1999 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game

American college basketball final March 2026 1999 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament August 2023 1999 NCAA Tournament Championship Game ncg File:NCAA primary logo 1980.svg March 29, 1999 1998-99 University of Connecticut Connecticut Huskies 33–2 Big East 3 3 Jim Calhoun 37 40 Duke University Duke Blue Devils 37–1 ACC 1 1 Mike Krzyzewski 39 35 Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, Florida 41,340 Tim Higgins, Gerald Boudreaux, Scott Thornley Richard Hamilton, Connecticut Duke by 9.5 CBS Jim Nantz (play-by-play)Billy Packer (color)Bonnie Bernstein and Armen Keteyian (sideline) 1998 2000 The 1999 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game was the finals of the 1999 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and it determined the national champion for the 1998-99 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The game was played on March 29, 1999, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, and featured the East Regional Champion, #1-seeded Duke against the West Regional Champion, #1-seeded Connecticut. UConn upset the heavily favored Blue Devils 77–74 to win their first national championship in program history, marking the start of a dynasty for the Huskies. Participants Duke Blue Devils 1998–99 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team RoundOpponentScoreFirst RoundNo. 16 Florida A&M99–58 Second RoundNo. 9 Tulsa97–56Sweet SixteenNo. 12 Southwest Missouri St.78–61Elite EightNo. 6 Temple85–64Final FourNo. 1 Michigan St.68–62ChampionshipNo. 1 Connecticut74–77 https://www.databasesports.com/ncaab/tourney.htm?yr=1999 RotoWire Fantasy Football, Baseball, Basketball and More Connecticut Huskies 1998–99 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team RoundOpponentScoreFirst RoundNo. 16 Texas–San Antonio91–66Second RoundNo. 9 New Mexico78–56Sweet SixteenNo. 5 Iowa78–68Elite EightNo. 10 Gonzaga67–62Final FourNo. 4 Ohio St.64–58ChampionshipNo. 1 Duke77–74 https://www.databasesports.com/ncaab/tourney.htm?yr=1999 1999 NCAA basketball tournament Bracket Databasesports.com 2013-08-15 Starting lineups Duke Position Connecticut Trajan Langdon G Ricky Moore William Avery G Khalid El-Amin Shane Battier F Kevin Freeman Chris Carrawell F † Richard Hamilton † Elton Brand C Jake Voskuhl† 1999 Consensus First Team All-American SourceDuke vs. Connecticut Box Score (Men), March 29, 1999 https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/1999-03-29-connecticut.html Sports Reference 29 March 2023 Game summary #e3e3e3 March 29 9:00 pm Box score #E1 Connecticut Huskies 77 #W1 Duke Blue Devils 74 37–39 40–35 Trajan Langdon 25 Elton Brand 13 William Avery 5 Richard Hamilton 27 Ricky Moore, Kevin Freeman 8 Khalid El-Amin 4 Tropicana Field – St. Petersburg, Florida 41,340 Tim Higgins, Gerald Boudreaux, Scott Thornley CBS Trajan Langdon committed a traveling violation with 5.4 seconds left with Duke trailing UConn by one, 75–74. Khalid El-Amin was immediately fouled, and he made both free throws to put the Huskies up by three points. The Blue Devils, who were out of timeouts, had a final chance to tie the game and force overtime, but Langdon, one of college basketball's best three-point shooters, was unable to get off a shot in the final seconds when he got triple-teamed and fell to the floor, and UConn escaped with a 77–74 victory, giving the Huskies their first national championship. Game notes In the national championship game, UConn defeated Duke 77–74 to win their first ever national championship, snapping Duke's 32-game winning streak, and scoring the biggest point-spread upset in Championship Game history. Duke nonetheless tied the record for most games won during a single season, with 37, which they co-held until Kentucky's 38-win seasons in 2011–2012 and in 2014–2015 (The 2007-08 Memphis team actually broke this record first, but the team was later forced to vacate their entire season due to eligibility issues surrounding the team).http://www.goldsheet.com/gs_new/histcbb.php Gold Sheet College Basketball Log 29 March 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100410131625/http://www.goldsheet.com/gs_new/histcbb.php 10 April 2010 dead The 1999 National Championship game would be the last time Tropicana Field would host NCAA tournament games. For Duke, they had 2 straight promising seasons end on the Tropicana Field floor, with an 86–84 loss to Kentucky in the 1998 South Regional final, and then the 1999 National Championship game. UConn was a 9.5 point underdog in this game, and is tied with the 1985 Villanova Wildcats for the biggest point spread underdog to ever win the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game. Aftermath The victory against Duke marked the start of a dynasty for the Huskies, as they would go on to win the national championship in their next five title game appearances in 2004, 2011, 2014, 2023, and 2024. The winning streak would eventually be ended in 2026, as the Huskies narrowly fell to Michigan by a 69-63 score. UConn is currently tied with North Carolina for the third most national championships, trailing only Kentucky (8 titles) and UCLA (11 titles). Despite the loss to UConn, Duke would rebound and win another national championship two years later. They would also win two more national championships in 2010 and 2015. References NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball championship games Category:UConn Huskies men's basketball Category:Duke Blue Devils men's basketball Category:College basketball tournaments in Florida Category:Sports competitions in St. Petersburg, Florida NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game Category:20th century in St. Petersburg, Florida