2002 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament


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. The 64th annual edition of the tournament 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:
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. He would go on to be drafted 17th overall by the Washington Wizards in the 2002 NBA Draft.
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.
This tournament was the first since 1974 in which the North Carolina Tar Heels were not a participant. The 27-year streak was, at the time, the longest appearance streak in NCAA history, having beaten UCLA's 15-year streak in 1990. It has since been topped by Kansas, whose 35-year streak dates back to 1990 and is still active.

Schedule and venues

The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 2002 tournament:
Opening Round
First and Second Rounds
Regional semifinals and finals
National semifinals and championship

Qualifying teams

Automatic bids

The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2002 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament.
ConferenceSchoolAppearanceLast bid
ACCDuke26th2001
America EastBoston University6th1997
Atlantic 10Xavier14th2001
Atlantic SunFlorida Atlantic1stNever
Big 12Oklahoma21st2001
Big EastConnecticut23rd2000
Big SkyMontana5th1997
Big SouthWinthrop4th2001
Big TenOhio State Buckeyes men's basketball team|Ohio State]22nd2001
Big WestUC Santa Barbara3rd1990
ColonialUNC Wilmington2nd2000
C-USACincinnati21st2001
Horizon2nd1998
Ivy LeaguePenn19th2000
MAACSiena3rd1999
MACKent State3rd2001
MEAC2nd2001
Mid-ConValparaiso6th2000
Missouri ValleyCreighton13th2001
Mountain WestSan Diego State4th1985
NortheastCentral Connecticut State2nd2000
Ohio ValleyMurray State11th1999
Pac-10Arizona21st2001
PatriotHoly Cross10th2001
SECMississippi State5th1996
SouthernDavidson7th1998
SouthlandMcNeese State2nd1989
Sun BeltWestern Kentucky18th2001
SWACAlcorn State6th1999
WACHawaii4th2001
West CoastGonzaga5th2001

Listed by region and seeding



Final Four

At Georgia Dome, Atlanta

National semifinals

  • March 30, 2002
  • *Maryland 97, Kansas 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.
  • *Indiana 73, Oklahoma 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. This was the first men's final four where all four teams had a unique nickname among D-I schools.

Championship game

Bracket

Opening Round game

Winner advances to 16th seed in East Regional vs. Maryland.

West Regional — San Jose, California

Ohio State vacated all 32 games including its NCAA tournament appearance from the 2001–02 season due to the Jim O’Brien scandal. Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with Ohio State removing the wins from its own record.

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

Westwood One announcers