2002 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament

2002 NCAA Division I
Men's Basketball Tournament

Season	2001–02
Teams	65
Finals site	Georgia Dome Atlanta
Champions	Maryland Terrapins (1st title, 1st title game, 2nd Final Four)
Runner-up	Indiana Hoosiers (6th title game, 8th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Kansas Jayhawks (11th Final Four) Oklahoma Sooners (4th Final Four)
Winning coach	Gary Williams (1st title)
MOP	Juan Dixon (Maryland)
Attendance	720,433
Top scorers	Juan Dixon Maryland Jared Jeffries Indiana (155 points)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments «2001 2003»

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:

• Sacramento: Oregon (M2), USC (S4)
• Albuquerque: Arizona (W3), Ohio State (W4)
• Dallas: Oklahoma (W2), Mississippi State (M3)
• St. Louis: Kansas (M1), Kentucky (E4)
• Chicago: Georgia (E3), Illinois (M4)
• Pittsburgh: Cincinnati (W1), Pittsburgh (S3)
• Washington, D.C.: Maryland (E1), Connecticut (E2)
• Greenville: 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.

Schedule and venues[]

Washington, D.C.

Pittsburgh

Greenville

Chicago

St. Louis

Dallas

Albuquerque

Sacramento

2002 first and second rounds (note: the play-in game was held in Dayton, Ohio)

San Jose

Madison

Lexington

Syracuse

Atlanta

2002 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

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

Opening Round

• March 12
  • University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)

First and Second Rounds

• March 14 and 16
  • ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California (Host: University of the Pacific)
  • BI-LO Center, Greenville, South Carolina (Hosts: Southern Conference and Furman University)
  • Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)
  • University Arena, Albuquerque, New Mexico (Host: University of New Mexico)

• March 15 and 17
  • American Airlines Center, Dallas (Host: Big 12 Conference)
  • MCI Center, Washington, D.C. (Host: Georgetown University)
  • Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh (Host: Duquesne University)
  • United Center, Chicago (Host: Big Ten Conference)

Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 21 and 23
  • South Regional, Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky)
  • West Regional, Compaq Center at San Jose, San Jose, California (Host: Santa Clara University)
• March 22 and 24
  • East Regional, Carrier Dome, Syracuse, New York (Host: Syracuse University)
  • Midwest Regional, Kohl Center, Madison, Wisconsin (Host: University of Wisconsin–Madison)

National Semifinals and Championship (Final Four and Championship)

• March 30 and April 1
  • Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia (Host: Georgia Institute of Technology)

For the second time, Atlanta was the host city of the Final Four, with the Georgia Dome becoming the 33rd host venue. The Georgia Dome also currently holds the distinction of being the most recent Final Four venue to close and be demolished, as it did so in 2017 after the opening of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which was slated to host the Final Four in 2020 before the NCAA tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament included three new venues and two new host cities. The American Airlines Center in Dallas, which opened in 2001, replaced Reunion Arena as the city's primary winter sports venue. The Kohl Center on the campus of the University of Wisconsin brought the tournament back to Wisconsin's capital city for the first time since 1969, although it has not returned since. The city of Greenville, South Carolina's Bi-Lo Center hosted for the first time in 2002; however, due to the Confederate flag controversy at the South Carolina State Capitol, the NCAA chose not to return to the arena until 2017, two years after the flag was removed, moving games from Greensboro, North Carolina, because of the controversy surrounding HB2. The 2002 tournament was the last time that the Pittsburgh Civic Arena (then called Mellon Arena) hosted the tournament; it closed in 2010 and games have since been played at its replacement, PPG Paints Arena.

Teams[]

Bids by conference[]

Final Four[]

At Georgia Dome, Atlanta

National Semifinals[]

• March 30, 2002
  • Maryland (E1) 97, Kansas (M1) 88

  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]

  • Indiana (S5) 73, Oklahoma (W2) 64

  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[]

• April 1, 2002
  • Maryland (E1) 64, Indiana (S5) 52

  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' only men's basketball National Championship. Senior Juan Dixon was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player (MOP).^[3]

Bracket[]

* – Denotes overtime period

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[]

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[]

• Jim Nantz and Billy Packer – First & Second Round at Washington, D.C.; East Regional at Syracuse, New York; Final Four at Atlanta, Georgia
• Dick Enberg and Matt Guokas – First & Second Round at St. Louis, Missouri; South Regional at Lexington, Kentucky
• Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery – First & Second Round at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Midwest Regional at Madison, Wisconsin
• Gus Johnson and Dan Bonner – First & Second Round at Albuquerque, New Mexico; West Regional at San Jose, California
• Kevin Harlan and Jon Sundvold – First & Second Round at Greenville, South Carolina
• Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel – First & Second Round at Sacramento, California
• Craig Bolerjack and Bob Wenzel – First & Second Round at Dallas, Texas
• Tim Brando and Eddie Fogler – First & Second Round at Chicago, Illinois

Westwood One announcers[]

• Marty Brennaman and Larry Conley, 1st and 2nd Rounds at Greenville, South Carolina and South Regionals at Lexington, Kentucky

Local announcers[]

References[]