2004 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

2004 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
2004 Final Four logo
Season	2003–04
Teams	65
Finals site	Alamodome San Antonio, Texas
Champions	Connecticut (2nd title, 2nd title game, 2nd Final Four)
Runner-up	Georgia Tech (1st title game, 2nd Final Four)
Semifinalists	Duke (14th Final Four) Oklahoma State (6th Final Four)
Winning coach	Jim Calhoun (2nd title)
MOP	Emeka Okafor Connecticut
Attendance	716,899
Top scorer	Ben Gordon Connecticut (154 points)
NCAA Men's Division I Tournaments «2003 2005»

The 2004 NCAA Men's Division I 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.

This was the first year in which the regional sites were referred to by the cities in which the games were held in 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.

Locations

The following were the sites that hosted rounds during the 2004 tournament:

Opening Round

March 16

University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)

First and second rounds

March 18 and 20

HSBC Arena, Buffalo, New York (Hosts: Canisius College and Niagara University)

KeyArena, Seattle, Washington (Host: University of Washington)

Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado (Hosts: Colorado State University and Mountain West Conference)

RBC Center, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University)

March 19 and 21

Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Host: Marquette University)

Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Big 12 Conference)

Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio (Host: Ohio State University)

TD Waterhouse Centre, Orlando, Florida (Host: Stetson University)

Regionals

March 25 and 27

East Rutherford Regional, Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey (Host: Rutgers University)

Phoenix Regional, America West Arena, Phoenix, Arizona (Host: Arizona State University)

March 26 and 28

Atlanta Regional, Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia (Host: Georgia Institute of Technology)

St. Louis Regional, Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)

Final Four

April 3 and 5

Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas (Host: University of Texas at San Antonio)

Qualifying Teams

East Rutherford Region
Seed	School	Coach	Conference	Record	Berth Type
#1	St. Joseph's	Phil Martelli	Atlantic 10	27–1	At-Large Bid
#2	Oklahoma State	Eddie Sutton	Big 12	30–3	Tournament Champion
#3	Pittsburgh	Jamie Dixon	Big East	29–4	At-Large Bid
#4	Wake Forest	Skip Prosser	ACC	19–9	At-Large Bid
#5	Florida	Billy Donovan	SEC	20–10	At-Large Bid
#6	Wisconsin	Bo Ryan	Big Ten	24–6	Tournament Champion
#7	Memphis	John Calipari	C-USA	21–7	At-Large Bid
#8	Texas Tech	Bob Knight	Big 12	23–11	At-Large Bid
#9	UNC Charlotte	Bobby Lutz	C-USA	21–8	At-Large Bid
#10	South Carolina	Dave Odom	SEC	23–10	At-Large Bid
#11	Richmond	Jerry Wainwright	Atlantic 10	20–12	At-Large Bid
#12	Manhattan	Bobby Gonzalez	MAAC	24–5	Tournament Champion
#13	Virginia Commonwealth	Jeff Capel	CAA	23–7	Tournament Champion
#14	Central Florida	Kirk Speraw	Atlantic Sun	24–5	Tournament Champion
#15	Eastern Washington	Ray Giacoletti	Big Sky	16–12	Tournament Champion
#16	Liberty	Randy Dunton	Big South	17–14	Tournament Champion

