1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season

Season headlines

• The Trans America Athletic Conference began play, with eight original members. It was renamed the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2001.
• Indiana State senior forward Larry Bird and Michigan Spartans sophomore point guard Earvin "Magic" Johnson emerged as two highly popular and successful players during the season, and their rivalry — culminating in a meeting in the national championship game — captured national attention of basketball fans and the sports media during the year.
• In the Pacific 10 Conference, UCLA won an NCAA-record 13th consecutive conference title.
• The first Great Alaska Shootout took place. The long-running Shootout would become one of the premier early-season tournaments before it was discontinued after its 2017 edition.
• On February 24, North Carolina trailed Duke 7–0 at halftime. It was the first scoreless half for an NCAA basketball team since 1938.
• At Boston College, players took part in a point-shaving scheme which was revealed in 1980.
• The NCAA tournament expanded from 32 to 40 teams and used seeding to place all teams in its bracket for the first time.
• The first public lottery for tickets to the NCAA tournament Final Four was held. The championship game enjoyed the highest television rating in college basketball history.
• The National Invitation Tournament expanded from 16 to 24 teams.
• The growing fan appreciation and financial success of college basketball during the season prompted planning for the creation of the ESPN network and the original Big East Conference, both of which launched the following season and would push the sport to greater prominence in the years to come.

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

Main article: 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

The top 20 from the AP Poll during the pre-season.

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Conference membership changes

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.

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

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.

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.

Conference standings

Division I independents

A total of 74 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.

Informal championships

Rutgers finished with a 7–0 regular-season record in head-to-head competition among members of the New Jersey-New York 7 Conference.

Penn and Temple both finished with 3–1 records in head-to-head competition among the Philadelphia Big 5.

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Main article: 1979 NCAA Division I basketball tournament, 1979 NCAA Division I Basketball Championship Game

Final Four

| RD1-seed1=E9 | RD1-team1=Penn | RD1-score1=67 | RD1-seed2=ME2 | RD1-team2=Michigan State | RD1-score2=101 | RD1-seed3=MW1 | RD1-team3=Indiana State | RD1-score3=76 | RD1-seed4=W2 | RD1-team4=DePaul | RD1-score4=74 | RD2-seed1=ME2 | RD2-team1=Michigan State | RD2-score1=75 | RD2-seed2=MW1 | RD2-team2=Indiana State | RD2-score2=64 | RD2b-seed1=E9 | RD2b-team1=Penn | RD2b-score1=93 | RD2b-seed2=W2 | RD2b-team2=DePaul | RD2b-score2=96OT

National Invitation tournament

Main article: 1979 National Invitation Tournament

Semifinals & finals

| RD1-seed1= | RD1-team1=Indiana | RD1-score1=64 | RD1-seed2= | RD1-team2=Ohio State | RD1-score2=55 | RD1-seed3= | RD1-team3=Purdue | RD1-score3=87 | RD1-seed4= | RD1-team4=Alabama | RD1-score4=68 | RD2-seed1= | RD2-team1=Indiana | RD2-score1=53 | RD2-seed2= | RD2-team2=Purdue | RD2-score2=52 | RD2b-seed1= | RD2b-team1=Ohio State | RD2b-score1=86 | RD2b-seed2= | RD2b-team2=Alabama | RD2b-score2=96

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Main article: 1979 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

Major player of the year awards

• Wooden Award: Larry Bird, Indiana State
• Naismith Award: Larry Bird, Indiana State
• Helms Player of the Year: Larry Bird, Indiana State
• Associated Press Player of the Year: Larry Bird, Indiana State
• UPI Player of the Year: Larry Bird, Indiana State
• NABC Player of the Year: Larry Bird, Indiana State
• Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): Larry Bird, Indiana State
• Adolph Rupp Trophy: Larry Bird, Indiana State
• Sporting News Player of the Year: Larry Bird, Indiana State

Major coach of the year awards

• Associated Press Coach of the Year: Bill Hodges, Indiana State
• Henry Iba Award (USBWA): Dean Smith, North Carolina
• NABC Coach of the Year: Ray Meyer, DePaul
• UPI Coach of the Year: Bill Hodges, Indiana State
• Sporting News Coach of the Year: Bill Hodges, Indiana State

Other major awards

• Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player under 6'0): Alton Byrd, Columbia
• Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Tony Price, Penn & Rick Reed, Temple
• NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Nick Galis, Seton Hall

Coaching changes

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

Notes

References

• Statistical Leaders and Coaching Changes from 1980 NCAA Basketball 84th Annual Guide, (Copyright 1979, NCAA)

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