1976–77 NCAA Division I men's basketball season

1976–77 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
1976–77 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Preseason AP No. 1	Michigan Wolverines
NCAA Tournament	1977
Tournament dates	March 12 – 27, 1977
National Championship	The Omni; Atlanta, Georgia
NCAA Champions	Marquette Warriors
Helms National Champions	Marquette Warriors
Other champions	St. Bonaventure (NIT)
Player of the Year; (Naismith, Wooden)	Marques Johnson, UCLA
Player of the Year; (Helms)	Marques Johnson, UCLA
	← 1975–76 1977–78 →

The 1976–77 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1976, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1977 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on March 27, 1977, at The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia. The Marquette Warriors won their first NCAA national championship with a 67–59 victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Rule changes

The slam dunk, prohibited in NCAA basketball games and warm-ups since the 1967–68 season because of criticism that it rewarded height rather than skill, once again became legal after a nine-season absence.^[3]^[4]

Season headlines

In the Pacific 8 Conference, UCLA won its 11th of what would ultimately be 13 consecutive conference titles.

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The top 20 from the AP Poll during the pre-season.^[5]^[6]

'Associated Press'
Ranking	Team
1	Michigan (21)
2	Marquette (6)
3	North Carolina (9)
4	UCLA (2)
5	Indiana (7)
6	Kentucky (2)
7	UNLV
8	Maryland
9	Louisville (1)
10	Arizona
11	San Francisco (1)
12	Cincinnati
13	Alabama
14	Notre Dame
15	NC State
16	Tennessee
17	Rutgers
18	DePaul
19	UNC Charlotte
20	Missouri

UPI Coaches
Ranking	Team
1	Marquette
2	Michigan
3	North Carolina
4	UCLA
5	Indiana
6	Kentucky
7	UNLV
8	Louisville
9	Arizona
10	Cincinnati
11	Maryland
12	San Francisco
13	Tennessee
14	NC State
15	Missouri
16	Wichita State
17	Georgetown
18	Rutgers
19	Penn
20	Purdue

Conference membership changes

The Eastern Collegiate Basketball League, with eight members, and the Sun Belt Conference, with six members, both began play this season. The ECBL, popularly known as the "Eastern 8," became the Eastern Athletic Association the following season and eventually became the Atlantic 10 Conference.

The Yankee Conference dropped all sports except football at the end of the previous season, and seven of its members left the conference before this season began.

Although Chattanooga joined the Southern Conference this season, it still was considered a Division II program. It completed its transition to Division I status after the conclusion of the season.

School	Former conference	New conference
Boston University Terriers	Yankee Conference	Division I independent
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos	Division I independent	Pacific Coast Athletic Association
UNC Charlotte 49ers	Division I independent	Sun Belt Conference
Chattanooga Mocs	Division II independent	Southern Conference
Connecticut Huskies	Yankee Conference	Division I independent
Creighton Bluejays	Division I independent	Missouri Valley Conference
Duquesne Dukes	Division I independent	Eastern Collegiate Basketball League
Florida State Seminoles	Division I independent	Metro Conference
George Washington Colonials	Division I independent	Eastern Collegiate Basketball League
Georgia State Panthers	Division I independent	Sun Belt Conference
Indiana State Sycamores	Division I independent	Missouri Valley Conference
Jacksonville Dolphins	Division I independent	Sun Belt Conference
Maine Black Bears	Yankee Conference	Division I independent
Marshall Thundering Herd	Division I independent	Southern Conference
Massachusetts Minutemen	Yankee Conference	Eastern Collegiate Basketball League
New Hampshire Wildcats	Yankee Conference	Division I independent
New Orleans Privateers	Division I independent	Sun Belt Conference
Penn State Nittany Lions	Division I independent	Eastern Collegiate Basketball League
Pittsburgh Panthers	Division I independent	Eastern Collegiate Basketball League
Portland Pilots	Division I independent	West Coast Athletic Conference
Rhode Island Rams	Yankee Conference	Division I independent
Richmond Spiders	Southern Conference	Division I independent
Rutgers Scarlet Knights	Division I independent	Eastern Collegiate Basketball League
South Alabama Jaguars	Division I independent	Sun Belt Conference
South Florida Bulls	Division I independent	Sun Belt Conference
Rhode Island Rams	Yankee Conference	Division I independent
Vermont Catamounts	Yankee Conference	Division I independent
West Virginia Mountaineers	Division I independent	Eastern Collegiate Basketball League
Western Carolina Catamounts	Non-Division I independent	Southern Conference

