| Year: | 2004 |
| Teams: | 65 |
| Finalfourarena: | Alamodome |
| Finalfourcity: | San Antonio, Texas |
| Champions: | Connecticut Huskies |
| Titlecount: | 2nd |
| Champgamecount: | 2nd |
| Champffcount: | 2nd |
| Runnerup: | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets |
| Gamecount: | 1st |
| Runnerffcount: | 2nd |
| Semifinal1: | Duke Blue Devils |
| Finalfourcount: | 14th |
| Semifinal2: | Oklahoma State Cowboys |
| Finalfourcount2: | 6th |
| Coach: | Jim Calhoun |
| Coachcount: | 2nd |
| Mop: | Emeka Okafor |
| Mopteam: | Connecticut |
| Attendance: | 716,899 |
| Topscorer: | Ben Gordon |
| Topscorerteam: | Connecticut |
| Points: | 154 |
The 2004 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 16, 2004, and ended with the championship game on April 5 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. A total of 64 games were played.
The NCAA named, for the first time, the four tournament regions after regional site host cities instead of the "East", "Midwest", "South", and "West" designations. It was also the first year that the matchups for the national semifinals were determined at least in part by the overall seeding of the top team in each regional . The top four teams in the tournament were Kentucky, Duke, Stanford, and Saint Joseph's. Had all of those teams advanced to the Final Four, Kentucky would have played Saint Joseph's and Duke would have played Stanford in the semifinal games.
Of those teams, only Duke advanced to the Final Four. They were joined by Connecticut, making their first appearance since defeating Duke for the national championship in 1999, Oklahoma State, making their first appearance since 1995, and Georgia Tech, making their first appearance since 1990.
Connecticut defeated Georgia Tech 82–73 to win their second national championship in as many tries. Emeka Okafor of Connecticut was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
As they had in 1999, Connecticut won their regional championship in Phoenix, Arizona.
Two of the tournament's top seeds failed to make it past the opening weekend. Kentucky, number one seed of the St. Louis region, and Stanford, #1 seed of the Phoenix region, both were defeated. Incidentally, both teams were defeated by schools from Alabama, as Kentucky fell to UAB while Stanford lost to Alabama.
Due to their strong 2003–04 season, Gonzaga achieved its highest NCAA tournament seed until 2013 by receiving the #2 seed in the St. Louis region. Gonzaga would receive a #1 seed in the 2013 tournament. The team failed to advance beyond the first weekend of the tournament, however.
The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 2004 tournament:[1]
Opening Round
First and Second Rounds
Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)
National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)
The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2004 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 | data-sort-type="number" | Appearance | Last bid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACC | Maryland | 21st | 2003 | |
| America East | Vermont | 2nd | 2003 | |
| Atlantic 10 | Xavier | 16th | 2003 | |
| Atlantic Sun | Central Florida | 3rd | 1996 | |
| Big 12 | Oklahoma State | 21st | 2003 | |
| Big East | Connecticut | 25th | 2003 | |
| Big Sky | Eastern Washington | 1st | Never | |
| Big South | Liberty | 2nd | 1994 | |
| Big Ten | Wisconsin | 10th | 2003 | |
| Big West | Pacific | 6th | 1997 | |
| Colonial | VCU | 7th | 1996 | |
| C-USA | Cincinnati | 23rd | 2003 | |
| Horizon | Illinois–Chicago | 3rd | 2002 | |
| Ivy League | Princeton | 23rd | 2001 | |
| MAAC | Manhattan | 6th | 2003 | |
| MAC | Western Michigan | 3rd | 1998 | |
| MEAC | Florida A&M | 2nd | 1999 | |
| Mid-Con | Valparaiso | 7th | 2002 | |
| Missouri Valley | Northern Iowa | 2nd | 1990 | |
| Mountain West | Utah | 25th | 2003 | |
| Northeast | Monmouth | 3rd | 2001 | |
| Ohio Valley | Murray State | 12th | 2002 | |
| Pac-10 | Stanford | 13th | 2003 | |
| Patriot | Lehigh | 3rd | 1988 | |
| SEC | Kentucky | 46th | 2003 | |
| Southern | East Tennessee State | 7th | 2003 | |
| Southland | UTSA | 3rd | 1999 | |
