaga WCC 23 8 At large 10 Arizona State Pac 10 19 11 At large 11 Central Michigan Mid American 24 6 Automatic 12 UW Milwaukee Horizon 24 7 Automatic 13 Western Kentucky Sun Belt 24 8 Automatic 14 Colorado State Mountain West 19 13 Automatic 15 Utah State Big West 24 8 Automatic 16 Vermont America East 21 11 AutomaticBYU bracketing switch Edit When the bracket was first revealed it contained a mistake that would have forced BYU a Mormon run school to play its potential Elite 8 game on a Sunday which is against school policy As a solution the selection committee had a plan to switch BYU the 12 seed in the Friday Sunday South regional with the team that reached the Sweet 16 in the Thursday Saturday Midwest regional either Wisconsin Weber State Dayton or Tulsa should the Cougars advance to the Sweet 16 1 BYU lost its first round game to Connecticut which meant no switches were necessary Bids by conference EditBids by ConferenceBids Conference s 6 Big 12 SEC5 Big Ten Pac 104 ACC Big East C USA3 Atlantic 10 Mountain West2 Horizon Missouri Valley WCC1 19 othersFinal Four Edit nbsp The Louisiana Superdome was host of the Final Four and National Championship in 2003 At Louisiana Superdome New Orleans National semifinals Edit April 5 2003 Syracuse E3 95 Texas S1 84Freshman Carmelo Anthony scored 33 points leading the Syracuse Orangemen past the Texas Longhorns in the night cap of the national semifinal doubleheader Syracuse opened up a comfortable 2nd half lead but that was trimmed to four with just 1 08 remaining However freshman Gerry McNamara iced the game with clutch foul shooting in the final minutes The win put Syracuse and coach Jim Boeheim one win away from their first ever National Championship Texas was the last number one seed remaining in the tournament 2 Kansas W2 94 Marquette M3 61The Kansas Jayhawks routed the Marquette Golden Eagles by 33 points the fourth largest blowout in Final Four history Keith Langford led the Jayhawks with 24 points and Kirk Hinrich and Aaron Miles each added 18 points Dwyane Wade led Marquette in scoring with 19 points in the loss Like Boeheim Kansas coach Roy Williams was just one win away from winning his first ever National Championship 3 Championship game Edit Main article 2003 NCAA Men s Division I Basketball Championship Game April 7 2003 Syracuse E3 81 Kansas W2 78Leading up to the championship game much of the conversation revolved around how no matter the outcome one of the well known head coaches would win their first championship 4 In Jim Boeheim s 27 years as head coach at Syracuse his team had been to two previous Final Fours and finished runner up each time 1987 1996 4 Roy Williams during his fifteen seasons as Kansas head coach had reached the Final Four three previous times and finished runner up once 1991 4 Syracuse dominated with a hot shooting first half to lead by 11 at the break Gerry McNamara connected on an impressive six three pointers in the half which were his 18 points for the game Kansas fought back to within 80 78 in the final minute and had a chance to tie after Hakim Warrick missed a pair of free throws in the final moments free throws were a major problem throughout the game for Kansas who went 12 for 30 in attempts Warrick then blocked Michael Lee s three point attempt with 1 5 seconds remaining on the game clock followed by Kirk Hinrich s three pointer at the buzzer going over the net Kansas free throw struggles would prove costly in giving Syracuse and Jim Boeheim their first ever national championship Carmelo Anthony was named Most Outstanding Player MOP with 20 points and 10 Rebounds in the win Syracuse also avenged a second round loss to Kansas two years earlier 5 Bracket Edit Denotes overtime period Opening Round game Edit Winner advances to 16th seed in South Regional vs 1 Texas Opening Round gameMarch 18 16aUNC Ashville92 16bTexas Southern84East Regional Albany New York Edit First roundQuarter finalsRegional semifinalsRegional Finals 1Oklahoma7116South Carolina State541Oklahoma74Oklahoma City Thu Sat8California658California76 9NC State741Oklahoma6512Butler545Mississippi St4612Butler4712Butler79Birmingham Fri Sun4Louisville714Louisville8613Austin Peay641Oklahoma473Syracuse636Oklahoma State7711Pennsylvania636Oklahoma State56Boston Fri Sun3Syracuse683Syracuse7614Manhattan653Syracuse7910Auburn787Saint Joseph s6310Auburn65 10Auburn68Tampa Fri Sun2Wake Forest622Wake Forest7615East Tennessee State73South Regional San Antonio Texas Edit First roundQuarter finalsRegional semifinalsRegional Finals 1Texas8216UNC Asheville611Texas77Birmingham Fri Sun9Purdue678LSU569Purdue801Texas825Connecticut785Connecticut5812BYU535Connecticut85Spokane Thu Sat4Stanford744Stanford7713San Diego691Texas857Michigan