2000 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

Edition of USA college basketball tournament March 2026 2000 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game August 2023 2000 2000FinalFour.png 200px 64 RCA Dome Indianapolis, Indiana Michigan State Spartans 2nd 2nd 4th Florida Gators 1st 2nd North Carolina Tar Heels 15th Wisconsin Badgers 2nd Tom Izzo 1st Mateen Cleaves Michigan State 624,777 Morris Peterson Michigan State 105 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. The 62nd annual edition of the tournament 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 was the most recent title won by the Big Ten Conference until 2026, which was also held in Indianapolis. Schedule and venues USA 450 right 2000 first and second rounds USA green pog.svg 32.221743 -110.926479 left #FFFFFF Tucson McKale Center USA green pog.svg 40.760779 -111.891047 left #FFFFFF Salt Lake City Jon M. Huntsman Center USA green pog.svg 44.983334 -93.266670 left #FFFFFF Minneapolis Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome USA green pog.svg 41.499320 -81.694361 left #FFFFFF Cleveland Wolstein Center CSU Convocation Center USA green pog.svg 36.162664 -86.781602 top #FFFFFF Nashville Bridgestone Arena Gaylord Entertainment Center USA green pog.svg 33.520661 -86.802490 bottom #FFFFFF Birmingham Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex BJCC Arena USA green pog.svg 36.099860 -80.244216 right #FFFFFF Winston-Salem Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum USA green pog.svg 42.886447 -78.878369 right #FFFFFF Buffalo KeyBank Center HSBC Arena USA 450 right 2000 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red) USA blue pog.svg 35.110703 -106.609991 right #FFFFFF Albuquerque The Pit (arena) The Pit USA blue pog.svg 30.267153 -97.743061 bottom #FFFFFF Austin Frank Erwin Center USA blue pog.svg 42.687532 -83.234103 left #FFFFFF Auburn Hills The Palace at Auburn Hills USA blue pog.svg 43.048122 -76.147424 right #FFFFFF Syracuse Carrier Dome USA red pog.svg 39.768403 -86.158068 left #FFFFFF Indianapolis RCA Dome 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.MWC granted automatic bids https://www.deseret.com/2000/4/29/19551621/mwc-granted-automatic-bids Deseret News April 29, 2000 April 9, 2023 Automatic qualifiers +Automatic qualifiersConferenceTeamAppearanceLast bidACCDuke24th1999America EastHofstra3rd1977Atlantic 10Temple24th1999Big 12Iowa State11th1997Big EastSt. John's26th1999Big SkyNorthern Arizona2nd1998Big SouthWinthrop2nd1999Big TenMichigan State14th1999Big WestUtah State13th1998CAAUNC Wilmington1st0 NeverConference USASaint Louis6th1998Ivy LeaguePenn18th1999MAACIona5th1998MACBall State7th1995MCCButler4th1998MEACSouth Carolina State4th1998Mid-ContinentValparaiso5th1999Missouri ValleyCreighton11th1999NECCentral Connecticut State1st0 NeverOhio ValleySoutheast Missouri State1st0 NeverPac-10Arizona18th1999PatriotLafayette3rd1999SECArkansas25th1999Southern Appalachian State2nd1979SouthlandLamar5th1983SWACJackson State2nd1997Sun Belt Louisiana–Lafayette5th1994TAACSamford2nd1999WACFresno State (vacated)–1984West CoastGonzaga3rd1999 Listed by region and seeding East Regional – Carrier Dome, Syracuse, New YorkSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1DukeACC28–4Automatic2TempleAtlantic 1026–5Automatic3Oklahoma StateBig 1224–6At-Large4IllinoisBig Ten21–9At-Large5FloridaSEC24–7At-Large6IndianaBig Ten20–8At-Large7OregonPac-1022–7At-Large8KansasBig 1223–9At-Large9DePaulConference USA21–10At-Large10Seton HallBig East20–9At-Large11PepperdineWest Coast24–8At-Large12ButlerMCC23–7Automatic13PennIvy League21–7Automatic14HofstraAmerica East24–6Automatic15LafayettePatriot24–6Automatic16LamarSouthland15–15Automatic Midwest Regional – The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, MichiganSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1Michigan StateBig Ten26–7Automatic2Iowa StateBig 1229–4Automatic3MarylandACC24–9At-Large4SyracuseBig East24–5At-Large5KentuckySEC22–9At-Large6UCLAPac-1019–11At-Large7AuburnSEC23–9At-Large8UtahMountain West22–8At-Large9Saint LouisConference USA19–13Automatic10CreightonMissouri Valley23–9Automatic11Ball StateMAC22–8Automatic12St. BonaventureAtlantic 1021–9At-Large13SamfordTAAC21–10Automatic14IonaMAAC20–10Automatic15Central Connecticut StateNortheast25–5Automatic16ValparaisoMid-Continent19–12Automatic South Regional – Frank Erwin Center, Austin, TexasSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1StanfordPac-1026–3At-Large2CincinnatiConference USA28–3At-Large3Ohio State (vacated)Big Ten22–6At-Large4TennesseeSEC24–6At-Large5ConnecticutBig East24–9At-Large6Miami (FL)Big East21–10At-Large7TulsaWAC29–4At-Large8North CarolinaACC18–13At-Large9MissouriBig 1218–12At-Large10UNLVMountain West20–9At-Large11ArkansasSEC19–14Automatic12Utah StateBig West28–5Automatic13Louisiana-LafayetteSun Belt25–8Automatic14Appalachian StateSouthern23–8Automatic15UNC WilmingtonCAA18–12Automatic16South Carolina StateMEAC20–13Automatic West Regional – The Pit, Albuquerque, New MexicoSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type1ArizonaPac-1026–6Automatic2St. John'sBig East24–7Automatic3OklahomaBig 1226–6At-Large4LSUSEC26–5At-Large5TexasBig 1223–8At-Large6PurdueBig Ten21–9At-Large7LouisvilleConference USA19–11At-Large8WisconsinBig Ten18–13At-Large9Fresno State (vacated)WAC24–9Automatic10GonzagaWest Coast24–8Automatic11DaytonAtlantic 1022–8At-Large12Indiana StateMissouri Valley22–9At-Large13Southeast Missouri StateOhio Valley22–6Automatic14WinthropBig South21–8Automatic15Northern ArizonaBig Sky20–10Automatic16Jackson StateSWAC17–15Automatic Bids by conference Bids by ConferenceBidsConference(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.CNN Sports Illustrated CNNSI.com http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/college/men/recaps/2000/04/01/may_wbg/ https://web.archive.org/web/20011122204820/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/college/men/recaps/2000/04/01/may_wbg/ dead November 22, 2001 2000 NCAA National semifinals: (MW1) Michigan State 53, (W8) Wisconsin 41 2008-03-06 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.CNN Sports Illustrated CNNSI.com http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/college/men/recaps/2000/04/01/fak_nav/ 2000 NCAA National semifinals: (E5) Florida 71, (S8) North Carolina 59 2008-03-06 https://web.archive.org/web/20080326231735/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/college/men/recaps/2000/04/01/fak_nav/ 26 March 2008 dead Championship game 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 and only title, from his second straight final four appearance. Morris Peterson led the Spartans with 21 points.CNN Sports Illustrated CNNSI.com http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/college/men/recaps/2000/04/03/may_fak/ https://web.archive.org/web/20010519131323/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/college/men/recaps/2000/04/03/may_fak/ dead May 19, 2001 2000 NCAA national championship: (MW1) Michigan State 89, (E5) Florida 76 2008-03-06 Bracket East Regional – Syracuse, New York Regional semifinals Regional Finals Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Buffalo Buffalo 1 Duke 82 16 Lamar 55 8 Kansas 81OT 9 DePaul 77 5 Florida 69OT 12 Butler 68 4 Illinois 68 13 Pennsylvania 58 6 Indiana 57 11 Pepperdine 77 3 Oklahoma State 86 14 Hofstra 66 7 Oregon 71 10 Seton Hall 72OT 2 Temple 73 15 Lafayette 47 1 Duke 69 8 Kansas 64 5 Florida 93 4 Illinois 76 11 Pepperdine 67 3 Oklahoma State 75 10 Seton Hall 67OT 2 Temple 65 1 Duke 78 5 Florida 87 3 Oklahoma State 68 10 Seton Hall 66 5 Florida 77 3 Oklahoma State 65 South Regional – Austin, Texas Regional semifinals Regional Finals Birmingham Birmingham Nashville Nashville 1 Stanford 84 16 South Carolina State 65 8 North Carolina 84 9 Missouri 70 5 Connecticut 75 12 Utah State 67 4 Tennessee 63 13 Louisiana-Lafayette 58 6 Miami (FL) 75 11 Arkansas 71 3 Ohio State 87 14 Appalachian State 61 7 Tulsa 89 10 UNLV 62 2 Cincinnati 64 15 UNC Wilmington 47 1 Stanford 53 8 North Carolina 60 5 Connecticut 51 4 Tennessee 65 6 Miami (FL) 75 3 Ohio State 62 7 Tulsa 69 2 Cincinnati 61 8 North Carolina 74 4 Tennessee 69 6 Miami (FL) 71 7 Tulsa 80 8 North Carolina 59 7 Tulsa 55 Ohio State vacated 16 games including all NCAA Tournament wins from the 1999–2000 season due to the Jim O’Brien scandal.http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/news/story?id=2362496 OSU gets probation 2006-03-10 ESPN.com 2017-06-05https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/friv/forfeits.cgi Forfeits and Vacated Games Sports-Reference.com April 30, 2024 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 Regional semifinals Regional Finals Cleveland Cleveland Minneapolis Minneapolis 1 Michigan State 65 16 Valparaiso 38 8 Utah 48 9 St. Louis 45 5 Kentucky 852OT 12 St. Bonaventure 80 4 Syracuse 79 13 Samford 65 6 UCLA 65 11 Ball State 57 3 Maryland 74 14 Iona 59 7 Auburn 72 10 Creighton 69 2 Iowa State 88 15 Central Connecticut St 78 1 Michigan State 73 8 Utah 61 5 Kentucky 50 4 Syracuse 52 6 UCLA 105 3 Maryland 70 7 Auburn 60 2 Iowa State 79 1 Michigan State 75 4 Syracuse 58 6 UCLA 56 2 Iowa State 80 1 Michigan State 75 2 Iowa State 64 West Regional – Albuquerque, New Mexico Regional semifinals Regional Finals Salt Lake City Salt Lake City Tucson Tucson 1 Arizona 71 16 Jackson St. 47 8 Wisconsin 66 9 Fresno St. 56 5 Texas 77 12 Indiana St. 61 4 LSU 64 13 Southeast Missouri St. 61 6 Purdue 62 11 Dayton 61 3 Oklahoma 74 14 Winthrop 50 7 Louisville 66 10 Gonzaga 77 2 St John's 61 15 Northern Arizona 56 1 Arizona 59 8 Wisconsin 66 5 Texas 67 4 LSU 72 6 Purdue 66 3 Oklahoma 62 10 Gonzaga 82 2 St John's 76 8 Wisconsin 61 4 LSU 48 6 Purdue 75 10 Gonzaga 66 8 Wisconsin 64 6 Purdue 60 Final Four at Indianapolis, Indiana National semifinals National championship game E5 Florida 71 S8 North Carolina 59 M1 Michigan State 53 W8 Wisconsin 41 E5 Florida 76 M1 Michigan State 89 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 announcerColor 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 RegionSeedTeamsFlagship stationPlay-by-play announcerColor 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 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 References Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Ncaa NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament NCAA NCAA