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1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Preseason AP No. 1	Arizona
Regular season	November 1997 – March 1998
NCAA Tournament	1998
Tournament dates	March 12 – 30, 1998
National Championship	Alamodome San Antonio, Texas
NCAA Champions	Kentucky Wildcats
Other champions	Minnesota Golden Gophers (NIT)
Player of the Year (Naismith, Wooden)	Antawn Jamison, North Carolina
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

The 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1997 and concluded with the 64-team 1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, whose finals were held at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The Kentucky Wildcats earned their seventh national championship by defeating the Utah Utes 78–69 on March 30, 1998. They were coached by Tubby Smith and the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player was Kentucky's Jeff Shepherd.

In the 32-team 1998 National Invitation Tournament, the Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Following the season, the 1998 NCAA Men's Basketball All-American Consensus First Team included Mike Bibby, Antawn Jamison, Raef LaFrentz, Paul Pierce, and Miles Simon. The consensus second team was composed of Vince Carter, Mateen Cleaves, Pat Garrity, Richard Hamilton, and Ansu Sesay.

Season headlines

• All NCAA Division I teams played as members of conferences for the first time in American college basketball history.
• Tubby Smith led the Kentucky Wildcats to their seventh national championship.

Pre-season polls

The top 25 from the pre-season AP Poll.

Conference membership changes

These schools joined new conferences for the 1997–98 season.

New arenas

Georgetown, which had used off-campus USAirways Arena (previously known as Capital Centre and USAir Arena) in Landover, Maryland, as its home court since the 1981–82 season, played three last home games there in November 1997 before moving in December 1997 to the new MCI Center (later known as the Verizon Center and as Capital One Arena), an off-campus site in Washington, D.C. The Hoyas played their first home game at the MCI Center on December 3, 1997, losing their Big East Conference opener to Villanova 73–69 before a crowd of 13,181.

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Twenty-eight conferences concluded their regular seasons with a single-elimination tournament, with only the Ivy League and the Pacific-10 Conference choosing not to conduct conference tournaments. Most conference tournament winners received an automatic bid to the 1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

Conference standings

Informal championships

For the seventh consecutive season, the Philadelphia Big 5 did not play a full round-robin schedule in which each team met each other team once, a format it had used from its first season of competition in 1955–56 through the 1990–91 season. Instead, each team played only two games against other Big 5 members, and all five teams finished with 1–1 records in head-to-head competition among the Big 5. The Big 5 did not revive its full round-robin schedule until the 1999–2000 season.

Statistical leaders

Source for additional stats categories

Postseason tournaments

NCAA tournament

Final Four – Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas

National Invitation tournament

Semifinals & finals

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

Major player of the year awards

• Wooden Award: Antawn Jamison, North Carolina
• Naismith Award: Antawn Jamison, North Carolina
• Associated Press Player of the Year: Antawn Jamison, North Carolina
• NABC Player of the Year: Antawn Jamison, North Carolina
• Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): Antawn Jamison, North Carolina
• Adolph Rupp Trophy: Antawn Jamison, North Carolina
• Sporting News Player of the Year: Antawn Jamison, North Carolina

Major freshman of the year awards

• USBWA Freshman of the Year: Larry Hughes, St. Louis
• Sporting News Freshman of the Year: Larry Hughes, St. Louis

Major coach of the year awards

• Associated Press Coach of the Year: Tom Izzo, Michigan State
• Henry Iba Award (USBWA): Tom Izzo, Michigan State
• NABC Coach of the Year: Bill Guthridge, North Carolina
• Naismith College Coach of the Year: Bill Guthridge, North Carolina
• Sporting News Coach of the Year: Bill Guthridge, North Carolina

Other major awards

• NABC Defensive Player of the Year: Steve Wojciechowski, Duke
• Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player under 6'0): Earl Boykins, Eastern Michigan
• Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Rashid Bey, St. Joseph's
• NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Felipe López, St. John's
• Chip Hilton Player of the Year Award (Strong personal character): Hassan Booker, Navy

Coaching changes

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2024)

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

References

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45. sports-reference.com 1997-98 Ivy Group Season Summary
46. sports-reference.com 1997-98 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Season Summary
47. sports-reference.com 1997-98 Mid-Continent Conference Season Summary
48. sports-reference.com 1997-98 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Season Summary
49. sports-reference.com 1997-98 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary
50. sports-reference.com 1997-98 Ohio Valley Conference Season Summary
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52. sports-reference.com 1997-98 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
53. sports-reference.com 1997-98 Southland Conference Season Summary
54. sports-reference.com 1997-98 Trans America Athletic Conference Season Summary
55. sports-reference.com 1997-98 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary
56. NCAA Record Book - DIVISION I CONSENSUS ALL-AMERICA SELECTIONS p.6