The 2014 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball national champion for the 2013-14 season. The 76th annual edition of the tournament began on March 18, 2014, and concluded with the championship game on April 7, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The East Regional semifinals and final were held in Madison Square Garden, the first time that arena has been used as an NCAA Tournament venue and the first time in 63 years that tournament games have been held in New York City.
The Final Four consisted of Florida (the #1 overall seed of the tournament), making their first appearance since winning their second consecutive championship in 2007, UConn, returning after winning their 2011 national championship, Wisconsin, making their first appearance since 2000, and Kentucky, back in the Final Four after winning their 2012 national championship.
With No. 7 seed UConn and No. 8 seed Kentucky reaching the championship game, this tournament's final was the first ever not to include at least one team seeded 1–3. It is also only the third final not to feature a 1 or 2 seed (1989 – #3 Michigan vs. #3 Seton Hall and 2011 – #3 UConn vs. #8 Butler). UConn defeated Kentucky in the championship game 60–54, to claim their 4th national championship as in many attempts. UConn was also the first 7 seed ever to reach and win the championship game. The two teams combined for the highest seed total in championship game history with 15. The previous record (11) was held by UConn and Butler in 2011.
The next day, the UConn Huskies women's team won the women's NCAA basketball tournament, only the second time that a school has won both the men's and women's Division I national basketball championships in the same year; UConn first accomplished this in 2004.[1]
For 2014 the selection committee picked a total of 68 teams that would enter the 2014 tournament, of which 32 were "automatic bids" (teams winning their conference tournaments, with the exception of the Ivy League, which does not host a post-season conference tournament; thus, its regular-season conference champion is awarded the automatic bid) while the remaining 36 were "at large" bids which were extended by the NCAA Selection Committee on the Sunday preceding the First Four play-in tournament and dubbed Selection Sunday by the media and fans. The Selection Committee also seeded the entire field from 1 to 68.[2]
Eight teams – the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams – played in the First Four (the successor to what had been popularly known as "play-in games" through the 2010 tournament). The winners of those games advanced to the main draw of the tournament.
The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 2014 tournament:[3]
First Four
First and Second rounds
Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)
National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)
The following teams are automatic qualifiers for the 2014 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament (except for the Ivy League, whose regular-season champion receives the automatic bid).
Florida was the overall 1 seed for the second time, the other being 2007 when they repeated as national champions. Arizona was a 1 seed for the 6th time in school history. They lost in the West regional final for the 3rd straight time as a 1 seed, all games being played in Anaheim (also in 1998 and 2003). Virginia was a 1 seed for the 4th time in school history, their first since three straight 1 seeds in 1981, 1982, and 1983.
Unless otherwise noted, all times listed are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04)
The First Four games involved eight teams: the four overall lowest-ranked teams, and the four lowest-ranked at-large teams.
Regional all-tournament team: Michael Frazier II, Florida; Devin Oliver, Dayton; Dyshawn Pierre, Dayton; Dwight Powell, Stanford[5]
Regional most outstanding player: Scottie Wilbekin, Florida[6]
Regional all-tournament team: DeAndre Daniels, UConn; Gary Harris, Michigan State; Dustin Hogue, Iowa State; Adreian Payne, Michigan State[7]
Regional most outstanding player: Shabazz Napier, UConn[8]
Regional all-tournament team: Aaron Gordon, Arizona; Traevon Jackson, Wisconsin; Nick Johnson, Arizona; Xavier Thames, San Diego State[9]
Regional most outstanding player: Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin
# — On February 20, 2018, the NCAA announced that the wins and records for Louisville's 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, and 2014–15 seasons were vacated due to the sex scandal at Louisville.[10] Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with Louisville removing the wins from its own record.
Regional all-tournament team: Aaron Harrison, Kentucky; Marcus Lee, Kentucky; Caris LeVert, Michigan; Nik Stauskas, Michigan
Regional most outstanding player: Julius Randle, Kentucky[11]
During the Final Four round, regardless of the seeds of the participating teams, the champion of the top overall top seed's region plays against the champion of the fourth-ranked top seed's region, and the champion of the second overall top seed's region plays against the champion of the third-ranked top seed's region.[12] Florida (placed in the South Regional) was selected as the top overall seed, and Virginia (in the East Regional) was named as the #4 overall seed.[13] Thus, the South champion (Florida) played the East Champion (UConn) in one semifinal game, and the West Champion (Wisconsin) faced the Midwest Champion (Kentucky) in the other semifinal game.[14] The overall No. 1 seed Florida lost only two games during the regular season: to West Champion Wisconsin and to East Champion (and eventual National Champion) UConn; Florida also played and beat Midwest Champion Kentucky twice during the regular season and again in the conference championship game.
Wichita State became the first team since UNLV in 1991 to go into the tournament undefeated. The Shockers entered the tournament 34–0. Their perfect record of 35–0 (a then NCAA men's record) was spoiled by Kentucky in the second round. Kentucky in turn set an NCAA-men's-record 38 straight wins to start a season the next year.
Kentucky became the first team to field all-freshman starters at the Final Four and championship games since the 1991–92 Michigan Wolverines under the Fab Five.[18] The 1992 Final Four and championship appearances by Michigan were subsequently vacated.
MEAC champion North Carolina Central University[19] and Big West champion Cal Poly[20] made their first NCAA Division I tournament appearances.
For only the second time since 1973 no teams from the state of Indiana (a state noted for its basketball powerhouse programs) were in the tournament.[21]
There were five overtime games in the second round of the tournament, the most overtime games ever in tournament history. In contrast, the previous two tournaments had two overtime games combined.
North Dakota State's victory against Oklahoma secured the first tournament win for the state of North Dakota. Mercer, Stephen F. Austin, Albany, and Cal Poly had their first NCAA tournament wins. Cal Poly's victory over Texas Southern marked only the third time a team with a losing record won a game in the tournament.
Per the NCAA, "Upsets are defined as when the winner of the game was seeded five or more places lower than the team it defeated." The 2014 tournament saw a total of 13 upsets; 6 of them were in the first round, 4 of them were in the second round, none in the Sweet Sixteen, one in the Elite Eight, and 2 in the Final Four.
The year 2014 marked the fourth year of a 14-year partnership between CBS and Turner cable networks TBS, TNT and truTV to cover the entire tournament under the NCAA March Madness banner. TBS aired the Final Four for the first year since CBS' 32 consecutive years of airing. The tournament was considered a ratings success. Tournament games averaged 10.5 million viewers, and the championship game garnered an average of 21.2 million viewers and a peak viewership of 24.3 million.
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For the first time in the history of the tournament, Turner broadcast the semifinals. TBS aired the traditional neutral broadcast (with Nantz/Anthony/Kerr/Wolfson commentator set that is also being used for CBS's national championship coverage). However, Turner also distributed team-centered broadcasts for the Final Four broadcasts on TNT and truTV. The announcers for these broadcasts are as follows:[25]
ESPN International distributes broadcast rights to the tournament outside the United States, and will produce separate international broadcasts of the semi-final and championship games with announcers Dan Shulman (play-by-play), Dick Vitale (analyst for the final and one semi-final), and Jay Bilas (analyst for the other semi-final).[26] For the initial rounds, they use CBS/Turner coverage with an additional host to transition between games, with whiparound coverage similar to the CBS-only era. ESPN also has exclusive digital rights to the NCAA tournament outside of North America.
In Canada, the broadcasting rights are with TSN.[27] In The Philippines it's aired on TV5.[28]
Westwood One has exclusive national radio rights to the entire tournament.[29] Team radio networks also hold the rights to broadcast their teams through their entire progression within the tournament and no flagship restrictions. However men's team radio networks cannot stream the games online during the NCAA tournament. WestwoodOne is the only group authorized to stream the tournament online.
The committee will place the four No. 1 seeded teams 1 through 4 in each of the four regions, thus determining the Final Four semifinals pairings (overall 1 vs. 4; 2 vs. 3).
