1999 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

1999 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
1999 Final Four logo
Season	1998–99
Teams	64
Finals site	Tropicana Field St. Petersburg, Florida
Champions	Connecticut (1st title)
Runner-up	Duke (8th title game)
Semifinalists	Michigan State (3rd Final Four) Ohio State (Vacated) (9th Final Four)
Winning coach	Jim Calhoun (1st title)
MOP	Richard Hamilton Connecticut
Attendance	720,685
Top scorer	Richard Hamilton Connecticut (145 points)
NCAA Men's Division I Tournaments «1998  2000»

The 1999 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1999, and ended with the championship game on March 29 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. A total of 63 games were played. This year's Final Four was the first—and so far, only—to be held in a baseball-specific facility, as Tropicana Field is home to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Connecticut, coached by Jim Calhoun, won the national title with a 77-74 victory in the final game over Duke, coached by Mike Krzyzewski. The 1998-1999 Duke team nonetheless tied the record for most games won during a single season, with 37, which they co-held until Memphis' 38-win season in 2007-2008 (which has since been vacated due to violations). Richard "Rip" Hamilton of Connecticut was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. This was a significant victory for the program, as it cemented Connecticut's reputation as a true basketball power after decades of barely missing the Final Four.

This tournament is also historically notable as the coming-out party for Gonzaga as a rising mid-major power. The Bulldogs became the nation's basketball darlings during a run to the West Regional final in which they defeated three major-conference powers, including 1998 Final Four participant Stanford, and took UConn literally to the last minute before losing. Gonzaga has made every NCAA tournament since then, and is now generally considered to be a high-major program despite its mid-major conference affiliation.

Due to violations committed by Ohio State head coach Jim O'Brien, the Buckeyes were forced to vacate their appearance in the 1999 Final Four.

Locations

First and Second Rounds

• Boston, Massachusetts (Fleet Center)
• Charlotte, North Carolina (Charlotte Coliseum)
• Denver, Colorado (McNichols Sports Arena)
• Indianapolis, Indiana (RCA Dome)
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Bradley Center)
• New Orleans, Louisiana (Louisiana Superdome)
• Orlando, Florida (Orlando Arena)
• Seattle, Washington (Key Arena)

Later Rounds

Region	Site
East	East Rutherford, New Jersey (Continental Airlines Arena)
Midwest	St. Louis, Missouri (Trans World Dome)
South	Knoxville, Tennessee (Thompson–Boling Arena)
West	Phoenix, Arizona (America West Arena)
Finals	St. Petersburg, Florida (Tropicana Field)

Teams

Region	Seed	Team	Coach	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	1	Duke	Mike Krzyzewski	Runner Up	1 Connecticut	L 77-74
East	2	Miami	Leonard Hamilton	Round of 32	10 Purdue	L 73-63
East	3	Cincinnati	Bob Huggins	Round of 32	6 Temple	L 64-54
East	4	Tennessee	Jerry Green	Round of 32	12 Southwest Missouri State	L 81-51
East	5	Wisconsin	Dick Bennett	Round of 64	12 Southwest Missouri State	L 43-32
East	6	Temple	John Chaney	Regional Runner-up	1 Duke	L 85-64
East	7	Texas	Rick Barnes	Round of 64	10 Purdue	L 58-54
East	8	College of Charleston	John Kresse	Round of 64	9 Tulsa	L 62-53
East	9	Tulsa	Bill Self	Round of 32	1 Duke	L 97-56
East	10	Purdue	Gene Keady	Sweet Sixteen	6 Temple	L 77-55
East	11	Kent State	Gary Waters	Round of 64	6 Temple	L 61-54
East	12	Southwest Missouri State	Steve Alford	Sweet Sixteen	1 Duke	L 78-61
East	13	Delaware	Mike Brey	Round of 64	4 Tennessee	L 62-52
East	14	George Mason	Jim Larranaga	Round of 64	3 Cincinnati	L 72-48
East	15	Lafayette	Fran O'Hanlon	Round of 64	2 Miami, Florida	L 75-54
East	16	Florida A&M	Mickey Clayton	Round of 64	1 Duke	L 99-58
Midwest
Midwest	1	Michigan State	Tom Izzo	National Semifinals	1 Duke	L 68-62
Midwest	2	Utah	Rick Majerus	Round of 32	10 Miami, Ohio	L 66-58
Midwest	3	Kentucky	Tubby Smith	Regional Runner-up	1 Michigan State	L 73-66
Midwest	4	Arizona	Lute Olson	Round of 64	13 Oklahoma	L 61-60
Midwest	5	Charlotte	Bobby Lutz	Round of 32	13 Oklahoma	L 85-72
Midwest	6	Kansas	Roy Williams	Round of 32	3 Kentucky	L 92-88
Midwest	7	Washington	Bob Bender	Round of 64	10 Miami, Ohio	L 59-58
Midwest	8	Villanova	Steve Lappas	Round of 64	9 Mississippi	L 72-70
Midwest	9	Ole Miss	Rod Barnes	Round of 32	1 Michigan State	L 74-66
Midwest	10	Miami, Ohio	Charlie Coles	Sweet Sixteen	3 Kentucky	L 58-43
Midwest	11	Evansville	Jim Crews	Round of 64	6 Kansas	L 95-74
Midwest	12	Rhode Island	Jim Harrick	Round of 64	5 Charlotte	L 81-70
Midwest	13	Oklahoma	Kelvin Sampson	Sweet Sixteen	1 Michigan State	L 54-46
Midwest	14	New Mexico State	Lou Henson	Round of 64	3 Kentucky	L 82-60
Midwest	15	Arkansas State	Dickey Nutt	Round of 64	2 Utah	L 80-58
Midwest	16	Mount St. Mary's	Jim Phelan	Round of 64	1 Michigan State	L 76-53
South
South	1	Auburn	Cliff Ellis	Sweet Sixteen	4 Ohio State	L 72-64
South	2	Maryland	Gary Williams	Sweet Sixteen	3 St. John's	L 76-62
South	3	St. John's	Mike Jarvis	Regional Runner-up	4 Ohio State	L 77-74
South	4	Ohio State (Vacated)	Jim O'Brien	National Semifinals	1 Connecticut	L 64-58
South	5	UCLA (Vacated)	Steve Lavin	Round of 64	12 Detroit	L 56-53
South	6	Indiana	Bob Knight	Round of 32	3 St. John's	L 86-61
South	7	Louisville	Denny Crum	Round of 64	10 Creighton	L 62-58
South	8	Syracuse	Jim Boeheim	Round of 64	9 Oklahoma State	L 69-61
South	9	Oklahoma State	Eddie Sutton	Round of 32	1 Auburn	L 81-74
South	10	Creighton	Dana Altman	Round of 32	2 Maryland	L 75-63
South	11	George Washington	Tom Penders	Round of 64	6 Indiana	L 108-88
South	12	Detroit	Perry Watson	Round of 32	4 Ohio State	L 75-44
South	13	Murray State	Tevester Anderson	Round of 64	4 Ohio State	L 72-58
South	14	Samford	Jimmy Tillette	Round of 64	3 St. John's	L 69-43
South	15	Valparaiso	Homer Drew	Round of 64	2 Maryland	L 82-60
South	16	Winthrop	Gregg Marshall	Round of 64	1 Auburn	L 80-41
West
West	1	Connecticut	Jim Calhoun	Champion	1 Duke	W 77-74
West	2	Stanford	Mike Montgomery	Round of 32	10 Gonzaga	L 82-74
West	3	North Carolina	Bill Guthridge	Round of 64	14 Weber State	L 76-74
West	4	Arkansas	Nolan Richardson	Round of 32	5 Iowa	L 82-72
West	5	Iowa	Tom Davis	Sweet Sixteen	1 Connecticut	L 78-68
West	6	Florida	Billy Donovan	Sweet Sixteen	10 Gonzaga	L 73-72
West	7	Minnesota	Clem Haskins	Round of 64	10 Gonzaga	L 75-63
West	8	Missouri	Norm Stewart	Round of 64	9 New Mexico	L 61-59
West	9	New Mexico	Dave Bliss	Round of 32	1 Connecticut	L 78-56
West	10	Gonzaga	Dan Monson	Regional Runner-up	1 Connecticut	L 67-62
West	11	Penn	Fran Dunphy	Round of 64	6 Florida	L 75-61
West	12	UAB	Murry Bartow	Round of 64	5 Iowa	L 77-64
West	13	Siena	Paul Hewitt	Round of 64	4 Arkansas	L 94-80
West	14	Weber State	Ron Abegglen	Round of 32	6 Florida	L 82-74
West	15	Alcorn State	Davey Whitney	Round of 64	2 Stanford	L 69-57
West	16	Texas-San Antonio	Tim Carter	Round of 64	1 Connecticut	L 91-66

Bids by conference

Bids by Conference
Bids	Conference(s)
7	Big Ten
6	SEC
5	Big 12, Big East
4	C-USA, Pac-10
3	Atlantic 10, ACC, Missouri Valley, WAC
2	Mid-American
1	19 others

Bracket

East region

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Duke	99
	16	Florida A&M	58
						1	Duke	97
						9	Tulsa	56
	8	College of Charleston	53
	9	Tulsa	62
											1	Duke	78
										12	SW Missouri St.	61
	5	Wisconsin	32
	12	SW Missouri St.	43
						12	SW Missouri St.	81
						4	Tennessee	51
	4	Tennessee	62
	13	Delaware	52
																1	Duke	85
															6	Temple	64
	6	Temple	61
	11	Kent St.	54
						6	Temple	64
						3	Cincinnati	54
	3	Cincinnati	72
	14	George Mason	48
											6	Temple	77
										10	Purdue	55
	7	Texas	54
	10	Purdue	58
						10	Purdue	73
						2	Miami-FL	63
	2	Miami-FL	75
	15	Lafayette	54