State766Maryland7511UNC Wilmington736Maryland77Nashville Fri Sun3Xavier643Xavier7114Troy State596Maryland587Michigan State607Michigan State7910Colorado647Michigan State68Tampa Fri Sun2Florida462Florida8515Sam Houston State55Midwest Regional Minneapolis Minnesota Edit First roundQuarter finalsRegional semifinalsRegional Finals 1Kentucky9516IUPUI641Kentucky74Nashville Fri Sun9Utah548Oregon589Utah601Kentucky635Wisconsin575Wisconsin8112Weber State745Wisconsin61Spokane Thu Sat13Tulsa604Dayton7113Tulsa841Kentucky693Marquette836Missouri7211Southern Illinois716Missouri92Indianapolis Thu Sat3Marquette101 3Marquette7214Holy Cross683Marquette772Pittsburgh747Indiana6710Alabama627Indiana52Boston Fri Sun2Pittsburgh742Pittsburgh8715Wagner61West Regional Anaheim California Edit First roundQuarter finalsRegional semifinalsRegional Finals 1Arizona8016Vermont511Arizona96 Salt Lake City Thu Sat9Gonzaga958Cincinnati699Gonzaga741Arizona885Notre Dame715Notre Dame7012UW Milwaukee695Notre Dame68Indianapolis Thu Sat4Illinois604Illinois6513Western Kentucky601Arizona752Kansas786Creighton7311Central Michigan7911Central Michigan60Salt Lake City Thu Sat3Duke863Duke6714Colorado State573Duke652Kansas697Memphis7110Arizona State8410Arizona State76Oklahoma City Thu Sat2Kansas1082Kansas6415Utah State61Final Four New Orleans Louisiana Edit National semifinalsNational Championship Game E3Syracuse95S1Texas84E3Syracuse81W2Kansas78M3Marquette61W2Kansas94Broadcast information EditOriginally CBS Sports was to have shown all 63 games of the tournament following the opening round which was on ESPN However because of the start of the Iraq War the night before the afternoon games on Thursday and Friday were moved to ESPN while retaining CBS graphics and production CBS News then joined other broadcast and non broadcast outlets in showing extended news coverage Thursday and Friday night s games were shown on CBS albeit with frequent news updates To make up for lost advertising revenue an additional time slot was opened the following Sunday evening for more CBS telecasts 2003 also marked the debut of Mega March Madness as an exclusive package on DirecTV This offered additional game broadcasts not available to the viewer s home market during the first three rounds of the tournament All games from the 4th round Elite Eight onward were national telecasts Westwood One had exclusive national radio coverage CBS Sports announcers Edit Jim Nantz Billy Packer Bonnie Bernstein First amp Second Round at Nashville Tennessee West Regional at Anaheim California Final Four at New Orleans Louisiana Dick Enberg Matt Guokas Kareem Abdul Jabbar Armen Keteyian First amp Second Round at Salt Lake City Utah South Regional at San Antonio Texas Verne Lundquist Bill Raftery Lesley Visser First amp Second Round at Boston Massachusetts Midwest Regional at Minneapolis Minnesota Gus Johnson Len Elmore Solomon Wilcots First amp Second Round at Indianapolis Indiana East Regional at Albany New York Kevin Harlan and Jay Bilas First amp Second Round at Oklahoma City Oklahoma Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel First amp Second Round at Tampa Florida Craig Bolerjack and Dan Bonner First amp Second Round at Birmingham Alabama Tim Brando and Bob Wenzel First amp Second Round at Spokane WashingtonWestwood One announcers Edit First and second rounds Edit Doug Kennedy and Richard Larsen Regionals Edit Final Four EditSee also Edit2003 NCAA Division II men s basketball tournament 2003 NCAA Division III men s basketball tournament 2003 NCAA Division I women s basketball tournament 2003 NCAA Division II women s basketball tournament 2003 NCAA Division III women s basketball tournament 2003 National Invitation Tournament 2002 Women s National Invitation Tournament 2003 NAIA Division I men s basketball tournament 2003 NAIA Division II men s basketball tournament 2003 NAIA Division I women s basketball tournament 2003 NAIA Division II women s basketball tournamentReferences Edit Katz Andy March 16 2003 BYU would switch regionals if it wins two ESPN com ESPN com Retrieved April 16 2022 2003 NCAA National semifinals E3 Syracuse 95 S1 Texas 84 CNN Sports Illustrated CNNSI com Retrieved March 6 2008 2003 NCAA National semifinals W2 Kansas 94 MW3 Marquette 61 CNN Sports Illustrated CNNSI com Retrieved March 6 2008 a b c Wojciechowski Gene April 6 2003 Boeheim Williams say title won t define careers ESPN com ESPN the Magazine Retrieved November 16 2013 2003 NCAA national championship E3 Syracuse 81 W2 Kansas 78 CNN Sports Illustrated CNNSI com Retrieved March 6 2008 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2003 NCAA Division I men 27s basketball tournament amp oldid 1177978332, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
