2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

2007 NCAA Division I
men's basketball tournament
Season2006–07
Teams65
Finals siteGeorgia Dome
Atlanta, Georgia
ChampionsFlorida Gators (2nd title, 3rd title game,
4th Final Four)
Runner-upOhio State Buckeyes (5th title game,
9th Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coachBilly Donovan (2nd title)
MOPCorey Brewer (Florida)
Attendance696,992
Top scorerRon Lewis (Ohio State)
(108 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments
«2006 2008»

The 2007 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 2006-07 season. Team selections were announced on March 11, 2007, and the tournament began on March 13, 2007, with the opening round game and concluded with the championship game on April 2, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.[1]

Both of the finalists from the year before returned to the Final Four as Florida, who returned its entire starting lineup from the year before, and UCLA advanced. They were joined in the Final Four by Ohio State, who was making its first appearance since their 1999 appearance (later vacated), and Georgetown, appearing for the first time since their national runner-up finish in 1985.

Florida successfully defended their title by defeating Ohio State in the championship 84–75. This marked the second time in 2007 that a Florida team beat an Ohio State team to win a national championship, as Florida's football team won the BCS National Championship Game over Ohio State in January. Florida's Corey Brewer was named the Most Outstanding Player.[2] Florida became the first team to repeat since Duke in 1992.[2] As of 2023, the 2007 Gators are the last team to repeat as national champions.

This tournament was notable because it featured significantly fewer upsets than prior years. There were only 12 games in which a lower-seeded team defeated a higher-seeded team, and eight of these "upsets" were by teams ranked only one seed lower than their opponent. As of 2023, this is the last tournament in which no team seeded 12 or lower won a round of 64 game, while No. 7-seed UNLV was the lowest-seeded team to make it to the Sweet Sixteen. This marked the second time since the tournament expanded to at least 64 teams that no team seeded No. 8 or lower played in the Sweet Sixteen; the other instance was in 1995. Southland Conference champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi made their first NCAA appearance.

This was the first Tournament since 2003 that regional sites were designated as "East", "West", "South", and "Midwest", rather than by the names of the host cities.

Tournament procedure

A total of 65 teams entered the tournament. Of that total, 30 of the teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. The automatic bid of the Ivy League, which did not conduct a post-season tournament, went to its regular season champion, Penn. The remaining 34 teams were granted "at-large" bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee.

The initial game on March 13 officially named the opening round game, but popularly called the "play-in game", had Niagara, winner of the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament, facing Florida A&M, who won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament, for a chance to play top seed Kansas in the first round of the Tournament. Niagara defeated Florida A&M, 77–69, to advance to play Kansas.

All teams are seeded 1 to 16 within their regionals, while the Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 65.

Schedule and venues

2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament is located in the United States
Buffalo
Buffalo
Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem
Lexington
Lexington
New Orleans
New Orleans
Columbus
Columbus
Chicago
Chicago
Sacramento
Sacramento
Spokane
Spokane
2007 first and second rounds (note: the play-in game was held in Dayton, Ohio)
2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament is located in the United States
San Antonio
San Antonio
St. Louis
St. Louis
San Jose
San Jose
East Rutherford
East Rutherford
Atlanta
Atlanta
2007 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 2007 tournament:

Opening Round

First and Second Rounds

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

Qualifying teams

Automatic bids

The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2007 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament (except for the Ivy League, whose regular-season champion received the automatic bid).

Conference School Appearance Last bid
ACC North Carolina 39th 2006
America East Albany 2nd 2006
Atlantic 10 George Washington 19th 2006
Atlantic Sun Belmont 2nd 2006
Big 12 Kansas 36th 2006
Big East Georgetown 24th 2006
Big Sky Weber State 14th 2003
Big South Winthrop 7th 2006
Big Ten Ohio State 24th 2006
Big West Long Beach State 8th 1995
Colonial VCU 8th 2004
C-USA Memphis 20th 2006
Horizon Wright State 2nd 1993
Ivy League Penn 23rd 2006
MAAC Niagara 3rd 2005
MAC Miami (OH) 17th 1999
MEAC Florida A&M 3rd 2004
Mid-Con Oral Roberts 4th 2006
Missouri Valley Creighton 16th 2005
Mountain West UNLV 15th 2000
Northeast Central Connecticut 3rd 2002
Ohio Valley Eastern Kentucky 7th 2005
Pac-10 Oregon 9th 2003
Patriot Holy Cross 12th 2003
SEC Florida 13th 2006
Southern Davidson 9th 2006
Southland Texas A&M–Corpus Christi 1st Never
Sun Belt North Texas 2nd 1988
SWAC Jackson State 3rd 2000
WAC New Mexico State 17th 1999
West Coast Gonzaga 10th 2006

Here are the top seeded teams in each regional and their overall seeds.

  • Midwest Regional (St. Louis) (top seed: Florida; top overall seed)
  • West Regional (San Jose) (top seed: Kansas; fourth overall seed)
  • East Regional (East Rutherford) (top seed: North Carolina; second overall seed)
  • South Regional (San Antonio) (top seed: Ohio State; third overall seed)

Listed by region and seeding

Midwest Regional - St. Louis
Seed School Conference Record Berth Type
#1 Florida SEC 29–5 Automatic
#2 Wisconsin Big Ten 29-5 At-large
#3 Oregon Pac-10 26–7 Automatic
#4 Maryland ACC 24–8 At-large
#5 Butler Horizon 27–6 At-large
#6 Notre Dame Big East 24–7 At-large
#7 UNLV Mountain West 28–6 Automatic
#8 Arizona Pac-10 20–10 At-large
#9 Purdue Big Ten 21–11 At-large
#10 Georgia Tech ACC 20–11 At-large
#11 Winthrop Big South 28–4 Automatic
#12 Old Dominion CAA 24–8 At-large
#13 Davidson Southern 29–4 Automatic
#14 Miami (Ohio) MAC 18–14 Automatic
#15 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Southland 26–6 Automatic
#16 Jackson State SWAC 21–13 Automatic
East Regional - East Rutherford
Seed School Conference Record Berth Type
#1 North Carolina ACC 28–6 Automatic
#2 Georgetown Big East 26–6 Automatic
#3 Washington State Pac-10 25–7 At-large
#4 Texas Big 12 24–9 At-large
#5 USC Pac-10 23–11 At-large
#6 Vanderbilt SEC 20–11 At-large
#7 Boston College ACC 20–11 At-large
#8 Marquette Big East 24–9 At-large
#9 Michigan State Big Ten 22–11 At-large
#10 Texas Tech Big 12 21–12 At-large
#11 George Washington Atlantic 10 23–8 Automatic
#12 Arkansas SEC 21–13 At-large
#13 New Mexico State WAC 25–8 Automatic
#14 Oral Roberts Mid-Continent 23–10 Automatic
#15 Belmont Atlantic Sun 23–9 Automatic
#16 Eastern Kentucky Ohio Valley 21–11 Automatic
South Regional - San Antonio
Seed School Conference Record Berth Type
#1 Ohio State Big Ten 30–3 Automatic
#2 Memphis C-USA 30–3 Automatic
#3 Texas A&M Big 12 25–6 At-large
#4 Virginia ACC 20–10 At-large
#5 Tennessee SEC 22–10 At-large
#6 Louisville Big East 23–9 At-large
#7 Nevada WAC 28–4 At-large
#8 Brigham Young Mountain West 25–8 At-large
#9 Xavier Atlantic 10 24–8 At-large
#10 Creighton Missouri Valley 22–10 Automatic
#11 Stanford Pac-10 18–12 At-large
#12 Long Beach State Big West 24–7 Automatic
#13 Albany America East 23–9 Automatic
#14 Penn Ivy 22–8 Automatic
#15 North Texas Sun Belt 23–10 Automatic
#16 Central Connecticut Northeast 22-11 Automatic
West Regional - San Jose
Seed School Conference Record Berth Type
#1 Kansas Big 12 31–4 Automatic
#2 UCLA Pac-10 26–5 At-large
#3 Pittsburgh Big East 27–7 At-large
#4 Southern Illinois Missouri Valley 27–6 At-large
#5 Virginia Tech ACC 21–11 At-large
#6 Duke ACC 22–10 At-large
#7 Indiana Big Ten 20–10 At-large
#8 Kentucky SEC 21–11 At-large
#9 Villanova Big East 22–10 At-large
#10 Gonzaga West Coast 23–10 Automatic
#11 VCU CAA 27–6 Automatic
#12 Illinois Big Ten 23–11 At-large
#13 Holy Cross Patriot 25–8 Automatic
#14 Wright State Horizon 23–9 Automatic
#15 Weber State Big Sky 20–11 Automatic
#16 Niagara MAAC 22–11 Automatic
Florida A&M MEAC 21–13 Automatic

