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. The 67th annual edition of the tournament 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 top seed Illinois, in their first Final Four appearance 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 champion for a fourth time, defeating Illinois in the final 75–70. North Carolina's Sean May was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. It was coach Roy Williams's 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 having 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 play an opening-round game, popularly called the "play-in game," the winner of which advances to the main draw of the tournament and plays a top seed in one of the regionals. Since its inception in 2001, this game has been played at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio.
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. Chicago Regional (top seed: Illinois; top overall seed) Albuquerque Regional (top seed: Washington; fourth overall seed) Syracuse Regional (top seed: North Carolina; second overall seed) Austin Regional (top seed: Duke; third overall seed)
Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four, held April 2–4 in St. Louis.
Schedule and venues
Sites hosting each round of the 2005 tournament:
Opening round March 15 University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)
First and second rounds March 17 and 19 McKale Center, Tucson, Arizona (Host: University of Arizona) RCA Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana (Hosts: Butler University, Horizon League) Taco Bell Arena, Boise, Idaho (Host: Boise State University) Wolstein Center, Cleveland, Ohio (Host: Cleveland State University) March 18 and 20 Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina (Host: Davidson College) DCU Center, Worcester, Massachusetts (Host: College of the Holy Cross) Ford Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Host: Big 12 Conference) Gaylord Entertainment Center, Nashville, Tennessee (Host: Ohio Valley Conference)
Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) March 24 and 26 Albuquerque Regional University Arena ("The Pit"), Albuquerque, New Mexico (Host: University of New Mexico) Chicago Regional Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois (Host: DePaul University) March 25 and 27 Austin Regional Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas (Host: University of Texas at Austin) Syracuse Regional Carrier Dome, Syracuse, New York (Host: Syracuse University)
National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) April 2 and 4 Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)
Qualifying teams
Automatic bids The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2005 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament (except for the Ivy League, whose regular-season champion received the automatic bid).
ConferenceSchoolAppearanceLast bidACCDuke29th2004America EastVermont3rd2004Atlantic 10George Washington8th1999Atlantic SunCentral Florida4th2004Big 12Oklahoma State22nd2004Big EastSyracuse30th2004Big SkyMontana6th2002Big SouthWinthrop5th2002Big TenIllinois25th2004Big WestUtah State16th2003ColonialOld Dominion8th1997C-USALouisville32nd2004HorizonUW-Milwaukee2nd2003Ivy LeaguePenn21st2003MAACNiagara2nd1970MACOhio12th1994MEACDelaware State1stNeverMid-ConOakland1stNeverMissouri ValleyCreighton15th2003Mountain WestNew Mexico11th1999NortheastFairleigh Dickinson4th1998Ohio Valley6th1979Pac-10Washington12th2004PatriotBucknell3rd1989SECFlorida11th2004Southern9th1997SouthlandSoutheastern Louisiana1stNeverSun BeltLouisiana–Lafayette9th2004SWACAlabama A&M1stNeverWACUTEP16th2004West CoastGonzaga8th2004
Listed by region and seeding
Chicago RegionalSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth Type#1 Illinois Big Ten 32–1 Automatic#2 Oklahoma State Big 12 24–6 Automatic#3 Arizona Pac-10 27–6 At-large#4 Boston College Big East 24–4 At-large#5 Alabama SEC 24–7 At-large#6 LSU SEC 20–9 At-large#7 Southern Illinois Missouri Valley 26–7 At-large#8 Texas Big 12 20–10 At-large#9 Nevada WAC 24–6 At-large#10 Saint Mary's WCC 25–8 At-large#11 UAB C-USA 21–10 At-large#12 UW-Milwaukee Horizon 24–5 Automatic#13 Penn Ivy 20–8 Automatic#14 Utah State Big West 24–7 Automatic#15 Southeastern Louisiana Southland 24–8 Automatic#16 Fairleigh Dickinson Northeast 20–12 AutomaticAlbuquerque RegionalSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth Type #1 Washington Pac-10 27–5 Automatic#2 Wake Forest ACC 26–5 At-large#3 Gonzaga WCC 25–4 Automatic#4 Louisville C-USA 29–4 Automatic#5 Georgia Tech ACC 19–11 At-large#6 Texas Tech Big 12 20–10 At-large#7 West Virginia Big East 21–10 At-large#8 Pacific Big West 26–3 At-large#9 Pittsburgh Big East 20–8 At-large#10 Creighton Missouri Valley 23–10 Automatic#11 UCLA Pac-10 18–10 At-large#12 George Washington Atlantic 10 22–7 Automatic#13 Louisiana–Lafayette (vacated) Sun Belt 20–10 Automatic#14 Winthrop Big South 27–5 Automatic#15 SoCon 20–10 Automatic#16 Montana Big Sky 18–12 Automatic Syracuse RegionalSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth Type#1 North Carolina ACC 27–4 At-large#2 Connecticut Big East 22–7 At-large#3 Kansas Big 12 23–6 At-large#4 Florida SEC 23–7 Automatic#5 Villanova Big East 22–7 At-large#6 Wisconsin Big Ten 22–8 At-large#7 Charlotte C-USA 21–7 At-large#8 Minnesota Big Ten 21–10 At-large#9 Iowa State Big 12 18–11 At-large#10 NC State ACC 19–13 At-large#11 Northern Iowa Missouri Valley 21–10 At-large#12 New Mexico Mountain West 26–6 Automatic#13 Ohio Mid-American 21–10 Automatic#14 Bucknell Patriot 22–9 Automatic#15 Central Florida Atlantic Sun 24–8 Automatic#16 Oakland Mid-Continent 12–18 Automatic Alabama A&M SWAC 18–14 Automatic Austin RegionalSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth Type #1 Duke ACC 25–5 Automatic#2 Kentucky SEC 25–5 At-large#3 Oklahoma Big 12 24–7 At-large#4 Syracuse (vacated) Big East 27–6 Automatic#5 Michigan State Big Ten 22–6 At-large#6 Utah Mountain West 27–5 At-large#7 Cincinnati C-USA 24–7 At-large#8 Stanford Pac-10 18–12 At-large#9 Mississippi State SEC 22–10 At-large#10 Iowa Big Ten 21–11 At-large#11 UTEP WAC 27–7 Automatic#12 Old Dominion CAA 28–5 Automatic#13 Vermont America East 24–6 Automatic#14 Niagara MAAC 20–9 Automatic#15 Ohio Valley 22–8 Automatic#16 Delaware State MEAC 19–13 Automatic
Bids by conference BidsConferenceSchools 6 Big 12 Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas Tech Big East Boston College, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia 5 ACC Duke, Georgia Tech, NC State, North Carolina, Wake Forest Big Ten Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin SEC Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State 4 C-USA Charlotte, Cincinnati, Louisville, UAB Pac-10 Arizona, Stanford, UCLA, Washington 3 Missouri Valley Creighton, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois 2 Big West Pacific, Utah State Mountain West New Mexico, Utah WAC Nevada, UTEP West Coast Gonzaga, Saint Mary's 1 19 other conferences
Opening round March 15, University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio Oakland (16) 79, (16) 69
First round
Chicago Regional March 17, RCA Dome, Indianapolis Illinois (1) 67, Fairleigh Dickinson (16) 55 Illinois, up only 32–31 at halftime, pulled away in the second half behind 19 points from Dee Brown and 13 from Luther Head. Nevada (9) 61, Texas (8) 57 Down 57–53 with 2:24 to play, the Wolf Pack of Nevada came from behind to win despite a sub-par game from star Nick Fazekas. March 17, Wolstein Center, Cleveland UW-Milwaukee (12) 83, Alabama (5) 73 The Horizon League champion Panthers pulled the upset behind 21 points apiece from Ed McCants and Joah Tucker. Boston College (4) 85, Penn (13) 65 Boston College steamrolled Ivy League champion Penn with a balanced attack, getting 18 points from Jared Dudley, 15 points from Craig Smith, and 14 points from Sean Marshall. March 17, Taco Bell Arena, Boise UAB (11) 82, LSU (6) 68 UAB led throughout with Marvett McDonald scoring 21 points, including five three-pointers. Arizona (3) 66, Utah State (14) 53 Arizona started slow, but secured the win led by Channing Frye and Salim Stoudamire each scoring 17 points. March 18, Ford Center, Oklahoma City Southern Illinois (7) 65, Saint Mary's (10) 56 SIU broke a late tie with St. Mary's to earn the victory. Oklahoma State (2) 63, SE Louisiana (15) 50 Oklahoma State jumped out to a 9-point halftime lead and built on it from there behind Ivan McFarlin's 18 points.
Albuquerque Regional March 17, Taco Bell Arena, Boise Washington (1) 88, Montana (16) 77 Top-seeded Washington easily advanced, getting 17 points from Brandon Roy off the bench. Pacific (8) 79, Pittsburgh (9) 71 Pacific nearly squandered a 15-point lead, letting Pittsburgh get within 5, but hung on to advance behind 17 from Christian Maraker and 15 from Mike Webb. March 18, Gaylord Entertainment Center, Nashville Georgia Tech (5) 80, George Washington (12) 68 The Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech easily defeated George Washington, using a balanced attack of Jarrett Jack (20 points), Will Bynum (17 points), and B. J. Elder (15 points). Louisville (4) 68, Louisiana-Lafayette (13) 62 Louisville broke a tie with 3:43 left and defeated the Ragin' Cajuns behind 27 points from Francisco García, who went 7-for-7 from the free throw line in the last 1:57. March 17, McKale Center, Tucson Texas Tech (6) 78, UCLA (11) 66 Texas Tech handled the Bruins of UCLA easily behind 28 points from Ronald Ross. Gonzaga (3) 74, Winthrop (14) 64 After a slow start and trailing 35–33 at halftime, Gonzaga came back and defeated Winthrop behind 27 points from Adam Morrison. March 17, Wolstein Center, Cleveland West Virginia (7) 63, Creighton (10) 61 With the game tied 61–61 with under five seconds left, West Virginia's Tyrone Sally blocked Nate Funk's three-point attempt and then dunked off the fast break with 2.9 seconds to play to send the Mountaineers to the second round. Wake Forest (2) 70, UT-Chattanooga (15) 54 Wake Forest, trailed 27–24 at halftime, but came back in the second half behind 20 points from Chris Paul and 14 from Justin Gray.
Syracuse Regional March 18, Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte North Carolina (1) 96, Oakland (16) 68 North Carolina crushed play-in winner Oakland, racing out to a 59–33 halftime lead. Marvin Williams scored 20, Sean May scored 19, and Rashad McCants added 15. Cortney Scott led all scorers with 21 for Oakland and Rawle Marshall added 16. Iowa State (9) 64, Minnesota (8) 53 Iowa State used a 10-point halftime lead and a balanced attack to win, with Curtis Stinson scoring 18, with Rahshon Clark and Jared Homan scoring 14 apiece. March 18, Gaylord Entertainment Center, Nashville Villanova (5) 55, New Mexico (12) 47