2010 NBA playoffs
The Charlotte Bobcats made their first playoff appearance in franchise history, and the first in the Charlotte NBA team's history since 2002. However, they failed to win a single playoff game in a loss to the Magic in the first round.


2010 NBA playoffs
The Celtics-Cavaliers series marked the first time that each team lost a home playoff game by record margins: Boston lost Game 3 124-95; Cleveland lost Game 5 120-88.


2010 NBA playoffs
The Oklahoma City Thunder made their first playoff appearance since relocating from Seattle in 2008; the team's last appearance was as the Seattle SuperSonics in 2005. Games 3, 4 and 6 were the first playoff games played at Ford Center (the arena's former tenants, the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, didn't play a single playoff game in the building). They made the most of their debut playoff appearance, pushing the eventual champion Lakers to 6 games.


2010 NBA playoffs
The Mavericks would hold the dubious distinction of losing 3 first round series while holding the top 2 playoff seeds. They lost to the seventh-seeded San Antonio Spurs in 6. They have also lost a playoff series against the Seattle SuperSonics (1987, as the second seed) and the Golden State Warriors (2007, as the top seed).


2010 NBA playoffs, Format
The 3 division winners and 5 other teams with the most wins from each conference qualified for the playoffs. The seedings are based on each team's record; however, a division winner is guaranteed to be ranked at least fourth, regardless of record.


2010 NBA playoffs, Format, Tiebreak procedures
If there were more than two teams tied, the team that wins the tiebreaker get the highest seed, while the other teams were "re-broken" from the first step until all ties were resolved. Since the three division winners were guaranteed a spot in the top four, ties to determine the division winners had to be broken before any other ties.


2010 NBA playoffs, Home-court advantage
The team with the better record earned the home-court advantage through any playoff round, regardless of seeding. (The NBA is the only one of the four major North American leagues that awards home advantage based strictly on record.)


2010 NBA playoffs, Bracket
Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk.


2010 NBA playoffs, Bracket
Home court advantage in the NBA Finals does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record (for example, the 4th seed in the Western Conference could have a better regular season record than the 3rd seed in the Eastern Conference and would therefore have home court advantage if the two met in the Finals); teams with home court advantage are shown in italics.


2010 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (8) Chicago Bulls
This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bulls winning the first five meetings.


2010 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (2) Orlando Magic vs. (7) Charlotte Bobcats
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Hornets franchise winning the first meeting. Note that historical records of the original Charlotte Hornets franchise (later relocated and renamed the New Orleans Pelicans) from 1988–2002 are currently with the present Hornets/Bobcats franchise since the 2014–15 season.


2010 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (3) Atlanta Hawks vs. (6) Milwaukee Bucks
The Atlanta Hawks quickly took control of the series by winning the first 2 games against the Milwaukee Bucks, without star center Andrew Bogut. But the Bucks managed to take the next 3 games, including a shocking Game 5 win in Atlanta, where they overcame a 9-point deficit in the final 4 minutes. However, Atlanta managed to stave off elimination in front of a raucous Bradley Center crowd, coming away with an 83–69 Game 6 victory. The Hawks then finished off the Bucks in Game 7 and advanced to the next round.


2010 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (3) Atlanta Hawks vs. (6) Milwaukee Bucks
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Bucks winning two of the first three meetings.


2010 NBA playoffs, First Round, Eastern Conference First Round, (4) Boston Celtics vs. (5) Miami Heat
This was the first playoff meeting between the Celtics and the Heat.


2010 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) Oklahoma City Thunder
This was the eighth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning five of the first seven meetings. All previous meetings took place while the Thunder franchise were still known as the Seattle SuperSonics.


2010 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (2) Dallas Mavericks vs. (7) San Antonio Spurs
The Mavs won 55 games and the Southwest Division title, but for the 3rd time in four years, they failed to escape the first round. The 2007 Mavericks were defeated by the Golden State Warriors as a No. 1 seed, and the 2008 Mavericks lost in the 1st round to the New Orleans Hornets. The Mavs took Game 1 in Dallas, but would go on to drop the next three games (including two in San Antonio) to wind up trailing 3 to 1. Dallas won Game 5 to keep their season alive, but the Spurs managed to finish them off with a 10-point win in Game 6.


2010 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (2) Dallas Mavericks vs. (7) San Antonio Spurs
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning two series apiece.


2010 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (3) Phoenix Suns vs. (6) Portland Trail Blazers
This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two teams, with each team winning three series apiece.


2010 NBA playoffs, First Round, Western Conference First Round, (4) Denver Nuggets vs. (5) Utah Jazz
This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Jazz winning two of the first three meetings.


2010 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (4) Boston Celtics
The Cavaliers were considered heavy favorites coming in, but had to rally from an 11-point halftime deficit to win Game 1. The Celtics took home-court in Game 2, as Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo's 19 assists powered them past the Cavaliers to an 18-point victory. The Cavaliers struck back in Game 3 and handed the Celtics their worst home-playoff loss in franchise history. Cavaliers forward LeBron James scored 21 points in the first quarter alone and 38 for the game. Antawn Jamison added another 20. Celtics forward Paul Pierce called the loss "embarrassing".


2010 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (4) Boston Celtics
Rondo's triple-double (29 points, a career playoff high 18 rebounds and 13 assists) pushed the Celtics to a Game 4 victory. The Celtics reciprocated their Game 3 humiliation with a 32-point victory in Cleveland during Game 5. LeBron James was held to 3 of 14 shooting. The Celtics clinched the series in Game 6, holding James to 8 of 21 shooting.


2010 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (4) Boston Celtics
The Cavaliers early exit led to James's departure for the Miami Heat during the offseason. Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert then accused James of quitting on the team during the series and also alleged that he did the same thing the previous year's Conference Finals. The Cavaliers did not make the playoffs again until the 2014–2015 NBA season (James' first season back in Cleveland), and in fact, they would be the first team Byron Scott failed to take to the playoffs during his tenure as head coach, he had led his two previous teams to the playoffs at least once.


2010 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (4) Boston Celtics
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning three of the first four meetings.


2010 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (2) Orlando Magic vs. (3) Atlanta Hawks
The Magic's victory was the most lopsided four-game sweep in playoff history.


2010 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Eastern Conference Semifinals, (2) Orlando Magic vs. (3) Atlanta Hawks
This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Magic winning the first meeting.


2010 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (5) Utah Jazz
This was the sixth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning three of the first five meetings.


2010 NBA playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Western Conference Semifinals, (3) Phoenix Suns vs. (7) San Antonio Spurs
This was the tenth playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Spurs winning six of the first nine meetings.


2010 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Eastern Conference Finals, (2) Orlando Magic vs. (4) Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics were able to hold off a late Magic rally to steal home-court advantage in Game 1. They even used that momentum to grab Game 2 in Orlando to take a 2-0 lead going into Boston. After winning back-to-back road games to begin a series for the first time in franchise history, the Celtics would go on to blow out the Magic by 23 points in Game 3 to take a 3 to nothing lead. The Magic, however, would rally for a desperate Game 4 victory in overtime to force Game 5 in Orlando.


2010 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Eastern Conference Finals, (2) Orlando Magic vs. (4) Boston Celtics
Dwight Howard poured in 32 points in that victory. The Celtics seemed to lose control of the series, as the Magic scored another victory in Game 5, making the series 3-2, to force it back to Boston. Boston fans began to become anxious, especially after recently seeing the NHL's Boston Bruins lose their playoff series against the Philadelphia Flyers even though the Bruins had a 3-0 lead initially. No team in NBA history has rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a post-season series. However, Orlando fell short as the Celtics were able to advance to the NBA Finals for the second time in three years with a 12-point win in Game 6.


2010 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Eastern Conference Finals, (2) Orlando Magic vs. (4) Boston Celtics
This was the third playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Magic winning the first two meetings.


2010 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Western Conference Finals, (1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Phoenix Suns
The Lakers put their home-court advantage to good use by winning the first two games at home.


2010 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Western Conference Finals, (1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Phoenix Suns
The Suns struck back to tie the series by taking Games 3 & 4 in Phoenix, but after a heart-breaking loss in Game 5 in which Ron Artest followed a missed airball by Kobe Bryant and hit the game-winner at the buzzer, the Suns found themselves trailing 3-2. Los Angeles held off a late Suns rally to steal Game 6 in Phoenix, as Kobe poured in 37 points, including a long jump shot in the final minute that put the game out of reach.


2010 NBA playoffs, Conference Finals, Western Conference Finals, (1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Phoenix Suns
This was the 12th playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Lakers winning seven of the first 11 meetings.


2010 NBA playoffs, NBA Finals: (W1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (E4) Boston Celtics
This was the 12th playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Celtics winning nine of the first 11 meetings.


2010 NC State Wolfpack football team
The 2010 NC State Wolfpack Football Team represented North Carolina State University in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wolfpack, led by head coach Tom O'Brien, played their home games at Carter–Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina and were members of the Atlantic division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They finished the season 9–4, 5–3 in ACC play. They were invited to the Champ Sports Bowl where they defeated West Virginia 23–7.


2010 NCAA Bowling Championship
The 2010 NCAA Bowling Championship was the seventh annual tournament to determine the national champion of women's NCAA collegiate ten-pin bowling. The tournament was played at Carolier Brunswick Zone in North Brunswick, New Jersey during April 2009.


2010 NCAA Bowling Championship
Fairleigh Dickinson defeated Nebraska in the championship match, 4 games to 3 (209–167, 202–222, 203–213, 229–192, 201–222, 230–190, 208–174), to win their second national title. The Knights were coached by Mike LoPresti.


2010 NCAA Bowling Championship
FDU's Daniele McEwan was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. McEwan, along with four other bowlers, also comprised the All Tournament Team.


2010 NCAA Bowling Championship, Qualification
Since there is only one national collegiate championship for women's bowling, all NCAA bowling programs (whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III) were eligible. A total of 8 teams were invited to contest this championship, which consisted of a modified double-elimination style tournament.


2010 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament
The 2010 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament began on Friday, June 4, 2010 as part of the 2010 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64 team double elimination tournament concluded with the 2010 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. This was the final year at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium, the host venue since 1950.


2010 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament
The South Carolina Gamecocks won two elimination games against archrival Clemson in the College World Series semifinals, then defeated the UCLA Bruins in the second game of the finals on a walk-off single by Whit Merrifield to win the national championship. It was the school's first championship in baseball and second team championship overall.


2010 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, Bids, Automatic bids
Conference champions from 30 Division I conferences earned automatic bids to regionals. The remaining 34 spots were awarded to schools as at-large invitees.


2010 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, Regionals and Super Regionals, Myrtle Beach Super Regional
NOTE:  Because Vrooman Field at Charles Watson Stadium was inadequate for NCAA postseason play, Coastal Carolina-hosted games were played at BB&T Coastal Field.


2010 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, College World Series, Bracket
The CWS uses two four-team brackets with double elimination format; teams play games until they accumulate two losses and no team may play a team from the other bracket. The winners of the two four-team brackets play a best-of-three series for the championship.


2010 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament, Record by conference
The columns RF, SR, WS, NS, CS, and NC respectively stand for the Regional Finals, Super Regionals, College World Series, National Semifinals, Championship Series, and National Champion.


2010 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
The 2010 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships were the 72nd annual NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship and the 30th annual NCAA Women's Division I Cross Country Championship to determine the team and individual national champions of NCAA Division I men's and women's collegiate cross country running in the United States. In all, four different titles were contested: men's and women's individual and team championships.


2010 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
Held on November 22, 2010, the combined meet was the seventh of eight consecutive meets hosted by Indiana State University at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana. The distance for the men's race was 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) while the distance for the women's race was 6 kilometers (3.73 miles).


2010 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
The men's team championship was again won by Oklahoma State (73 points), the Cowboys' second consecutive and third overall. The women's team championship was again won by Villanova (120 points), the Wildcats' second consecutive and ninth overall.


2010 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
The two individual champions were, for the men, Samuel Chelanga (Liberty, 29:22.2) and, for the women, Sheila Reid (Villanova, 20:06.9).


2010 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Three human polls and one formula ranking make up the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) football rankings, in addition to various publications' preseason polls. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship title. That title is bestowed by one or more of four different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason: the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll.


2010 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Two additional polls are released midway through the season; the Harris Interactive Poll is released after the sixth week of the season and the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings is released after the seventh week. The Harris Poll and Coaches Poll are factors in the BCS Standings. At the end of the season, on Sunday, December 5, 2010, the BCS Standings determines who plays in the BCS bowl games as well as the 2011 BCS National Championship Game on January 10, 2011 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.


2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).


2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The regular season began on September 2, 2010 and ended on December 11, 2010. The postseason concluded on January 10, 2011 with the BCS National Championship Game at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The Auburn Tigers defeated the Oregon Ducks to complete an undefeated season and win their sixth national title in school history.


2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference realignment
Multiple conferences announced changes in membership throughout 2010, triggering a major realignment that would eventually affect all 11 FBS leagues. Due to conference notice requirements, these changes would not take effect until 2011 at the earliest.


2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference realignment
The first change came on June 10, when the Pacific-10 Conference announced that Colorado had accepted their invitation to join from the Big 12.


2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference realignment
The following day, June 11, saw two schools change conferences. The Mountain West Conference announced that Boise State had accepted their invitation to join from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), while Nebraska ended its longstanding affiliation with the Big Eight/Big 12 to join the Big Ten Conference. Both moves would take effect starting with the 2011-2012 academic year.


2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference realignment
In the following days, it was widely speculated that the five public schools in the Big 12 South Division (Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State) would leave for the Pac-10 to create a 16-team "superconference." However, a last-minute deal announced on June 14 saw Texas remain in the Big 12, prompting the other four schools to follow suit. The Pac-10 then extended an invitation to Utah on June 16, who accepted the next day. With the addition of Colorado and Utah, the Pac-10 announced that the conference would change its name to the Pac-12 upon the two new members joining in July 2011.


2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference realignment
On August 18, the Mountain West responded to rumors of the imminent departure of Brigham Young by inviting WAC members Fresno State, Nevada, and Utah State. Utah State declined the offer, but Fresno State and Nevada accepted later that day. Following threats of legal action by the WAC, the two schools agreed to stay in the WAC through the 2011-12 season in exchange for a greatly reduced exit fee. BYU officially announced their departure from the Mountain West on September 1. The BYU football team would become an FBS Independent while all other sports would move West Coast Conference for the 2011-12 season.


2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference realignment
On November 11, the Western Athletic Conference announced that Texas State, then a member of the FCS Southland Conference, and UTSA, which planned to launch a football team in 2011, would upgrade their football programs to FBS level, join the WAC in 2012, and become full FBS members in 2013.


2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference realignment
On November 29, TCU announced it would leave the Mountain West to join the Big East in 2012. The Mountain West replaced TCU by adding Hawaiʻi as a football-only member on December 10; Hawaiʻi's other sports would join the Big West Conference.


2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season, New and updated stadiums
No new stadiums opened in the 2010 season. However, expansion projects at several stadiums were completed in time for the season:


2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Regular season top 10 matchups
Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 8 and beyond will list BCS Rankings first and AP Poll second. Teams that failed to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted.


2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference summaries
Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the conference championship games were played.


2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference summaries, Other conference champions
In 2011, Ohio State vacated all twelve wins and their share of the Big Ten title from the 2010 season after it was revealed that several players had committed NCAA violations by receiving improper benefits from a local business owner.


2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Awards and honors, Heisman Trophy voting
The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player.


2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Coaching changes, Preseason and in-season
This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2010. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2010, see 2009 NCAA Division I FBS end-of-season coaching changes.


2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season, TV ratings, Ten most watched regular season games in 2010
7 of 10 games involved with SEC teams - All seven involved a team from the State of Alabama


2010 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings
The 2010 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings are from the Sports Network media poll and the coaches poll. This is for the 2010 season.


2010 NCAA Division I FCS football season
The 2010 NCAA Division I FCS football season, the 2010 season of college football for teams in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), began in September 2010 and concluded with the 2011 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game on January 7, 2011. In the title game, Eastern Washington defeated Delaware, 20–19, to claim their first Division I national title in any team sport.


2010 NCAA Division I FCS football season
For the first time since 1997, the final game was played at a new location—Pizza Hut Park in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas. Every title game since 1997 had been held at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but the NCAA opened the hosting rights for the 2010–2012 championship games for bids during the 2009 season, as the hosting contract between the NCAA and the Chattanooga organizers was set to expire. In addition to Frisco and Chattanooga, three other cities submitted bids:


2010 NCAA Division I FCS football season
The field of bidders was eventually cut to Chattanooga and Frisco, with Frisco being announced as the winner on February 26, 2010.


2010 NCAA Division I FCS football season
The January finish to the season was the result of an expanded playoff schedule. The championship tournament expanded from 16 teams to 20, with the Big South and Northeast Conference earning automatic bids for the first time. Eight teams played first-round games, with the remaining participants receiving byes into the second round. The playoffs began at their normal time on Thanksgiving weekend, specifically on November 27. According to early reports, the championship game would be played sometime between December 29 and January 7, with the latter date ultimately chosen.


2010 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Conference and program changes, New FCS programs
Two FCS programs began play in the 2010 season, and a third officially launched its program but chose not to compete until 2011:


2010 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Playoff qualifiers, At large qualifiers
No teams from the conferences that do not have automatic bids—currently the Great West Conference and Pioneer Football League—received bids. In order for a team from a conference without an automatic bid to be eligible for the playoffs, it must have a minimum of seven Division I wins, with at least two against teams in automatic bid conferences. The team in question also must be ranked an average of 16 or better in the national rankings.


2010 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Postseason, Global Kilimanjaro Bowl
On September 1, 2010, Drake University announced it would participate in the Global Kilimanjaro Bowl, the first American football game played on the continent of Africa. The game featured the Drake Bulldogs versus Mexican All-Star team CONADEIP. Due to the seasonal difference in Africa, the Global Kilimanjaro Bowl was played on May 21, 2011.


2010 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship
The 2010 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship was the 30th women's collegiate field hockey tournament organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, to determine the top college field hockey team in the United States. The Maryland Terrapins won its seventh championship, defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels in the final. The semifinals and championship were hosted by the University of Maryland at the Maryland Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex in College Park, Maryland.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game
The 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game was the finals of the 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament and determined the National Champion for the 2009-10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The 2010 National Title Game was played on April 5, 2010 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, and featured the 2010 South Regional Champions, #1 seeded Duke, and the 2010 West Regional Champions, #5 seeded Butler.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game
This was the fifth National Championship Game to be played between two private universities, and the first since the 1985 National Title Game between Georgetown and Villanova, won by Villanova, 66-64. The other three besides 1985 and 2010 were the 1942 National Championship Game, the 1954 National Championship Game, and the 1955 National Championship Game.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Participants, Butler
Butler entered the 2010 NCAA Tournament as the #5 seed in the West Regional. In the 1st round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, Shelvin Mack made seven three-pointers to lead Butler to a 77-59 victory over UTEP. In the 2nd round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, Butler used late free throws from Ronald Nored and Matt Howard to beat Murray State 54-52 and advance to the Sweet 16.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Participants, Butler
In the Sweet 16 of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, Butler upset top-seeded Syracuse with a 63-59 win to advance to the 2010 West Regional Finals for their 1st regional finals appearance in team history. In the Elite Eight, Butler would upset Kansas State beating them 63-56 to advance to the 2010 Final Four marking their 1st Final Four appearance in team history. In the 2010 Final Four, Butler beat Michigan State with a 52-50 win to advance to the 2010 National Title Game for their 1st ever trip to the National Title Game.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Participants, Duke
Duke entered the 2010 NCAA Tournament as the #1 seed in the South Regional. In the 1st round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, Duke beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff 73-44. In the 2nd round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, Duke beat California 68-53. In the Sweet 16 of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, Kyle Singler had 24 points and Jon Scheyer had 18 points to beat Purdue 70-57. In the Elite Eight of the 2010 NCAA Tournament, Nolan Smith scored 29 points to lead Duke to a 78-71 victory over Baylor to advance to the 2010 Final Four. In the 2010 Final Four, Duke beat West Virginia 78-57 to advance to the 2010 National Title game which was their 1st trip to the National Title Game since the 2001 National Title Game.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Game Summary, 1st Half
Nolan Smith got Duke off to a hot start scoring four points in the 1st two and a half minutes to give Duke an early 6-1 lead. Shelvin Mack got Butler back into the game making two three-pointers in the next 3 minutes to give Butler a 12-11 lead. Shelvin Mack kept Butler going as Butler would have a 20-18 lead at the under-8 TV Timeout. Then, Jon Scheyer would score four points in the next three minutes leading Duke to an 8-0 run giving them a 26-20 lead and Butler would call a 30-second timeout.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Game Summary, 1st Half
During the next 70 seconds, Avery Jukes would score five points leading Butler to a 7-0 run which would result in a 27-26 Butler lead. While Jukes scored five points in the final two and a half minutes of the 1st half, Jon Scheyer scored four in that same time frame and Duke would lead 33-32 at halftime.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Game Summary, 2nd Half
During the 1st seven minutes of the 2nd half, neither team took a lead larger than 2 while Duke would have a 45-43 lead when they called a 30-second timeout. Then, Brian Zoubek would make a basket to give Duke a 47-43 lead. In the next 35 seconds, Gordon Hayward made two free throws to cut the Duke lead to 49-47. In the next minute, Jon Scheyer scored five points to give Duke a 56-51 lead.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Game Summary, 2nd Half
During the next 35 seconds after Butler called a 30-second timeout, Matt Howard and Gordon Hayward each made a pair of free throws to cut the Duke lead to 56-55 and Duke would call a 30-second timeout. Then, Kyle Singler made a basket to give Duke a 58-55 lead and Butler would call a 30-second timeout. With 3:16 remaining, Nolan Smith made a pair of free throws to give Duke a 60-55 lead. Within the next minute after 1:50 was remaining in the game, Matt Howard scored four points to cut the Duke lead to 60-59. With 3 seconds left, Brian Zoubek made one of two free throws to give Duke a 61-59 lead. Gordon Hayward narrowly missed a buzzer-beating half-court shot which would have won the game for Butler and it resulted in a 61-59 win for Duke and the National Championship.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2009–10 basketball season. It began on March 16, 2010, and concluded with the championship game on April 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. It was the first Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium; the RCA Dome and Market Square Arena hosted past Final Fours when the event was held in Indianapolis.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
The Final Four consisted of Duke, making their first appearance since 2004, West Virginia, who were making their second appearance and first since 1959, Butler, considered the host school and making their first ever appearance, and Michigan State, the national runner-up from 2009 appearing in the Final Four for the sixth time under head coach Tom Izzo.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
When Duke and Butler played each other in the tournament final, it was the first title game between private universities in 25 years (Villanova and Georgetown met in 1985), and the fifth such match-up in history (1942, 1954, and 1955 having been the other years).


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Duke defeated Butler 61–59 in the championship game as Gordon Hayward's last second desperation shot clanged off the rim. It was Duke's first national championship since 2001 and fourth overall.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Entering the tournament, the top four seeds were Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, and Syracuse. Kansas entered the Tournament as the overall No. 1 seed but was defeated in the opening weekend by Northern Iowa, the No. 9 seed in the Midwest region. Northern Iowa was one of four teams seeded lower than No. 8 to advance to the Sweet Sixteen, joining the East Region's No. 11 seed Washington, No. 12 seed Cornell and the South Region's No. 10 seed Saint Mary's.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
For the first time since 2006, a No. 14 seed advanced out of the First Round as Ohio defeated Georgetown. The No. 13 seed in the West Region, Murray State, defeated No. 4-seeded Vanderbilt, marking the second consecutive appearance for the Commodores where they lost as a No. 4 seed. Murray State very nearly upset Butler in their next game, losing by two points.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
One of the more exciting games of the tournament was played at the West Regional in Salt Lake City, as No. 6 Xavier took No. 2 Kansas State to two overtimes before falling 101–96. Jordan Crawford hit a three-pointer with seconds remaining in the first overtime period to force a second.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedure
A total of 65 teams were selected for the tournament. Thirty one 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 Cornell, its regular season champion. The remaining 34 teams were granted at-large bids, which were extended by the NCAA Selection Committee.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedure
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 played a top seed in one of the regionals. The 2010 game was played on March 16 at University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio, as it has been since its inception in 2001.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedure
All 64 teams were seeded 1 to 16 within their regions; the winner of the play-in game automatically received a 16 seed. The Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 65. UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero took over as chair of the Division I Men's Basketball Committee.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedure
Defending champion North Carolina did not qualify for the Tournament, while two schools made their first post-season appearance: Southern Conference champion Wofford and SWAC champion Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Conference USA champion Houston made its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 18 years.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Schedule and venues
The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 2010 tournament:


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Schedule and venues
The Final Four was held in Indianapolis per the NCAA's mandate that one Final Four is held every five years in the city that houses the NCAA's headquarters. With Butler's win in the West Regional final, this marked the first time since 1972 that the host city had a home team in the Final Four (when UCLA went) and the first time that a host school played in the Final Four since Louisville did so in 1959.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Schedule and venues
There was only one new arena in the 2010 tournament, as Salt Lake City's EnergySolutions Arena, the home of the NBA's Utah Jazz, hosted for the first time; previous tournaments in the city were held on the campus of the University of Utah at either Nielsen Fieldhouse or the Jon M. Huntsman Center. All fourteen venues used in the 2010 tournament have hosted games since.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Bracket, Opening Round Game – Dayton, Ohio
Winner advanced as 16th seed in South Regional vs. (1) Duke.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, First round
The biggest upset of the first day came in Providence, Rhode Island, where 14th-seeded Ohio defeated third-seeded Georgetown in convincing fashion, 97–83, for their first Tournament win since 1983, when they ousted Illinois State in the First Round of that Tournament. Armon Bassett scored 32 points for the Bobcats, who shot 57 percent from the field and made 13 of 23 3-pointers. They advanced to face Tennessee, the sixth seed in the region. The Volunteers held off 11th seed San Diego State, 62–59, on head coach Bruce Pearl's 50th birthday. J. P. Prince and Melvin Goins scored 15 points each for Tennessee.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, First round
In Oklahoma City, Ali Farokhmanesh drilled a three-pointer with 4.9 seconds remaining to lift ninth-seeded Northern Iowa over UNLV. It was the Panthers first Tournament win since 1990. UNI advanced to face top-seeded Kansas. The top seed withheld an effort by Lehigh, trailing the 16th seed early in the game and leading by just six at halftime before pulling away midway in the second half for a 90–74 win.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, First round
On the second day of play, 10th-seeded Georgia Tech failed to make a single field goal in the final 8:19 of play, but sank 13 free throws to hold off No. 7 Oklahoma State, 64–59, in Milwaukee. Gani Lawal led Georgia Tech with 14 points. The Yellow Jackets advanced to play Ohio State, who defeated UC Santa Barbara 68–51. Buckeye star Evan Turner struggled from the field, shooting 2–13 and scoring nine points, and the Gauchos put up a fight playing from behind most of the game.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, First round
Rounding out the Midwest bracket were Maryland and Michigan State in Spokane, Washington. The Terrapins beat Houston 89–77 behind a career-high 21 points and 17 rebounds from freshman Jordan Williams, while the Spartans edged New Mexico State, 70–67. The end of the game included a controversial lane violation call on Aggies player Troy Gillenwater with 18.6 seconds left that allowed MSU to reshoot a missed free throw and extend its lead to 3.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, Second round
Northern Iowa stunned the nation by knocking off top overall seed Kansas, 69–67. Leading by just one in the final minute of play, Ali Farokhmanesh clinched the victory for the second time in as many games with a three-point basket that ESPN's Pat Forde called "the greatest early-round shot in NCAA tournament history." The win was significant for several reasons: it marked the Panthers' first trip ever to the Sweet Sixteen, and was the first time in six years a No. 1 seed was eliminated in the round of 32.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, Second round
It was also the first time since 1962 that a team from the Missouri Valley Conference had defeated a top seed in the Tournament. Meanwhile, Michigan State lost guard Kalin Lucas to a leg injury late in the first half of its game with Maryland. Michigan State extended its halftime lead of NINE to 16 in the second half before falling behind by one late after succumbing to Maryland's relentless pressure defense and some spectacular plays by Greivis Vásquez. But Korie Lucious kept MSU from losing the game, hitting a 3-pointer as time ran out to lift his team past the Terrapins, 85–83. Lucas' injury proved to be a torn Achilles tendon, putting the junior out of action for up to six months.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, Second round
For the third time in four years, Tennessee made it to the regional semifinals with their 83–68 win over Ohio. J. P. Prince scored 18 points for the Volunteers, while Scotty Hopson added 17. In Milwaukee, Ohio State's Evan Turner bounced back from his off-night in the first round, nearly recording a triple-double (24 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists) as the Buckeyes downed Georgia Tech 75–66.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Midwest Region, Regional final (Elite Eight)
Michigan State's Durrell Summers, after scoring 80 points on 54 field goal attempts, was named the region's Most Outstanding Player.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, West Region, First round
For the second time in three years, the Vanderbilt Commodores were victims of the upset, losing to Murray State on a Danero Thomas shot with time expiring, 66–65, in San Jose, California. Like 2008, when they lost to Siena, Vandy was seeded fourth against the Racers. Murray State advanced to face fifth-seeded Butler, who defeated UTEP, 77–59, after trailing 33–27 at the half. Shelvin Mack led the Bulldogs with 25 points.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, West Region, First round
Meanwhile, the Florida Gators rallied from a 13-point deficit in Oklahoma City to send their game with BYU to two overtimes. But Florida player Chandler Parsons missed chances to win the game at the end of regulation and the first overtime, and BYU's Jimmer Fredette sealed the 99–92 win with a pair of threes in the second overtime. Fredette finished with 37 points, the eighth time that year he'd scored over 30. BYU's advanced to play Kansas State, who had little trouble with the North Texas Mean Green, winning 82–62.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, West Region, First round
Five years after Vermont upset Syracuse, the two teams met again in the Big Dance, this time in Buffalo, New York. Unlike the 2005 game, however, Syracuse was able to shut down the Catamounts, winning 79–56. Five players scored in double digits for the Orange. They advanced to play Gonzaga. The Bulldogs had an 18-point led against Florida State, but the Seminoles cut it to five with 2:21 remaining. The Zags survived FSU's comeback, however, by making 8 of 10 free throws down the stretch to seal a 67–60 win.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, West Region, First round
The last two slots in the West went to Pittsburgh and Xavier. It was a close game between Pittsburgh and Oakland in Milwaukee until Grizzlies forward Derick Nelson received an elbow from Gary McGhee of the Panthers, opening a cut over his left eye that began spurting blood. Immediately after Nelson's departure, Pitt went on a 19–2 run. The Panthers held Oakland to 33 percent in their 89–66 victory. As for Xavier, they beat Minnesota, 65–54. Jordan Crawford, the Xavier player who made national headlines the previous summer when he dunked on LeBron James during a training camp held by the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar, scored 28 points for the Musketeers, 17 of those came in the second half.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, West Region, Second round
Murray State had another chance at an upset against Butler, but a 3-point play by Bulldog Ronald Nored dashed those hopes, along with Gordon Hayward deflecting a Racers pass. Butler won 54–52. The Bulldogs' next opponent, top-seeded Syracuse, rolled over Gonzaga, 87–65, with Wes Johnson scoring a career best 31 points and pulling 14 rebounds.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, West Region, Second round
2 seed Kansas State fell behind to BYU early, trailing 10–0 to start the game. But the Wildcats would pull ahead with 4:21 to go in the first half and never relinquished the lead after that, advancing to the next round with an 84–72 win. K-State's Jacob Pullen had a career-high 34 points. And third-seeded Pitt was eliminated by Xavier, 71–68. Jordan Crawford had 27 points for the Musketeers.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, West Region, Regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen)
In what Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com called "one of the best games in the history of the Sweet 16", Kansas State downed Xavier, 101–96, in double overtime in Salt Lake City. The Musketeers' Terrell Holloway made three free throws with 5 seconds remaining in regulation to pull Xavier even with the Wildcats. Down 3 again with the first overtime winding down, Jordan Crawford nailed a 35-foot shot to extend the game further. Jacob Pullen then hit a pair of threes in the second overtime to push K-State over the top.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, West Region, Regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen)
Syracuse became the second number-one seed to fall, as Butler claimed its first-ever trip to the Elite Eight. The 63–59 win brought the Bulldogs within one win of playing the Final Four in their home city. Trailing by four with 5:23 left, Butler held the Orange scoreless for nearly five minutes, while scoring 11 points of their own, including a 3-point shot by Willie Veasley that bounced high off the rim before hitting the backboard and eventually falling through the net. The win marked Butler's 23rd in a row.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, West Region, Regional final (Elite Eight)
The West All-Regional team was made of regional MVP Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack of Butler, Denis Clemente and Jacob Pullen of Kansas State, and Jordan Crawford of Xavier.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, East Region, First round
In New Orleans, Ishmael Smith scored a 17-foot jumper with 1.3 seconds left in overtime as Wake Forest defeated Texas, 81–80. The Longhorns, who had been ranked number one as recently as January, but fell to an 8 seed in the tournament, twice trailed by double digits before rallying, then held an eight-point lead before falling. Wake Forest advanced to face top-seeded Kentucky, who breezed past East Tennessee State, 100–71.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, East Region, First round
A basket by Quincy Pondexter with 1.7 seconds remaining helped the Washington Huskies past Marquette, 80–78, in San Jose. Washington had trailed by 15 with over 13 minutes to go in the second half. The Huskies advanced to face New Mexico, who beat the Montana Grizzlies, 62–57. Roman Martinez scored 19 points for the Lobos, while Darington Hobson had 11 points, 11 rebounds and six assists despite playing with a sprained left wrist.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, East Region, First round
Ivy League champion Cornell joined the parade of double-digit seeds advancing to the second round with a dominating performance over Temple, 78–65, in Jacksonville, Florida. Louis Dale, Ryan Wittman and Jeff Foote, all seniors for the Big Red, scored 21, 20 and 16 points respectively, and Cornell shot 56 percent from the field overall, making 8 of their first 10 shots and shooting 68 percent in the first half. It was the first tournament win in Big Red history. The Wisconsin Badgers, who Cornell drew next, managed to avoid getting upset itself, beating Wofford in a low-scoring affair, 53–49. A pair of free throws from Jon Leuer with 4.2 seconds on the clock sealed the win for Badgers. Leuer had 20 points on the day.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, East Region, First round
One year after reaching the Elite Eight, 10th-seeded Missouri knocked off No. 7 Clemson, 86–78, in Buffalo. The Missouri Tigers' defense forced 20 turnovers and stole the ball 15 times in the win, while Kim English and Keith Ramsey had 20 points each offensively. Mizzou advanced to play West Virginia, who started its opening round game trailing Morgan State, 12–3. But the 2 seed hit 8 of its next 11 shots to take the lead for good en route to a 77–50 win.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, East Region, Second round
Washington looked nothing like the No. 11 seed in the East, dismantling third-seeded New Mexico, 82–64. With 18 points from Quincy Pondexter and 15 from Isaiah Thomas and Matthew Bryan-Amaning each, the Huskies played their uptempo style to a 12-point lead at halftime that grew to 23 midway through the second half. Washington made the Sweet 16 for the third time since 2005. West Virginia reached the Sweet 16 after beating Missouri, 68–59. Da'Sean Butler had 28 points for the Mountaineers, while the Tigers were plagued by poor shooting from the field and at the line.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, East Region, Second round
It was another blowout for the Kentucky Wildcats as they beat Wake Forest, 90–60. Four players scored in double figures for UK as they built an early cushion, then padded it to 31 points by the second half. The Wildcats became the next hurdle in Cornell's Cinderella season, which continued with an 87–69 pasting of No. 4 Wisconsin.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, East Region, Second round
Thanks to 26 points from Louis Dale, another 24 from Ryan Wittman, and a 61 percent shooting effort overall—the highest percentage ever allowed by the Badgers in Bo Ryan's nine-year tenure in Madison—the Big Red became the first team from the Ivy League to reach the round of 16 in more than 30 years.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, East Region, Regional semifinals (Sweet Sixteen)
The clock struck midnight for 12 seed Cornell and 11 seed Washington. Kentucky put an end to the Big Red's Cinderella run with a 62–45 win in Syracuse, New York. The game started promising for Cornell, as they took a 10–2 lead to the delight of the partisan-Big Red crowd. But a talented Wildcats squad spoiled the party after that with 16 points from DeMarcus Cousins, 12 rebounds from Patrick Patterson and 8 assists from John Wall. West Virginia's 69–56 defeat of the Huskies set up the only 1 vs. 2 regional final in the tournament. The Mountaineers' Da'Sean Butler led all scorers with 18 points, as West Virginia recorded its 30th win, the most in school history.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, South Region, First round
Second-seeded Villanova survived a scare in Providence, needing overtime to beat Robert Morris, 73–70. Scottie Reynolds was kept from the starting lineup for undisclosed reasons (Coach Jay Wright said he wanted to make a "teaching point"), and even though he scored 20 points, he only made 2 of 15 shots from the field. Mezie Nwigwe had a chance to send the game to a second overtime for the Colonials, but missed a 3-pointer as time ran out. Villanova plays Saint Mary's of California in the second round. The Gaels beat Richmond, 80–71, advancing for the first time in over 50 years.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, South Region, First round
Contributing to the Big East Conference's woes on day one of the tournament was Notre Dame's 51–50 loss to Old Dominion in New Orleans. The Fighting Irish opened the second half with a 30–22 lead before the Monarchs went on a 9–0 run to take the lead. The game remained close until the end, when Notre Dame's Carleton Scott attempted a 3-point basket that ended up rattling around the rim before falling out. A putback from Luke Harangody at the buzzer was not enough for the Irish. Old Dominion advanced to face Baylor in the round of 32. In a close game with Sam Houston State, the Bears used an 8–0 run in the final minutes to take the 68–59 victory.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, South Region, First round
Arkansas-Pine Bluff won the play-in game on March 16, 2010, by beating Winthrop, 61–44. But they proved to be no match for the No. 1-seed Duke Blue Devils, who blew the Golden Lions out, 73–44, in Jacksonville. Kyle Singler had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Duke, who led 39–20 at the break. Duke advanced to face California in the second round. The Golden Bears rode a rollercoaster with Louisville, leading the Cardinals by 18 before having their lead cut to 6, then pulling back out to a 14-point advantage before Louisville brought it back to within 4. But Cal ended the game with a 15–4 run to win, 77–62.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, South Region, First round
Finally, in Spokane, the fourth-seeded Purdue Boilermakers had a go of it with upset specialist Siena, trailing the Saints 32–29 at halftime before racing to a 14-point lead to open the second half. Siena would pull within 3 with just over a minute remaining, but Purdue held on for the 72–64 win, spoiling the predictions of some fans and even President Barack Obama that Siena would make the Boilers their latest victim. They advanced to play Texas A&M, who defeated Utah State, 69–53, behind 19 points from freshman Khris Middleton.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, South Region, Second round
After barely beating Robert Morris in the first round, Villanova could not withstand the Gael storm from St. Mary's. Omar Samhan scored 32 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the No. 10 seed took down Nova, 75–68. Afterwards, Samhan called the game his "best win ever." Wildcat Scottie Reynolds remained in his funk to end the season, netting just 8 points.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, South Region, Second round
Trailing by as many as 14 in the first half and 38–28 at halftime, Old Dominion went on a 9–0 run against Baylor at the start of the second half, then took the lead, 49–47, on free throws from Kent Bazemore. But Baylor would close the door on the upset bid with an 8–1 run to end the game, winning 76–68. The Bears' LaceDarius Dunn led all scorers with 26 points, while 7-foot center Josh Lomers had eight rebounds to go with his career high 14 points.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, South Region, Second round
Chris Kramer's layup with 4.2 seconds left in overtime gave Purdue a 63–61 win over Texas A&M. Kramer finished with 17 points as the Boilermakers came back from a 7-point deficit at halftime. They advanced to face Duke in the Sweet 16. The Blue Devils beat California, 68–53, behind 20 points from Nolan Smith, 17 points from Kyle Singler and 14 points and 13 rebounds from Brian Zoubek. This was the 19th time under head coach Mike Krzyzewski Duke reached the round of 16.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, South Region, Regional final (Elite Eight)
Duke defeated Baylor 78–71, in front of a practically home crowd for Baylor in Houston, Texas. Nolan Smith was named game MVP with 29 points, while Lance Thomas also had a career high 8 offensive rebounds.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Final four
On April 3, 2010, Butler Bulldogs, playing in their hometown, faced off against the Michigan State Spartans. In a tough, physical game, the Bulldogs, despite going more than 11 minutes without a field goal, were able to hang on after forcing Michigan State into 16 turnovers and holding the Spartans to zero fast-break points. The Bulldogs also out-rebounded Michigan State on the offensive glass, 11 to 8. With the victory, Butler became the fourth team in NCAA tournament history to hold its first five opponents under 60 points.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Final four
On April 3, 2010, Duke, the #1 seed from the South and West Virginia Mountaineers, the #2 seed from the East, squared off in the second of the Final Four games. Duke showed its full potential in the game, hitting 52.7 percent of its shots (and 52 percent of its three-pointers) while shredding West Virginia's 1-3-1 zone trap. Duke led 39–31 at the half and maintained its red-hot shooting in the second half.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Final four
The highlight of the game came when Nolan Smith missed a contested, fast-break layup, but Kyle Singler and Miles Plumlee combined to slam home the rebound to give Duke a 14-point lead. Plumlee was credited with the dunk. Kyle Singler scored 21 points for the Blue Devils and Nolan Smith added 19 points and six assists. With the victory, Duke advanced to its 10th NCAA Championship game.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, National championship
On April 5, 2010, Butler and Duke faced off in what The New York Times called "the most eagerly awaited championship game in years". Butler became the first team to play in the championship game in its home city since UCLA in 1968.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, National championship
Duke jumped out to a quick 6–1 lead to start the game, but Butler rallied back, taking a 12–11 lead at the 12:28 mark of the first half. At the under eight-minute TV timeout, Butler held a 20–18 lead. After the timeout, Duke went on an 8–0 run to take a 26–20 lead. Butler coach Brad Stevens then called a timeout. With starters Matt Howard and Ronald Nored on the bench in foul trouble, backup center Avery Jukes came up big for Butler. Jukes hit two three-pointers and a made tip-in en route to 10 first half points, tying his single-game season high. At half time, Duke's lead stood at 33–32.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, National championship
The second half was played very closely, with neither team taking a lead larger than two points until a Brian Zoubek layup put Duke up 47–43 with 12:27 remaining. Butler stayed close, keeping within 5 points the rest of the way. With 3:16 to play, Duke took a 60–55 lead on two made free throws by Nolan Smith. Butler missed its next shot, but forced a missed shot and turned Duke over after an offensive rebound. Matt Howard made a layup for Butler to make it a 60–57 game with 1:44 remaining.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, National championship
Smith missed a layup for Duke and Howard got another layup after collecting an offensive rebound on a missed three-pointer by Shelvin Mack. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski then called a time out. Kyle Singler missed an open jump shot with 36 seconds remaining, giving Butler a chance to take the lead. Butler was unable to initiate their offense and Stevens called a timeout to set up a play. They were then forced to call their last timeout when they were unable to get the ball in-bounds. Gordon Hayward then missed a short fade-away jumper.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, National championship
Zoubek came down with the rebound, forcing Butler to foul with 3.6 seconds remaining. Zoubek made the first foul shot and then intentionally missed the second, knowing Butler had no timeouts remaining. Hayward was forced to throw up a desperation shot from half court. The ball bounced off the backboard and then the rim. According to analysis by ESPN, Hayward's aim was off by three inches, or less than one degree, on the x-axis. Because a made three-point shot would have resulted in a loss for Duke, some pundits criticized Krzyzewski for his decision to have Zoubek miss the second free throw intentionally. Other pundits, however, ran various analyses that indicated that it was statistically the correct call.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, National championship
The 61–59 victory earned Krzyzewski his fourth national championship crown, his second in ten years. The game was the most watched finale in more than 10 years, pulling in average of 23.9 million viewers in the United States. Kyle Singler earned Most Outstanding Player honors with 19 points and eight rebounds.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Record by conference
*The America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, MAAC, MEAC, Northeast, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Summit, and Sun Belt conferences went 0–1.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Record by conference
The columns R32, S16, E8, F4, and CG respectively stand for the Round of 32, Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, Final Four, and Championship Game. The number in each field represents an appearance in that round by a team from that conference.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media, Television
For the 29th consecutive year, CBS Sports again televised a majority of the event, with the exception of the opening round game, which was televised by ESPN, and first-round games played in the late afternoon, which CBS College Sports Network aired so CBS affiliates could break for local and network news. The championship game scored a Nielson rating of 16.0.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media, Television
In addition to the main CBS affiliates, many stations opened digital subchannels for additional coverage. Also, on these four occasions, CBS opened the coverage to additional channels to settle conflicts:


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media, Television
WSPA and WYCW are in a duopoly owned by Media General, and KTVT and KTXA are in a duopoly owned by CBS Corporation.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament: qualifying teams
This is a list of qualifying teams for the 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. 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 post-season tournament, went to its regular season champion. The remaining 34 teams were granted at-large bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. All teams are seeded 1 to 16 within their regionals, while the Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 65.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament: qualifying teams, Qualifying teams
Team names are those used on ESPN.com scoreboards and team pages.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament: qualifying teams, Qualifying teams, Automatic bids
Automatic bids to the tournament were granted for winning a conference championship tournament, except for the automatic bid of the Ivy League given to the regular season champion. Seeds listed were seeds within the conference tournaments. Runners-up in bold face were given at-large berths.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship
The 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship was a golf tournament contested from June 1–6, 2010 at the Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee. It was the 72nd NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship. The team championship was won by the Augusta State Jaguars, their first, who defeated the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the championship match play round 3½ to 2½. The individual national championship was won by Scott Langley from the University of Illinois.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship, Venue
This was the second NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship held at the Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee just to the north of Chattanooga; the course previously hosted in 1996.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship, Team competition, Leaderboard
The top eight teams advanced to the match play portion of the tournament.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
The 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament involved 16 schools in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college ice hockey. The tournament began on March 26, 2010, and ended with the championship game on April 10, in which Boston College defeated Wisconsin 5–0 to win its fourth national championship.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Procedure
The four regionals are officially named after their geographic areas. The following are the sites for the 2010 regionals:


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Qualifying teams
The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced on March 21, 2010. The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) and Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) each had four teams receive a berth in the tournament, Hockey East had three teams receive a berth, College Hockey America (CHA) and ECAC Hockey had two berths each, and Atlantic Hockey had one team receive a berth.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Qualifying teams
* Alaska has since been stripped of their tournament appearance due to NCAA violations found during a 2014 investigation.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Preliminary rounds, Midwest Regional – Fort Wayne, Indiana, Regional final
The regional final between Michigan and Miami was not without controversy. In the first overtime, Michigan appeared to score what would have been the game-winning goal. However, the goal was ruled off due to what replay showed to be an early whistle. Miami won the game, scoring a goal in the second overtime.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Media, Television
ESPN had US television rights to all games during the tournament. For the sixth consecutive year ESPN aired every game, beginning with the regionals, on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU, and ESPN360.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Media, Radio
Westwood One used exclusive radio rights to air both the semifinals and the championship, AKA the "Frozen Four.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
The 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship was the 40th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national championship for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's college lacrosse. Sixteen teams were selected to compete in the tournament based upon their performance during the regular season, and for some, a conference tournament. The championship game took place on May 31, Memorial Day, between the Duke Blue Devils and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, with the latter making their first appearance in the NCAA final. Duke won in overtime, 6–5, to capture their first men's lacrosse championship in school history.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Venues
Baltimore, Maryland was selected as the host for the final and semifinals, which were held at M&T Bank Stadium, the home field of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. The tournament was co-hosted by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Johns Hopkins University, Loyola University Maryland, and Towson University. Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York and Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey hosted the quarterfinals.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Venues
In order to host the event, Baltimore competed against Boston; Denver; Columbus, Ohio; and East Rutherford, New Jersey. Baltimore promoted its strong lacrosse heritage and M&T Bank Stadium's close proximity to a wide range of hotels, restaurants, and shopping centers.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Selection process
The championship teams of six conferences were granted automatic tournament berths. Five of those were based upon the results of conference tournaments. The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) did not hold a conference tournament and granted its automatic qualifier to regular season champions Denver. Conference tournament champions that automatically qualified were: Army of the Patriot League, Delaware of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), Mount Saint Mary's of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), Princeton of the Ivy League, and Stony Brook of the America East Conference.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Selection process
The selection committee granted the other ten tournament teams at-large berths. All four Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) teams received at-large bids for the fourth straight year: Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Duke. Two berths were filled by the Big East Conference: Syracuse and Notre Dame. Ivy League runners-up Cornell, independent Johns Hopkins, Loyola of the ECAC, and Hofstra of the CAA were also selected.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Selection process
Notable teams considered to be "on the bubble" for selection, but not chosen, included Georgetown and Villanova of the Big East, Yale and Brown of the Ivy League, and Drexel and UMass of the CAA. The selection of some at-large teams such as Notre Dame and Johns Hopkins instead of Georgetown, which missed the tournament for the third straight season, was considered a questionable snub by some analysts.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Game summaries, First round
The biggest surprise of the first round was Army's double-overtime upset of No. 2 seed Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. Some analysts ranked it among the greatest upsets in the history of the tournament. It was Army's first tournament win since 1993 and just the second home playoff loss for Syracuse since the tournament's inception; the other occurred in the 1991 semifinals.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Game summaries, Quarterfinals
Notre Dame pulled off a second straight upset over No. 3 Maryland 7-5 after ousting No. 6 Princeton in the first round. The Irish qualified for the semifinals for only the second time in school history. Their only other appearance came in 2001. Duke ran away with a 17–9 win over rival North Carolina after a 6-goal spurt in the second half. It marks the fourth consecutive semifinal appearance for the Blue Devils and third NCAA quarterfinal victory over North Carolina in the last four years. Cornell quickly put an end to Army's hopes of another upset, racing out to a 4–0 lead in an eventual 14–5 victory. With the victory, the Big Red advanced to the Final Four for the second consecutive year.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Game summaries, Semifinals, Notre Dame vs. Cornell
In the first semifinal, Notre Dame once again used its stifling defense led by goalie Scott Rodgers to beat a third straight seeded opponent in No. 7 Cornell. The Irish led 6–3 at half time but two straight goals in the third quarter pulled Cornell to within two at 7–5. It was as close as the Big Red would get, however, as the Irish finished with a flurry to win 12–7. The win marked the first time that an unseeded team had reached the championship game since UMass in 2006. It also marked the first time in school history that Notre Dame advanced to the title game.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Game summaries, Semifinals, Duke vs. Virginia
In the second semifinal, No. 5 Duke upset No. 1 Virginia. After leading 7–5 at halftime, Virginia scored first in the second half to take an 8–5 lead, but Duke responded with a seven-goal blitz that made it 12–8 in favor of the Blue Devils early in the fourth quarter. Virginia would not go quietly, however, as the Cavaliers tied the game at 13 with just over a minute to play. With just 12 seconds left, Duke scored with the familiar combination of Ned Crotty to Max Quinzani to send Duke to its third championship game in six years.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Game summaries, Championship, Notre Dame vs. Duke
The championship game featured two schools who had never won a national title before, the first time that had happened since 1973. This guaranteed that a first-time Division I lacrosse champion would be crowned, something that had not happened since Princeton in 1992. The game proved to be one of the closest championship contests ever, albeit the lowest scoring one as well. Neither team ever led by more than a single goal throughout the contest. After trailing 3–2 at halftime, Notre Dame took its first lead since the first minute of the game early in the fourth quarter.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Game summaries, Championship, Notre Dame vs. Duke
Duke tied the game a few minutes later, though, and had a chance to win in the final seconds of regulation, but stellar defense by Notre Dame and timely saves by tournament MVP Scott Rodgers sent the game to overtime. The slow pace of regulation did not continue into overtime, as Duke Sophomore CJ Costabile, a long stick midfielder, won the opening faceoff cleanly and sprinted straight downfield to score just 5 seconds into the extra period. The goal set the record for the fastest to end an overtime in NCAA championship history, and gave Duke its first national title in school history.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship, Post-tournament honors
After the championship, Duke attackman Ned Crotty was honored with the Tewaaraton Trophy for the most outstanding Division I men's lacrosse player. The NCAA announced the All-Tournament team after the championship. Scott Rodgers, goalie for runner-up Notre Dame, was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, the first time a player from the losing team had won the honor since 1996. The full team included four players from champion Duke, three from runner-up Notre Dame, two from semifinalist Virginia, and one from semifinalist Cornell. The following individuals were named to that team:


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament
The 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament was a tournament of 48 collegiate soccer teams who played for the NCAA Championship in soccer. The semifinals and final were held at Harder Stadium in Santa Barbara, California. All the other games were played at the home field of the higher seeded team (indicated by * for non-seeded teams). The final was held on December 12, 2010. Akron defeated Louisville, 1–0, for the title.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament
The bracket was announced November 15, 2010. The tournament started on November 18. The second round was played on November 21. The third round was played on November 28. The Regional Finals were played December 3 and 4.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, Qualified teams, Automatic bids
All automatic bids are granted for winning a conference championship tournament, except for the automatic bid of the Ivy League, Pacific-10 Conference, and West Coast Conference, each given to the regular season champion. There were 22 automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships
The 2010 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships were contested in March 2010 at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio at the 87th annual NCAA-sanctioned swim meet to determine the team and individual national champions of Division I men's collegiate swimming and diving in the United States.


2010 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships
Texas topped the team standings, finishing 30.5 points ahead of California. It was the Longhorns' tenth overall men's team title.


2010 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships
The 2010 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships were the 89th NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the 29th NCAA Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on the campus of the University of Oregon from  June 9–12, 2010.


2010 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships
In total, thirty-six different men's and women's track and field events were contested.


2010 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament
The 2010 NCAA Division 1 Softball Tournament was held from May 20 through June 8, 2010 and is part of the 2010 NCAA Division 1 softball season. The 64 NCAA Division 1 college softball teams were selected out of an eligible 284 teams on May 16, 2010. 30 teams were awarded an automatic bid as champions of their conference, and 34 teams were selected at-large by the NCAA Division 1 Softball Selection Committee. The tournament culminated with eight teams playing in the 2010 Women's College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. UCLA won their record 11th championship, defeating Arizona in the final.


2010 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, National Seeds
Teams in "italics" advanced to Super Regionals. Teams in "bold" advanced to Women's College World Series.


2010 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, National Seeds
9. Missouri10. Arizona11. California12. LSU13. Arizona State14. Oklahoma15. Tennessee16. Hawaii


2010 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, Women's College World Series, Rule changes, Field dimensions
Whereas in previous years, the outfield fence was set at 190 feet from home plate and standing four feet in height, the fence was moved back to 200 feet and raised to a height of six feet for this year's tournament. Despite the change, the 2010 Series saw a record-breaking number of home runs resulting from "some of the power brought into the game by composite-barreled bats."


2010 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, Women's College World Series, Rule changes, Illegal pitching
The 2010 WCWS was marked by a proliferation of illegal pitch calls, following a memo by NCAA Softball Secretary Rules Editor Dee Abrahamson outlining an increased emphasis on legal pitching. Arizona Wildcats pitcher Kenzie Fowler, in particular, was cited for eight illegal pitches in Arizona's first-round 9-0 loss to Tennessee, and a further eight illegal pitches in Arizona's second-round 4-3 win over Washington; Fowler was cited for 16 of the 22 illegal pitches called in the first eight games of the tournament. Wildcats coach Mike Candrea reacted by saying that "the officials were way too involved in [the Tennessee] game," and that the citation of illegal pitches was "sporadic."


2010 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, Women's College World Series, Participants
† Excludes results of the pre-NCAA Women's College World Series of 1969 through 1981.


2010 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, Women's College World Series, WCWS Records, Championship Game records
Note: The above records exclude those of the pre-NCAA Women's College World Series of 1969 through 1981.


2010 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, Women's College World Series, Most Outstanding Player
Megan Langenfeld was unanimously voted the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. She batted .705, going 12-for-17 with four home runs and nine RBIs, as well as reaching base in 18 of 23 plate appearances for an OBP of .782 with four walks and two hit by pitch.


2010 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships
The 2010 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships were the 64th annual men's and 28th annual women's championships to determine the national champions of NCAA Division I men's and women's singles, doubles, and team collegiate tennis in the United States. The tournaments were played concurrently during May 2010.


2010 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships
Defending champion USC defeated Tennessee in the men's championship, 4–2, to claim the Trojans' then-record eighteenth team national title.


2010 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships
Stanford defeated Florida in the women's championship, 4–3, to claim the Cardinal's then-record sixteenth team national title.


2010 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships, Host site
This year's tournaments were played at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament
The 2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament started Saturday, March 20, 2010 and was completed on Tuesday, April 6 of the same year  with University of Connecticut Huskies defending their title from the previous year by defeating Stanford, 53–47.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedure
Pending any changes to the format, a total of 64 teams will enter the 2010 tournament. 32 automatic bids shall be awarded to each program that wins their conference's tournament. The remaining 36 bids are "at-large", with selections extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. The tournament is split into four regional tournaments, and each regional has teams seeded from 1 to 16, with the committee ostensibly making every region as comparable to the others as possible[citation needed]. The top-seeded team in each region plays the #16 team, the #2 team plays the #15, etc. (meaning where the two seeds add up to 17, that team will be assigned to play another).


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedure
The basis for the subregionals returned to the approach used between 1982 and 2002; the top sixteen teams, as chosen in the bracket selection process, hosted the first two rounds on campus.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedure
The Selection Committee will also seed the entire field from 1 to 64.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Notable events
The top seeded Tennessee Lady Vols faced the Baylor Lady Bears in the Memphis Regional semifinals. This was a rematch of the season open for the two teams, a game won by Tennessee 74–65. Earlier in March, the freshman center for Baylor, Brittney Griner had broken the nose of Jordan Barncastle in a game against Texas Tech, which resulted in Griner playing more tentative, concerned about drawing attention to the referees. She was not tentative in the game against the Lady Vols, scoring 27 points and recording ten blocks. Despite her performance, Tennessee led by five points with under eight minutes to go in the game. Baylor then went on a 21–1 run to take a 15-point lead, and command of the game. Baylor won 77–62 to advance to the regional finals.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Notable events
Stanford more than doubled up Georgia, winning 73–36 in the regional semifinal, then faced Xavier. Although Stanford opened up an early five-point lead, Xavier cut the lead to one. The Cardinal extended the lead to five again, and the Musketeers cut the lead to two points at the half. Stanford opened up a six-point lead in the second half, but Xavier responded to take a lead. With just under a minute to go, Xavier took a two-point lead  and Kayla Pedersen hit a jumper to tie the game at 53 points apiece.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Notable events
With 18 seconds left, Xavier ran a play that opened up Delaquese Jernigan under the basket. She received the ball, and missed a point-blank uncontested layup. The rebound came out beyond the three-point line to Amber Harris. The Cardinal were trying to cover the Xavier players, but missed Jernigan standing by herself under the basket. Harris passed the ball in to Jernigan who took an uncontested layup and missed it again. With only four seconds left in the game Jeanette Pohlen drove the length of the court, weaving among defenders, and threw up a shot with under a second left. The shot went in and the Cardinal won 55–53 to advance.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Notable events
In the Kansas City Regional, both top seeds were upset in the semifinal round. Kentucky, led by 21 point from A'dia Mathies, opened up a lead ant he second half, extended it to 19 points, and were victorious, beating Nebraska 76–67 to advance to the regional finals. The regional semifinal game was a second of the season for Oklahoma and Notre Dame, a game the Irish has won in the regular season. In this game the score was tied early, while Oklahoma took a slim lead at the half.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Notable events
They extended the lead to eight points in the second half, but Notre Dame took the lead back at 50–49. With less than a minute to play, Oklahoma took a three-point lead, but Skyler Diggins hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 66 points each. Oklahoma had the ball for the last possession, but never got a shot off, so the game went to overtime. The game was tied with 72 points for each team with seconds to go when Oklahoma had another chance. This time, Nyeshia Stevenson hit a three-pointer, giving the Sooners a three-point lead with just over four seconds to go. Notre Dame tried a long inbounds pass, but were unsuccessful, and Oklahoma won 77–72.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Notable events
In the Dayton Regional, Connecticut prevailed easily. They held their first three opponents to under 40 points each. While Florida State, in the regional final, managed to 50, the Huskies scored 90. This set up a game against Baylor in a semifinal game. The Baylor Bears would not go so easily. The Huskies seemed to be on the same track as prior games, with a 13-point lead at halftime. Kalana Greene scored the first basket of the second half, extending the lead to 15 points. However, Baylor then scored the next twelve points, cutting the lead to three. Connecticut, which had missed eight consecutive shots, began hitting again, and their defense held Baylor without a field goal for over seven minutes. UConn scored 16 points during the stretch and rebuild the lead. UConn would go on to win the game 70–50, to reach the championship game.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Notable events
After the close call against Xavier, the Cardinal seemed in control in their game against Oklahoma in the second half when they led by 18 points. However, the Sooners, concentrated on defense, and cut the lead to three points with only 16 seconds left in the game. On the inbounds play, Oklahoma failed to guard Nnemkadi Ogwumike, and Kayla Pedersen made a long pass to an open Ogwumike who made an open layup to extend the lead to five points. Then Stanford stole the ball, was fouled, and hit the final two free throws to complete the victory 73–66. Ogwumike scored 38 points, including the final seven of the game for Stanford.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Notable events
Stanford entered the National Championship game on a 27-game winning streak. The last game they had lost, occurred in December 2009. It was against Connecticut. The UConn team entered the National Championship game on a 77 winning streak. The last game they had lost, occurred in April 2008. It was against Stanford.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Notable events
UConn was no stranger to low scoring halves in an NCAA game. There had been, up to this point, eleven halves of basketball in NCAA tournament history with twelve or fewer points. UConn was involved in four of them. On three occasions, involving Southern University in 2010, Long Island University in 2001, and Temple in 2010, the Huskies held their opponents to twelve or fewer points. However, on this day, Connecticut would be on the opposite side of the ledger, scoring only 12 points against Stanford in the first half. The first two minutes gave no indication of this result.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Notable events
UConn held a 5–0 lead just over two minutes into the game, but they would not score again until after the media timeout with under eight minutes to go in the half. Connecticut hit but 5 of their 29 shot attempts in the first half for a shooting percentage of 17% described by the New York Times as "laughable". However, their inability to hit a basket did not prevent them from playing defense, and they held the Cardinal to 8 baskets on 31 shots, a percentage the Times called "abysmal". Stanford ended the half with an 8-point lead.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Notable events
The second half proved to be very different. UConn scored 17 of the first 19 points in the half and took a lead. They held Ogwumike, who had scored 38 points in the semifinal, to eleven points. They held Jayne Appel, one of the nation's leading centers, to zero points on 0–12 shooting. Appel was playing on a sore ankle that required pain killers during the game. Maya Moore scored 23 points for UConn and Tina Charles contributed eleven rebounds. In the end, Connecticut won 53–47 to win their seventh national championship and complete the first back-to-back undefeated seasons in NCAA history.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, 2010 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues
The format is the same as the Men's Tournament, except that there are 64 teams and no play-in game. There are 31 automatic bids for conference champions and 33 at-large bids available. The subregionals, based on the "pod system" keeping teams at or close to home, will be at these locations from March 21 through 24. Prior to the committee's decision to expand the number of subregional sites to sixteen, eight sites were chosen. This list included the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, New Jersey. When the decision was made to increase the number of sites to sixteen, Trenton declined to participate.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, 2010 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues
The remaining seven sites continue to be part of the final list of sixteen:


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, 2010 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues
As per the expansion of the subregional sites, these nine sites were added in 2008:


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, 2010 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues
That list included Albuquerque, but Albuquerque had to withdraw, due to construction issues. The NCAA added Stanford, as a replacement:


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, 2010 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues
The Regionals, named for the city rather than the region of geographic importance since 2005, which will be held from March 28 to 31, will be at these sites:


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, 2010 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues
This is the second time the women's Final Four will be played in San Antonio, having previously been played in the city in 2002.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Qualifying teams – automatic
Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-one conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA tournament.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Qualifying teams – at-large
Thirty-three additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Bids by conference
Thirty-one conferences earned an automatic bid. In nineteen cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-three additional at-large teams were selected from twelve of the conferences.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Bids by state
The sixty-four teams came from twenty-eight states, plus Washington, D.C. Tennessee had the most teams with six bids. Twenty-two states did not have any teams receiving bids.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Dayton region, First round
Sixth seeded St. John's took on the eleventh seeded Ivy League champion Princeton. The Tigers had won their last 21 games, the nation's third longest win streak. While Princeton stayed close early, only down 15–12 at one time, they missed 15 of their next sixteen shots while St. John's pulled out to a sixteen-point halftime lead. The two teams played roughly evenly the second half, but the halftime lead was more than enough and the Red Storm prevailed 65–47.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Dayton region, First round
Fourteenth seeded Louisiana Tech (La Tech) was returning to the NCAA Tournament after a three-year absence. Under Maggie Dixon award winning new coach Teresa Weatherspoon, the Lady Techsters took on third seeded Florida State. La tech started out strong, pulling out to a nine-point lead late in the first half, but the Seminoles fought back to a 40–40 tie at halftime. The score was close well into the second half, with Florida State holding onto a one-point lead with just under nine minutes to go, but the Seminoles gradually increased the lead to ten. Although the Lady Techsters cut the lead in half to 65–61 with just under two minutes left, they would not score again and Florida State would hit ten straight free throws in the closing minutes to win 75–61.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Kansas City region, First round
Michigan State's fifth year senior Aisha Jefferson had stomach problems from a pre-game meal severe enough to keep her hunched over the front of a trash can in the first half, but it wasn't enough to keep her out of the game. She scored 17 points along with nine rebounds to help lead the fifth seeded Spartans over 12 seed Bowling Green 72–62.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Kansas City region, First round
Thirteenth seeded Liberty tried to challenge fourth seeded Kentucky, scoring the first six points, and leading by as much as nine early, but Kentucky's freshman A'dia Mathies, scored 32 points to set a personal career high and an NCAA tournament record for Kentucky to help the Wildcats retake the lead. The Liberty Flames fought back, and had a slim two-point lead at halftime, but the Kentucky team, behind 26 of 36 free-throws, pulled ahead to win 83–77.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Memphis region, First round
Seventh seeded LSU easily beat tenth seeded Hartford 60–39. This was  Hartford's first at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament, but without leading scorer Erica Beverly, lost to a season-ending injury, the Hawks were unable to stay with the Tigers. LSU held Hartford scoreless for nearly eight minutes, scoring 17 consecutive points to take an early lead they would never give up.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Memphis region, First round
Top seeded Tennessee defeated 16 seed Austin Peay  75–42. Playing at their home court "The Summitt", the Lady Vols scored 15 points before allowing a score by the Lady Govs.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Memphis region, First round
Second-seeded Duke took on 15 seed Hampton in Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Blue Devils home court, where Duke had won twelve consecutive NCAA Tournament games. The Pirates managed to hold a slim lead in the early minutes of the game, but Duke quickly took over, moving out to a 40–14 halftime lead and winning easily 72–37.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Memphis region, First round
Eighth seeded Dayton took on ninth seeded TCU in their first ever NCAA appearance. Early in the second half, it appeared that Dayton would only be playing one game, as they were behind by 18 points, 50–32. However, the Flyers did not fold, and hit a basket with one second left in the game to win by a single point 67–66.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Memphis region, First round
Twelve seed Marist scored the first seven points in their game against five seed Georgetown, which may have reminded fans of the way Marist played in 2007, coming to the tournament as a 13 seed, and knocking off Ohio State and Middle Tennessee to make it to the round of sixteen. Georgetown, which hasn't been to the tournament in 17 years, started slowly, but managed to hold a two-point lead at halftime. Georgetown's Monica McNutt hit back-to-back three-pointers to start a 13–0 run at the beginning of the second half. The Red Foxes would never close the gap, and Georgetown went on to win 62–42.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Memphis region, First round
Fourth seed Baylor took on 13th seed Fresno State. Baylor's Brittney Griner returned to the floor, after sitting out a two-game suspension for hitting an opponent in a game. This was freshman Griner's first tournament, and she confessed to having jitters, but she controlled the lane, and help keep Fresno State from winning their first ever NCAA game. Baylor held a six-point lead at halftime, which they stretched out to a 69–55 final score.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Sacramento region, First round
A fifteen seed has never beaten a two seed in the NCAA Women's Tournament, but with under five minutes left in the first half, 15th seeded Portland State was ahead of the second seed Texas A&M. The lead didn't last long, as the Aggies pulled to an eight-point lead at halftime, and extended the lead through the second half. Texas A&M's Tanisha Smith just missed a triple double, with nine assist to go along with 17 points and 10 rebounds. The final score favored the Aggies 84–53.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Sacramento region, First round
Normally, a four seed would be a large favorite against a 13 seed, but normally, the four seed isn't required to bench one of their players, and not just any player, but Andrea Riley, the third leading scorer in Division 1. Two years earlier, Riley had thrown  punch in an NCAA game, which earned her a one-game suspension. NCAA rules required that it be an NCAA game. Oklahoma State lost the game in which the punch was thrown, and did not make it to the Tournament in 2009, so the suspension was served two years later.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Sacramento region, First round
The 13th seeded Chattanooga tried to take advantage of the situation, and led by as much as 18 in the first half. Riley could only cheer on the team from the bench. Freshman Toni Young responded by scoring 22 points, and senior Tegan Cunningham, after struggling in the first half, began hitting in the second half and ended up with 25 points, enough to help Oklahoma State win 70–63.


2010 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Game summaries, Sacramento region, First round
The 8/9 match-up between Iowa and Rutgers pitted current Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer against the program she helped bring to national prominence two decades earlier. Iowa had lost a game in the Big Ten tournament, after a big lead, and they didn't want to experience that again. Rutgers played even with the Hawkeyes, in the second half, but the seven point halftime lead stood up and Iowa won 70–63.