1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

The 1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 1998, and ended with the championship game on March 30, at the Alamodome in San Antonio. A total of 63 games were played.

The Final Four consisted of Kentucky, making their third consecutive Final Four, Stanford, making their first appearance since their initial Final Four run in 1942, Utah, making their fourth Final Four and first since 1966, and North Carolina, who returned for a fourteenth overall time and third in four seasons.

Kentucky won the national title, its second in three seasons and seventh overall, by defeating Utah 78–69 in the championship game.

Jeff Sheppard of Kentucky was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Kentucky came back from double-digit deficits in each of its last three games in the tournament, including a 17-point second half comeback against the Duke Blue Devils, leading to the school's fans dubbing the team the "Comeback Cats". This was Kentucky's third straight championship game appearance.

Bryce Drew led the 13th-seeded Valparaiso Crusaders to the Sweet Sixteen, including a memorable play that remains part of March Madness lore.

For the second consecutive season, a #14 seed advanced from the first round; Richmond, coached by John Beilein, upset South Carolina.

For the second time in three years, a top seeded team failed to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. That distinction belonged to Midwest Region #1 seed Kansas, who was defeated by #8 seed Rhode Island.

Schedule and venues

Sacramento

Boise

Oklahoma City

Chicago

Lexington

Atlanta

Washington, D.C.

Hartfordclass=notpageimage| 1998 first and second rounds

Anaheim

St. Louis

St. Petersburg

Greensboro

San Antonioclass=notpageimage| 1998 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1998 tournament:

First and Second Rounds

March 12 and 14
- East Region
  - Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut (Host: University of Connecticut)
  - MCI Center, Washington, D.C. (Host: George Mason University)
- West Region
  - BSU Pavilion, Boise, Idaho (Host: Boise State University)
  - ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California (Host: University of the Pacific)
March 13 and 15
- Midwest Region
  - United Center, Chicago, Illinois (Host: Big Ten Conference)
  - Myriad Convention Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Host: University of Oklahoma)
- South Region
  - Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia (Host: Georgia Tech)
  - Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

March 19 and 21
- East Regional, Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina (Host: Atlantic Coast Conference)
- West Regional, Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, Anaheim, California (Host: Big West Conference)
March 20 and 22
- Midwest Regional, Kiel Center, St. Louis, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)
- South Regional, Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida (Host: University of South Florida)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

March 28 and 30
- Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas (Host: University of Texas at San Antonio)

Teams

There were 30 automatic bids awarded to the tournament - of these, 28 were given to the winners of their conference's tournament, while two were awarded to the team with the best regular-season record in their conference (Ivy League and Pac-10).

Three conference champions made their first NCAA tournament appearances: Northern Arizona (Big Sky), Radford (Big South), and Prairie View A&M (SWAC). Additionally, UIC received an at-large bid for its first appearance in the NCAA tournament.

Automatic qualifiers

Automatic qualifiers
Conference	Team	Appearance	Last bid
ACC	North Carolina	32nd	1997
America East	Delaware	3rd	1993
Atlantic 10	Xavier	12th	1997
Big 12	Kansas	27th	1997
Big East	Connecticut	19th	1995
Big Sky	Northern Arizona	1st	Never
Big South	Radford	1st	Never
Big Ten	Michigan (vacated)	–	1995
Big West	Utah State	12th	1988
CAA	Richmond	6th	1991
Conference USA	Cincinnati	17th	1997
Ivy League	Princeton	21st	1997
MAAC	Iona	4th	1985
MAC	Eastern Michigan	4th	1996
MCC	Butler	3rd	1997
MEAC	South Carolina State	3rd	1996
Mid-Continent	Valparaiso	3rd	1997
Missouri Valley	Illinois State	6th	1997
NEC	Fairleigh Dickinson	3rd	1988
Ohio Valley	Murray State	9th	1997
Pac-10	Arizona	17th	1997
Patriot	Navy	11th	1997
SEC	Kentucky	39th	1997
Southern	Davidson	6th	1986
Southland	Nicholls State	2nd	1995
SWAC	Prairie View A&M	1st	Never
Sun Belt	South Alabama	6th	1997
TAAC	College of Charleston	3rd	1997
WAC	UNLV	13th	1991
West Coast	San Francisco	16th	1982

Tournament seeds

East Regional – Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type
1	North Carolina	ACC	30–3	Automatic
2	Connecticut	Big East	29–4	Automatic
3	South Carolina	SEC	22–6	At-Large
4	Michigan State	Big Ten	20–7	At-Large
5	Princeton	Ivy League	26–1	Automatic
6	Xavier	Atlantic 10	22–7	Automatic
7	Indiana	Big Ten	19–11	At-Large
8	UNC Charlotte	Conference USA	19–10	At-Large
9	UIC	MCC	22–5	At-Large
10	Oklahoma	Big 12	22–10	At-Large
11	Washington	Pac-10	18–9	At-Large
12	UNLV	WAC	20–12	Automatic
13	Eastern Michigan	MAC	20–9	Automatic
14	Richmond	CAA	22–7	Automatic
15	Fairleigh Dickinson	NEC	23–6	Automatic
16	Navy	Patriot	19–10	Automatic

South Regional – Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type
1	Duke	ACC	29–3	At-Large
2	Kentucky	SEC	29–4	Automatic
3	Michigan (vacated)	Big Ten	24–8	Automatic
4	New Mexico	WAC	23–7	At-Large
5	Syracuse	Big East	24–8	At-Large
6	UCLA	Pac-10	22–8	At-Large
7	UMass	Atlantic 10	21–10	At-Large
8	Oklahoma State	Big 12	21–7	At-Large
9	George Washington	Atlantic 10	24–8	At-Large
10	Saint Louis	Conference USA	21–10	At-Large
11	Miami (FL)	Big East	18–9	At-Large
12	Iona	MAAC	27–5	Automatic
13	Butler	MCC	22–10	Automatic
14	Davidson	Southern	20–9	Automatic
15	South Carolina State	MEAC	22–7	Automatic
16	Radford	Big South	20–9	Automatic

West Regional – Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, Anaheim, California
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type
1	Arizona	Pac-10	27–4	Automatic
2	Cincinnati	Conference USA	26–5	Automatic
3	Utah	WAC	25–3	At-Large
4	Maryland	ACC	19–10	At-Large
5	Illinois	Big Ten	22–9	At-Large
6	Arkansas	SEC	23–8	At-Large
7	Temple	Atlantic 10	21–8	At-Large
8	Tennessee	SEC	20–8	At-Large
9	Illinois State	Missouri Valley	24–5	Automatic
10	West Virginia	Big East	22–8	At-Large
11	Nebraska	Big 12	20–11	At-Large
12	South Alabama	Sun Belt	21–6	Automatic
13	Utah State	Big West	25–7	Automatic
14	San Francisco	West Coast	19–10	Automatic
15	Northern Arizona	Big Sky	21–7	Automatic
16	Nicholls State	Southland	19–9	Automatic

Midwest Regional – Kiel Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Seed	School	Conference	Record	Berth type
1	Kansas	Big 12	34–3	Automatic
2	Purdue	Big Ten	26–7	At-Large
3	Stanford	Pac-10	26–4	At-Large
4	Ole Miss	SEC	22–6	At-Large
5	TCU	WAC	27–5	At-Large
6	Clemson	ACC	18–13	At-Large
7	St. John's	Big East	22–9	At-Large
8	Rhode Island	Atlantic 10	22–8	At-Large
9	Murray State	Ohio Valley	29–3	Automatic
10	Detroit	MCC	24–5	At-Large
11	Western Michigan	Mid-American	20–7	At-Large
12	Florida State	ACC	17–13	At-Large
13	Valparaiso	Mid-Continent	21–9	Automatic
14	College of Charleston	TAAC	24–5	Automatic
15	Delaware	America East	20–9	Automatic
16	Prairie View A&M	SWAC	13–16	Automatic

Bids by conference

Bids by Conference
Bids	Conference(s)
5	Atlantic 10, ACC, Big Ten, Big East, SEC
4	Big 12, Pac-10, WAC
3	C-USA, MCC (Horizon League)
2	MAC
1	19 others

Bracket

East Regional – Greensboro, North Carolina

First round			Second Round			Regional semifinals			Regional Final

1	North Carolina	88

16	Navy	52
			1	North Carolina	93
Hartford
			8	Charlotte	83
8	Charlotte	77

9	UIC	62
						1	North Carolina	73

						4	Michigan State	58
5	Princeton	69

12	UNLV	57
			5	Princeton	56
Hartford
			4	Michigan State	63
4	Michigan State	83

13	Eastern Michigan	71
									1	North Carolina	75

									2	Connecticut	64
6	Xavier	68

11	Washington	69
			11	Washington	81
Washington, D.C.
			14	Richmond	66
3	South Carolina	61

14	Richmond	62
						11	Washington	74

						2	Connecticut	75
7	Indiana	94

10	Oklahoma	87
			7	Indiana	68
Washington, D.C.
			2	Connecticut	78
2	Connecticut	93

15	Fairleigh Dickinson	85

Regional Final Summary

CBS

Saturday, March 21

#1 North Carolina Tar Heels 75, #2 Connecticut Huskies 64
Scoring by half: 36–32, 39–32
Pts: A. Jamison – 20 Rebs: A. Jamison – 11 Asts: E. Cota – 9		Pts: K. El-Amin – 24 Rebs: K. Freeman – 7 Asts: M. Hardnett – 4

Greensboro Coliseum – Greensboro, NC
Attendance: 23,235
Referees: Mark Reischling, Eddie Jackson, Dick Cartmell

East Regional all-tournament team

Antawn Jamison – North Carolina (MOP)
Khalid El-Amin – UConn
Richard Hamilton – UConn
Vince Carter – North Carolina
Ed Cota – North Carolina
Shammond Williams – North Carolina

West Regional – Anaheim, California

First round			Second Round			Regional semifinals			Regional Final

1	Arizona	99

16	Nicholls State	60
			1	Arizona	82
Sacramento
			9	Illinois State	49
8	Tennessee	81

9	Illinois State	82
						1	Arizona	87

						4	Maryland	79
5	Illinois	64

12	South Alabama	51
			5	Illinois	61
Sacramento
			4	Maryland	67
4	Maryland	82

13	Utah State	68
									1	Arizona	51

									3	Utah	76
6	Arkansas	74

11	Nebraska	65
			6	Arkansas	69
Boise
			3	Utah	75
3	Utah	85

14	San Francisco	68
						3	Utah	65

						10	West Virginia	62
7	Temple	52

10	West Virginia	82
			10	West Virginia	75
Boise
			2	Cincinnati	74
2	Cincinnati	65

15	Northern Arizona	62

Regional Final Summary

CBS

Saturday, March 21

box score

#3 Utah Utes 76, #1 Arizona Wildcats 51
Scoring by half: 29–20, 47–31
Pts: A. Miller – 18 Rebs: A. Miller – 14 Asts: A. Miller – 13		Pts: J. Terry – 16 Rebs: B. Davison – 10 Asts: M. Simon – 4

Arrowhead Pond – Anaheim, CA
Attendance: 17,851
Referees: Gerald Boudreaux, Tony Greene, Tom Rucker

West Regional all-tournament team

Andre Miller – Utah (MOP)
Mike Bibby – Arizona
Michael Doleac – Utah
Alex Jensen – Utah
Hanno Mottola – Utah

South Regional – St. Petersburg, Florida

First round			Second Round			Regional semifinals			Regional Final

1	Duke	99

16	Radford	63
			1	Duke	79
Lexington
			8	Oklahoma State	73
8	Oklahoma State	74

9	George Washington	59
						1	Duke	80

						5	Syracuse	67
5	Syracuse	63

12	Iona	61
			5	Syracuse	56
Lexington
			4	New Mexico	46
4	New Mexico	79

13	Butler	62
									1	Duke	84

									2	Kentucky	86
6	UCLA	65

11	Miami (FL)	62
			6	UCLA	85
Atlanta
			3	Michigan#	82
3	Michigan#	80

14	Davidson	61
						6	UCLA	68

						2	Kentucky	94
7	Massachusetts	46

10	Saint Louis	51
			10	Saint Louis	61
Atlanta
			2	Kentucky	88
2	Kentucky	82

15	South Carolina State	67

# All of Michigan's wins from the 1997–98 season were vacated on November 7, 2002, as part of the settlement of the University of Michigan basketball scandal. Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with the removal of any Michigan wins from all records.

Regional Final Summary

CBS

Sunday, March 22

box score

#2 Kentucky Wildcats 86, #1 Duke Blue Devils 84
Scoring by half: 39–49, 47–35
Pts: J. Sheppard – 18 Rebs: H. Evans, J. Sheppard – 11 Asts: W. Turner – 8		Pts: R. McLeod – 19 Rebs: R. McLeod, S. Battier – 8 Asts: S. Wojciechowski, T. Langdon – 4

Tropicana Field – St. Petersburg, FL
Attendance: 40,589
Referees: Tom Harrington, Mike Sanzere, Curtis Shaw

South Regional all-tournament team

Wayne Turner – Kentucky (MOP)
Trajan Langdon – Duke
Roshown McLeod – Duke
Scott Padgett – Kentucky
Jeff Sheppard – Kentucky

Midwest Regional – St. Louis, Missouri

First round			Second Round			Regional semifinals			Regional Final

1	Kansas	110

16	Prairie View A&M	52
			1	Kansas	75
Oklahoma City
			8	Rhode Island	80
8	Rhode Island	97

9	Murray State	74
						8	Rhode Island	74

						13	Valparaiso	68
5	TCU	87

12	Florida State	96
			12	Florida State	77
Oklahoma City
			13	Valparaiso	83
4	Ole Miss	69

13	Valparaiso	70
									8	Rhode Island	77

									3	Stanford	79
6	Clemson	72

11	Western Michigan	75
			11	Western Michigan	65
Chicago
			3	Stanford	83
3	Stanford	67

14	College of Charleston	57
						3	Stanford	67

						2	Purdue	59
7	St. John's	64

10	Detroit	66
			10	Detroit	65
Chicago
			2	Purdue	80
2	Purdue	95

15	Delaware	56

Regional Final Summary

CBS

Sunday, March 22

box score

#3 Stanford Cardinal 79, #8 Rhode Island 77
Scoring by half: 38–38, 41–39
Pts: A. Lee – 26 Rebs: T. Young – 12 Asts: A. Lee – 7		Pts: T. Wheeler – 24 Rebs: A. Reynolds-Dean – 10 Asts: T. Wheeler – 5

Kiel Center – St. Louis, MO
Attendance: 22,172
Referees: Frank Scagliotta, Mike Kitts, Larry Rose

Midwest Regional all-tournament team

Arthur Lee – Stanford (MOP)
Cuttino Mobley – Rhode Island
Tyson Wheeler – Rhode Island
Mark Madsen – Stanford
Bryce Drew – Valparaiso

Final Four – San Antonio, Texas

National semifinals			National Championship Game

E1	North Carolina	59

W3	Utah	65
			W3	Utah	69

			S2	Kentucky	78
S2	Kentucky	86

MW3	Stanford	85

National semifinals

CBS

Saturday, March 28

box score

#2 Kentucky Wildcats 86, #3 Stanford Cardinal 85 (OT)
Scoring by half: 32–37, 41–36 Overtime: 13–12
Pts: J. Sheppard – 27 Rebs: J.Sheppard, H. Evans, S. Padgett – 6 Asts: J. Sheppard, W. Turner – 4		Pts: A. Lee – 26 Rebs: M. Madsen – 16 Asts: A. Lee – 5

Alamodome – San Antonio, TX
Attendance: 40,509
Referees: Tim Higgins, Bob Donato, Larry Rose

CBS

Saturday, March, 28

box score

#3 Utah Utes 65, #1 North Carolina Tar Heels 59
Scoring by half: 35–22, 30–37
Pts: M. Doleac, A. Miller – 16 Rebs: A. Miller – 14 Asts: A. Miller – 7		Pts: V. Carter – 21 Rebs: A. Jamison – 12 Asts: E. Cota – 7

