Season 2003–04 Teams 65 Finals site Alamodome | Dates 16 Mar 2004 – 5 Apr 2004 Attendance 716,899 | |
 | ||
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 Champion Connecticut Huskies men's basketball Similar 2005 NCAA Division I, 2003 NCAA Division I, 2002 NCAA Division I, 2006 NCAA Division I, 2007 NCAA Division I | ||
The 2004 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 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.
Contents
- Locations
- Opening round
- First and second rounds
- Regionals
- Final Four
- Record by conference
- National Semifinals
- National Championship Game
- Announcers
- References
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:
Opening round
First and second rounds
Regionals
Final Four
Record by conference
*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
National Championship Game
Announcers
Greg Gumbel once again served as the studio host, joined by analysts Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis.