Basketball season
The 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1978, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1979 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship game on March 26, 1979, at the Special Events Center in Salt Lake City , Utah . The Michigan State Spartans won their first NCAA national championship with a 75–64 victory over the Indiana State Sycamores .
The top 20 from the AP Poll during the pre-season.[ 4]
Conference membership changes [ edit ]
The 1978–79 season was most notable for the expansion of the Pacific-8 Conference to 10 members with the addition of the men's athletic programs of Arizona and Arizona State (the conference did not sponsor women's sports until the 1986–87 school year). The conference duly renamed itself the Pacific-10 Conference .
Conference winners and tournaments [ edit ]
Of 22 Division I basketball conferences, 13 determined their league champion with a single-elimination tournament, while seven leagues sent their regular-season champion to the NCAA Tournament. The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) did not receive an automatic tournament bid until the 1979–80 season , while the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) received its automatic bid in 1980–81 .
Conference
Regular season winner[ 5]
Conference player of the year
Conference tournament
Tournament venue (City)
Tournament winner
Atlantic Coast Conference
Duke & North Carolina
Mike Gminski , Duke [ 6]
1979 ACC men's basketball tournament
Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro , North Carolina )
North Carolina
Big Eight Conference
Oklahoma
John McCullough , Oklahoma [ 7]
1979 Big Eight Conference men's basketball tournament
Kemper Arena (Kansas City, Missouri ) (Semifinals and Finals)
Oklahoma
Big Sky Conference
Weber State
Lawrence Butler , Idaho State [ 8]
1979 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament
Dee Events Center (Ogden, Utah )
Weber State
Big Ten Conference
Michigan State , Purdue & Iowa
None Selected
No Tournament
East Coast Conference
Temple (East) Bucknell (West)
Michael Brooks , La Salle
1979 East Coast Conference men's basketball tournament
The Palestra (Philadelphia )
Temple
Eastern Athletic Association (Eastern 8)
Villanova
James Bailey , Rutgers [ 9]
1979 Eastern 8 men's basketball tournament
Civic Arena (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania )
Rutgers
Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC)
Division I ECAC members played as independents during the regular season (see note)
Nikos Galis ,Seton Hall ;Corny Thompson ,Connecticut [ 10]
1979 ECAC Metro Region tournament
Nassau Coliseum (Uniondale, New York )
Iona
1979 ECAC New England Region tournament
Providence Civic Center (Providence , Rhode Island )
Connecticut
1979 ECAC South-Upstate Region tournament
Cole Field House (College Park, Maryland )
Georgetown
Ivy League
Penn
Tony Price , Penn [ 11]
No Tournament
Metro Conference
Louisville
Pat Cummings , Cincinnati
1979 Metro Conference men's basketball tournament
Mid-South Coliseum (Memphis, Tennessee )
Virginia Tech
Mid-American Conference
Toledo
Paul Dawkins , Northern Illinois [ 12]
No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference
Indiana State
Larry Bird , Indiana State [ 13]
1979 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament
Hulman Center (Terre Haute, Indiana )
Indiana State [ 14]
Ohio Valley Conference
Eastern Kentucky
James Tillman , Eastern Kentucky [ 15]
1979 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament
McBrayer Arena (Richmond, Kentucky ) (Semifinals and Finals)
Eastern Kentucky [ 16]
Pacific-10 Conference
UCLA
David Greenwood , UCLA [ 17]
No Tournament
Pacific Coast Athletic Association
Pacific
Ron Cornelius , Pacific [ 18]
1979 PCAA men's basketball tournament
Anaheim Convention Center (Anaheim, California )
Pacific
Southeastern Conference
LSU
Reggie King , Alabama [ 19]
1979 SEC men's basketball tournament
Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex (Birmingham, Alabama )
Tennessee
Southern Conference
Appalachian State
Jonathan Moore , Furman [ 20]
1979 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament
Roanoke Civic Center (Roanoke, Virginia ) (Semifinals and Finals)
Appalachian State [ 21]
Southland Conference
Lamar
David Lawrence , McNeese State [ 22]
No Tournament
Southwest Conference
Texas & Arkansas
Sidney Moncrief , Arkansas (Consensus)
1979 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament
The Summit (Houston, Texas )
Arkansas
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Alcorn State
Larry Smith , Alcorn State [ 23]
1979 SWAC men's basketball tournament
Baton Rouge River Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Alcorn State
Sun Belt Conference
South Alabama
Rory White , South Alabama [ 24]
1979 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
Charlotte Coliseum (Charlotte , {nowrap|North Carolina }}) (Semifinals and Finals)
Jacksonville [ 25]
Trans America Athletic Conference
Northeast Louisiana
Calvin Natt , Northeast Louisiana [ 26]
1979 TAAC men's basketball tournament
Ewing Coliseum (Monroe, Louisiana )
Northeast Louisiana
West Coast Athletic Conference
San Francisco
Bill Cartwright , San Francisco [ 27]
No Tournament
Western Athletic Conference
BYU
None Selected
No Tournament
NOTE: From 1975 to 1981 , the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), a loosely organized sports federation of colleges and universities in the Northeastern United States , organized Division I ECAC regional tournaments for those of its members that were independents in basketball. Each 1979 tournament winner received an automatic bid to the 1979 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in the same way that the tournament champions of conventional athletic conferences did.[ 28]
Conference standings [ edit ]
1978–79 Ivy League men's basketball standings
Conf
Overall
Team
W
L
PCT
W
L
PCT
No. 14 Penn
13
–
1
.929
25
–
7
.781
Columbia
10
–
4
.714
17
–
9
.654
Princeton
7
–
7
.500
14
–
12
.538
Dartmouth
6
–
8
.429
14
–
12
.538
Brown
6
–
8
.429
8
–
18
.308
Harvard
6
–
8
.429
8
–
21
.276
Yale
5
–
9
.357
11
–
15
.423
Cornell
3
–
11
.214
8
–
18
.308
Rankings from AP Poll [ 30]
1978–79 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
Conf
Overall
Team
W
L
PCT
W
L
PCT
No. 5 Arkansas †
13
–
3
.813
25
–
5
.833
Texas
13
–
3
.813
21
–
8
.724
Texas A&M
11
–
5
.688
24
–
9
.727
Baylor
9
–
7
.563
16
–
12
.571
Texas Tech
9
–
7
.563
19
–
11
.633
Houston
6
–
10
.375
16
–
15
.516
SMU
6
–
10
.375
11
–
16
.407
Rice
4
–
12
.250
7
–
20
.259
TCU
1
–
15
.063
6
–
21
.222
† 1979 SWC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll
Division I independents [ edit ]
A total of 78 college teams played as Division I independents . Among them, Syracuse (26–4) had the best winning percentage (.867) and Syracuse and DePaul (26–6) finished with the most wins.[ 37] [ 38]
The New Jersey-New York 7 Conference was an informal scheduling alliance made up of Columbia , Fordham , Manhattan , Princeton , Rutgers, St. John's , and Seton Hall . The Philadelphia Big 5 was an informal scheduling alliance composed of La Salle , Penn, St. Joseph's , Temple, and Villanova .