Alamodome – San Antonio, TX
Attendance: 40,590
Referees: John Clougherty, Andre Pattillo, Don Rutledge

National Championship

Main article: 1998 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game

CBS

Monday, March 30

Box score

#2 Kentucky Wildcats 78, #3 Utah Utes 69
Scoring by half: 31–41, 47–28
Pts: S. Padgett – 17 Rebs: H. Evans – 6 Asts: A. Edwards – 5		Pts: A. Miller – 16 Rebs: M. Doleac – 10 Asts: A. Miller – 5

Alamodome – San Antonio, TX
Attendance: 40,509
Referees: Jim Burr, Donnie Gray, Mike Sanzere

Final Four all-tournament team

Announcers

Jim Nantz/Billy Packer/Michele Tafoya – First & Second Round at Atlanta, Georgia; South Regional at St. Petersburg, Florida; Final Four at San Antonio, Texas
Sean McDonough/Bill Raftery/Andrea Joyce – First & Second Round at Washington, D.C.; East Regional at Greensboro, North Carolina
Gus Johnson/Jon Sundvold/Armen Keteyian – First & Second Round at Hartford, Connecticut; West Regional at Anaheim, California
Tim Brando/Al McGuire/Craig James – First & Second Round at Lexington, Kentucky; Midwest Regional at St. Louis, Missouri
Ted Robinson/Rolando Blackman/Beth Mowins – First & Second Round at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Jim Durham/Greg Kelser/Mike Mayock – First & Second Round at Boise, Idaho
Tim Ryan/Dan Bonner/Jimmy Dykes – First & Second Round at Chicago, Illinois
Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel – First & Second Round at Sacramento, California

Greg Gumbel rejoined CBS Sports and for the first time served as the studio host, joined by analyst Clark Kellogg and former North Carolina coach Dean Smith.

References

"NCAA honors all-time greats as part of 75 years of March Madness celebration". NCAA. December 11, 2012. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
"Kentucky 86, Stanford 85 (OT)". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. March 29, 1998. p. C13. Retrieved May 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
"Utah 65, North Carolina 59". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. March 29, 1998. p. C12. Retrieved May 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
"Kentucky 78, Utah 69". Democrat and Chronicle. April 1, 1998. p. 2D. Retrieved May 13, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

v t e NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
Tournaments	1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
Structure	Selection process Venues No. 1 seeds First Four Elite Eight Final four
Champions & awards	List of champions Most Outstanding Player
Media & culture	Blue bloods Bracketology Broadcasting Tournament Final Four Cutting down the nets March Madness pools "One Shining Moment"
Records & statistics	Team records Bids by school Consecutive appearances Final Four participants Final Four appearances by coach Overall records Upsets Team appearances by seed
See also: Division I Women's Tournament, Division II Tournament, Division III Tournament

v t e 1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournaments
Conference	ACC America East Atlantic 10 Big 12 Big East Big Sky Big South Big Ten Big West CAA Conference USA MAAC MCC MEAC Mid-American Mid-Con Missouri Valley Northeast Ohio Valley Patriot SEC Southern Southland SWAC Sun Belt TAAC WAC West Coast
National	NCAA NIT

1997–98 NCAA Division I championships

† Not an officially sanctioned NCAA championship

Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball 1997–98 NCAA champions

Head coach: Tubby Smith

Assistant coaches: Mike Sutton; George Felton; Shawn Finney

Categories:

Schedule and venues

Teams

Automatic qualifiers

Tournament seeds

Bids by conference

Bracket

East Regional – Greensboro, North Carolina

Regional Final Summary

East Regional all-tournament team

West Regional – Anaheim, California

Regional Final Summary

West Regional all-tournament team

South Regional – St. Petersburg, Florida

Regional Final Summary

South Regional all-tournament team

Midwest Regional – St. Louis, Missouri

Regional Final Summary

Midwest Regional all-tournament team

Final Four – San Antonio, Texas

National semifinals

National Championship

Final Four all-tournament team

Announcers

See also

References