Bracket

Opening Round game – Dayton, Ohio

Winner advances to West Regional vs. No. (1) Kansas.

Play-in Game
March 13
   
16 Florida A&M 69
16 Niagara 77

Midwest Regional – St. Louis, Missouri

First round
March 15–16
Second round
March 17–18
Regional semifinals
March 23
Regional finals
March 25
            
1 Florida 112
16 Jackson State 69
1 Florida 74
New Orleans - Fri/Sun
9 Purdue 67
8 Arizona 63
9 Purdue 72
1 Florida 65
5 Butler 57
5 Butler 57
12 Old Dominion 46
5 Butler 62
Buffalo - Thu/Sat
4 Maryland 59
4 Maryland 82
13 Davidson 70
1 Florida 85
3 Oregon 77
6 Notre Dame 64
11 Winthrop 74
11 Winthrop 61
Spokane - Fri/Sun
3 Oregon 75
3 Oregon 58
14 Miami (Ohio) 56
3 Oregon 76
7 UNLV 72
7 UNLV 67
10 Georgia Tech 63
7 UNLV 74
Chicago - Fri/Sun
2 Wisconsin 68
2 Wisconsin 76
15 Texas A&M-CC 63

West Regional – San Jose, California

First round
March 15–16
Second round
March 17–18
Regional semifinals
March 22
Regional finals
March 24
            
1 Kansas 107
16 Niagara 67
1 Kansas 88
Chicago - Fri/Sun
8 Kentucky 76
8 Kentucky 67
9 Villanova 58
1 Kansas 61
4 Southern Illinois 58
5 Virginia Tech 54
12 Illinois 52
5 Virginia Tech 48
Columbus - Fri/Sun
4 Southern Illinois 63
4 Southern Illinois 61
13 Holy Cross 51
1 Kansas 55
2 UCLA 68
6 Duke 77
11 VCU 79
11 VCU 79
Buffalo - Thu/Sat
3 Pittsburgh 84OT
3 Pittsburgh 79
14 Wright State 58
3 Pittsburgh 55
2 UCLA 64
7 Indiana 70
10 Gonzaga 57
7 Indiana 49
Sacramento - Thu/Sat
2 UCLA 54
2 UCLA 70
15 Weber State 42

East Regional – East Rutherford, New Jersey

First round
March 15–16
Second round
March 17–18
Regional semifinals
March 23
Regional finals
March 25
            
1 North Carolina 86
16 Eastern Kentucky 65
1 North Carolina 81
Winston-Salem - Thu/Sat
9 Michigan State 67
8 Marquette 49
9 Michigan State 61
1 North Carolina 74
5 USC 64
5 USC 77
12 Arkansas 60
5 USC 87
Spokane - Fri/Sun
4 Texas 68
4 Texas 79
13 New Mexico State 67
1 North Carolina 84
2 Georgetown 96OT
6 Vanderbilt 77
11 George Washington 44
6 Vanderbilt 782OT
Sacramento - Thu/Sat
3 Washington State 74
3 Washington State 70
14 Oral Roberts 54
6 Vanderbilt 65
2 Georgetown 66
7 Boston College 84
10 Texas Tech 75
7 Boston College 55
Winston-Salem - Thu/Sat
2 Georgetown 62
2 Georgetown 80
15 Belmont 55

South Regional – San Antonio, Texas

First round
March 15–16
Second round
March 17–18
Regional semifinals
March 22
Regional finals
March 24
            
1 Ohio State 78
16 Central Connecticut State 57
1 Ohio State 78OT
Lexington - Thu/Sat
9 Xavier 71
8 BYU 77
9 Xavier 79
1 Ohio State 85
5 Tennessee 84
5 Tennessee 121
12 Long Beach State 86
5 Tennessee 77
Columbus - Fri/Sun
4 Virginia 74
4 Virginia 84
13 Albany 57
1 Ohio State 92
2 Memphis 76
6 Louisville 78
11 Stanford 58
6 Louisville 69
Lexington - Thu/Sat
3 Texas A&M 72
3 Texas A&M 68
14 Penn 52
3 Texas A&M 64
2 Memphis 65
7 Nevada 77OT
10 Creighton 71
7 Nevada 62
New Orleans - Fri/Sun
2 Memphis 78
2 Memphis 73
15 North Texas 58

Final Four – Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia

National semifinals
March 31
National Championship
April 2
      
M1 Florida 76
W2 UCLA 66
M1 Florida 84
S1 Ohio State 75
E2 Georgetown 60
S1 Ohio State 67

Game summaries

Unless otherwise specified, all games were on CBS, except for the play-in game, which aired on ESPN and two additional games. Those games were broadcast on CSTV except in the natural areas of the teams involved, as those were broadcast on CBS. Times listed are US EDT (UTC−4).

Team names are those listed on the NCAA's scoreboard for the play-in game and first-round matchups. Only UNLV and UCLA use abbreviations; all other names are unabbreviated except for the common abbreviation "A&M".

Opening rounds

First round upsets, close games, and other facts

The two major upsets of the first round were #11 Virginia Commonwealth's win over #6 Duke (West Regional), and #11 Winthrop's win over #6 Notre Dame (Midwest Regional). VCU beat Duke, 79–77, on a shot by Eric Maynor with 1.8 seconds left, sending Duke out for the first time in the first round since 1996. Winthrop's highly touted offense built a 21-point second-half lead before surviving a late Notre Dame rally to win, 74–64, earning their first tournament victory in school history. The only overtime game of the first round was in the South Regional, between #7 Nevada and #10 Creighton, ending 77–71 in favor of the Nevada Wolf Pack. Other close games included #3 Oregon squeaking by #14 Miami (Ohio), 58-56 (Midwest Regional), #5 Virginia Tech's win over #12 Illinois 54-52 (West Regional), and #9 Xavier's win over #8 BYU, 79-77 (South Regional). The highest score accumulated by a team in the 2007 tournament went to Tennessee's 121 points over Long Beach State (South Regional), which set a school record. This was the first year since 1993 that a #10 seed did not advance to the second round. It was also only the second time in the last 17 years that a #12 seed failed to advance against a #5 seed. #15 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi had leads of 10-0 and 25–7 in the first half against the #2 Wisconsin Badgers but Wisconsin prevailed 76–63.[3][4]

Second round upsets, close games, and other facts

The two biggest upsets of the second round were #6 Vanderbilt's win over #3 Washington State (East Regional) and #7 UNLV's win over #2 Wisconsin (Midwest Regional). Vanderbilt won a heart-stopper, 78–74, in double overtime. UNLV won by six points, 74–68, in their biggest win since the 1990s. Other overtime games included #1 Ohio State's 78–71 win over #9 Xavier (South Regional) and #3 Pittsburgh's 84–79 overtime victory over #11 Virginia Commonwealth (West Regional). Ohio State's Ron Lewis hit a three-pointer with two seconds remaining to force overtime against Xavier, and Pittsburgh fought Virginia Commonwealth's comeback from 19 points down to come up with the victory. The Ohio State win over Xavier had a controversial ending as prior to Lewis's game-tying shot, Buckeye Greg Oden shoved a Xavier player, Justin Cage, in the back and onto the floor. Had an intentional foul been called, Xavier would have been awarded two foul shots and ball possession. Instead, a regular personal foul was called. Subsequently, Xavier missed the second free throw, allowing Lewis to shoot the game-tying 3.[5] Other close games were #3 Texas A&M winning over #6 Louisville, 72-69 (South Regional); #5 Butler's victory over #4 Maryland, 62-59 (Midwest Regional); and #5 Tennessee defeating #4 Virginia, 77-74 (South Regional). This tournament marked the first time since 1995 that a double-digit seeded team did not advance to the Sweet 16 (Midwest #7 seed UNLV was the lowest team in the Sweet 16).[6][7]

Regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen) upsets, close games, other facts

No upsets or overtime games occurred in this round of the tournament, although there were several very close games. In the South Region, #2 Memphis barely defeated #3 Texas A&M as Aggie senior Acie Law, after a solid performance for most of the game, missed an open layup with under a minute left. A controversial clock situation with 3.1 seconds left added to the emotion.[8] #1 Ohio State sneaked past #5 Tennessee, coming back from 20 points down to win, 85–84, with a blocked shot by Buckeye Greg Oden with 0.2 seconds left. In the East Region, #2 Georgetown won possibly the most controversial game of the tournament, beating #6 Vanderbilt, 66–65, on a shot by Jeff Green with 2.5 seconds left. The play was controversial as Green appeared to travel, despite fans and analysts claiming it was a clean drop step.[9][10][11]

Regional Finals (Elite Eight)

The seeds of the Elite Eight teams were four #1s, three #2s, and one #3. This was the lowest combination of seeds in an Elite Eight since seeding began in the NCAA tournament.

South Regional Final
March 24
4:40 PM ET
Recap
Memphis 76–92 Ohio State
Scoring by half: 38-41, 38-51
Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
Attendance: 26,260

Although Ohio State star freshman Greg Oden got into early foul trouble, a close game at the half turned into a blowout as the Buckeyes went on a 20–8 run to win. Game leaders were Memphis' Jeremy Hunt with 26 points, and Robert Dozier with 11 rebounds. This ended Memphis' 25-game win streak, previously the longest in the nation.[12][13]

West Regional Final
March 24
7:05 PM ET
Recap
UCLA 68–55 Kansas
Scoring by half: 35-31, 33-24
HP Pavilion. San Jose, California
Attendance: 18,102

After a tight first-half, the Bruins slowly put away the top-seeded Jayhawks in the second-half using their 2006 national championship game experience, along with a strong defense. Shooting percentage was a key factor in the game as UCLA shot 53% to Kansas's 41%. UCLA's Arron Afflalo led all scorers with 24 points while Brandon Rush of Kansas led the Jayhawks with 18. UCLA and Kansas combined for 35 steals, breaking the previous tournament record of 28.[14]

East Regional Final
March 25
5:05 PM ET
Recap
Georgetown 96–84 (OT) North Carolina
Scoring by half: 44-50, 37-31 Overtime: 15-3
Continental Airlines Arena, E. Rutherford, New Jersey
Attendance: 19,557

North Carolina led for most of the game and the entire second half, but Georgetown rallied from ten points down with six minutes remaining to force overtime. The Tar Heels were outscored 15–3 in the extra session, missing 22 of their final 23 field goal attempts. Georgetown reached its first Final Four since 1985, when John Thompson III's father John Thompson (Jr.) was coach—and Thompson III became the first coach to succeed his father in coaching a team to the Final Four. With North Carolina's loss in the regional final, this marked the first time since the tournament field expanded to 64 teams that no ACC team made it to the Final Four for two consecutive years. The last time that no ACC team made it to the Final Four in consecutive years was in 1979 and 1980.

Midwest Regional Final
March 25
2:40 PM ET
Recap
Oregon 77–85 Florida
Scoring by half: 38-40, 39-45
Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri
Attendance: 25,947

In what was actually a close game for most of regulation, Florida's three-point shots, along with a 20–9 run in the second half, amounted to a Gator win. Florida player Lee Humphrey led his team with seven three-pointers, and added up a total of 23 points.[15][16] In one of the more odd moments of the tournament, Humphrey shot a three-pointer through the side of the net, causing a 10-minute delay as the net was repaired.

Final Four

The Georgia Dome was the site of the Final Four and National Championship in 2007.

All of the 2007 Final Four teams had participated in the 2006 tournament. Ohio State was knocked out in the second round by Georgetown, who would lose to Florida in the Minneapolis Regional semifinals. Florida would go on to defeat UCLA in the championship game. The four teams were all previous champions as well—Ohio State (1960), Georgetown (1984), UCLA (several), and Florida (2006)—marking the fourth time that all of the Final Four teams were past champions (joining 1993, 1995 and 1998 Final Fours). Also, it was the first time in nine years that no two Final Four teams were from the same conference.

South-East National semifinal
March 31
6:07 PM ET
Recap
Georgetown 60–67 Ohio State
Scoring by half: 23-27, 37-40
Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: N/A

Ohio State proved to be too much for the Hoyas, even with Ohio State's phenom center Greg Oden sitting most of the game due to foul trouble.

Midwest-West National semifinal
March 31
8:47 PM ET
Recap
UCLA 66–76 Florida
Scoring by half: 23-29, 43-47
Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: 53,510

In the beginning, Florida struggled with UCLA's swarming defense, but ten minutes into the game they took a double-digit lead, and Lee Humphrey, in a performance reminiscent of the previous year's national title game, blew the game open in the second half hitting three consecutive three-pointers. Humphrey's shots proved too much to overcome and UCLA never threatened in the second half.

National Championship

April 2
9:21 PM ET
Recap
Florida 84–75 Ohio State
Scoring by half: 40-29, 44-46
Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: 51,458

A rematch of a regular season meeting, won 86-60 by Florida in Gainesville, The Gators survived 25 points and 12 rebounds from Buckeyes center Greg Oden with stellar play from guards Lee Humphrey and Taurean Green with inside contributions coming from Al Horford (18 points) and tourney Most Outstanding Player Corey Brewer. Billy Donovan became the third-youngest coach (at age 41) to win two titles. Only Bob Knight (at Indiana) and San Francisco's Phil Woolpert both won two titles at the age of 40.

The Gators are the first team ever to hold the NCAA Division I college football and basketball titles in the same academic year (2006–07) and calendar year (2006 and 2007). Coincidentally, Florida also beat Ohio State (by a score of 41–14) in the College Football Championship, the first time in college sports history that identical matchups and results have occurred in both football and basketball championships. This was also the first time in NCAA D-I men's basketball history that exactly the same starting five were able to win back-to-back titles (Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer, Lee Humphrey, Al Horford, Taurean Green). Florida's Lee Humphrey also set the all-time NCAA Tournament record for three-point field goals made with 47. Humphrey surpassed Bobby Hurley's record of 42.

Record by conference

Conference # of Bids Record Win % Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship Game Champions
C-USA 1 3-1 .750 1 1 - - -
SEC 5 11-4 .733 3 1 1 1 1
Pac-10 6 10-6 .625 3 2 1 - -
Big Ten 6 9-6 .600 1 1 1 1 -
Big 12 4 6-4 .600 2 1 - - -
Big East 6 7-6 .538 2 1 1 - -
ACC 7 7-7 .500 1 1 - - -
Horizon 2 2-2 .500 1 - - - -
Missouri Valley 2 2-2 .500 1 - - - -
Mountain West 2 2-2 .500 1 - - - -
Big South 1 1-1 .500 - - - - -
MAAC 1 1-1* .500 - - - - -
Atlantic 10 2 1-2 .333 - - - - -
CAA 2 1-2 .333 - - - - -
WAC 2 1-2 .333 - - - - -

The America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big West, Ivy, MEAC, Mid-American, Mid-Continent, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Sun Belt, SWAC, and WCC all went 0–1.

* The MAAC went 1-1 since Niagara won the Play-in Game.