Midwest region

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Michigan State	76
	16	Mount St. Mary's	53
						1	Michigan State	74
						9	Ole Miss	66
	8	Villanova	70
	9	Ole Miss	72
											1	Michigan State	54
										13	Oklahoma	46
	5	Charlotte	81
	12	Rhode Island	70
						5	Charlotte	72
						13	Oklahoma	85
	4	Arizona	60
	13	Oklahoma	61
																1	Michigan State	73
															3	Kentucky	66
	6	Kansas	95
	11	Evansville	74
						6	Kansas	88
						3	Kentucky	92
	3	Kentucky	82
	14	New Mexico State	60
											3	Kentucky	58
										10	Miami-OH	43
	7	Washington	58
	10	Miami-OH	59
						10	Miami-OH	66
						2	Utah	58
	2	Utah	80
	15	Arkansas State	58

South region

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Auburn	80
	16	Winthrop	41
						1	Auburn	81
						9	Oklahoma State	74
	8	Syracuse	61
	9	Oklahoma State	69
											1	Auburn	64
										4	Ohio State	72
	5	UCLA	53
	12	Detroit	56
						12	Detroit	44
						4	Ohio State	75
	4	Ohio State	72
	13	Murray State	58
																4	Ohio State	77
															3	St. John's	74
	6	Indiana	108
	11	George Washington	88
						6	Indiana	61
						3	St. John's	86
	3	St. John's	69
	14	Samford	43
											3	St. John's	76
										2	Maryland	62
	7	Louisville	58
	10	Creighton	62
						10	Creighton	63
						2	Maryland	75
	2	Maryland	82
	15	Valparaiso	60

West region

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Connecticut	91
	16	Texas-San Antonio	66
						1	Connecticut	78
						9	New Mexico	56
	8	Missouri	59
	9	New Mexico	61
											1	Connecticut	78
										5	Iowa	68
	5	Iowa	77
	12	UAB	64
						5	Iowa	82
						4	Arkansas	72
	4	Arkansas	94
	13	Siena	80
																1	Connecticut	67
															10	Gonzaga	62
	6	Florida	75
	11	Pennsylvania	61
						6	Florida	82
						14	Weber State	74*
	3	North Carolina	74
	14	Weber State	76
											6	Florida	72
										10	Gonzaga	73
	7	Minnesota	63
	10	Gonzaga	75
						10	Gonzaga	82
						2	Stanford	74
	2	Stanford	69
	15	Alcorn State	57

Final Four

	National Semifinals					National Championship Game
	E1	Duke	68
	M1	Michigan State	62
						E1	Duke	74
						W1	Connecticut	77
	S4	Ohio State*	58
	W1	Connecticut	64

Announcers

• Jim Nantz and Billy Packer
• Sean McDonough and Bill Raftery
• Verne Lundquist and Al McGuire
• Gus Johnson and Dan Bonner
• Tim Brando and James Worthy
• Kevin Harlan and Jon Sundvold
• Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel
• Craig Bolerjack and Rolando Blackman

Additional Notes

• Despite their loss in the finals to Connecticut, the 1998-1999 Duke team won 37 games. This tied them with Duke's 1985-86 team, UNLV's 1986-87 squad, and later, Illinois' 2004-05 team and Kansas' 2007-2008 team, for the most wins in a season, until their record was broken by the 38-win Memphis team in 2007-08. However, as the NCAA has recommended that Memphis' 2007-2008 season be vacated, they may reclaim the 37 win record. Interestingly, only one of the first 5 teams to be the winningest single-season teams won a national championship; UNLV's squad lost in the national semifinal to Indiana, and the other teams lost in the finals, to Louisville, UConn, and North Carolina, while Kansas defeated Memphis in the 2008 national championship game.
• Connecticut's victory in the finals marks the biggest upset in Championship Game history in the NCAA Tournament, as they were 9.5-point underdogs in the contest despite having compiled a 33-2 record going into the Championship game, including a 14-2 record in the tough Big East Conference. In fact, Connecticut had spent more weeks as the number 1 team in the country, according to the AP Top 25 Poll, than had Duke. The previous record was held by Villanova, who defeated Georgetown as 9-point underdogs in 1985.

External links

• 1999 NCAA Basketball Tournament on Shrp Sports (source for the bracket)
• HoopsTournament.Net, source for much of the information on this page.
• Where are they now? Checking in with the '99 UConn and Gonzaga teams