2000 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament


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, one second seed, one third seed, one fifth seed, one sixth seed, one seventh seed, and two eighth seeds. This is the most recent title won by the Big Ten Conference.

Locations

First & Second Rounds

Regional Sites and Final Four

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. 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 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 Smart Home Arena.

Teams

Bids by conference

Final Four

At RCA Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana

National Semifinals

* – Denotes overtime period

East Regional – Syracuse, New York

Southeast Regional – Austin, Texas

Midwest Regional – Auburn Hills, Michigan

West Regional – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Final Four at Indianapolis, Indiana

Television

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

had exclusive radio coverage.
Play-by-play announcerColor analystRoundSite
John RooneyMidwest 1st/2nd roundsCleveland
Wayne LarriveeMidwest 1st/2nd roundsMinneapolis
Kevin HarlanJon SundvoldMidwest RegionalMichigan
John Rooney Bill Raftery Final FourIndiana
Marty Brennaman Dave Gavitt Final FourIndiana

Tommy Tighe once again served as studio host.

Local radio