St. Louis Region
Seed	School	Coach	Conference	Record	Berth Type
#1	Kentucky	Tubby Smith	SEC	26–4	Tournament Champion
#2	Gonzaga	Mark Few	WCC	27–2	Tournament Champion
#3	Georgia Tech	Paul Hewitt	ACC	23–9	At-Large Bid
#4	Kansas	Bill Self	Big 12	22–9	At-Large Bid
#5	Providence	Tim Welsh	Big East	20–8	At-Large Bid
#6	Boston College	Al Skinner	Big East	23–9	At-Large Bid
#7	Michigan State	Tom Izzo	Big Ten	18–11	At-Large Bid
#8	Washington	Lorenzo Romar	Pac-10	19–11	At-Large Bid
#9	UAB	Mike Anderson	C-USA	20–9	At-Large Bid
#10	Nevada	Trent Johnson	WAC	22–8	Tournament Champion
#11	Utah	Kerry Rupp	Mountain West	24–8	Tournament Champion
#12	Pacific	Bob Thomason	Big West	23–7	Tournament Champion
#13	UIC	Jimmy Collins	Horizon	24–7	Tournament Champion
#14	Northern Iowa	Greg McDermott	Missouri Valley	20–9	Tournament Champion
#15	Valparaiso	Homer Drew	Mid-Continent	17–12	Tournament Champion
#16	Florida A&M	Mike Gillespie	MEAC	14–16	Tournament Champion
	Lehigh	Billy Taylor	Patriot	18–10	Tournament Champion

Atlanta Region
Seed	School	Coach	Conference	Record	Berth Type
#1	Duke	Mike Krzyzewski	ACC	27–5	At-Large Bid
#2	Mississippi State	Rick Stansbury	SEC	25–3	At-Large Bid
#3	Texas	Rick Barnes	Big 12	25–8	At-Large Bid
#4	Cincinnati	Bob Huggins	C-USA	24–6	Tournament Champion
#5	Illinois	Bruce Weber	Big Ten	24–6	At-Large Bid
#6	North Carolina	Roy Williams	ACC	18–10	At-Large Bid
#7	Xavier	Thad Matta	Atlantic 10	23–10	Tournament Champion
#8	Seton Hall	Louis Orr	Big East	19–9	At-Large Bid
#9	Arizona	Lute Olson	Pac-10	20–9	At-Large Bid
#10	Louisville	Rick Pitino	C-USA	20–9	At-Large Bid
#11	Air Force	Joe Scott	Mountain West	22–6	At-Large Bid
#12	Murray State	Mick Cronin	Ohio Valley	25–5	Tournament Champion
#13	East Tennessee State	Murry Bartow	SoCon	24–5	Tournament Champion
#14	Princeton	John Thompson III	Ivy	19–7	Regular Season Champion
#15	Monmouth	Dave Calloway	Northeast	21–11	Tournament Champion
#16	Alabama State	Rob Spivery	SWAC	16–14	Tournament Champion

Phoenix Region
Seed	School	Coach	Conference	Record	Berth Type
#1	Stanford	Mike Montgomery	Pac-10	29–1	Tournament Champion
#2	Connecticut	Jim Calhoun	Big East	27–6	Tournament Champion
#3	North Carolina State	Herb Sendek	ACC	20–9	At-Large Bid
#4	Maryland	Gary Williams	ACC	19–11	Tournament Champion
#5	Syracuse	Jim Boeheim	Big East	21–7	At-Large Bid
#6	Vanderbilt	Kevin Stallings	SEC	21–9	At-Large Bid
#7	DePaul	Dave Leitao	C-USA	21–9	At-Large Bid
#8	Alabama	Mark Gottfried	SEC	17–12	At-Large Bid
#9	Southern Illinois	Matt Painter	Missouri Valley	25–4	At-Large Bid
#10	Dayton	Brian Gregory	Atlantic 10	24–8	At-Large Bid
#11	Western Michigan	Steve Hawkins	Mid-American	26–4	Tournament Champion
#12	Brigham Young	Steve Cleveland	Mountain West	19–8	At-Large Bid
#13	UTEP	Billy Gillispie	WAC	22–7	At-Large Bid
#14	Louisiana-Lafayette (Vacated)	Jessie Evans	Sun Belt	18–8	Tournament Champion
#15	Vermont	Tom Brennan	America East	22–8	Tournament Champion
#16	Texas-San Antonio	Tim Carter	Southland	16–12	Tournament Champion

Bids by conference

Bids by Conference
Bids	Conference
6	ACC, Big East, C-USA, SEC
4	Atlantic 10, Big 12
3	Big Ten, Mountain West, Pac-10
2	Missouri Valley, WAC
1	20 others

Record by conference

Conference	# of Bids	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	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.

Final four

At Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas

National Semifinals

• April 3, 2004
  • Connecticut (W2) 79, Duke (S1) 78

  With the Connecticut Huskies trailing by 8 points with less than 3 minutes to go, it looked as if the Duke Blue Devils were going to spoil Jim Calhoun's chance at a second national title. Connecticut's All-American center Emeka Okafor was limited to just 22 minutes because of early foul trouble, but he came up clutch with several big plays down the stretch and finished with 18 points and only 3 fouls. By contrast, all three of Duke's centers fouled out, including Shelden Williams, who committed his fifth foul with 3:04 to play. In addition, Duke went without a field goal for the last 4½ minutes until Chris Duhon's meaningless three-pointer at the buzzer. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was denied his 65th NCAA Tournament victory which would have tied him with Dean Smith for the all-time record. He later broke that record.^[1]

• • Georgia Tech (M3) 67, Oklahoma State (E2) 65

  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.^[2]

National Championship Game

• April 5, 2004
  • Connecticut (W2) 82, Georgia Tech (M3) 73

  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).^[3]

Bracket

Opening Round

	Opening Round Game March 16
	16a	Florida A&M	72
	16b	Lehigh	57

East Rutherford Regional

	First round March 18–19					Second round March 20–21					Regional semifinals March 25					Regional finals March 27
	1	Saint Joseph's	82
	16	Liberty	63
						1	Saint Joseph's	70
	Buffalo
						8	Texas Tech	65
	8	Texas Tech	76
	9	Charlotte	73
											1	Saint Joseph's	84
											4	Wake Forest	80
	5	Florida	60
	12	Manhattan	75
						12	Manhattan	80
	Raleigh
						4	Wake Forest	84
	4	Wake Forest	79
	13	VCU	78
																1	Saint Joseph's	62
																2	Oklahoma State	64
	6	Wisconsin	76
	11	Richmond	64
						6	Wisconsin	55
	Milwaukee
						3	Pittsburgh	59
	3	Pittsburgh	53
	14	Central Florida	44
											3	Pittsburgh	51
											2	Oklahoma State	63
	7	Memphis	59
	10	South Carolina	43
						7	Memphis	53
	Kansas City
						2	Oklahoma State	70
	2	Oklahoma State	75
	15	Eastern Washington	56

St. Louis Regional

	First round March 18–19					Second round March 20–21					Regional semifinals March 26					Regional finals March 28
	1	Kentucky	96
	16	Florida A&M	76
						1	Kentucky	75
	Columbus
						9	UAB	76
	8	Washington	100
	9	UAB	102
											9	UAB	74
											4	Kansas	100
	5	Providence	58
	12	Pacific	66
						12	Pacific	63
	Kansas City
						4	Kansas	78
	4	Kansas	78
	13	UIC	44
																4	Kansas	71
																3	Georgia Tech	79
	6	Boston College	58
	11	Utah	51
						6	Boston College	54
	Milwaukee
						3	Georgia Tech	57
	3	Georgia Tech	65
	14	Northern Iowa	60
											3	Georgia Tech	72
											10	Nevada	67
	7	Michigan State	66
	10	Nevada	72
						10	Nevada	91
	Seattle
						2	Gonzaga	72
	2	Gonzaga	76
	15	Valparaiso	49

Atlanta Regional

	First round March 18–19					Second round March 20–21					Regional semifinals March 26					Regional finals March 28
	1	Duke	96
	16	Alabama State	61
						1	Duke	90
	Raleigh
						8	Seton Hall	62
	8	Seton Hall	80
	9	Arizona	76
											1	Duke	72
											5	Illinois	62
	5	Illinois	72
	12	Murray State	53
						5	Illinois	92
	Columbus
						4	Cincinnati	68
	4	Cincinnati	80
	13	East Tennessee State	77
																1	Duke	66
																7	Xavier	63
	6	North Carolina	63
	11	Air Force	52
						6	North Carolina	75
	Denver
						3	Texas	78
	3	Texas	66
	14	Princeton	49
											3	Texas	71
											7	Xavier	79
	7	Xavier	80
	10	Louisville	70
						7	Xavier	89
	Orlando
						2	Mississippi State	74
	2	Mississippi State	85
	15	Monmouth	52

Phoenix Regional

	First round March 18–19					Second round March 20–21					Regional semifinals March 25					Regional finals March 27
	1	Stanford	71
	16	Texas-San Antonio	45
						1	Stanford	67
	Seattle
						8	Alabama	70
	8	Alabama	65
	9	Southern Illinois	64
											8	Alabama	80
											5	Syracuse	71
	5	Syracuse	80
	12	Brigham Young	75
						5	Syracuse	72
	Denver
						4	Maryland	70
	4	Maryland	86
	13	UTEP	83
																8	Alabama	71
																2	Connecticut	87
	6	Vanderbilt	71
	11	Western Michigan	58
						6	Vanderbilt	75
	Orlando
						3	North Carolina State	73
	3	North Carolina State	61
	14	Louisiana-Lafayette	52
											6	Vanderbilt	53
											2	Connecticut	73
	7	DePaul	76
	10	Dayton	69
						7	DePaul	55
	Buffalo
						2	Connecticut	72
	2	Connecticut	70
	15	Vermont	53

Final Four – San Antonio, Texas

	National Semifinals April 3					National Championship Game April 5
	ER2	Oklahoma State	65
	SL3	Georgia Tech	67
						SL3	Georgia Tech	73
						PH2	Connecticut	82
	AT1	Duke	78
	PH2	Connecticut	79

Game Summaries

Final Four

National Championship

Announcers

• Jim Nantz/Billy Packer/Bonnie Bernstein - 1st/2nd Rounds at Denver, CO; East Rutherford Regional at East Rutherford, NJ; Final Four at San Antonio, TX
• Dick Enberg/Matt Guokas/Armen Keteyian 1st/2nd Rounds at Columbus, OH; Phoenix Regional at Phoenix, AZ
• Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery - 1st/2nd Rounds at Buffalo, NY; Atlanta Regional at Atlanta, GA
• Gus Johnson and Len Elmore - 1st/2nd Rounds at Orlando, FL; St. Louis Regional at St. Louis, MO
• Kevin Harlan and Dan Bonner - 1st/2nd Rounds at Raleigh, NC
• Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel - 1st/2nd Rounds at Seattle, WA
• Craig Bolerjack and Bob Wenzel - 1st/2nd Rounds at Kansas City, MO
• Tim Brando and Mike Gminski - 1st/2nd Rounds at Milwaukee, WI

Greg Gumbel once again served as the studio host, joined by analysts Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis.

See also

• 2004 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
• 2004 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament

References

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Tournaments 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Structure Selection process Opening Round Elite Eight Final Four National Championship Game Venues Venues Champions & awards Champions Most Outstanding Player Media & culture Bracketology Broadcasting Tournament Final Four March Madness pools "One Shining Moment" Records & statistics All-time team records Bids by school Bids by school and conference Consecutive appearances Final Four appearances by school Final Four participants Final Four appearances by coach Elite Eight appearances by coach Upsets

Connecticut Huskies Men's Basketball 2003–04 NCAA Champions 3 Charlie Villanueva 4 Ben Gordon 5 Marcus Williams 11 Hilton Armstrong 12 Taliek Brown 21 Josh Boone 31 Rashad Anderson 33 Denham Brown 50 Emeka Okafor (MOP) Head Coach Jim Calhoun Assistant Coaches Tom Moore George Blaney