Watch 2009 NCAA Basketball Tournament Online - Full Episodes

The 2009 NCAA College basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament that featured 65 teams to determine the 2008-09 national champion. The tournament began on March 17 and concluded with the championship game on April 6. In that game, North Carolina easily defeated Michigan State, 89-72, to become the national champion.

CBS broadcast all the games of the tournament, except the single play in game, which was broadcast by ESPN.

At the beginning of the tournament, the 65 teams were seeded and placed in one of the four regional rounds of competition--the Midwest, West, East and South. The first two rounds eliminated 49 of the participating teams. The remaining teams were placed into the next round, the regional semi-finals, often referred to as the "Sweet 16." Those teams played each other with the winners advancing to the regional finals, referred to as the "Elite Eight." At the regional final, four teams won and advanced to the "Final Four"--Michigan State, Connecticut, Villanova and North Carolina. At the Final Four, Connecticut and Villanova were eliminated the first night.

At halftime of the championship game, North Carolina led Michigan State 55-34. The Spartans fought back valiantly during the second half, and reduced the lead to 13 points but was unable to overcome a large number of turnovers and other mistakes.

A number of games featured winners by fewer than five points. In the second round of the South Regional, Gonzaga defeated WKU by a score of 83-81. In the second round of the West Regional, Purdue defeated Washington, 76-74. There were other close scoring games, and these provided a great deal of excitement for the television viewers. Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg and Tracy Wolfson announced the championship game.

An all tournament team was selected: Wayne Ellington, Tyler Hansbrough, and Ty Lawson from North Carolina, while Kalin Lucas and Goran Sutan played for Michigan State.