It began on March 15, 2005, and ended with the championship game on April 4 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.

The automatic bid of the Ivy League, which does not conduct a postseason tournament, went to its regular season champion.

At Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois At University Arena, Albuquerque At Carrier Dome, Syracuse At Frank Erwin Center, Austin At Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis North Carolina was looking for its 4th National Championship, while Illinois was playing in its first.

But Illinois began a furious charge: at one point, they would hit seven consecutive shots from the floor to turn a fifteen-point lead back to four.

Unfazed, North Carolina would push the lead back up to ten before a 10–0 run by the Illini tied the game at 65-65.

Eventually, Raymond Felton was able to steal the ball from Head, forcing Deron Williams to foul.

Eventually it went into the hands of Felton who this time connected on both free throws to give North Carolina a 75–70 victory.

The columns R32, S16, E8, F4, and CG respectively stand for the Round of 32, Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, Final Four, and championship Game.

Greg Gumbel once again served as the studio host, joined by analysts Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis.