1997 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1997 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1997, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in Indianapolis, Indiana at the RCA Dome. A total of 63 games were played.

See also: 1997 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game
1997 NCAA Division I
Men's Basketball Tournament
Season1996–97
Teams64
Finals siteRCA Dome
Indianapolis, Indiana
ChampionsArizona Wildcats (1st title, 1st title game,
3rd Final Four)
Runner-upKentucky Wildcats (9th title game,
12th Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coachLute Olson (1st title)
MOPMiles Simon (Arizona)
Attendance646,531
Top scorerMiles Simon Arizona
(132 points)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments
«1996 1998»

The Final Four consisted of Kentucky, who entered the tournament as the defending national champions, Minnesota, making their first Final Four appearance, Arizona, making their third Final Four appearance and first since 1994, and North Carolina, making their thirteenth Final Four appearance and first since 1995.

In the national championship game, Arizona defeated Kentucky in overtime 84–79 to win their first national championship. For the second time in the last three seasons, the defending national champions reached the final game and lost.

Miles Simon of Arizona was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Several years later, Minnesota was stripped of its Final Four appearance following the discovery of NCAA academic rule violations. In addition, the Gophers were stripped of their Big Ten title they had also won.[1]

Arizona also became the only school since the introduction of the 64-team bracket in 1985,[2] to defeat three number 1 seeds in the tournament, having upset overall number one seed Kansas in addition to their two Final Four victories.

The tournament also saw the third victory by a #15 seed over a #2 seed, as Coppin State defeated South Carolina in their first round matchup. In addition, a #14 seed advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for only the second time, as Southeast Region #14 seed Chattanooga defeated both Georgia and Illinois.

The tournament marked the end of the career of North Carolina coach Dean Smith. Smith, whose team lost in the national semifinals, retired just prior to the beginning of the 1997–98 season.

Locations
Pittsburgh
Charlotte
Winston-Salem
Memphis
Auburn Hills
Kansas City
Salt Lake City
Tucson
1997 first and second rounds
San Jose
San Antonio
Birmingham
Syracuse
Indianapolis
1997 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

First & Second Rounds
RegionSiteVenueHost
East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Civic Arena Duquesne
Winston-Salem, North Carolina Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum Wake Forest
Midwest Auburn Hills, Michigan The Palace of Auburn Hills Oakland
Kansas City, Missouri Kemper Arena Missouri Valley Conference
Southeast Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte Coliseum Davidson
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis Pyramid Memphis State
West Salt Lake City, Utah Jon M. Huntsman Center Utah
Tucson, Arizona McKale Center Arizona

Regional Sites and Final Four
RegionSiteVenueHost
East Syracuse, New York Carrier Dome Syracuse
Midwest San Antonio, Texas Alamodome UTSA
Southeast Birmingham, Alabama BJCC Coliseum Southeastern Conference
West San Jose, California San Jose Arena San Jose State
Final Four Indianapolis, Indiana RCA Dome Butler/IUPUI

The Final Four returned to Indianapolis for the third time, and to the RCA Dome for the second time in seven years. There were three new host cities and four new arenas in the 1997 tournament. For the first time since 1953, the tournament returned to the southern San Francisco Bay area, this time at the San Jose Arena in San Jose. The tournament also saw the first games held at the Alamodome and in San Antonio, the eighth city in Texas to host games; only California has hosted in more cities. The city of Pittsburgh hosted for the first time, at the Civic Arena, the first games played outside Philadelphia within the state of Pennsylvania. Finally, the Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit's major indoor basketball arena from 1988 to 2017, hosted games for the first time in 1997. All thirteen venues in the tournament have hosted games since this one. As of 2014, any future tournament games to be held in Detroit would be played at Ford Field or Little Caesars Arena.

