2003 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2003 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament (except for the Ivy League, whose regular-season champion received the automatic bid).

When the bracket was first revealed, it contained a mistake that would have forced BYU, a Mormon-run school, to play its potential Elite 8 game on a Sunday, which is against school policy. As a solution, the selection committee had a plan to switch BYU, the 12 seed in the Friday-Sunday South regional, with the team that reached the Sweet 16 in the Thursday-Saturday Midwest regional (either Wisconsin, Weber State, Dayton, or Tulsa) should the Cougars advance to the Sweet 16.[1] BYU lost its first-round game to Connecticut, which meant no switches were necessary.

• April 5, 2003
  • Syracuse (E3) 95, Texas (S1) 84

  Freshman Carmelo Anthony scored 33 points leading the Syracuse Orangemen past the Texas Longhorns in the night cap of the national semifinal doubleheader. Syracuse opened up a comfortable 2nd half lead, but that was trimmed to four with just 1:08 remaining. However, freshman Gerry McNamara iced the game with clutch foul shooting in the final minutes. The win put Syracuse and coach Jim Boeheim one win away from their first ever National Championship. Texas was the last number one seed remaining in the tournament.[2]

  • Kansas (W2) 94, Marquette (M3) 61

  The Kansas Jayhawks routed the Marquette Golden Eagles by 33 points, the fourth largest blowout in Final Four history. Keith Langford led the Jayhawks with 24 points, and Kirk Hinrich and Aaron Miles each added 18 points. Dwyane Wade led Marquette in scoring with 19 points in the loss. Like Boeheim, Kansas coach Roy Williams was just one win away from winning his first ever National Championship.[3]

• April 7, 2003
  • Syracuse (E3) 81, Kansas (W2) 78

  Leading up to the championship game, much of the conversation revolved around how, no matter the outcome, one of the well-known head coaches would win their first championship.[4] In Jim Boeheim's 27 years as head coach at Syracuse his team had been to two previous Final Fours, and finished runner-up each time (1987, 1996).[4] Roy Williams, during his fifteen seasons as Kansas head coach, had reached the Final Four three previous times, and finished runner up once (1991).[4] Syracuse dominated with a hot shooting first half to lead by 11 at the break. Gerry McNamara connected on an impressive six three-pointers in the half, which were his 18 points for the game. Kansas fought back to within 80–78 in the final minute and had a chance to tie after Hakim Warrick missed a pair of free throws in the final moments; free throws were a major problem throughout the game for Kansas, who went 12-for-30 in attempts. Warrick then blocked Michael Lee's three point attempt with 1.5 seconds remaining on the game clock, followed by Kirk Hinrich's three-pointer at the buzzer going over the net. Kansas' free throw struggles would prove costly in giving Syracuse and Jim Boeheim their first ever national championship. Carmelo Anthony was named Most Outstanding Player (MOP) with 20 points and 10 Rebounds in the win. Syracuse also avenged a second-round loss to Kansas two years earlier.[5]

Winner advances to 16th seed in South Regional vs. (1) Texas.

• Jim Nantz/Billy Packer/Bonnie Bernstein – First & Second Round at Nashville, Tennessee; West Regional at Anaheim, California; Final Four at New Orleans, Louisiana
• Dick Enberg/Matt Guokas/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar/Armen Keteyian – First & Second Round at Salt Lake City, Utah; South Regional at San Antonio, Texas
• Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery/Lesley Visser – First & Second Round at Boston, Massachusetts; Midwest Regional at Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Gus Johnson/Len Elmore/Solomon Wilcots – First & Second Round at Indianapolis, Indiana; East Regional at Albany, New York
• Kevin Harlan and Jay Bilas – First & Second Round at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel – First & Second Round at Tampa, Florida
• Craig Bolerjack and Dan Bonner – First & Second Round at Birmingham, Alabama
• Tim Brando and Bob Wenzel – First & Second Round at Spokane, Washington

Doug Kennedy and Richard Larsen