2003 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

2003 NCAA Division I
men's basketball tournament
Season	2002–03
Teams	65
Finals site	Louisiana Superdome; New Orleans, Louisiana
Champions	Syracuse Orangemen (1st title, 3rd title game,; 4th Final Four)
Runner-up	Kansas Jayhawks (7th title game,; 12th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Marquette Golden Eagles (3rd Final Four); Texas Longhorns (3rd Final Four);
Winning coach	Jim Boeheim (1st title)
MOP	Carmelo Anthony (Syracuse)
Attendance	54,524
Top scorer	Carmelo Anthony (Syracuse); (121 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments
«2002	2004»

The 2003 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 18, 2003, and ended with the championship game on April 7 in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Superdome. A total of 64 games were played.

The Final Four consisted of Kansas, making its second straight appearance; Marquette, making its first appearance since they won the national championship in 1977; Syracuse, making its first appearance since 1996; and Texas, making its first appearance since 1947. Texas was the only top seed to advance to the Final Four; the other three (Arizona, Kentucky, and Oklahoma) advanced as far as the Elite Eight but fell.

Syracuse won its first national championship in three tries under 27th-year head coach Jim Boeheim, who would ultimately retire after the 2022–2023 season. This was also Roy Williams’s final game as Kansas head coach; he would depart after the season to become the head coach at North Carolina.

Carmelo Anthony of Syracuse was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Syracuse beat four Big 12 teams on its way to the title: Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas.

Schedule and venues

Dayton

Spokane

Salt Lake City

Oklahoma City

Indianapolis

Tampa

Boston

Nashville

Birmingham

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2003 play-in game (orange) and first and second rounds (green)

Anaheim

Minneapolis

San Antonio

Albany

New Orleans

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2003 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 2003 tournament:

Opening Round

March 18
- University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)

First and Second Rounds

March 20 and 22
- Ford Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Host: Big 12 Conference)
- Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah (Host: University of Utah)
- RCA Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana (Hosts: Butler University and Horizon League)
- Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Washington (Host: Washington State University)
March 21 and 23
- BJCC Arena, Birmingham, Alabama (Host: Southeastern Conference)
- FleetCenter, Boston, Massachusetts (Host: Boston College)
- Gaylord Entertainment Center, Nashville, Tennessee (Host: Vanderbilt University)
- St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida (Host: University of South Florida)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

March 27 and 29
- Midwest Regional
  - Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota)
- West Regional
  - Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, Anaheim, California (Host: Big West Conference)
March 28 and 30
- East Regional
  - Pepsi Arena, Albany, New York (Host: Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and Siena College)
- South Regional
  - Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas (Host: University of Texas at San Antonio)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

April 5 and 7
- Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana (Host: Sun Belt Conference and University of New Orleans)

Qualifying teams

Automatic bids

The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2003 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	Appearance	Last bid
ACC	Duke	27th	2002
America East	Vermont	1st	Never
Atlantic 10	Dayton	12th	2000
Atlantic Sun	Troy State	1st	Never
Big 12	Oklahoma	22nd	2002
Big East	Pittsburgh	15th	2002
Big Sky	Weber State	13th	1999
Big South	UNC Asheville	1st	Never
Big Ten	Illinois	23rd	2002
Big West	Utah State	15th	2001
Colonial	UNC Wilmington	3rd	2002
C-USA	Louisville	30th	2000
Horizon	UW–Milwaukee	1st	Never
Ivy League	Penn	20th	2002
MAAC	Manhattan	5th	1995
MAC	Central Michigan	4th	1987
MEAC	South Carolina State	5th	2000
Mid-Con	IUPUI	1st	Never
Missouri Valley	Creighton	14th	2002
Mountain West	Colorado State	8th	1990
Northeast	Wagner	1st	Never
Ohio Valley	Austin Peay	5th	1996
Pac-10	Oregon	8th	2002
Patriot	Holy Cross	11th	2002
SEC	Kentucky	45th	2002
Southern	East Tennessee State	6th	1992
Southland	Sam Houston State	1st	Never
Sun Belt	Western Kentucky	19th	2002
SWAC	Texas Southern	4th	1995
WAC	Tulsa	14th	2002
West Coast	San Diego	3rd	1987

Listed by region and seeding

East Regional – Albany
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth Type
#1	Oklahoma	Big 12	24–6	Automatic
#2	Wake Forest	ACC	24–5	At-large
#3	Syracuse	Big East	24–5	At-large
#4	Louisville	C-USA	24–6	Automatic
#5	Mississippi State	SEC	20–10	At-large
#6	Oklahoma State	Big 12	21–9	At-large
#7	Saint Joseph's	Atlantic 10	23–6	At-large
#8	California	Pac-10	21–8	At-large
#9	North Carolina State	ACC	18–12	At-large
#10	Auburn	SEC	20–11	At-large
#11	Pennsylvania	Ivy League	22–5	Automatic
#12	Butler	Horizon	25–5	At-large
#13	Austin Peay	OVC	23–7	Automatic
#14	Manhattan	MAAC	23–6	Automatic
#15	East Tennessee State	Southern	20–10	Automatic
#16	South Carolina State	MEAC	20–10	Automatic

South Regional – San Antonio
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth Type
#1	Texas	Big 12	22–6	At-large
#2	Florida	SEC	24–7	At-large
#3	Xavier	Atlantic 10	25–5	At-large
#4	Stanford	Pac-10	23–8	At-large
#5	Connecticut	Big East	21–9	At-large
#6	Maryland	ACC	19–9	At-large
#7	Michigan State	Big Ten	19–12	At-large
#8	LSU	SEC	21–10	At-large
#9	Purdue	Big Ten	18–10	At-large
#10	Colorado	Big 12	20–11	At-large
#11	UNC Wilmington	CAA	24–6	Automatic
#12	BYU	Mountain West	23–8	At-large
#13	San Diego	WCC	18–11	Automatic
#14	Troy State	Atlantic Sun	26–5	Automatic
#15	Sam Houston State	Southland	23–6	Automatic
#16	UNC Asheville	Big South	14–16	Automatic
#16	Texas Southern	SWAC	18–12	Automatic

Midwest Regional – Minneapolis
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth Type
#1	Kentucky	SEC	29–3	Automatic
#2	Pittsburgh	Big East	26–4	Automatic
#3	Marquette	C-USA	23–5	At-large
#4	Dayton	Atlantic 10	24–5	Automatic
#5	Wisconsin	Big Ten	22–7	At-large
#6	Missouri	Big 12	21–10	At-large
#7	Indiana	Big Ten	20–12	At-large
#8	Oregon	Pac-10	23–9	Automatic
#9	Utah	Mountain West	24–7	At-large
#10	Alabama	SEC	17–11	At-large
#11	Southern Illinois	Missouri Valley	24–6	At-large
#12	Weber State	Big Sky	26–5	Automatic
#13	Tulsa	WAC	22–9	Automatic
#14	Holy Cross	Patriot	26–4	Automatic
#15	Wagner	Northeast	21–10	Automatic
#16	IUPUI	Mid-Continent	20–13	Automatic

West Regional – Anaheim
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth Type
#1	Arizona	Pac-10	25–3	At-large
#2	Kansas	Big 12	25–7	At-large
#3	Duke	ACC	24–6	Automatic
#4	Illinois	Big Ten	24–6	Automatic
#5	Notre Dame	Big East	22–9	At-large
#6	Creighton	Missouri Valley	29–4	Automatic
#7	Memphis	C-USA	23–6	At-large
#8	Cincinnati	C-USA	17–11	At-large
#9	Gonzaga	WCC	23–8	At-large
#10	Arizona State	Pac-10	19–11	At-large
#11	Central Michigan	Mid-American	24–6	Automatic
#12	UW–Milwaukee	Horizon	24–7	Automatic
#13	Western Kentucky	Sun Belt	24–8	Automatic
#14	Colorado State	Mountain West	19–13	Automatic
#15	Utah State	Big West	24–8	Automatic
#16	Vermont	America East	21–11	Automatic

BYU bracketing switch

When the bracket was first revealed, it contained a mistake that would have forced BYU, a Mormon-run school, to play its potential Elite 8 game on a Sunday, which is against school policy. As a solution, the selection committee had a plan to switch BYU, the 12 seed in the Friday-Sunday South regional, with the team that reached the Sweet 16 in the Thursday-Saturday Midwest regional (either Wisconsin, Weber State, Dayton, or Tulsa) should the Cougars advance to the Sweet 16.^[1] BYU lost its first-round game to Connecticut, which meant no switches were necessary.

Bids by conference

Bids by Conference
Bids	Conference(s)
6	Big 12, SEC
5	Big Ten, Pac-10
4	ACC, Big East, C-USA
3	Atlantic 10, Mountain West
2	Horizon, Missouri Valley, WCC
1	19 others

Final Four

At Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans

National semifinals

April 5, 2003
- Syracuse (E3) 95, Texas (S1) 84
Freshman Carmelo Anthony scored 33 points leading the Syracuse Orangemen past the Texas Longhorns in the night cap of the national semifinal doubleheader. Syracuse opened up a comfortable 2nd half lead, but that was trimmed to four with just 1:08 remaining. However, freshman Gerry McNamara iced the game with clutch foul shooting in the final minutes. The win put Syracuse and coach Jim Boeheim one win away from their first ever National Championship. Texas was the last number one seed remaining in the tournament.^[2]
- Kansas (W2) 94, Marquette (M3) 61
The Kansas Jayhawks routed the Marquette Golden Eagles by 33 points, the fourth largest blowout in Final Four history. Keith Langford led the Jayhawks with 24 points, and Kirk Hinrich and Aaron Miles each added 18 points. Dwyane Wade led Marquette in scoring with 19 points in the loss. Like Boeheim, Kansas coach Roy Williams was just one win away from winning his first ever National Championship.^[3]

Championship game

April 7, 2003
- Syracuse (E3) 81, Kansas (W2) 78
Leading up to the championship game, much of the conversation revolved around how, no matter the outcome, one of the well-known head coaches would win their first championship.^[4] In Jim Boeheim's 27 years as head coach at Syracuse his team had been to two previous Final Fours, and finished runner-up each time (1987, 1996).^[4] Roy Williams, during his fifteen seasons as Kansas head coach, had reached the Final Four three previous times, and finished runner up once (1991).^[4] Syracuse dominated with a hot shooting first half to lead by 11 at the break. Gerry McNamara connected on an impressive six three-pointers in the half, which were his 18 points for the game. Kansas fought back to within 80–78 in the final minute and had a chance to tie after Hakim Warrick missed a pair of free throws in the final moments; free throws were a major problem throughout the game for Kansas, who went 12-for-30 in attempts. Warrick then blocked Michael Lee's three point attempt with 1.5 seconds remaining on the game clock, followed by Kirk Hinrich's three-pointer at the buzzer going over the net. Kansas' free throw struggles would prove costly in giving Syracuse and Jim Boeheim their first ever national championship. Carmelo Anthony was named Most Outstanding Player (MOP) with 20 points and 10 Rebounds in the win. Syracuse also avenged a second-round loss to Kansas two years earlier.^[5]

Bracket

Opening Round game

Winner advances to 16th seed in South Regional vs. (1) Texas.