Teams
East Regional - Syracuse
Seed School Coach Conference Record Bid Type
#1 North Carolina Dean Smith ACC 24–6 Automatic
#2 South Carolina Eddie Fogler SEC 24–7 At-Large
#3 New Mexico Dave Bliss WAC 24–7 At-Large
#4 Villanova Steve Lappas Big East 23–9 At-Large
#5 California Ben Braun Pac-10 21–8 At-Large
#6 Louisville Denny Crum Conference USA 23–8 At-Large
#7 Wisconsin Dick Bennett Big Ten 18–9 At-Large
#8 Indiana Bob Knight Big Ten 22–10 At-Large
#9 Colorado Ricardo Patton Big 12 21–9 At-Large
#10 Texas Tom Penders Big 12 16–11 At-Large
#11 Massachusetts Bruiser Flint Atlantic 10 19–13 At-Large
#12 Princeton Bill Carmody Ivy League 24–3 Automatic
#13 Long Island Ray Haskins NEC 21–8 Automatic
#14 Old Dominion Jeff Capel II CAA 22–10 Automatic
#15 Coppin State Ron Mitchell MEAC 21–8 Automatic
#16 Fairfield Paul Cormier MAAC 11–18 Automatic
Southeast Regional - Birmingham
Seed School Coach Conference Record Bid Type
#1 Kansas Roy Williams Big 12 32–1 Automatic
#2 Duke Mike Krzyzewski ACC 23–8 At-Large
#3 Georgia Tubby Smith SEC 23–8 At-Large
#4 Arizona Lute Olson Pac-10 19–9 At-Large
#5 Maryland Gary Williams ACC 21–10 At-Large
#6 Illinois Lon Kruger Big Ten 21–9 At-Large
#7 Marquette Mike Deane Conference USA 22–8 Automatic
#8 Purdue Gene Keady Big Ten 17–11 At-Large
#9 Rhode Island Al Skinner Atlantic 10 20–9 At-Large
#10 Providence Pete Gillen Big East 21–11 At-Large
#11 USC Henry Bibby Pac-10 17–10 At-Large
#12 College of Charleston John Kresse TAAC 28–2 Automatic
#13 South Alabama Bill Musselman Sun Belt 23–6 Automatic
#14 Chattanooga Mack McCarthy Southern 22–10 Automatic
#15 Murray State Mark Gottfried Ohio Valley 20–9 Automatic
#16 Jackson State Andy Stoglin SWAC 14–15 Automatic
Midwest Regional - San Antonio
Seed School Coach Conference Record Bid Type
#1 Minnesota (vacated) Clem Haskins Big Ten 27–3 Automatic
#2 UCLA Steve Lavin Pac-10 21–7 Automatic
#3 Cincinnati Bob Huggins Conference USA 25–7 At-Large
#4 Clemson Rick Barnes ACC 21–9 At-Large
#5 Tulsa Steve Robinson WAC 23–9 At-Large
#6 Iowa State Tim Floyd Big 12 20–8 At-Large
#7 Xavier Skip Prosser Atlantic 10 22–5 At-Large
#8 Ole Miss Rob Evans SEC 20–8 At-Large
#9 Temple John Chaney Atlantic 10 19–10 At-Large
#10 Vanderbilt Jan van Breda Kolff SEC 19–11 At-Large
#11 Illinois State Kevin Stallings Missouri Valley 24–5 Automatic
#12 Boston University Dennis Wolff America East 25–4 Automatic
#13 Miami (OH) Charlie Coles Mid-American 21–8 Automatic
#14 Butler Barry Collier MCC 23–9 Automatic
#15 Charleston Southern Tom Conrad Big South 17–12 Automatic
#16 Texas State Mike Miller Southland 16–12 Automatic
West Regional - San Jose
Seed School Coach Conference Record Bid Type
#1 Kentucky Rick Pitino SEC 30–4 Automatic
#2 Utah Rick Majerus WAC 26–3 Automatic
#3 Wake Forest Dave Odom ACC 23–6 At-Large
#4 Saint Joseph's Phil Martelli Atlantic 10 24–6 Automatic
#5 Boston College Jim O'Brien Big East 21–8 Automatic
#6 Stanford Mike Montgomery Pac-10 20–7 At-Large
#7 Charlotte Melvin Watkins Conference USA 21–8 At-Large
#8 Iowa Tom Davis Big Ten 21–9 At-Large
#9 Virginia Jeff Jones ACC 19–10 At-Large
#10 Georgetown John Thompson Big East 20–9 At-Large
#11 Oklahoma Kelvin Sampson Big 12 19–7 At-Large
#12 Valparaiso Homer Drew Mid-Continent 24–6 Automatic
#13 Pacific Bob Thomason Big West 23–5 Automatic
#14 Saint Mary's Ernie Kent West Coast 23–7 Automatic
#15 Navy Don DeVoe Patriot League 20–8 Automatic
#16 Montana Blaine Taylor Big Sky 21–10 Automatic

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

East Regional - Syracuse, New York
First round Second round Regional Semifinals Regional Finals
            
1 North Carolina 82
16 Fairfield 74
1 North Carolina 73
Winston-Salem
9 Colorado 56
8 Indiana 62
9 Colorado 80
1 North Carolina 63
5 California 57
5 California 55
12 Princeton 52
5 California 75
Winston-Salem
4 Villanova 68
4 Villanova 101
13 Long Island 91
1 North Carolina 97
6 Louisville 74
6 Louisville 65
11 Massachusetts 57
6 Louisville 64
Pittsburgh
3 New Mexico 63
3 New Mexico 59
14 Old Dominion 55
6 Louisville 78
10 Texas 63
7 Wisconsin 58
10 Texas 71
10 Texas 82
Pittsburgh
15 Coppin State 81
2 South Carolina 65
15 Coppin State 78

Southeast Regional - Birmingham, Alabama
First round Second round Regional Semifinals Regional Finals
            
1 Kansas 78
16 Jackson State 64
1 Kansas 75
Memphis
8 Purdue 61
8 Purdue 83
9 Rhode Island 76*
1 Kansas 82
4 Arizona 85
5 Maryland 66
12 College of Charleston 75
12 College of Charleston 69
Memphis
4 Arizona 73
4 Arizona 65
13 South Alabama 57
4 Arizona 96
10 Providence 92*
6 Illinois 90
11 Southern California 77
6 Illinois 63
Charlotte
14 Chattanooga 75
3 Georgia 70
14 Chattanooga 73
14 Chattanooga 65
10 Providence 71
7 Marquette 59
10 Providence 81
10 Providence 98
Charlotte
2 Duke 87
2 Duke 71
15 Murray State 68

Midwest Regional - San Antonio, Texas
First round Second round Regional Semifinals Regional Finals
            
1 Minnesota 78
16 Southwest Texas State 46
1 Minnesota 76
Kansas City
9 Temple 57
8 Ole Miss 40
9 Temple 62
1 Minnesota 90
4 Clemson 84**
5 Tulsa 81
12 Boston University 52
5 Tulsa 59
Kansas City
4 Clemson 65
4 Clemson 68
13 Miami (OH) 56
1 Minnesota 80
2 UCLA 72
6 Iowa State 69
11 Illinois State 57
6 Iowa State 67
Auburn Hills
3 Cincinnati 66
3 Cincinnati 86
14 Butler 69
6 Iowa State 73*
2 UCLA 74
7 Xavier 80
10 Vanderbilt 68
7 Xavier 83
Auburn Hills
2 UCLA 96
2 UCLA 109
15 Charleston Southern 75

West Regional - San Jose, California
First round Second round Regional Semifinals Regional Finals
            
1 Kentucky 92
16 Montana 54
1 Kentucky 75
Salt Lake City
8 Iowa 69
8 Iowa 73
9 Virginia 60
1 Kentucky 83
4 Saint Joseph's 68
5 Boston College 73
12 Valparaiso 66
5 Boston College 77*
Salt Lake City
4 Saint Joseph's 81
4 Saint Joseph's 75
13 Pacific 65
1 Kentucky 72
2 Utah 59
6 Stanford 80
11 Oklahoma 67
6 Stanford 72
Tucson
3 Wake Forest 66
3 Wake Forest 68
14 Saint Mary's 46
6 Stanford 77*
2 Utah 82
7 Charlotte 79
10 Georgetown 67
7 Charlotte 58
Tucson
2 Utah 77
2 Utah 75
15 Navy 61

Final Four – Indianapolis, Indiana
National Semifinals National Championship Game
      
E1 North Carolina 58
SE4 Arizona 66
SE4 Arizona 84
W1 Kentucky 79*
M1 Minnesota 69
W1 Kentucky 78

* – Denotes overtime period

Announcers
gollark: But are an even hackier hack, arguably.
gollark: Disks would work, yes.
gollark: Labelnet is more of a tech demo than anything practical. But I was going to use it for potatOS debugging.
gollark: Labels are 32 characters. Only 187 characters are allowed but with some finicky encoding this works out as ~30 bytes.
gollark: Computers can read the labels of networked computers.

See also

References
  1. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/11/21/sports/main251329.shtml
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2018-04-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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