Statistical leaders [ edit ]
Post-season tournaments [ edit ]
National Invitation tournament [ edit ]
Semifinals & finals[ edit ]
Consensus All-American teams [ edit ]
Major player of the year awards [ edit ]
Major coach of the year awards [ edit ]
A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.[ 39]
^ UC Santa Barbara was forced to vacated all wins during the 1978–79 season due to the use of ineligible players. UC Santa Barbara Record Book still includes win and loss totals.
^ Two losses against UC Santa Barbara included in win count per UC Irvine Record Book.
^ "1979 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll" . AP Poll Archive. Retrieved January 26, 2009 .
^ a b c d e f g h Hartzell, Larry, "The 1978-79 Season," Hardwood History, March 22, 2011 Accessed April 6 , 2021
^ a b "Playing Rules History" (PDF) . ncaa.org . NCAA. p. 12. Retrieved June 25, 2024 .
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game . Random House . 2009. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2 .
^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF) . NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009 .
^ 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
^ Men's Basketball Award Winners , Big Sky Conference , retrieved 2009-02-14
^ 2008–09 A-10 men's basketball media guide – Awards section Archived 2011-05-23 at the Wayback Machine , Atlantic 10 Conference , retrieved 2009-02-01
^ "UConn Men's Huskies: Men's Basketball Huskies of Honor Announced, December 26, 2006" . Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved March 26, 2014 .
^ 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 MVC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section , Missouri Valley Conference , retrieved 2009-02-06
^ 2008–09 MVC men's basketball media guide – Tournament section , Missouri Valley Conference , retrieved 2009-02-14
^ 2008–09 OVC men's basketball media guide , Ohio Valley Conference , retrieved 2009-02-06
^ 2008–09 OVC men's basketball media guide , Ohio Valley Conference , retrieved 2009-01-24
^ 2008–09 Pacific-10 Men's Basketball Media Guide- Honors Section Archived 2011-05-23 at the Wayback Machine , Pacific-10 Conference , retrieved 2009-02-06
^ 2008–09 Big West Men's Basketball Media Guide Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine , Big West 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
^ 2006–07 SWAC Men's Basketball Media Guide
^ 2007–08 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Media Guide , Sun Belt Conference , retrieved 2009-02-07
^ "Sun Belt Men's Basketball Previous Champions" . Sun Belt Conference. May 31, 2007. Archived from the original on March 7, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2009 .
^ Atlantic Sun men's basketball record book , Atlantic Sun Conference , retrieved 2009-02-07
^ 2008–09 WCC Men's Basketball Media Guide Archived 2011-05-23 at the Wayback Machine , West Coast Conference , retrieved 2009-02-07
^ Varsity Pride: ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
^ sports-reference.com 1978-79 Big Eight Conference Season Summary
^ "1978–79 Ivy League Season Summary" . Sports Reference . Retrieved April 2, 2020 .
^ sports-reference.com 1978-79 Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference Season Summary
^ "2017-18 Men's Basketball Media Guide" . Pac-12 Conference. p. 72. Retrieved February 16, 2018 .
^
"1978-79 Pacific Coast Athletic Association Season Summary" . Retrieved July 21, 2017 .
^ sports-reference.com 1978-79 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
^ "Men's Basketball 2018-19" (PDF) . Southland Conference. p. 105. Retrieved January 28, 2023 .
^ https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/wac/1979.html
^ "1978-79 Men's Independent Season Summary" . Sports Reference . Retrieved August 20, 2024 .
^ "1978-79 Men's New Jersey-New York 7 Conference Season Summary" . Sports Reference . Retrieved August 20, 2024 .
^ "NCAA Division I Men's College Basketball 2000 Coaching Changes" . CNN/SI. September 13, 2000. Retrieved February 7, 2009 .
Statistical Leaders and Coaching Changes from 1980 NCAA Basketball 84th Annual Guide , (Copyright 1979, NCAA)