The 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game was the finals of the

2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 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� ...

and it determined the national champion for the 2007-08 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The game was played on April 7, 2008, at the

Alamodome The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 milli ...

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

and featured the South Regional Champion, #1-seeded Memphis, and the Midwest Regional Champion, #1-seeded

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. All four #1 seeds were in the Final Four for the first time in NCAA Tournament history and, for the second consecutive year, the national title game was played between two #1 seeds.

Participants

Kansas Jayhawks

Kansas entered the tournament as the #1 seed in the Midwest Regional. In the 1st round, Kansas dominated Portland State with an 85–61 victory. In the 2nd round, Kansas beat

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

75–56 to advance to the Sweet 16. In the Sweet 16, Kansas beat Villanova 72–57 to advance to the Elite Eight. In the Elite Eight, Kansas was able to overcome

Stephen Curry Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player and point guard for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Chef Curry", he is widely regarded as the ...

's 25 points to beat Davidson 59-57 and advance to the Final Four. In the Final Four, Brandon Rush scored 25 points to beat

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

84–66 to advance to the national title game. North Carolina was coached by former Kansas head coach Roy Williams, it was the first time Williams had coached against Kansas since leaving after the 2002–03 season.

Memphis Tigers

Memphis entered the tournament as the #1 seed in the South Regional. In the 1st round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, Memphis had a 15–2 run that eventually led to an 87–63 victory over Texas-Arlington. In the 2nd round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, Joey Dorsey had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds to lead Memphis to a 77–74 victory over

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 3rd consecutive year. In the Sweet 16, Memphis finally proved that they were the top seed in their region by routing

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

with a 92–74 victory. Memphis' 85–67 victory over

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

advanced the Tigers sent coach

John Calipari John Vincent Calipari (; born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach who is the head coach at the Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball, University of Arkansas. He has been named Naismith College Coach of the Year three times (1996, 2 ...

to the Final Four for the first time since

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

with UMass. In the Final Four, Derrick Rose scored 25 points to beat

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

78–63 and advance to the National Title Game. Memphis was the first team in NCAA history to have 38 wins in a season, though those wins were later vacated.

Starting lineups

Game summary

1st Half

Darrell Arthur's 8 points and

Mario Chalmers Almario Vernard Chalmers (born May 19, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Zamboanga Valientes of the Asian Tournament (TAT). He was selected as the 34th overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft by the Minnesota ...

's 5 points in the first eleven and a half minutes gave Kansas a 22–15 lead with 8:30 remaining in the first half. Then, Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 7 points in 4 minutes to tie the game at 28-28. A Brandon Rush 3-point play and a Darrell Arthur 2-point jumper gave Kansas a 33–28 lead at halftime.

2nd half

Antonio Anderson got off to a hot start in the 2nd half to give Memphis a 36–35 lead. Then, with 13:35 remaining, Darnell Jackson scored 4 points in the next 30 seconds to give Kansas a 43–40 lead. Then, Derrick Rose would score 4 points in the next 2 minutes to cut the Kansas lead to 45–44. With 8:30 remaining with a 47–46 deficit, Derrick Rose got the show going with 10 points in the next 4 minutes to take a 56–49 lead. After Robert Dozier made a pair of free throws to give Memphis a 60–51 lead with 2 minutes remaining, Kansas began a furious comeback. It started with Darrell Arthur making a 2-point jumper and Sherron Collins making a 3-pointer to cut the Memphis lead to 60–56. A pair of

free throws and a Darrell Arthur basket cut the Memphis lead to 62–60. With 10 seconds left, Derrick Rose missed the first of his two free throws and made the second to give Memphis a 63–60 lead. With 2.1 seconds left,

made a 3-pointer to tie the game at 63. Robert Dozier had a chance to win it, but his desperation halfcourt heave bounced off the backboard, and the game went to overtime for the seventh time in the national title game's history, and the first time since the 1997 National Title Game, when

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

beat

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

84–79 in overtime.

Overtime

In the first two and a half minutes of overtime, Brandon Rush, Darrell Arthur, and Darnell Jackson each made a basket to give Kansas a 69–63 lead. In the next minute and a half of overtime, Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 5 points to cut the Kansas lead to 71–68 with one minute remaining.

and Sherron Collins each made a pair of free throws to give Kansas a 75–68 overtime victory over Memphis and Kansas' first national championship since 1988.

Aftermath

Memphis would have its entire season vacated due to problems with Derrick Rose's SATs. On March 30, 2009, John Calipari became the head coach at

. Kansas would return to the national championship game in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, but they would narrowly lose to

. The Jayhawks would win their next national title in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

References

{{2008 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball navbox NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game NCAA Division I men's basketball championship games Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball Memphis Tigers men's basketball College basketball tournaments in Texas Basketball competitions in San Antonio NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game 21st century in San Antonio