| Sun Belt | Louisiana–Lafayette | 8th | 2000 | |
| SWAC | Alabama State | 2nd | 2001 | |
| WAC | Nevada | 3rd | 1985 | |
| West Coast | Gonzaga | 7th | 2003 |
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| Bids | Conference | Schools | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | ACC | Duke, Georgia Tech, Maryland, NC State, North Carolina, Wake Forest | |
| Big East | Boston College, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Providence, Seton Hall, Syracuse | ||
| C-USA | Charlotte, Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Memphis, UAB | ||
| SEC | Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Vanderbilt | ||
| 4 | Atlantic 10 | Dayton, Richmond, Saint Joseph's, Xavier | |
| Big 12 | Kansas, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech | ||
| 3 | Big Ten | Illinois, Michigan State, Wisconsin | |
| Mountain West | Air Force, BYU, Utah | ||
| Pac-10 | Arizona, Stanford, Washington | ||
| 2 | Missouri Valley | Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois | |
| WAC | Nevada, UTEP | ||
| 1 | 20 other conferences | ||
| Conference |
| Record | Win % | R32 | S16 | E8 | F4 | CG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big East | 6 | 12–5 | .706 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| SEC | 6 | 7–6 | .538 | 4 | 2 | 1 | – | – | |
| Big Ten | 3 | 3–3 | .500 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | |
| ACC | 6 | 14–6 | .700 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| Big 12 | 4 | 10–4 | .714 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | – | |
| Pac-10 | 3 | 1–3 | .250 | 1 | – | – | – | – | |
| Missouri Valley | 2 | 0–2 | .000 | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Atlantic 10 | 4 | 6–4 | .600 | 2 | 2 | 2 | – | – | |
| C–USA | 6 | 5–6 | .455 | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | |
| MWC | 3 | 0–3 | .000 | – | – | – | – | – | |
| WAC | 2 | 2–2 | .500 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | |
| MAAC | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | |
| WCC | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | – | – | – | – | |
| Big West | 1 | 1–1 | .500 | 1 | data-sort-value="0" | – | – | – | – |
| MEAC | 1 | 1–1* | .500 | – | – | – | – | – |
*Florida A&M University won the Opening Round game.
The America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, CAA, Horizon League, Mid-Continent, Ivy, MAC, MEAC, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, SoCon, Southland, SWAC, and Sun Belt conferences all went 0–1.
The columns R32, S16, E8, F4, and CG respectively stand for the Round of 32, Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, Final Four, and championship Game.
At Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
Will Bynum's layup in the final moments kept the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets dream for a National Championship alive as they defeated the Oklahoma State Cowboys, in a nail-biter, in the first of the national semifinal doubleheader. Georgia Tech led for most of the game including a seven-point edge at halftime. However, Oklahoma State was able to tie the game on John Lucas's three-pointer with 26.3 seconds left. Georgia Tech then milked the clock which set up Bynum's game-winner. Georgia Tech advanced to their first ever National Championship appearance. Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton was denied yet another chance at an elusive national title.[3]
The 2004 National Championship Game proved to be a coronation for the Connecticut Huskies as they handled Paul Hewitt's Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Emeka Okafor led Connecticut with 24 points and was an easy choice for Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. Guard Ben Gordon added 21 points to Connecticut's cause. The victory gave Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun his second National Championship (1999).[4]
Winner advances to 16th seed in St. Louis Regional vs. (1) Kentucky.
See main article: 2004 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game.
Greg Gumbel once again served as the studio host, joined by analysts Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis.