High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The 2003 NCAA Men`s Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men`s NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 18, 2003, and ended with the championship game on April 7 in New Orleans, Louisiana. A total of 64 games were played. Syracuse University, coached by Jim Boeheim, earned a 81-78 victory in the final game over Kansas, coached by Roy Williams. Carmelo Anthony of Syracuse was named the tournament`s Most Outstanding Player. Syracuse beat four Big 12 teams on its way to the title: Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas. Those victories helped earn Boeheim the national title that had eluded him in 1987 and 1996.