1993 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

See also: 1993 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game

The 1993 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 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 18, 1993, and ended with the championship game on April 5 in New Orleans, Louisiana. A total of 63 games were played.

1993 NCAA Division I
men's basketball tournament

Season	1992–93
Teams	64
Finals site	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana
Champions	North Carolina Tar Heels (3rd title, 7th title game, 11th Final Four)
Runner-up	Michigan Wolverines (vacated) (5th title game, 6th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Kansas Jayhawks (10th Final Four) Kentucky Wildcats (10th Final Four)
Winning coach	Dean Smith (2nd title)
MOP	Donald Williams (North Carolina)
Attendance	715,246
Top scorer	Donald Williams (North Carolina) (118 points)
NCAA Division I men's tournaments «1992 1994»

North Carolina, coached by Dean Smith, won the national title with a 77–71 victory in the final game over Michigan, coached by Steve Fisher.^[1] Donald Williams of North Carolina was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. The most memorable play in the championship game came in the last seconds as Michigan's Chris Webber tried to call a timeout with his team down by 2 points when double-teamed by North Carolina.^[2] Michigan had already used all of its timeouts, so Webber's gaffe resulted in a technical foul. Michigan subsequently vacated its entire 1992–93 schedule, including its six NCAA Tournament games, after it emerged that Webber had received under-the-table payments from a booster.

In a game that featured two great individual battles (one between Bobby Hurley and Jason Kidd, and the other between Grant Hill and Lamond Murray), two-time defending champion Duke was upset in the second round by California.

This year's Final Four was the closest the tournament came to having all four top seeds advance to the semifinals until all four did advance in the 2008 tournament. Indiana was the only top seed not to make it out of its regional; it was defeated by the 2-seed Kansas, in the Midwest regional finals. This tournament is also notable for the uneven distribution of first-round upsets. While there were no upsets in the East, one 'minor' upset in the Midwest (9th seed Xavier defeated 8th seed New Orleans; Xavier was the betting favorite at all sports books in Las Vegas), and one 'medium' upset in the Southeast (11th seed Tulane beat 6th seed Kansas State), the West featured three remarkable upsets amongst the top 5 seeds, with a 12, a 13, and a 15-seed advancing to the second round in that region. At the time, 15-seed Santa Clara's victory over 2-seed Arizona was only the second such upset, and following the 2023 tournament, is one of only eleven times that a 15-seed defeated a 2-seed since the tournament field expanded to 64 teams (In 2018, UMBC became one of only two 16-seeds to defeat a 1-seed, ousting Virginia 74-54, with Fairleigh Dickinson's upset of Purdue occurring five years later.).

In this tournament, the Louisiana Superdome was the only site in which the game clock counted down in whole seconds, not tenths of seconds, in the final minute of each period.

Schedule and venues

Syracuse

Winston-Salem

Orlando

Nashville

Indianapolis

Rosemont

Salt Lake City

Tucson

1993 first and second rounds

Seattle

St. Louis

Charlotte

E. Rutherford

New Orleans

1993 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1993 tournament:

First and Second Rounds

• March 18 and 20
  • East Region
    • Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem, North Carolina (Host: Wake Forest University)
  • Midwest Region
    • Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois (Hosts: DePaul University, Great Midwest Conference)
  • Southeast Region
    • Orlando Arena, Orlando, Florida (Host: Stetson University)
  • West Region
    • Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah (Host: University of Utah)
• March 19 and 21
  • East Region
    • Carrier Dome, Syracuse, New York (Host: Syracuse University)
  • Midwest Region
    • Hoosier Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana (Hosts: Butler University, Midwestern Collegiate Conference)
  • Southeast Region
    • Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville, Tennessee (Host: Vanderbilt University)
  • West Region
    • McKale Center, Tucson, Arizona (Host: University of Arizona)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 25 and 27
  • Midwest Regional, St. Louis Arena, St. Louis, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)
  • Southeast Regional, Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina (Host: University of North Carolina at Charlotte)
• March 26 and 28
  • East Regional, Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey (Hosts: Seton Hall University, Big East Conference)
  • West Regional, Kingdome, Seattle, Washington (Host: University of Washington)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

• April 3 and 5
  • Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana (Hosts: Tulane University, University of New Orleans)

Teams

There were 30 automatic bids awarded to the tournament - of these, 27 were given to the winners of their conference's tournament, while three were awarded to the team with the best regular-season record in their conference (Big Ten, Ivy League and Pac-10).

Two conferences, the Great Midwest Conference and Trans America Athletic Conference,^[3] did not receive automatic bids to the tournament.

Two conference champions made their first NCAA tournament appearances: Tennessee State (Ohio Valley) and Wright State (Mid-Continent).

Automatic qualifiers

Automatic qualifiers

Conference	Team	Appearance	Last bid
ACC	Georgia Tech	10th	1992
Atlantic 10	UMass	3rd	1992
Big East	Seton Hall	5th	1992
Big Eight	Missouri	14th	1992
Big Sky	Boise State	3rd	1988
Big South	Coastal Carolina	2nd	1991
Big Ten	Indiana	22nd	1992
Big West	Long Beach State	3rd	1977
CAA	East Carolina	2nd	1972
Ivy League	Penn	14th	1987
MAAC	Manhattan	3rd	1958
MAC	Ball State	5th	1988
MCC	Evansville	4th	1992
MEAC	Coppin State	2nd	1990
Metro	Louisville	23rd	1992
Mid-Continent	Wright State	1st	Never
Missouri Valley	Southern Illinois	2nd	1977
NAC	Delaware	2nd	1992
NEC	Rider	2nd	1984
Ohio Valley	Tennessee State	1st	Never
Pac-10	Arizona	12th	1992
Patriot	Holy Cross	3rd	1980
SEC	Kentucky	34th	1992
Southern	Chattanooga	5th	1988
Southland	Northeast Louisiana	6th	1992
Sun Belt	Western Kentucky	13th	1987
SWAC	Southern	6th	1989
SWC	Texas Tech	9th	1986
WAC	New Mexico	5th	1991
West Coast	Santa Clara	9th	1987

Tournament seeds

East Regional – Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 North Carolina ACC 28–4 At-Large 2 Cincinnati Great Midwest 24–4 At-Large 3 UMass Atlantic 10 23–6 Automatic 4 Arkansas SEC 20–8 At-Large 5 St. John's Big East 18–10 At-Large 6 Virginia ACC 19–9 At-Large 7 New Mexico State (vacated) Big West 25–7 At-Large 8 Rhode Island Atlantic 10 18–10 At-Large 9 Purdue Big Ten 18–9 At-Large 10 Nebraska Big Eight 20–10 At-Large 11 Manhattan MAAC 23–6 Automatic 12 Texas Tech Southwest 18–11 Automatic 13 Holy Cross Patriot 23–6 Automatic 14 Penn Ivy League 22–4 Automatic 15 Coppin State MEAC 22–7 Automatic 16 East Carolina CAA 13–16 Automatic

Southeast Regional – Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Kentucky SEC 26–3 Automatic 2 Seton Hall Big East 27–6 Automatic 3 Florida State ACC 22–9 At-Large 4 Iowa Big Ten 22–8 At-Large 5 Wake Forest ACC 19–8 At-Large 6 Kansas State Big Eight 19–10 At-Large 7 Western Kentucky Sun Belt 24–5 Automatic 8 Utah WAC 23–6 At-Large 9 Pittsburgh Big East 17–10 At-Large 10 Memphis State Great Midwest 20–11 At-Large 11 Tulane Metro 21–8 At-Large 12 Chattanooga Southern 26–6 Automatic 13 Northeast Louisiana Southland 26–4 Automatic 14 Evansville MCC 23–6 Automatic 15 Tennessee State Ohio Valley 19–9 Automatic 16 Rider Northeast 19–10 Automatic

Midwest Regional – St. Louis Arena, St. Louis, Missouri Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Indiana Big Ten 28–3 Automatic 2 Kansas Big Eight 25–6 At-Large 3 Duke ACC 23–7 At-Large 4 Louisville Metro 20–8 Automatic 5 Oklahoma State Big Eight 19–8 At-Large 6 California Pac-10 19–8 At-Large 7 BYU WAC 24–8 At-Large 8 New Orleans Sun Belt 26–3 At-Large 9 Xavier MCC 23–5 At-Large 10 SMU Southwest 20–7 At-Large 11 LSU SEC 22–10 At-Large 12 Marquette Great Midwest 20–7 At-Large 13 Delaware NAC 22–7 Automatic 14 Southern Illinois Missouri Valley 23–9 Automatic 15 Ball State MAC 26–7 Automatic 16 Wright State Mid-Continent 20–9 Automatic

West Regional – Kingdome, Seattle, Washington Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Michigan (vacated) Big Ten 26–4 At-Large 2 Arizona Pac-10 24–3 Automatic 3 Vanderbilt SEC 26–5 At-Large 4 Georgia Tech ACC 19–10 Automatic 5 New Mexico WAC 24–6 Automatic 6 Illinois Big Ten 18–12 At-Large 7 Temple Atlantic 10 17–12 At-Large 8 Iowa State Big Eight 20–10 At-Large 9 UCLA Pac-10 21–10 At-Large 10 Missouri Big Eight 19–13 Automatic 11 Long Beach State Big West 22–9 Automatic 12 George Washington Atlantic 10 21–9 At-Large 13 Southern SWAC 20–9 Automatic 14 Boise State Big Sky 21–7 Automatic 15 Santa Clara West Coast 18–11 Automatic 16 Coastal Carolina Big South 22–9 Automatic

Bracket

East Regional – East Rutherford, New Jersey

	First round					Quarter-finals					Regional semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	North Carolina	85
	16	East Carolina	65
						1	North Carolina	112
	Winston-Salem
						8	Rhode Island	67
	8	Rhode Island	74
	9	Purdue	68
											1	North Carolina	80
											4	Arkansas	74
	5	St. John's	85
	12	Texas Tech	67
						5	St. John's	74
	Winston-Salem
						4	Arkansas	80
	4	Arkansas	94
	13	Holy Cross	64
																1	North Carolina	75OT
																2	Cincinnati	68
	6	Virginia	78
	11	Manhattan	66
						6	Virginia	71
	Syracuse
						3	Massachusetts	56
	3	Massachusetts	54
	14	Pennsylvania	50
											6	Virginia	54
											2	Cincinnati	71
	7	New Mexico State	93
	10	Nebraska	79
						7	New Mexico State	55
	Syracuse
						2	Cincinnati	92
	2	Cincinnati	93
	15	Coppin State	66

Midwest Regional – St. Louis, Missouri

	First round					Quarter-finals					Regional semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Indiana	97
	16	Wright State	54
						1	Indiana	73
	Indianapolis
						9	Xavier	70
	8	New Orleans	55
	9	Xavier	73
											1	Indiana	82
											4	Louisville	69
	5	Oklahoma State	74
	12	Marquette	62
						5	Oklahoma State	63
	Indianapolis
						4	Louisville	78
	4	Louisville	76
	13	Delaware	70
																1	Indiana	77
																2	Kansas	83
	6	California	66
	11	LSU	64
						6	California	82
	Rosemont
						3	Duke	77
	3	Duke	105
	14	Southern Illinois	70
											6	California	76
											2	Kansas	93
	7	BYU	80
	10	SMU	71
						7	BYU	76
	Rosemont
						2	Kansas	90
	2	Kansas	94
	15	Ball State	72

