The 2002 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 12, 2002, and ended with the championship game on April 1 in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome. A total of 64 games were played.
This was the first year that the tournament used the so-called "pod" system, in which the eight first- and second-round sites are distributed around the four regionals. Teams were assigned to first round spots in order to minimize travel for as many teams as possible. The top seeds at each site were:
Sacramento: Oregon (M2), USC (S4) Albuquerque: Arizona (W3), Ohio State (W4) Dallas: Oklahoma (W2), Mississippi State (M3) St. Louis: Kansas (M1), Kentucky (E4) Chicago: Georgia (E3), Illinois (M4) Pittsburgh: Cincinnati (W1), Pittsburgh (S3) Washington, D.C.: Maryland (E1), Connecticut (E2) Greenville: Duke (S1), Alabama (S2)
The Final Four consisted of Maryland, making their second consecutive appearance, Kansas, making their first appearance since 1993, Indiana, making their first appearance since 1992, and Oklahoma, making their first appearance since their national runner-up finish in 1988.
Maryland defeated Indiana 64–52 in the championship game to win their first ever national championship. Juan Dixon of Maryland was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
For the second straight tournament, the Elite Eight featured at least one double-digit seed. South Region tenth-seed Kent State and West Region twelfth-seed Missouri played in their respective regional finals, with Kent State losing to Indiana and Missouri losing to Oklahoma. This also marked the first time since 1987 that no team from the states of North Carolina nor Kentucky reached the Final Four.
This tournament was the first since 1974 (the last tournament which only allowed one team per conference) in which the North Carolina Tar Heels were not a participant. The 27-year streak was, at the time, the longest appearance streak in NCAA history, having beat UCLA's 15-year streak in 1990. It has since been topped by Kansas, whose 32-year streak dates back to 1990 and is still active. (Two other active teams, Michigan State and Gonzaga, also have active 20 year streaks and could beat UNC's streak in 2026 and 2027, respectively.)
Schedule and venues
The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 2002 tournament:
Opening Round
March 12
University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)
First and Second Rounds
March 14 and 16
ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California (Host: University of the Pacific) BI-LO Center, Greenville, South Carolina (Hosts: Southern Conference, Furman University) Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference) University Arena, Albuquerque, New Mexico (Host: University of New Mexico) March 15 and 17 American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas (Host: Big 12 Conference) MCI Center, Washington, D.C. (Host: Georgetown University) Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Host: Duquesne University) United Center, Chicago, Illinois (Host: Big Ten Conference)
Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) March 21 and 23 South Regional, Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky) West Regional, Compaq Center at San Jose, San Jose, California (Host: Santa Clara University) March 22 and 24 East Regional, Carrier Dome, Syracuse, New York (Host: Syracuse University) Midwest Regional, Kohl Center, Madison, Wisconsin (Host: University of Wisconsin–Madison)
National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) March 30 and April 1 Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia (Host: Georgia Tech)
Qualifying teams
Automatic bids
The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2002 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament (except for the Ivy League, whose regular-season champion received the automatic bid).