2005 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament


The 2005 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 15, 2005, and ended with the championship game on April 4 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.
The Final Four consisted of Illinois, the overall top seed and in the Final Four for the first time since 1989, Louisville, making their first appearance since winning the national championship in 1986, North Carolina, reaching their first Final Four since their 2000 Cinderella run, and Michigan State, back in the Final Four for the first time since 2001.
North Carolina emerged as the national champions for a fourth time, defeating Illinois in the final 75–70. North Carolina's Sean May was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Coach Roy Williams won his first national championship.
For the first time since 1999, when Weber State defeated North Carolina, a #14 seed defeated a #3 seed when Bucknell upset Kansas. A #13 seed, Vermont, advanced by defeating Syracuse in the first round and a #12 seed, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in the Chicago region.

Tournament procedure

A total of 65 teams entered the tournament. Thirty of the teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. The automatic bid of the Ivy League, which does not conduct a postseason tournament, went to its regular season champion. The remaining 34 teams were granted "at-large" bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee.
Two teams played an opening-round game, popularly called the "play-in game"; the winner of that game advanced to the main draw of the tournament and plays a top seed in one of the regionals. This game has been played at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio since its inception in 2001.
All 64 teams were seeded 1 to 16 within their regionals; the winner of the play-in game automatically received a 16 seed. The Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 65.
The 2005 regionals, along with their top seeds, are listed below.
Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four, held April 2–4 in St. Louis.

Locations

The 2005 play-in game was played on Tuesday, March 15, at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio, as it had been since its inception in 2001.
The first and second-round games were played at the following sites:
;March 17 and 19:
;March 18 and 20:
The regional final sites, named after their host cities, were:
;March 24 and 26:
;March 25 and 27:
Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four at the Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri, hosted by the Missouri Valley Conference. The semi-final games were held on April 2 and the final on April 4, 2005. The Edward Jones Dome became the 34th venue to host the Final Four, which returned to St. Louis for the first time since 1978, although it has not returned since. For the first time since 1989, there were no new venues used. To date, 2005 marked the last time that four arenas - Allstate Arena, Charlotte Coliseum, DCU Center, and the Wolstein Center - were used. The Charlotte Coliseum shut down later that year, replaced by what is now known as the Spectrum Center in downtown Charlotte. The other three venues all are still open, although games have mostly moved to the United Center in Chicago and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland since, and Worcester not having as many amenities as nearby Boston and Providence, both of which now routinely host games.

Qualifying teams

Bids by conference

Opening round

Chicago Regional

Chicago Regional

Chicago Regional

At Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois

Semifinals

At University Arena, Albuquerque

Semifinals

At Carrier Dome, Syracuse

Semifinals

At Frank Erwin Center, Austin

Semifinals

At Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis

National Semifinals

North Carolina was playing looking for its 4th National Championship while Illinois was playing in its first National Championship. It was a tight contest for much of the first half before an 8–0 run by North Carolina allowed them to take a 35–25 lead. Eventually they would take a 40–27 lead into halftime. North Carolina increased its lead to 15 at one point in the second half. But Illinois began a furious charge. At one point, they would hit seven consecutive shots from the floor to turn a fifteen-point lead back to four. Unfazed, North Carolina would push the lead back up to ten before a 10–0 run by the Illini tied the game at 65-65. Illinois would tie the game at 70–70 on a three by Luther Head. But North Carolina would fight back as freshman Marvin Williams tapped back a Rashad McCants missed shot to put North Carolina back in front. Illinois would get several cracks to take the lead but were unable to convert. Eventually, Raymond Felton was able to steal the ball from Head forcing Deron Williams to foul. However, Felton converted on 1 of 2 free throws giving Illinois one last chance. But Luther Head's three pointer bounced high and out. Eventually it went into the hands of Felton who this time connected on both free throws to give North Carolina a 75–70 victory. For North Carolina head coach Roy Williams, it was his first national championship. Illinois was denied a chance to set the NCAA record for most wins in a season, instead tying it at 37. Sean May scored 26 points as he took the MOP of the Final Four.

Bracket

Winners in bold. * next to a score indicates that the game went to overtime; multiple stars indicate multiple overtimes.

Chicago Regional

First round summary

Second round summary

Albuquerque Regional

First round summary

Second round summary

Syracuse Regional

Austin Regional

Final Four — St. Louis, Missouri

Record by conference

* Oakland won the Opening Round game.
The Atlantic 10, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, CAA, Ivy, MAAC, MAC, MEAC, Northeast, Ohio Valley, 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.

Television

carried the opening round game.
Rece Davis served as studio host, joined by analyst Fran Fraschilla.
CBS Sports carried the remaining 63 games. They were carried on a regional basis until the Elite Eight, at which point all games were shown nationally.
Greg Gumbel once again served as the studio host, joined by analysts Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis.
The television rating indicated the tournament was watched by an average of 10.6 million viewers.

Radio

had exclusive radio coverage.
Play-by-play announcerColor analystRoundSite
1st/2nd roundsCleveland, Ohio

John Tautges once again served as studio host.

Local radio

RegionSeedTeamsFlagship stationPlay-by-play announcerColor analyst
Syracuse3KansasKLWN-AM 1320Bob DavisMax Falkenstein
Chicago4Boston College
Chicago5Alabama
Chicago6LSUWDGL-FM 98.1; WWL-AM 870Jim HawthorneKevin Ford
Chicago12Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Chicago13Penn
Albuquerque2Wake Forest
Albuquerque7West VirginiaTony CaridiJay Jacobs
Albuquerque10Creighton
Albuquerque15UT-Chattanooga