The 1999

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

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 11, 1999, and ended with the championship game on March 29 at Tropicana Field in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

. A total of 63 games were played. This year's Final Four was the first—and so far, only—to be held in a baseball-specific facility, as Tropicana Field is home to the Tampa Bay Rays (then known as the Devil Rays). The Final Four consisted of Connecticut, making their first ever Final Four appearance; Ohio State, making their ninth Final Four appearance and first since 1968;

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

, making their third Final Four appearance and first since their 1979 national championship; and Duke, the overall number one seed and making their first Final Four appearance since losing the national championship game in 1994. In the national championship game, Connecticut defeated Duke 77–74 to win their first ever national championship, snapping Duke's 32-game winning streak, and scoring the biggest point-spread upset in Championship Game history. Duke nonetheless tied the record for most games won during a single season, with 37, which they co-held until Kentucky's 38-win seasons in 2011–12 and 2014–15. The 2007–08 Memphis team actually broke this record first, but the team was later forced to forfeit their entire season due to eligibility issues surrounding the team.

Richard "Rip" Hamilton Richard Clay "Rip" Hamilton (born February 14, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player and current basketball analyst for CBS Sports HQ. Hamilton played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is best known ...

of Connecticut was named the tournament's

Most Outstanding Player The term Most Outstanding Player may refer to: * The recipient of the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award * The NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player award * The College World Series Most Outstanding Player in college baseball * The N ...

. This was a significant victory for the program, as it cemented Connecticut's reputation as a true basketball power after a decade of barely missing the Final Four. This tournament is also historically notable as the coming-out party for

Gonzaga Gonzaga may refer to: Places * Gonzaga, Lombardy, commune in the province of Mantua, Italy * Gonzaga, Cagayan, municipality in the Philippines *Gonzaga, Minas Gerais, town in Brazil *Forte Gonzaga, fort in Messina, Sicily People with the surna ...

as a rising mid-major power. Gonzaga has made every NCAA tournament since then, and is now generally considered to be a high-major program despite its mid-major conference affiliation. Due to violations committed by Ohio State head coach

Jim O'Brien Jim O'Brien may refer to: Sports Basketball *Jim O'Brien (basketball, born 1950), American coach for Emerson College, Ohio State and Boston College *Jim O'Brien (basketball, born 1951), American player for the New York Nets and Memphis Sounds *Jim ...

, the Buckeyes were forced to vacate their appearance in the 1999 Final Four.

Schedule and venues

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1999 tournament: First and Second Rounds * March 11 and 13 ** South Region ***

RCA Dome The RCA Dome (originally Hoosier Dome) was a domed stadium in Indianapolis. It was the home of the Indianapolis Colts NFL franchise for 24 seasons (1984– 2007). It was completed at a cost of $77.5 million, as part of the Indiana Convention Ce ...

, Indianapolis, Indiana (Hosts: Butler University and

Midwestern Collegiate Conference The Horizon League is an 11-school collegiate athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, whose members are located in and near the Great Lakes region. The Horizon League founded in 1979 as the Midw ...

) *** Orlando Arena,

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

(Host: Stetson University) ** West Region *** McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, Colorado (Hosts: Western Athletic Conference and

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

) *** KeyArena, Seattle, Washington (Host: University of Washington) * March 12 and 14 ** East Region ***

FleetCenter TD Garden is a multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is named after its sponsor, TD Bank, a subsidiary of the Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Ontario. It opened in 1995 as a replacement for the original Boston Garden and has been k ...

, Boston, Massachusetts (Host:

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

) *** Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina (Host: University of North Carolina at Charlotte) ** Midwest Region ***

Bradley Center The Bradley Center (also known as the BMO Harris Bradley Center under sponsorship agreements) was a multi-purpose arena located on the northwest corner of North Vel R. Phillips Ave. and West State Streets in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United ...

, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Host: Marquette University) *** Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana (Host: Tulane University) Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) * March 18 and 20 ** South Regional, Thompson–Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee (Host: University of Tennessee) ** West Regional,

America West Arena Footprint Center (formerly known as America West Arena, US Airways Center, Talking Stick Resort Arena and Phoenix Suns Arena) is a multi-purpose arena in Phoenix, Arizona. Built in the regional population center of the southwestern United Sta ...

, Phoenix, Arizona (Host:

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

) * March 19 and 21 ** East Regional,

Continental Airlines Arena Meadowlands Arena (formerly Brendan Byrne Arena, Continental Airlines Arena and Izod Center) is a closed indoor arena facility located in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. The arena is located on N ...

East Rutherford, New Jersey East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 10,022, reflecting an increase of 1,109 (+12.4%) from the 8,913 counted in the 2010 census.

(Host: Seton Hall University) ** Midwest Regional, Trans World Dome,

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

(Host: Missouri Valley Conference) National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) * March 27 and 29 ** Tropicana Field,

(Host: University of South Florida) St. Petersburg became the 27th host city, and Tropicana Field the 32nd host venue, for the Final Four. Tropicana Field, the home of baseball's Tampa Bay Rays, was the sixth different domed stadium to host a Final Four, and the only one designed specifically for baseball; given its inability to be converted to a center court arena, it is unlikely to host one again. There were four new venues in the 1999 tournament, two in completely new host cities for the tournament. For the first time, the tournament came to Boston at the FleetCenter, which had replaced the Boston Garden in 1995. Despite the original Garden's rich college and NBA history, it never had hosted any NCAA tournament games. The tournament also came to downtown Phoenix for the first time, at the NBA home of the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

. Previous games in the metropolitan area were played in suburban Tempe at

. For the second straight year, the Midwest Regional games were held in a new venue in St. Louis, this time at the Trans World Dome, then home to the NFL's St. Louis Rams. The tournament also returned to Seattle, this time at KeyArena, the downtown home to the Seattle SuperSonics. This tournament would be the last held at McNichols Sports Arena, which was scheduled to close later in the year and is now the site of parking for

Empower Field at Mile High Empower Field at Mile High (previously known as Broncos Stadium at Mile High, Invesco Field at Mile High and Sports Authority Field at Mile High, and commonly known as Mile High, New Mile High or Mile High Stadium) is an American football stadium ...

; subsequent games in Denver have moved to the Ball Arena. It is also the last tournament to date to include Tropicana Field and Thompson–Boling Arena, as neither has hosted since. Any future tournament games to be held in Tampa would be played at the Amalie Arena.

Teams

Bids by conference

Bracket

* Denotes overtime period

East Regional – East Rutherford, New Jersey

Regional Final summary

Midwest Regional – St. Louis, Missouri

Regional Final summary

South Regional – Knoxville, Tennessee

Regional Final summary

West Regional – Phoenix, Arizona

Regional Final summary

Final Four

St. Petersburg, Florida

Game summaries

Final four

National Championship

Announcers

* Jim Nantz and Billy Packer First & Second Round at New Orleans, Louisiana; Midwest Regional at St. Louis; Final Four at St. Petersburg, Florida * Sean McDonough and Bill Raftery First & Second Round at Indianapolis, Indiana; South Regional at Knoxville, Tennessee * Verne Lundquist and Al McGuire First & Second Round at Charlotte, North Carolina; East Regional at East Rutherford, New Jersey * Gus Johnson and Dan Bonner First & Second Round at Orlando, Florida; West Regional at Phoenix, Arizona * Tim Brando and James Worthy First & Second Round at Milwaukee, Wisconsin * Kevin Harlan and

Jon Sundvold Jon Thomas "Sunny" Sundvold (born July 2, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the first round (16th pick overall) of the 1983 NBA draft. A 6'2" shooting guard from the Univer ...

First & Second Round at Seattle, Washington * Ian Eagle and

Jim Spanarkel James Gerard Spanarkel (born June 28, 1957) is an American television analyst for College Basketball on CBS and a former professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers and the Dallas Mavericks. He played college basketball for Duke Un ...

First & Second Round at Denver, Colorado *

Craig Bolerjack Bolerjack in 2009. Kyle Craig Bolerjack (born May 16, 1958) is an American sportscaster. He is currently calling Utah Jazz telecasts on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain with Thurl Bailey. He also calls games for CBS, ESPN, and CBS College Sports ...

and

Rolando Blackman Rolando Antonio Blackman (born February 26, 1959) is a Panamanian-American former professional basketball player. He was a four-time NBA All-Star who spent most of his career with the Dallas Mavericks. Blackman was born in Panama City, Panama, ...

First & Second Round at Boston, Massachusetts

Additional notes

* Despite their loss in the finals to Connecticut, the 1998–1999 Duke team won 37 games. This tied them with Duke's 1985–86 team, UNLV's 1986–87 squad, and later, Illinois' 2004–05 team and Kansas's 2007–08 team, for the most wins in a season, until their record was broken by the 38-win Memphis team in 2007–08. However, as the NCAA vacated Memphis' 2007–2008 season due to the ineligibility of

Derrick Rose Derrick Martell Rose (born October 4, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one year of college basketball for the Memphis Tigers before being drafted ...

, they reclaimed the 37-win record. The mark would once again be raised to 38 wins after Kentucky's dominant title run in 2012, which then tied with Kentucky's 2014–15 team. Only one of the first 5 teams to be the winningest single-season teams won a national championship; UNLV's squad lost in the national semifinal to Indiana, and the other teams lost in the finals, to Louisville, UConn, and North Carolina, while Kansas defeated Memphis in the 2008 national championship game. Kentucky's 2014–15 squad suffered their only loss that season in the national semifinal to Wisconsin. * Connecticut's victory in the finals marks the biggest upset in Championship Game history in the NCAA tournament, as they were 9.5-point underdogs in the contest despite having compiled a 33–2 record going into the Championship game, including a 14–2 record in the tough Big East Conference. In fact, Connecticut had spent more weeks as the number 1 team in the country, according to the AP Top 25 Poll, than had Duke. The previous record was held by Villanova, who defeated Georgetown as 9-point underdogs in 1985. * The 1999 Final Four would be the last time Tropicana Field would host NCAA tournament games. For Duke, they had 2 straight promising seasons end on the Tropicana Field floor, with an 86–84 loss to Kentucky in the 1998 South Regional final, and then the 1999 National Championship game. North Carolina lost to Weber State which marked the first time the Tar Heels had lost in the first round of the expanded field era with 64 or more teams.

Schedule and venues

Teams

Bids by conference

Bracket

East Regional – East Rutherford, New Jersey

Regional Final summary

Midwest Regional – St. Louis, Missouri

Regional Final summary

South Regional – Knoxville, Tennessee

Regional Final summary

West Regional – Phoenix, Arizona

Regional Final summary

Final Four

St. Petersburg, Florida

Game summaries

Final four

National Championship

Announcers

Additional notes

Notes

See also