Southeast Regional – Charlotte, North Carolina

	First round					Quarter-finals					Regional semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Kentucky	96
	16	Rider	52
						1	Kentucky	83
	Nashville
						8	Utah	62
	8	Utah	86
	9	Pittsburgh	65
											1	Kentucky	103
											5	Wake Forest	69
	5	Wake Forest	81
	12	Chattanooga	58
						5	Wake Forest	84
	Nashville
						4	Iowa	78
	4	Iowa	82
	13	Northeast Louisiana	69
																1	Kentucky	106
																3	Florida State	81
	6	Kansas State	53
	11	Tulane	55
						11	Tulane	63
	Orlando
						3	Florida State	94
	3	Florida State	82
	14	Evansville	70
											3	Florida State	81OT
											7	Western Kentucky	78
	7	Western Kentucky	55
	10	Memphis State	52
						7	Western Kentucky	72
	Orlando
						2	Seton Hall	68
	2	Seton Hall	81
	15	Tennessee State	59

West Regional – Seattle, Washington

	First round					Quarter-finals					Regional semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Michigan#	84
	16	Coastal Carolina	53
						1	Michigan#	86OT
	Tucson
						9	UCLA	84
	8	Iowa State	70
	9	UCLA	81
											1	Michigan#	72
											12	George Washington	64
	5	New Mexico	68
	12	George Washington	82
						12	George Washington	90
	Tucson
						13	Southern	80
	4	Georgia Tech	78
	13	Southern	93
																1	Michigan#	77
																7	Temple	72
	6	Illinois	75
	11	Long Beach State	72
						6	Illinois	68
	Salt Lake City
						3	Vanderbilt	85
	3	Vanderbilt	92
	14	Boise State	72
											3	Vanderbilt	59
											7	Temple	67
	7	Temple	75
	10	Missouri	61
						7	Temple	68
	Salt Lake City
						15	Santa Clara	57
	2	Arizona	61
	15	Santa Clara	64

Final Four – New Orleans, Louisiana

	National semifinals					National Championship Game
	E1	North Carolina	78
	MW2	Kansas	68
						E1	North Carolina	77
						W1	Michigan#	71
	SE1	Kentucky	78
	W1	Michigan#	81OT

Game summaries

National semifinals

National Championship

Main article: 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Game

# — Michigan's entire 1992–93 schedule results were vacated, on November 7, 2002, as part of the settlement of the University of Michigan basketball scandal. Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with Michigan removing the wins from its own record.

Announcers

• James Brown/Jim Nantz and Billy Packer – Brown/Packer, First & Second Round at Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Nantz/Packer, West Regional at Seattle; Final Four at New Orleans, Louisiana
• Dick Stockton and Al McGuire – First & Second Round at Indianapolis, Indiana; Southeast Regional at Charlotte, North Carolina
• Verne Lundquist and Clark Kellogg – First & Second Round at Rosemont, Illinois; East Regional at East Rutherford, New Jersey
• James Brown and Bill Raftery – Midwest Regional at St. Louis, Missouri
• Greg Gumbel and Digger Phelps – First & Second Round at Tucson, Arizona
• Sean McDonough and Derrek Dickey – First & Second Round at Orlando, Florida
• Mike Gorman and Larry Farmer – First & Second Round at Salt Lake City, Utah
• Mel Proctor and Dan Bonner – First & Second Round at Syracuse, New York
• Tim Ryan and Ann Meyers – First & Second Round at Nashville, Tennessee

See also

• 1993 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament
• 1993 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament
• 1993 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 1993 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 1993 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament
• 1993 National Invitation Tournament
• 1993 National Women's Invitation Tournament
• 1993 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 1993 NAIA Division II men's basketball tournament
• 1993 NAIA Division I women's basketball tournament
• 1993 NAIA Division II women's basketball tournament

References

1. 1993 National Championship Game on YouTube
2. Video on YouTube
3. "TAAC LOSES BID TO MARCH MADNESS". Orlando Sentinel. September 2, 1992. Retrieved May 23, 2023.