Opening Round game March 18

16a	UNC Asheville	92^OT

16b	Texas Southern	84

East Regional – Albany, New York

First round			Quarter-finals			Regional semifinals			Regional Finals

1	Oklahoma	71

16	South Carolina State	54
			1	Oklahoma	74
Oklahoma City - Thu/Sat
			8	California	65
8	California	76^OT

9	NC State	74
						1	Oklahoma	65

						12	Butler	54
5	Mississippi St	46

12	Butler	47
			12	Butler	79
Birmingham - Fri/Sun
			4	Louisville	71
4	Louisville	86

13	Austin Peay	64
									1	Oklahoma	47

									3	Syracuse	63
6	Oklahoma State	77

11	Pennsylvania	63
			6	Oklahoma State	56
Boston - Fri/Sun
			3	Syracuse	68
3	Syracuse	76

14	Manhattan	65
						3	Syracuse	79

						10	Auburn	78
7	Saint Joseph's	63

10	Auburn	65^OT
			10	Auburn	68
Tampa - Fri/Sun
			2	Wake Forest	62
2	Wake Forest	76

15	East Tennessee State	73

South Regional – San Antonio, Texas

First round			Quarter-finals			Regional semifinals			Regional Finals

1	Texas	82

16	UNC Asheville	61
			1	Texas	77
Birmingham - Fri/Sun
			9	Purdue	67
8	LSU	56

9	Purdue	80
						1	Texas	82

						5	Connecticut	78
5	Connecticut	58

12	BYU	53
			5	Connecticut	85
Spokane - Thu/Sat
			4	Stanford	74
4	Stanford	77

13	San Diego	69
									1	Texas	85

									7	Michigan State	76
6	Maryland	75

11	UNC Wilmington	73
			6	Maryland	77
Nashville - Fri/Sun
			3	Xavier	64
3	Xavier	71

14	Troy State	59
						6	Maryland	58

						7	Michigan State	60
7	Michigan State	79

10	Colorado	64
			7	Michigan State	68
Tampa - Fri/Sun
			2	Florida	46
2	Florida	85

15	Sam Houston State	55

Midwest Regional – Minneapolis, Minnesota

First round			Quarter-finals			Regional semifinals			Regional Finals

1	Kentucky	95

16	IUPUI	64
			1	Kentucky	74
Nashville - Fri/Sun
			9	Utah	54
8	Oregon	58

9	Utah	60
						1	Kentucky	63

						5	Wisconsin	57
5	Wisconsin	81

12	Weber State	74
			5	Wisconsin	61
Spokane - Thu/Sat
			13	Tulsa	60
4	Dayton	71

13	Tulsa	84
									1	Kentucky	69

									3	Marquette	83
6	Missouri	72

11	Southern Illinois	71
			6	Missouri	92
Indianapolis - Thu/Sat
			3	Marquette	101^OT
3	Marquette	72

14	Holy Cross	68
						3	Marquette	77

						2	Pittsburgh	74
7	Indiana	67

10	Alabama	62
			7	Indiana	52
Boston - Fri/Sun
			2	Pittsburgh	74
2	Pittsburgh	87

15	Wagner	61

West Regional – Anaheim, California

First round			Quarter-finals			Regional semifinals			Regional Finals

1	Arizona	80

16	Vermont	51
			1	Arizona	96^2OT
Salt Lake City - Thu/Sat
			9	Gonzaga	95
8	Cincinnati	69

9	Gonzaga	74
						1	Arizona	88

						5	Notre Dame	71
5	Notre Dame	70

12	UW–Milwaukee	69
			5	Notre Dame	68
Indianapolis - Thu/Sat
			4	Illinois	60
4	Illinois	65

13	Western Kentucky	60
									1	Arizona	75

									2	Kansas	78
6	Creighton	73

11	Central Michigan	79
			11	Central Michigan	60
Salt Lake City Thu/Sat
			3	Duke	86
3	Duke	67

14	Colorado State	57
						3	Duke	65

						2	Kansas	69
7	Memphis	71

10	Arizona State	84
			10	Arizona State	76
Oklahoma City - Thu/Sat
			2	Kansas	108
2	Kansas	64

15	Utah State	61

Final Four – New Orleans, Louisiana

National semifinals			National Championship Game

E3	Syracuse	95

S1	Texas	84
			E3	Syracuse	81

			W2	Kansas	78
M3	Marquette	61

W2	Kansas	94

Broadcast information

Originally, CBS Sports was to have shown all 63 games of the tournament following the opening round, which was on ESPN. However, because of the start of the Iraq War the night before, the afternoon games on Thursday and Friday were moved to ESPN while retaining CBS graphics and production. CBS News then joined other broadcast and non-broadcast outlets in showing extended news coverage.

Thursday and Friday night's games were shown on CBS, albeit with frequent news updates. To make up for lost advertising revenue, an additional time slot was opened the following Sunday evening for more CBS telecasts.

2003 also marked the debut of Mega March Madness as an exclusive package on DirecTV. This offered additional game broadcasts not available to the viewer's home market during the first three rounds of the tournament. All games from the 4th round (Elite Eight) onward were national telecasts.

Westwood One had exclusive national radio coverage.

CBS Sports announcers

Jim Nantz/Billy Packer/Bonnie Bernstein – First & Second Round at Nashville, Tennessee; West Regional at Anaheim, California; Final Four at New Orleans, Louisiana
Dick Enberg/Matt Guokas/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar/Armen Keteyian – First & Second Round at Salt Lake City, Utah; South Regional at San Antonio, Texas
Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery/Lesley Visser – First & Second Round at Boston, Massachusetts; Midwest Regional at Minneapolis, Minnesota
Gus Johnson/Len Elmore/Solomon Wilcots – First & Second Round at Indianapolis, Indiana; East Regional at Albany, New York
Kevin Harlan/Jay Bilas/Dwayne Ballen – First & Second Round at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel/Darren Horton – First & Second Round at Tampa, Florida
Craig Bolerjack/Dan Bonner/Brett Haber – First & Second Round at Birmingham, Alabama
Tim Brando/Bob Wenzel/Leslle Maxie – First & Second Round at Spokane, Washington

Westwood One announcers

First and second rounds

Doug Kennedy and Richard Larsen

Regionals

Final Four

References

^ Katz, Andy (March 16, 2003). "BYU would switch regionals if it wins two". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
^ "2003 NCAA National semifinals: (E3) Syracuse 95, (S1) Texas 84". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2003. Retrieved March 6, 2008.
^ "2003 NCAA National semifinals: (W2) Kansas 94, (MW3) Marquette 61". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. Archived from the original on April 22, 2003. Retrieved March 6, 2008.
^ ^a ^b ^c Wojciechowski, Gene (April 6, 2003). "Boeheim, Williams say title won't define careers". ESPN.com. ESPN the Magazine. Archived from the original on June 4, 2003. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
^ "2003 NCAA national championship: (E3) Syracuse 81, (W2) Kansas 78". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. Archived from the original on June 5, 2003. Retrieved March 6, 2008.

[BYU-1] Katz, Andy (March 16, 2003). "BYU would switch regionals if it wins two". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 16, 2022.

[CNNSI4.5-1-2] "2003 NCAA National semifinals: (E3) Syracuse 95, (S1) Texas 84". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2003. Retrieved March 6, 2008.

[CNNSI4.5-2-3] "2003 NCAA National semifinals: (W2) Kansas 94, (MW3) Marquette 61". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. Archived from the original on April 22, 2003. Retrieved March 6, 2008.

[Wojciechowski-4] Wojciechowski, Gene (April 6, 2003). "Boeheim, Williams say title won't define careers". ESPN.com. ESPN the Magazine. Archived from the original on June 4, 2003. Retrieved November 16, 2013.

[CNNSI4.7-5] "2003 NCAA national championship: (E3) Syracuse 81, (W2) Kansas 78". CNN Sports Illustrated. CNNSI.com. Archived from the original on June 5, 2003. Retrieved March 6, 2008.

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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

v t e 2003 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournaments
Conference	ACC America East Atlantic 10 Atlantic Sun Big 12 Big East Big Sky Big South Big Ten Big West CAA Conference USA Horizon MAAC MEAC Mid-American Mid-Con Missouri Valley Mountain West Northeast Ohio Valley Pac-10 Patriot SEC Southern Southland SWAC Sun Belt WAC West Coast
National	NCAA NIT

Schedule and venues

Qualifying teams

Automatic bids

Listed by region and seeding

BYU bracketing switch

Bids by conference

Final Four

National semifinals

Championship game

Bracket

Opening Round game

East Regional – Albany, New York

South Regional – San Antonio, Texas

Midwest Regional – Minneapolis, Minnesota

West Regional – Anaheim, California

Final Four – New Orleans, Louisiana

Broadcast information

CBS Sports announcers

Westwood One announcers

First and second rounds

Regionals

Final Four

See also

References