A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
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| Season | 2007–08 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 65 | ||||
| Finals site | Alamodome San Antonio, Texas | ||||
| Champions | Kansas Jayhawks (3rd title, 8th title game, 13th Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up | Memphis Tigers (Vacated) (2nd title game, 3rd Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
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| Winning coach | Bill Self (1st title) | ||||
| MOP | Mario Chalmers (Kansas) | ||||
| Attendance | 763,607 | ||||
| Top scorer | Chris Douglas-Roberts (Memphis) (140 points) | ||||
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The 2008 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 2007-08 season. The 70th annual edition of the tournament began on March 18, 2008, and concluded with the championship game on April 7, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
For the first time (and only time through the 2024 tournament) since seeding began in 1979, all four of the top seeds advanced to the Final Four. These were Memphis, the winner of the South region, UCLA, the winner of the West region making their third consecutive Final Four appearance, Kansas, the winner of the Midwest region, and overall number one seed and East region winner North Carolina, back in the Final Four for the first time since their 2005 national championship.[1][2]
Memphis and Kansas advanced to the national championship game, with Memphis's victory in the semifinals giving them a record-setting 38 for the season, beating the mark set by Duke in 1999 (Kentucky later matched this record in 2012 and 2015). Kansas, however, spoiled their national championship hopes by handing the Tigers their second loss of the season, winning the game in overtime, 75–68. Memphis's entire season was later vacated by the NCAA due to eligibility concerns surrounding freshman guard Derrick Rose.[3]
Entering the tournament on March 18, the top ranked team was North Carolina in both the AP Top 25 and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Polls, followed by Memphis, UCLA and Kansas.
American University (Patriot), UMBC (America East), Texas–Arlington (Southland), and Portland State (Big Sky) all entered the tournament for the first time in their school's history. Another school, Coppin State, won the MEAC Tournament to become the first 20-loss school to make the field. Georgia, a team that otherwise would not have advanced to the tournament, won the SEC tournament to qualify, and were awarded a #14 seed, the lowest by a major conference team in the tournament.
Whereas the 2007 tournament did not see many upsets, the 2008 tournament was full of them. The sub-regional pod played at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida, featured four games where a double digit seed won. #5 seeds Drake and Clemson fell to #12 seeds Western Kentucky and Villanova while the #4 seeds in that same pod, Vanderbilt and Connecticut, were defeated by #13 seeds Siena and San Diego. Western Kentucky advanced to the West regional in Phoenix, where they lost to UCLA while Villanova was one of two double digit seeds to advance to the Midwest regional. The other was #10 seed Davidson, who rode the hot shooting of Stephen Curry to defeat Gonzaga, Georgetown, and Wisconsin before nearly upsetting Kansas in the regional final. The Midwest region alone saw four of its double digit seeds advance, as in addition to Villanova, Siena, and Davidson, #11 seed Kansas State knocked off #6 seed USC.
The total tournament attendance of 763,607 set a record for highest total tournament attendance, breaking the record set during the 1999 tournament.
Tournament procedure
The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship is an annual single-elimination tournament featuring 65 teams representing all Division I Conferences in the nation. A "play-in" game determined which of the two lowest seeds would play in the first round of 64 against a top seed team. The Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 65 within four regionals of 16 teams; Mount St. Mary's, as the winner of the play-in game, automatically received a 16 seed.
Schedule and venues
The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 2008 tournament:[1]
Opening round
- March 18
First and second rounds
- March 20 and 22
- Honda Center, Anaheim, California (Host: Big West Conference)
- Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado (Hosts: Colorado State University, Mountain West Conference)
- Qwest Center Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska (Hosts: Creighton University, Missouri Valley Conference)
- Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. (Host: Georgetown University)
- March 21 and 23
- BJCC Arena, Birmingham, Alabama (Host: Southeastern Conference)
- Alltel Arena, North Little Rock, Arkansas (Hosts: University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Sun Belt Conference)
- RBC Center, Raleigh, North Carolina (Host: North Carolina State University)
- St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida (Host: University of South Florida)
Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)
- March 27 and 29
- East Regional, Charlotte Bobcats Arena, Charlotte, North Carolina (Host: University of North Carolina at Charlotte)
- West Regional, US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona (Host: Arizona State University)
- March 28 and 30
- Midwest Regional, Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan (Hosts: University of Detroit Mercy, Horizon League)
- South Regional, Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas (Hosts: University of Houston, Rice University)
National Semifinals and Championship (Final Four and Championship)
- April 5 and 7
Qualifying teams
Automatic bids
The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2008 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament (except for the Ivy League, whose regular-season champion received the automatic bid).