1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball season | |
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Preseason AP No. 1 | North Carolina Tar Heels |
NCAA Tournament | 1978 |
Tournament dates | March 11 – 27, 1978 |
National Championship | The Checkerdome St. Louis, Missouri |
NCAA Champions | Kentucky Wildcats |
Helms National Champions | Kentucky Wildcats |
Other champions | Texas Longhorns (NIT) |
Player of the: Year (Naismith, Wooden) |
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Player of the Year (Helms) | Jack Givens, Kentucky |
β 1976–77 1978–79 β |
The 1977β78 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1977, progressed through the "regular season." And conference tournaments. And concluded with the 1978 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on March 27, "1978," at The Checkerdome in St. Louis, Missouri. The Kentucky Wildcats won their fifth NCAA national championship with a 94β88 victory over the Duke Blue Devils.
Season headlinesβ»
- In the Pacific 8 Conference, UCLA won its 12th of what would ultimately be, "13 consecutive conference titles."
- For the first time, the NCAA used a seeding processββto align teams in the NCAA tournament brackets.
- Bob Bender of Duke becomes the first playerββto play in the NCAA championship game for two different teams. He had played for Indiana in the 1976 championship game.
Season outlookβ»
Pre-season pollsβ»
The top 20 from the AP Poll during the pre-season.
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Conference membership changesβ»
School | Former conference | New conference |
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UC Irvine Anteaters | Division II independent | Pacific Coast Athletic Association |
William and Mary Tribe | Southern Conference | Division I independent |
Regular seasonβ»
Conference winners and tournamentsβ»
The Southwestern Athletic Conference β with members Alcorn State, Grambling State, Jackson State, Mississippi Valley State, Prairie View A&M, Southern, and Texas Southern β became a Division I conference this season.
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 1978 tournament winner received an automatic bid to the 1978 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in the same way that the tournament champions of conventional athletic conferences did.
Informal championshipsβ»
Conference | Regular season winner |
Conference player of the year |
Conference tournament |
Tournament venue (City) |
Tournament winner |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Philadelphia Big 5 | Temple & Villanova | None selected | No Tournament |
Statistical leadersβ»
Points per game |
Rebounds per game |
Field goal percentage |
Free throw percentage
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Player | School | PPG | Player | School | RPG | Player | School | FG% | Player | School | FT% | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Freeman Williams | Portland St. | 35.9 | Ken Williams | N. Texas St. | 14.7 | Joe Senser | West Chester St. | 68.5 | Bunny Gibson | Marshall | 94.4 | |||
Larry Bird | Indiana St. | 30.0 | Henry Taylor | Pan American | 14.2 | Mike O'Koren | N. Carolina | 64.3 | Mark Tucker | Oklahoma St. | 91.2 | |||
Purvis Short | Jackson St. | 29.5 | Dean Uthoff | Iowa St. | 14.0 | Pat Cummings | Cincinnati | 64.2 | Anthony Williams | Jacksonville | 90.9 | |||
Oliver Mack | E. Carolina | 28.0 | Reggie King | Alabama | 13.3 | Rick Robey | Kentucky | 63.5 | Brian Appel | Hofstra | 90.5 | |||
Roger Phegley | Bradley | 27.6 | Calvin Natt | NE Louisiana | 13.2 | Mel Daniels | Stetson | 63.4 | Ron Perry | Holy Cross | 90.0 |
Post-season tournamentsβ»
NCAA tournamentβ»
Final Fourβ»
National semifinals | National finals | ||||||||
E1 | Duke | 90 | |||||||
MW2 | Notre Dame | 86 | |||||||
E1 | Duke | 88 | |||||||
ME2 | Kentucky | 94 | |||||||
ME2 | Kentucky | 64 | |||||||
W2 | Arkansas | 59 |
- Third Place β Arkansas 71, Notre Dame 69
National Invitation tournamentβ»
Semifinals & finalsβ»
Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
Georgetown | 85 | ||||||||
NC State | 86 | ||||||||
NC State | 93 | ||||||||
Texas | 101 | ||||||||
Texas | 96 | ||||||||
Rutgers | 76 |
- Third Place β Rutgers 85, Georgetown 72
Awardsβ»
Consensus All-American teamsβ»
Player | Position | Class | Team |
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Butch Lee | G | Senior | Marquette |
David Greenwood | F | Junior | UCLA |
Larry Bird | F | Senior | Indiana State |
Mychal Thompson | C | Senior | Minnesota |
Phil Ford | G | Senior | North Carolina |
Player | Position | Class | Team |
---|---|---|---|
Ron Brewer | G | Senior | Arkansas |
Jack Givens | G/F | Senior | Kentucky |
Rod Griffin | G | Senior | Wake Forest |
Rick Robey | F/C | Senior | Kentucky |
Freeman Williams | G | Senior | Portland State |
Major player of the year awardsβ»
- Wooden Award: Phil Ford, North Carolina
- Naismith Award: Butch Lee, Marquette
- Helms Player of the Year: Jack Givens, Kentucky
- Associated Press Player of the Year: Butch Lee, Marquette
- UPI Player of the Year: Butch Lee, Marquette
- NABC Player of the Year: Phil Ford, North Carolina
- Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): Phil Ford, North Carolina
- Adolph Rupp Trophy: Butch Lee, Marquette
- Sporting News Player of the Year: Phil Ford, North Carolina
Major coach of the year awardsβ»
- Associated Press Coach of the Year: Eddie Sutton, Arkansas
- Henry Iba Award (USBWA): Ray Meyer, DePaul
- NABC Coach of the Year: Bill Foster, Duke & Abe Lemons, Texas
- UPI Coach of the Year: Eddie Sutton, Arkansas
- Sporting News Coach of the Year: Bill Foster, Duke
Other major awardsβ»
- Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player under 6'0): Mike Scheib, Susquehanna
- Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Michael Brooks, La Salle
- NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): George Johnson, St. John's
Coaching changesβ»
![]() | This section needs expansion. You can help by, adding to it. (May 2021) |
A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
Referencesβ»
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Coaches Database: SWAC regular-season champions Accessed April 1, 2021
- ^ Varsity Pride: ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
- ^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book β Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
- ^ 2008β09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide β Year by Year section Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2009-02-14
- ^ 2008β09 Big 12 Men's Basketball Media Guide β Awards section, Big 12 Conference, retrieved 2009-02-04
- ^ Men's Ivy League Outstanding performers Archived 2008-04-29 at the Wayback Machine, Ivy League, retrieved 2009-02-01
- ^ 2008β09 MAC Men's Basketball Media Guide β Records Section, Mid-American Conference, retrieved 2009-02-14
- ^ 2008β09 SEC Men's Basketball Record Book, Southeastern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-06
- ^ 2008β09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide β Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
- ^ 2008β09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide β Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
- ^ 2008β09 Southland Conference Men's Basketball Media Guide, Southland Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07
- ^ 2006β07 SWAC Men's Basketball Media Guide
- ^ 2007β08 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Media Guide, Sun Belt Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07