Regular season

Conference winners and tournaments

From 1975 to 1982, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), a loosely organized sports federation of Northeastern colleges and universities, organized Division I ECAC regional tournaments for those of its members that were independents in basketball. Each 1977 tournament winner received an automatic bid to the 1977 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in the same way that the tournament champions of conventional athletic conferences did.^[7]

Conference	Regular season winner^[8]	Conference player of the year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Atlantic Coast Conference	North Carolina	Rod Griffin, Wake Forest^[9]	1977 ACC men's basketball tournament	Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, North Carolina)	North Carolina
Big Eight Conference	Kansas State	Kim Anderson, Missouri, & Mike Evans, Kansas State^[10]	1977 Big Eight Conference men's basketball tournament	Kemper Arena (Kansas City, Missouri) (Semifinals and Finals)	Kansas State
Big Sky Conference	Idaho State	None selected	1977 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament	ISU Minidome (Pocatello, Idaho)	Idaho State
Big Ten Conference	Michigan	None Selected	No Tournament
East Coast Conference	Hofstra & Temple (East) Lafayette (West)	Rich Laurel, Hofstra	1977 East Coast Conference men's basketball tournament	Kirby Sports Center (Easton, Pennsylvania)	Hofstra
Eastern Collegiate Basketball League (Eastern 8)	Rutgers (East) Penn State & West Virginia (West)	Norm Nixon, Duquesne	1977 Eastern 8 men's basketball tournament	The Spectrum (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)	Duquesne
Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC)	Division I ECAC members played as independents during the regular season	Tony Hanson, Connecticut^[11]	1977 ECAC Metro Region tournament	Madison Square Garden (New York, New York)	St. John's
			1977 ECAC New England Region tournament	Hartford Civic Center (Hartford, Connecticut)	Holy Cross
			1977 ECAC Southern Region tournament	Campus sites	Syracuse
Ivy League	Princeton	Frank Sowinski, Princeton^[12]	No Tournament
Metro Conference	Louisville	Gary Yoder, Cincinnati	1977 Metro Conference men's basketball tournament	Mid-South Coliseum (Memphis, Tennessee)	Cincinnati
Mid-American Conference	Central Michigan	Matt Hicks, Northern Illinois^[13]	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	New Mexico State & Southern Illinois	Roger Phegley, Bradley	1977 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament	Levitt Arena (Wichita, Kansas)	Southern Illinois
Ohio Valley Conference	Austin Peay	Otis Howard, Austin Peay	1977 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament	Dunn Center (Clarksville, Tennessee) (Semifinals and Finals)	Middle Tennessee
Pacific-8 Conference	UCLA	Marques Johnson, UCLA	No Tournament
Pacific Coast Athletic Association	Long Beach State & San Diego State	Lloyd McMillian, Long Beach State	1977 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball tournament	Anaheim Convention Center (Anaheim, California)	Long Beach State
Southeastern Conference	Kentucky & Tennessee	Ernie Grunfeld, Tennessee, & Bernard King, Tennessee^[14]	No Tournament
Southern Conference	Furman & VMI	Ron Carter, VMI^[15]	1977 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Roanoke Civic Center (Roanoke, Virginia) (Semifinals and Finals)	VMI^[16]
Southland Conference	Southwest Louisiana	Dan Henderson, Arkansas State^[17]	No Tournament
Southwest Conference	Arkansas	Otis Birdsong, Houston	1977 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament	The Summit (Houston, Texas)	Arkansas
Sun Belt Conference	UNC Charlotte	Cedric Maxwell, UNC Charlotte^[18]	1977 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament	Charlotte Coliseum (Charlotte, North Carolina) (Finals)	UNC Charlotte
West Coast Athletic Conference	San Francisco	Bill Cartwright, San Francisco	No Tournament
Western Athletic Conference	Utah	None Selected	No Tournament

Informal championships

Conference	Regular season winner	Conference player of the year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Philadelphia Big 5	Penn & Temple	None selected	No Tournament

