The 2000 Final Four is notable not just because Wisconsin was there, but because the Badgers weren’t the only No. 8 seed in Indianapolis. The 2000 Final Four in the Hoosier Dome was memorable precisely because two “Cinderella seeds” — not necessarily Cinderella teams (who would call North Carolina “Cinderella”?) — made their way through the bracket. North Carolina was a lot like the 2014 Kentucky team which stumbled through the regular season but managed to tap into its talent just in time for the NCAA Tournament. Like 2014 Kentucky, the 2000 Tar Heels flipped the switch and played with the urgency and teamwork they needed. They were an 8 seed on the bracket sheet, but they certainly didn’t play like an 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
North Carolina also got a few subtle advantages it cashed in: One was that it played a No. 1 seed which was playing far away from home. Stanford was the top seed in the South Region, and it had to fly all the way to Birmingham for its opening-weekend games. The Cardinal were playing well out of their time zone and well out of their element. One might recall (for the older fans in the crowd) the Cardinal flying to Greensboro, North Carolina, for the 1989 NCAA Tournament first round to play the Siena Saints. This was Stanford’s first NCAA Tournament game in 47 years, since its 1942 national championship. The Cardinal were a 3 seed against the 14th-seeded Saints, and got toppled in a big March upset.
It was very much the same when Stanford met eighth-seeded Carolina; the awakened Tar Heels got Stanford on its heels and were able to deliver a knockout blow.
When North Carolina arrived at the South Regional in Austin, Texas, it found teams which had never been to the Final Four in its path: Tennessee in the Sweet 16, Tulsa in the Elite Eight. The Vols and Golden Hurricane did not know how to handle the moment; Carolina did. The Heels carved a path to the Final Four to join Wisconsin as a pair of “crazy eights.”
Florida wasn’t an 8 seed, but the Gators were 5 seed which — like Wisconsin and Carolina — had to go through a 1 seed before the Elite Eight to make the Final Four. The Gators took down Duke in the Sweet 16, a major surprise.
The only one seed which made that Final Four was Michigan State. Tom Izzo’s most cohesive team — not necessarily its most talented — knew exactly what to do when it had to do it. That 2000 MSU team was a lot like the 2015 Wisconsin team which reached the national title game. Michigan State’s advantage in 2000 is that it didn’t have to play both Kentucky and Duke at the Final Four. If 2015 Wisconsin had faced an 8 seed and a 5 seed at the Final Four as Michigan State did in 2000, chances are the Badgers would own a second national title by now.
The 2000 Final Four — with two 8 seeds and a 5 seed — reminded us never to assume anything about March. Wisconsin was one part of a much larger story of the unpredictability of the NCAA Tournament.