2002 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament explained

Year:2002
Teams:65
Finalfourarena:Georgia Dome
Finalfourcity:Atlanta, Georgia
Champions:Maryland Terrapins
Titlecount:1st
Champgamecount:1st
Champffcount:2nd
Runnerup:Indiana Hoosiers
Gamecount:6th
Runnerffcount:8th
Semifinal1:Kansas Jayhawks
Finalfourcount:11th
Semifinal2:Oklahoma Sooners
Finalfourcount2:4th
Coach:Gary Williams
Coachcount:1st
Mop:Juan Dixon
Mopteam:Maryland
Attendance:720,433
Topscorer:Juan Dixon
Topscorerteam:Maryland
Topscorer2:Jared Jeffries
Topscorer2team:Indiana
Points:155

The 2002 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 12, 2002, and ended with the championship game on April 1 in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome. A total of 64 games were played.

This was the first year that the tournament used the so-called "pod" system, in which the eight first- and second-round sites are distributed around the four regionals. Teams were assigned to first round spots in order to minimize travel for as many teams as possible. The top seeds at each site were:

Oregon (M2), USC (S4)

Arizona (W3), Ohio State (W4)

Oklahoma (W2), Mississippi State (M3)

Kansas (M1), Kentucky (E4)

Georgia (E3), Illinois (M4)

Cincinnati (W1), Pittsburgh (S3)

Maryland (E1), Connecticut (E2)

Duke (S1), Alabama (S2)

The Final Four consisted of Maryland, making their second consecutive appearance, Kansas, making their first appearance since 1993, Indiana, making their first appearance since 1992, and Oklahoma, making their first appearance since their national runner-up finish in 1988.

Maryland defeated Indiana 64–52 in the championship game to win their first-ever national championship. Juan Dixon of Maryland was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

For the second straight tournament, the Elite Eight featured at least one double-digit seed. South Region tenth-seed Kent State and West Region twelfth-seed Missouri played in their respective regional finals, with Kent State losing to Indiana and Missouri losing to Oklahoma. This also marked the first time since 1987 that no team from the states of North Carolina nor Kentucky reached the Final Four.

This tournament was the first since 1974 (the last tournament which only allowed one team per conference) in which the North Carolina Tar Heels were not a participant. The 27-year streak was, at the time, the longest appearance streak in NCAA history, having beat UCLA's 15-year streak in 1990. It has since been topped by Kansas, whose 35-year streak dates back to 1990 and is still active. (Two other active teams, Michigan State and Gonzaga, also have active 20 year streaks and could beat UNC's streak in 2026 and 2027, respectively.)

Schedule and venues

The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 2002 tournament:

Opening Round

First and Second Rounds

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

Qualifying teams

Automatic bids

The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2002 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament (except for the Ivy League, whose regular-season champion received the automatic bid).

ConferenceSchooldata-sort-type="number" AppearanceLast bid
ACCDuke26th2001
America EastBoston University6th1997
Atlantic 10Xavier14th2001
Atlantic SunFlorida Atlantic1stNever
Big 12Oklahoma21st2001
Big EastConnecticut23rd2000
Big SkyMontana5th1997
Big SouthWinthrop4th2001
Big TenOhio State22nd2001
Big WestUC Santa Barbara3rd1990
ColonialUNC Wilmington2nd2000
C-USACincinnati21st2001
Horizon2nd1998
Ivy LeaguePenn19th2000
MAACSiena3rd1999
MACKent State3rd2001
MEAC2nd2001
Mid-ConValparaiso6th2000
Missouri ValleyCreighton13th2001
Mountain WestSan Diego State4th1985
NortheastCentral Connecticut State2nd2000
Ohio ValleyMurray State11th1999
Pac-10Arizona21st2001
PatriotHoly Cross10th2001
SECMississippi State5th1996
SouthernDavidson7th1998
SouthlandMcNeese State2nd1989
Sun BeltWestern Kentucky18th2001
SWACAlcorn State6th1999
WACHawaii4th2001
West CoastGonzaga5th2001
Listed by region and seeding

