The 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball national champion for the 2009–10 basketball season. The 72nd annual edition of the tournament began on March 16, 2010, and concluded with the championship game on April 5, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Final Four consisted of Duke, making their first appearance since 2004, West Virginia, who were making their second appearance and first since 1959, Butler, considered the host school and making their first ever appearance, and Michigan State, the national runner-up from 2009 appearing in the Final Four for the sixth time under head coach Tom Izzo.

When Duke and Butler played each other in the tournament final, it was the first title game between private universities in 25 years (Villanova and Georgetown met in 1985), and the fifth such match-up in history (1942, 1954, and 1955 having been the other years). Duke defeated Butler 61–59 in the championship game as Gordon Hayward's last second desperation shot clanged off the rim. It was Duke's first national championship since 2001 and fourth overall.

Entering the tournament, the top four seeds were Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, and Syracuse. Kansas entered the Tournament as the overall No. 1 seed but was defeated in the opening weekend by Northern Iowa, the No. 9 seed in the Midwest region. Northern Iowa was one of four teams seeded lower than No. 8 to advance to the Sweet Sixteen, joining the East Region's No. 11 seed Washington, No. 12 seed Cornell and the South Region's No. 10 seed Saint Mary's.

For the first time since 2006, a No. 14 seed advanced out of the first round as Ohio defeated Georgetown. The No. 13 seed in the West Region, Murray State, defeated No. 4-seeded Vanderbilt, marking the second consecutive appearance for the Commodores where they lost as a No. 4 seed. Murray State very nearly upset Butler in their next game, losing by two points.

One of the more exciting games of the tournament was played at the West Regional in Salt Lake City, as No. 6 Xavier took No. 2 Kansas State to two overtimes before falling 101–96. Jordan Crawford hit a three-pointer with seconds remaining in the first overtime period to force a second.

Tournament procedure

A total of 65 teams were selected for the tournament. Thirty one of the teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. The automatic bid of the Ivy League, which at the time did not conduct a postseason tournament, went to Cornell, its regular season champion. The remaining 34 teams were granted at-large bids, which were 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 played a top seed in one of the regionals. The 2010 game was played on March 16 at University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio, as it has been since its inception in 2001.

All 64 teams were seeded 1 to 16 within their regions; the winner of the play-in game automatically received a 16 seed. The Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 65. UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero took over as chair of the Division I Men's Basketball Committee.NCAA News: Smith to chair Division I Men's Basketball Committee, June 30, 2009

Defending champion North Carolina did not qualify for the Tournament, while two schools made their first post-season appearance: Southern Conference champion Wofford and SWAC champion Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Conference USA champion Houston made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 18 years.

Schedule and venues

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 2010 tournament:2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship (72nd Annual) Media Information, NCAA, March 9, 2010

Opening round March 16 University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (host: University of Dayton)

First and second rounds March 18 and 20 Dunkin' Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island (host: Providence College) New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana (host: Tulane University) Ford Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (host: Big 12 Conference) HP Pavilion at San Jose, San Jose, California (host: San José State University) March 19 and 21 HSBC Arena, Buffalo, New York (hosts: Canisius College, Niagara University, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Florida (host: Jacksonville University) Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (host: Marquette University) Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, Spokane, Washington (host: Washington State University)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) March 25 and 27 East Regional, Carrier Dome, Syracuse, New York (hosts: Syracuse University, Big East Conference) West Regional, EnergySolutions Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah (host: University of Utah) March 26 and 28 Midwest Regional, Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri (host: Missouri Valley Conference) South Regional, Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas (hosts: University of Houston, Rice University)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) April 3 and 5 Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana (hosts: Butler University, Horizon League)

Indianapolis hosted the Final Four for the 6th time, having previously hosted in 2006, and was also the first to be held at the stadium; the RCA Dome and Market Square Arena hosted past Final Fours when the event was held in Indianapolis.

Qualifying teams

Automatic bids The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2010 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament (except for the Ivy League, whose regular-season champion received the automatic bid).

ConferenceSchoolAppearanceLast bidACCDuke34th2009America EastVermont4th2005Atlantic 10Temple28th2009Atlantic SunEast Tennessee State9th2009Big 12Kansas39th2009Big EastWest Virginia23rd2009Big SkyMontana8th2006Big SouthWinthrop9th2008Big TenOhio State26th2009Big WestUC Santa Barbara4th2002ColonialOld Dominion10th2007C-USAHouston19th1992HorizonButler10th2009Ivy LeagueCornell5th2009MAACSiena6th2009MACOhio13th2005MEACMorgan State2nd2009Missouri ValleyNorthern Iowa6th2009Mountain WestSan Diego State6th2006NortheastRobert Morris7th2009Ohio ValleyMurray State14th2006Pac-10Washington15th2009PatriotLehigh4th2004SECKentucky50th2008SouthernWofford1stNeverSouthlandSam Houston State2nd2003SummitOakland2nd2005Sun BeltNorth Texas3rd2007SWACArkansas–Pine Bluff1stNeverWACNew Mexico State18th2007West CoastSaint Mary's6th2008

Listed by region and seeding East Regional – SyracuseSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type1KentuckySEC32–2Automatic2West VirginiaBig East27–6Automatic3New MexicoMountain West29–4At-large4WisconsinBig Ten23–8At-large5TempleAtlantic 1029–5Automatic6MarquetteBig East22–11At-large7ClemsonACC21–10At-large8TexasBig 1224–9At-large9Wake ForestACC19–10At-large10MissouriBig 1222–10At-large11WashingtonPac-1024–9Automatic12CornellIvy League27–4Automatic13WoffordSouthern26–8Automatic14MontanaBig Sky22–9Automatic15Morgan StateMEAC27–9Automatic16East Tennessee StateAtlantic Sun20–14Automatic Midwest Regional – St. LouisSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type1KansasBig 1232–2Automatic2Ohio StateBig Ten27–7Automatic3GeorgetownBig East23–10At-large4MarylandACC23–8At-large5Michigan StateBig Ten24–8At-large6TennesseeSEC25–8At-large7Oklahoma StateBig 1222–10At-large8UNLVMountain West25–8At-large9Northern IowaMissouri Valley28–4Automatic10Georgia TechACC22–12At-large11San Diego StateMountain West25–8Automatic12New Mexico StateWAC22–11Automatic13HoustonC-USA19–15Automatic14OhioMid-American21–14Automatic15UC Santa BarbaraBig West20–9Automatic16LehighPatriot22–10Automatic South Regional – HoustonSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type1DukeACC29–5Automatic2VillanovaBig East24–7At-large3BaylorBig 1225–7At-large4PurdueBig Ten27–5At-large5Texas A&MBig 1223–9At-large6Notre DameBig East23–11At-large7RichmondAtlantic 1026–8At-large8CaliforniaPac-1023–10At-large9LouisvilleBig East20–12At-large10Saint Mary'sWest Coast26–5Automatic11Old DominionCAA26–8Automatic12Utah StateWAC27–7At-large13SienaMAAC27–6Automatic14Sam Houston StateSouthland25–7Automatic15Robert MorrisNortheast23–11Automatic16Arkansas–Pine BluffSWAC17–15AutomaticWinthropBig South19–13 Automatic West Regional – Salt Lake CitySeedSchoolConference RecordBerth type1SyracuseBig East28–4At-large2Kansas StateBig 1226–7At-large3PittsburghBig East24–8At-large4VanderbiltSEC24–8At-large5ButlerHorizon28–4Automatic6XavierAtlantic 1024–8At-large7BYUMountain West29–5At-large8GonzagaWest Coast26–6At-large9Florida StateACC22–9At-large10FloridaSEC21–12At-large11MinnesotaBig Ten21–13At-large12UTEPC-USA26–6At-large13Murray StateOhio Valley30–4Automatic14OaklandSummit26–8Automatic15North TexasSun Belt24–8Automatic16VermontAmerica East25–9Automatic

Bracket

Results to date

All times in U.S. EDT.

Opening Round Game – Dayton, Ohio Winner advanced as 16th seed in South Regional vs. (1) Duke.

Midwest Regional – St. Louis, Missouri

West Regional – Salt Lake City, Utah

East Regional – Syracuse, New York

South Regional – Houston, Texas

Final Four - Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana

Game summaries

Midwest Region

First round The biggest upset of the first day came in Providence, Rhode Island, where 14th-seeded Ohio defeated third-seeded Georgetown in convincing fashion, 97–83, for their first Tournament win since 1983, when they ousted Illinois State in the first round of that Tournament. Armon Bassett scored 32 points for the Bobcats, who shot 57 percent from the field and made 13 of 23 3-pointers. They advanced to face Tennessee, the sixth seed in the region. The Volunteers held off 11th seed San Diego State, 62–59, on head coach Bruce Pearl's 50th birthday. J. P. Prince and Melvin Goins scored 15 points each for Tennessee.

In Oklahoma City, Ali Farokhmanesh drilled a three-pointer with 4.9 seconds remaining to lift ninth-seeded Northern Iowa over UNLV. It was the Panthers first Tournament win since 1990. UNI advanced to face top-seeded Kansas. The top seed withheld an effort by Lehigh, trailing the 16th seed early in the game and leading by just six at halftime before pulling away midway in the second half for a 90–74 win.

On the second day of play, 10th-seeded Georgia Tech failed to make a single field goal in the final 8:19 of play, but sank 13 free throws to hold off No. 7 Oklahoma State, 64–59, in Milwaukee. Gani Lawal led Georgia Tech with 14 points. The Yellow Jackets advanced to play Ohio State, who defeated UC Santa Barbara 68–51. Buckeye star Evan Turner struggled from the field, shooting 2–13 and scoring nine points, and the Gauchos put up a fight, playing from behind most of the game.

Rounding out the Midwest bracket were Maryland and Michigan State in Spokane, Washington. The Terrapins beat Houston 89–77 behind a career-high 21 points and 17 rebounds from freshman Jordan Williams, while the Spartans edged New Mexico State, 70–67. The end of the game included a controversial lane violation call on Aggies player Troy Gillenwater with 18.6 seconds left that allowed MSU to reshoot a missed free throw and extend its lead to 3.

Second round