2003 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
| 2003 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament |
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2003 Final Four logo
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| Season | 2002–03 | ||||
| Teams | 65 | ||||
| Finals site |
Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana |
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| Champions |
Syracuse (1st title, 3rd title game, 4th Final Four) |
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| Runner-up |
Kansas (7th title game, 12th Final Four) |
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| Semifinalists | |||||
| Winning coach | Jim Boeheim (1st title) | ||||
| MOP | Carmelo Anthony Syracuse | ||||
| Attendance | 715,010 | ||||
| Top scorer | Carmelo Anthony Syracuse (21 points) |
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The 2003 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 18, 2003, and ended with the championship game on April 7 in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Superdome. A total of 64 games were played.
The Final Four consisted of Kansas, making their second straight appearance, Marquette, making their first appearance since they won the national championship in 1977, Syracuse, making their first appearance since 1996, and Texas, making their first appearance since 1947. Texas was the only top seed to advance to the Final Four; the other three (Arizona, Kentucky, and Oklahoma) advanced as far as the Elite Eight but fell.
Syracuse won their first national championship in three tries under Jim Boeheim, defeating Kansas 81–78 in what would be Roy Williams' final game as head coach of the team; he would depart to become the head coach at North Carolina, a position he still holds as of the 2016–2017 season.
Carmelo Anthony of Syracuse was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Syracuse beat four Big 12 teams on its way to the title: Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas. Those victories helped earn Boeheim the national title that had eluded him in 1987 and 1996.
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