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Final Four

National Semifinals			National Finals

E	North Carolina	84

W	UNLV	83
			E	North Carolina	59

			MW	Marquette	67
ME	UNC Charlotte	49

MW	Marquette	51

Third Place – UNLV 106, UNC Charlotte 94

National Invitation tournament

Semifinals & finals

Semifinals			Finals

	Alabama	76

	Houston	82
				Houston	91

				St. Bonaventure	94
	Villanova	82

	St. Bonaventure	86

Third Place – Villanova 102, Alabama 89

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

**Consensus First Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Kent Benson	C	Senior	Indiana
Otis Birdsong	G	Senior	Houston
Phil Ford	G	Junior	North Carolina
Rickey Green	G	Senior	Michigan
Marques Johnson	F	Senior	UCLA
Bernard King	F	Junior	Tennessee

**Consensus Second Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Greg Ballard	F	Senior	Oregon
Bill Cartwright	C	Sophomore	San Francisco
Rod Griffin	G	Junior	Wake Forest
Ernie Grunfeld	F	Senior	Tennessee
Phil Hubbard	F	Senior	Michigan
Butch Lee	G	Junior	Marquette
Mychal Thompson	F/C	Junior	Minnesota

Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.

Team	Former Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach
Austin Peay	Lake Kelly		Ed Thompson
Hardin–Simmons	Preston Vice		Jim Shuler
Marquette	Al McGuire		Hank Raymonds
Marshall	Bob Daniels		Stu Aberdeen
Oral Roberts	Jerry Hale		Lake Kelly
Penn	Chuck Daly		Bob Weinhauer
Tennessee	Ray Mears	Cliff Wettig	Don DeVoe

References

^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 846. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "1978 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
^ Fitzpatrick, Frank, "When college basketball outlawed the dunk," Philadelphia Inquirer, March 23, 2014 Accessed April 6, 2021
^ "Burnsed, Brian, "A Brief History of Men's College Basketball," Champion, Fall 2018 Accessed April 6, 2021". Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 836. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "1977 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
^ Varsity Pride: ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
^ 2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2009-02-14
^ 2008–09 Big 12 Men's Basketball Media Guide – Awards section, Big 12 Conference, retrieved 2009-02-04
^ Carson, Chris, "UConn Basketball: The Top 50 Players in School History," Bleacher Report, November 8, 2011 Accessed April 3, 2021
^ Men's Ivy League Outstanding performers Archived 2008-04-29 at the Wayback Machine, Ivy League, retrieved 2009-02-01
^ 2008–09 MAC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Records Section, Mid-American Conference, retrieved 2009-02-14
^ 2008–09 SEC Men's Basketball Record Book, Southeastern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-06
^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
^ 2008–09 Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Media Guide, Southland Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07
^ 2007–08 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Media Guide, Sun Belt Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07

[preseason-1] ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 846. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[2] "1978 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020.

[3] Fitzpatrick, Frank, "When college basketball outlawed the dunk," Philadelphia Inquirer, March 23, 2014 Accessed April 6, 2021

[4] "Burnsed, Brian, "A Brief History of Men's College Basketball," Champion, Fall 2018 Accessed April 6, 2021". Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021.

[ESPN-5] ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 836. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[6] "1977 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020.

[varsitypride-7] Varsity Pride: ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments

[8] "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-14.

[9] 2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2009-02-14

[10] 2008–09 Big 12 Men's Basketball Media Guide – Awards section, Big 12 Conference, retrieved 2009-02-04

[11] Carson, Chris, "UConn Basketball: The Top 50 Players in School History," Bleacher Report, November 8, 2011 Accessed April 3, 2021

[12] Men's Ivy League Outstanding performers Archived 2008-04-29 at the Wayback Machine, Ivy League, retrieved 2009-02-01

[13] 2008–09 MAC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Records Section, Mid-American Conference, retrieved 2009-02-14

[14] 2008–09 SEC Men's Basketball Record Book, Southeastern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-06

[15] 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09

[16] 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09

[17] 2008–09 Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Media Guide, Southland Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07

[18] 2007–08 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Media Guide, Sun Belt Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

v t e NCAA Division I men's basketball seasons
Pre-regulation	1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898-99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06
IAAUS / NCAA pre-Tournament era	1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38
NCAA Tournament era	1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25