valign=top
East Regional – Syracuse
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth Type
  1. 1
MarylandACC26–4At-large
  1. 2
ConnecticutBig East24–6Automatic
  1. 3
GeorgiaSEC21–9At-large
  1. 4
KentuckySEC20–9At-large
  1. 5
MarquetteC-USA26–6At-large
  1. 6
Texas TechBig 1223–8At-large
  1. 7
NC StateACC22–10At-large
  1. 8
WisconsinBig Ten18–12At-large
  1. 9
St. John'sBig East20–11At-large
  1. 10
Michigan StateBig Ten19–11At-large
  1. 11
Southern IllinoisMissouri Valley26–7At-large
  1. 12
TulsaWAC26–6At-large
  1. 13
ValparaisoMid-Continent25–7Automatic
  1. 14
Murray StateOVC19–12Automatic
  1. 15
MEAC26–6Automatic
  1. 16
SienaMAAC16–18Automatic
Alcorn StateSWAC21–9Automatic
valign=top
Midwest Regional – Madison
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth Type
  1. 1
KansasBig 1229–3At-large
  1. 2
OregonPac-1023–8At-large
  1. 3
Mississippi StateSEC26–7Automatic
  1. 4
IllinoisBig Ten24–8At-large
  1. 5
FloridaSEC22–8At-large
  1. 6
TexasBig 1220–11At-large
  1. 7
Wake ForestACC20–12At-large
  1. 8
StanfordPac-1019–9At-large
  1. 9
Western KentuckySun Belt28–3Automatic
  1. 10
PepperdineWCC22–8At-large
  1. 11
Boston CollegeBig East20–11At-large
  1. 12
CreightonMissouri Valley22–8Automatic
  1. 13
San Diego StateMountain West21–11Automatic
  1. 14
McNeese StateSouthland21–8Automatic
  1. 15
MontanaBig Sky16–14Automatic
  1. 16
Holy CrossPatriot18–14Automatic
valign=top
South Regional – Lexington
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth Type
  1. 1
DukeACC29–3Automatic
  1. 2
AlabamaSEC26–7At-large
  1. 3
PittsburghBig East27–5At-large
  1. 4
USCPac-1022–9At-large
  1. 5
IndianaBig Ten20–11At-large
  1. 6
CaliforniaPac-1021–8At-large
  1. 7
Oklahoma StateBig 1223–8At-large
  1. 8
Notre DameBig East21–10At-large
  1. 9
CharlotteC-USA18–11At-large
  1. 10
Kent StateMAC27–5Automatic
  1. 11
PennIvy League25–6Automatic
  1. 12
UtahMountain West21–8At-large
  1. 13
UNC WilmingtonCAA22–9Automatic
  1. 14
NEC27–4Automatic
  1. 15
Florida AtlanticAtlantic Sun19–11Automatic
  1. 16
WinthropBig South19–11Automatic
valign=top
West Regional – San Jose
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth Type
  1. 1
CincinnatiC-USA30–3Automatic
  1. 2
OklahomaBig 1227–4Automatic
  1. 3
ArizonaPac-1022–9Automatic
  1. 4
Ohio StateBig Ten23–7Automatic
  1. 5
Miami (FL)Big East24–7At-large
  1. 6
GonzagaWCC29–3Automatic
  1. 7
XavierAtlantic 1025–5Automatic
  1. 8
UCLAPac-1019–11At-Large
  1. 9
Ole MissSEC20–10At-large
  1. 10
HawaiiWAC27–5Automatic
  1. 11
WyomingMountain West21–8At-large
  1. 12
MissouriBig 1221–11At-large
  1. 13
DavidsonSouthern21–9Automatic
  1. 14
UC Santa BarbaraBig West20–10Automatic
  1. 15
Horizon20–13Automatic
  1. 16
Boston UniversityAmerica East22–9Automatic

Bids by conference

BidsConferenceSchools
6Big 12Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech
Big EastBoston College, Connecticut, Miami (FL), Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, St. John's
Pac-10Arizona, California, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC
SECAlabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Ole Miss
5Big TenIllinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin
4ACCDuke, Maryland, NC State, Wake Forest
3C-USACharlotte, Cincinnati, Marquette
Mountain WestSan Diego State, Utah, Wyoming
2Missouri ValleyCreighton, Southern Illinois
WACHawaii, Tulsa
West CoastGonzaga, Pepperdine
1 20 other conferences

Final Four

At Georgia Dome, Atlanta

National semifinals

For the second straight year the Maryland Terrapins earned a bid to the Final Four. This time they would take advantage of their trip. After falling behind 13–2 to the Kansas Jayhawks to begin the game, Maryland stormed to a 44–37 lead at halftime. They expanded their lead to 20, 83–63, with 6:11 left in the game. Roy Williams' Kansas squad did not quit and closed the gap to 4 with under a minute remaining, but the Terps survived to advance to the championship, 97–88. Maryland senior Juan Dixon led the contest in scoring with 33.[1]

Mike Davis's Indiana Hoosiers continued their Cinderella ride in the NCAA tournament by defeating another higher ranked team, the Oklahoma Sooners. Oklahoma led most of the first half, and took a 34–30 lead into halftime. However, with the score 60–60 late in the 2nd half Indiana broke ahead for good with an easy bucket from Jeff Newton, who led the Hoosiers with 19 points. The Hoosiers outscored the Sooners by 13 in the 2nd half and advanced to the championship game with a 73–64 victory. Oklahoma was coached by Kelvin Sampson, who later in his career would succeed Davis as IU head coach.[2]

Championship game

See main article: 2002 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game.

The Maryland Terrapins completed the task they set out to do one year earlier by defeating the Indiana Hoosiers 64–52. Maryland led virtually the entire game except for a brief point with 9:52 left in the basketball game when Indiana took a 44–42 lead. Maryland answered the Hoosier run and ended the game with a 22–8 run to bring home the school's first and coach Gary Williams's only men's basketball National Championship. Senior Juan Dixon was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player (MOP).[3]

Bracket

Opening Round game

Winner advances to 16th seed in East Regional vs. (1) Maryland.

East Regional — Syracuse, New York

Regional Final Summary

Midwest Regional — Madison, Wisconsin

Regional Final Summary

South Regional — Lexington, Kentucky

Regional Final Summary

West Regional — San Jose, California

  1. — Ohio State vacated all 32 games including its NCAA Tournament appearance from the 2001–02 season due to the Jim O’Brien scandal.[4] 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.

Regional Final Summary

Final Four — Atlanta, Georgia

Broadcast information

ESPN broadcast the opening-round game, then turned coverage over to CBS Sports for the remaining 63 games. They were carried on a regional basis until the "Elite Eight", at which point all games were shown nationally.

Westwood One had exclusive radio coverage.

CBS Sports announcers

Westwood One announcers

Notes and References

  1. Web site: CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. 2002 NCAA National semifinals: (E1) Maryland 97, (MW1) Kansas 88. 2008-03-06.
  2. Web site: CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. 2002 NCAA National semifinals: (S5) Indiana 73, (W2) Oklahoma 64. 2008-03-06.
  3. Web site: CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. 2002 NCAA national championship: (E1) Maryland 64, (S5) Indiana 52. 2008-03-06.
  4. Web site: OSU gets probation. 2006-03-10. ESPN.com. 2017-06-05.