Tournament Procedure
For more details on this topic, see NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship#Tournament format.A total of 65 teams entered the tournament. Thirty of the teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. The automatic bid of the Ivy League, which does not conduct a postseason tournament, went to its regular season champion. The remaining 34 teams were granted "at-large" bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee.
Two teams played an opening-round game, popularly called the "play-in game"; the winner of that game advanced to the main draw of the tournament and plays a top seed in one of the regionals. This game has been played at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio since its inception in 2001.
All 64 teams were seeded 1 to 16 within their regionals; the winner of the play-in game automatically received a 16 seed. The Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 65.
The 2005 regionals, along with their top seeds, are listed below.
- Chicago Regional (top seed: Illinois; top overall seed)
- Albuquerque Regional (top seed: Washington; fourth overall seed)
- Syracuse Regional (top seed: North Carolina; second overall seed)
- Austin Regional (top seed: Duke; third overall seed)
Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four, held from April 2–4 in St. Louis.
Read more about this topic: 2005 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament