2004 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

2004 NCAA Division I
men's 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 Division I men's 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:

Seattle

Denver

Kansas City

Milwaukee

Columbus

Buffalo

Raleigh

Orlando

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2004 first and second rounds (note: the play-in game was held in Dayton, Ohio)

Phoenix

St. Louis

Atlanta

East Rutherford

San Antonio

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2004 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

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
#16	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	–	–	–	–
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

CBS

April 3
6:07 pm

box score

#3 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 67, #2 Oklahoma State Cowboys 65
Pts: L. Schenscher 19 Rebs: L. Schenscher 12 Asts: J. Jack 5		Pts: J. Graham 17 Rebs: J. Graham 10 Asts: T. Allen 4 Halftime Score: Georgia Tech, 37-30

Alamodome – San Antonio
Attendance: 44,417
Referees: Donnie Gray, Jim Burr, Tim Higgins

CBS

April 3
8:47 pm

box score

#2 Connecticut Huskies 79, #1 Duke Blue Devils 78
Pts: E. Okafor, B. Gordon 18 Rebs: J. Boone 14 Asts: T. Brown 4		Pts: L. Deng 16 Rebs: L. Deng 12 Asts: C. Duhon 6 Halftime Score: Duke, 41-34

Alamodome – San Antonio
Attendance: 44,417
Referees: David Hall, Orlandis Poole, Ted Hillary

National Championship

CBS

April 5
9:21 pm

Box score

#2 Connecticut Huskies 82, #3 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 73
Pts: E. Okafor 24 Rebs: E. Okafor 15 Asts: T. Brown 4		Pts: W. Bynum 17 Rebs: L.Schenscher 11 Asts: W. Bynum 5 Halftime Score: Connecticut, 41-26

Alamodome – San Antonio
Attendance: 44,468
Referees: Dick Cartmell, Randy McCall, Verne Harris

Announcers

Jim Nantz/Billy Packer/Bonnie Bernstein – First & Second Round at Denver; East Rutherford Regional at East Rutherford, New Jersey; Final Four at San Antonio
Dick Enberg/Matt Guokas/Armen Keteyian – First & Second Round at Columbus, Ohio; Phoenix Regional at Phoenix, Arizona
Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery – First & Second Round at Buffalo, New York; Atlanta Regional at Atlanta
Gus Johnson and Len Elmore – First & Second Round at Orlando, Florida; St. Louis Regional at St. Louis
Kevin Harlan and Dan Bonner – First & Second Round at Raleigh, North Carolina
Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel – First & Second Round at Seattle
Craig Bolerjack and Bob Wenzel – First & Second Round at Kansas City, Missouri
Tim Brando and Mike Gminski – First & Second Round at Milwaukee

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

References

^ CNN Sports Illustrated. "2004 NCAA National Semifinals: (W2) Connecticut 79, (S1) Duke 78". CNNSI.com. Retrieved March 6, 2008. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
^ CNN Sports Illustrated. "2004 NCAA National Semifinals: (MW3) Georgia Tech 67, (E2) Oklahoma State 65". CNNSI.com. Retrieved March 6, 2008. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
^ CNN Sports Illustrated (April 6, 2004). "2004 NCAA National Championship: (W2) Connecticut 82, (MW3) Georgia Tech 73". CNNSI.com. Retrieved March 6, 2008. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)

[CNNSI4.3-1-1] CNN Sports Illustrated. "2004 NCAA National Semifinals: (W2) Connecticut 79, (S1) Duke 78". CNNSI.com. Retrieved March 6, 2008. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)

[CNNSI4.3-2-2] CNN Sports Illustrated. "2004 NCAA National Semifinals: (MW3) Georgia Tech 67, (E2) Oklahoma State 65". CNNSI.com. Retrieved March 6, 2008. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)

[CNNSI4.5-3] CNN Sports Illustrated (April 6, 2004). "2004 NCAA National Championship: (W2) Connecticut 82, (MW3) Georgia Tech 73". CNNSI.com. Retrieved March 6, 2008. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)

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[2]

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v t e NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
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 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
Structure	Selection process Venues No. 1 seeds First Four Elite Eight Final four
Champions & awards	List of champions Most Outstanding Player
Media & culture	Blue bloods Bracketology Broadcasting Tournament Final Four Cutting down the nets March Madness pools "One Shining Moment"
Records & statistics	Team records Bids by school Consecutive appearances Final Four participants Final Four appearances by coach Overall records Upsets Team appearances by seed
See also: Division I Women's Tournament, Division II Tournament, Division III Tournament

Locations

Opening round

First and second rounds

Regionals

Final Four

Qualifying teams

Bids by conference

Record by conference

Final Four

National Semifinals

National Championship Game

Bracket

Opening round

East Rutherford Regional

St. Louis Regional

Atlanta Regional

Phoenix Regional

Final Four – San Antonio, Texas

Game summaries

Final Four

National Championship

Announcers

See also

References