| 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Preseason AP No. 1 | Duke Blue Devils[1] |
| NCAA Tournament | 1979 |
| Tournament dates | March 9 – 26, 1979 |
| National Championship | Special Events Center Salt Lake City, Utah |
| NCAA Champions | Michigan State Spartans |
| Helms National Champions | Michigan State Spartans |
| Other champions | Indiana Hoosiers (NIT) |
| Player of the Year (Naismith, Wooden) | Larry Bird, Indiana State |
| Player of the Year (Helms) | Larry Bird, Indiana State |
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.
Season headlines
- 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.[2]
- In the Pacific 10 Conference, UCLA won an NCAA-record 13th consecutive conference title.[2]
- The first Great Alaska Shootout took place.[2] The long-running Shootout would become one of the premier early-season tournaments[2] 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.[2]
- At Boston College, players took part in a point-shaving scheme which was revealed in 1980.[2]
- The NCAA tournament expanded from 32 to 40 teams and used seeding for the first time, and the championship game enjoyed the highest television rating in college basketball history.[2]
- 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.[2]
Season outlook
Pre-season polls
The top 20 from the AP Poll during the pre-season.[3]
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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
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 their automatic bid in 1980–81.
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 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.[4]
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
Points per game | Rebounds per game | Field goal percentage | Free throw percentage | |||||||||||
| Player | School | PPG | Player | School | RPG | Player | School | FG% | Player | School | FT% | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence Butler | Idaho St. | 30.1 | Monti Davis | Tenn. St. | 16.2 | Murray Brown | Florida St. | 69.1 | Darrell Mauldin | Campbell | 92.1 | |||
| Larry Bird | Indiana St. | 28.6 | Bill Cartwright | San Francisco | 15.7 | Jeff Ruland | Iona | 67.1 | Kurt Kanaskie | La Salle | 91.7 | |||
| Nick Galis | Seton Hall | 27.5 | Lionel Garrett | Southern | 15.5 | Steve Johnson | Oregon St. | 66.1 | Jim Krivacs | Texas | 91.0 | |||
| James Tillman | Eastern Kentucky | 26.9 | Larry Bird | Indiana St. | 14.9 | Jonathan Green | Tennessee St. | 65.6 | Tom Orner | Butler | 90.9 | |||
| Paul Dawkins | Northern Illinois | 26.7 | Larry Knight | Loyola-Illinois | 14.3 | Wiley Peck | Mississippi St. | 64.4 | Ron Perry | Holy Cross | 90.8 | |||
Post-season tournaments
NCAA tournament
Final Four
| National semifinals | National finals | ||||||||
| E9 | Penn | 67 | |||||||
| ME2 | Michigan State | 101 | |||||||
| ME2 | Michigan State | 75 | |||||||
| MW1 | Indiana State | 64 | |||||||
| MW1 | Indiana State | 76 | |||||||
| W2 | DePaul | 74 | |||||||
Third Place – DePaul 96, Penn 93 (OT)
National Invitation tournament
Semifinals & finals
| Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
| Indiana | 64 | ||||||||
| Ohio State | 55 | ||||||||
| Indiana | 53 | ||||||||
| Purdue | 52 | ||||||||
| Purdue | 87 | ||||||||
| Alabama | 68 | ||||||||
- Third Place – Alabama 96, Ohio State 86
Awards
Consensus All-American teams
| Player | Position | Class | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Bird | F | Senior | Indiana State |
| Mike Gminski | C | Junior | Duke |
| David Greenwood | F | Senior | UCLA |
| Magic Johnson | G | Sophomore | Michigan State |
| Sidney Moncrief | G | Senior | Arkansas |
| Player | Position | Class | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Cartwright | C | Senior | San Francisco |
| Calvin Natt | C | Senior | Northeast Louisiana |
| Mike O'Koren | F | Junior | North Carolina |
| Jim Paxson | G/F | Senior | Dayton |
| Jim Spanarkel | G | Senior | Duke |
| Kelly Tripucka | F | Sophomore | Notre Dame |
| Sly Williams | F | Junior | Rhode Island |
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
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.[28]
References
- ↑ "1979 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". AP Poll Archive. Retrieved January 26, 2009.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hartzell, Larry, "The 1978-79 Season," Hardwood History, March 22, 2011 Accessed April 6 , 2021
- ↑
- ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
- ↑ Varsity Pride: ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
- ↑ "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
- ↑ "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)
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