Media

Television

CBS Sports

For the 26th consecutive year, CBS Sports telecast the tournament, and for the 17th consecutive year, broadcast every game from the first round to the championship, with Jim Nantz and Billy Packer calling the Final Four. Nantz was in a stretch in which he would broadcast Super Bowl XLI, the Final Four, and The Masters golf tournament all in a 10-week period.[17]

The complete list of announcing teams follows:

Greg Gumbel once again served as the studio host, joined by analysts Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis.

Other television

CSTV, owned by CBS, telecast the George Washington-Vanderbilt and the Virginia-Albany contests (in addition to the local CBS affiliates nearest to the participating teams in those games, and those using their digital subchannels for simulcasting). Those games served as the first-ever live tourney telecasts on CSTV, which also provided a highlights show after each day of competition.

For the first three rounds of the tournament, games were also shown on DirecTV through the Mega March Madness pay-per-view service and on March Madness on Demand, a broadband Internet video streaming service that was a joint venture between CBS SportsLine (now known as CBSSports.com) and the NCAA.

The opening round game was broadcast on ESPN for the sixth consecutive year.

Radio

Westwood One once again had the live radio coverage. Kevin Harlan once again served as the play-by-play man at the Final Four with Bill Raftery and John Thompson on color. Thompson the elder is the father of current Georgetown coach John Thompson III.[17]

Basketball courts

During the first- and second-round games in New Orleans, as part of the continuing recovery process from Hurricane Katrina, the NCAA allowed an additional floor decal recognizing the work of Habitat for Humanity's Collegiate Challenge and the NCAA Home Team program through the subregional's host institution, Tulane University. This marked the first time that a logo other than that of the NCAA or an NCAA member school has been allowed at an NCAA-sanctioned championship event. In addition, Tulane student athletes and athletic department personnel built a new house, valued at $75,000 (US), which was paid for by the NCAA and their corporate partner Lowe's, on Girod Street between the New Orleans Arena, site of the games, and the Louisiana Superdome, which has hosted four Final Fours.[18]

Also, for the first time, custom-made, identical courts were used at all four regional sites in San Jose, St. Louis, San Antonio and East Rutherford. Starting in 2010, all tournament games would have the same identical courts.

See also

References

  1. ^ 2007 NCAA Basketball Men's Viewable Brackets – NCAA.com
  2. ^ a b ESPN – Ohio State vs. Florida Recap, April 02, 2007
  3. ^ ESPN. "NCAA tournament first round Scores: Day One-3/15/07". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
  4. ^ ESPN. "NCAA tournament first round Scores: Day Two-3/16/07". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
  5. ^ The New York Times "Out of Bounds" blog
  6. ^ ESPN. "NCAA tournament second round Scores: Day One-3/17/07". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
  7. ^ ESPN. "NCAA tournament second round Scores: Day Two-3/18/07". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
  8. ^ King Kaufman. 2007-03-23. NCAA Tournament's upset-free first round has led to Sweet 16 humdingers. Plus: Why is time so time-consuming? And: Replays Retrieved on 2007-04-08.
  9. ^ "Green's 'travel' no-call, a historic Final Four and more". CNN. March 24, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
  10. ^ Leitch, Will (March 24, 2007). "Replays and Lying Eyes". The New York Times. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
  11. ^ "SI.com". CNN. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
  12. ^ "NCAA Game Summary – Memphis Vs. Ohio State – College Basketball – Ohio State News Story – WEWS Cleveland". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  13. ^ ESPN – Memphis vs. Ohio State Recap, March 24, 2007
  14. ^ "UCLA vs. Kansas – Recap: 3/24/07". ESPN.com. Associated Press. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
  15. ^ ESPN – Oregon vs. Florida Recap, March 25, 2007
  16. ^ "NCAA Game Summary – Oregon Vs. Florida – College Basketball – Florida News Story – WKMG Orlando". Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved April 9, 2007.
  17. ^ a b CBS Sports. "Tournament and Broadcast Pairings Announced". CBSSports.com. Retrieved February 29, 2008.
  18. ^ http://www.ncaasports.com/story/10062095 Tulane teams with Habitat with Humanity March 15, 2007
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