1976–77 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Basketball season
The 1976–77 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1976, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1977 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on March 28, 1977, at The Omni in Atlanta , Georgia . The Marquette Warriors won their first NCAA national championship with a 67–59 victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels .
Rule changes
The slam dunk , prohibited in NCAA basketball games and warm-ups since the 1967–68 season because of criticism that it rewarded height rather than skill, once again became legal after a nine-season absence.[ 3] [ 4]
Season headlines
Season outlook
Pre-season polls
The top 20 from the AP Poll during the pre-season.[ 5] [ 6]
Conference membership changes
The Eastern Collegiate Basketball League, with eight members, and the Sun Belt Conference , with six members, both began play this season. The ECBL, popularly known as the "Eastern 8," became the Eastern Athletic Association the following season and eventually became the Atlantic 10 Conference .
The Yankee Conference dropped all sports except football at the end of the previous season , and seven of its members left the conference before this season began.
Although Chattanooga joined the Southern Conference this season, it still was considered a Division II program. It completed its transition to Division I status after the conclusion of the season.
Regular season
Conferences
Conference winners and tournaments
Conference
Regular [ 7]
Conference
Conference
Tournament
Tournament
Atlantic Coast Conference North Carolina Rod Griffin , Wake Forest [ 8] 1977 ACC men's basketball tournament Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina )North Carolina
Big Eight Conference Kansas State Kim Anderson , Missouri , &Mike Evans , Kansas State [ 9] 1977 Big Eight Conference men's basketball tournament Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri )Kansas State
Big Sky Conference Idaho State None selected
1977 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament ISU Minidome Pocatello, Idaho )Idaho State
Big Ten Conference Michigan None Selected
No Tournament
East Coast Conference Hofstra & Temple (East)Lafayette (West)Rich Laurel , Hofstra 1977 East Coast Conference men's basketball tournament Kirby Sports Center Easton, Pennsylvania )Hofstra
Eastern Collegiate Basketball League (Eastern 8) Rutgers (East)Penn State & West Virginia (West)Norm Nixon , Duquesne 1977 Eastern 8 men's basketball tournament The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania )Duquesne
Eastern College Athletic
Division I ECAC members
Tony Hanson , Connecticut [ 10] 1977 ECAC Metro Region tournament
Madison Square Garden New York, New York )
St. John's
1977 ECAC New England Region tournament
Hartford Civic Center Hartford, Connecticut )
Holy Cross
1977 ECAC Southern Region tournament
Campus sites
Syracuse
Ivy League Princeton Frank Sowinski , Princeton [ 11] No Tournament
Metro Conference Louisville Gary Yoder , Cincinnati 1977 Metro Conference men's basketball tournament Mid-South Coliseum Memphis, Tennessee )Cincinnati
Mid-American Conference Central Michigan Matt Hicks , Northern Illinois [ 12] No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference New Mexico State & Southern Illinois Roger Phegley , Bradley 1977 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas )Southern Illinois
Ohio Valley Conference Austin Peay Otis Howard , Austin Peay 1977 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament Dunn Center Clarksville, Tennessee )Middle Tennessee
Pacific-8 Conference UCLA Marques Johnson , UCLA No Tournament
Pacific Coast Athletic Association Long Beach State & San Diego State Lloyd McMillian , Long Beach State 1977 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball tournament Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim, California )Long Beach State
Southeastern Conference Kentucky & Tennessee Ernie Grunfeld , Tennessee , & Bernard King , Tennessee[ 13] No Tournament
Southern Conference Furman & VMI Ron Carter , VMI [ 14] 1977 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Roanoke Civic Center Roanoke, Virginia )VMI [ 15]
Southland Conference Southwest Louisiana Dan Henderson , Arkansas State [ 16] No Tournament
Southwest Conference Arkansas Otis Birdsong , Houston 1977 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament The Summit Houston, Texas )Arkansas
Sun Belt Conference UNC Charlotte Cedric Maxwell , UNC Charlotte [ 17] 1977 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina ) (Finals)UNC Charlotte
West Coast Athletic Conference San Francisco Bill Cartwright , San Francisco No Tournament
Western Athletic Conference Utah None Selected
No Tournament
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 1977 tournament winner received an automatic bid to the 1977 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in the same way that the tournament champions of conventional athletic conferences did.[ 18]
Conference standings
1976–77 Ivy League men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W
L
PCT W
L
PCT
Princeton 13
–
1
.929
21
–
5
.808
Penn 12
–
2
.857
18
–
8
.692
Columbia 8
–
6
.571
16
–
10
.615
Harvard 6
–
8
.429
9
–
16
.360
Cornell 5
–
9
.357
8
–
18
.308
Brown 5
–
9
.357
6
–
20
.231
Yale 4
–
10
.286
6
–
20
.231
Dartmouth 3
–
11
.214
4
–
22
.154
Rankings from AP Poll [ 20]
1976–77 Pacific-8 Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W
L
PCT W
L
PCT
No. 2 UCLA 11
–
3
.786
24
–
5
.828
Oregon 9
–
5
.643
19
–
10
.655
Washington State 8
–
6
.571
19
–
8
.704
Washington 8
–
6
.571
17
–
10
.630
Oregon State 8
–
6
.571
16
–
13
.552
California 7
–
7
.500
12
–
15
.444
Stanford 3
–
11
.214
11
–
16
.407
USC 2
–
12
.143
6
–
20
.231
As of April 15, 1977[ 21] AP Poll
1976–77 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W
L
PCT W
L
PCT
No. 3 Kentucky 16
–
2
.889
26
–
4
.867
No. 15 Tennessee 16
–
2
.889
22
–
6
.786
No. 11 Alabama 14
–
4
.778
25
–
6
.806
Florida 10
–
8
.556
17
–
9
.654
LSU 8
–
10
.444
15
–
12
.556
Mississippi State 6
–
12
.333
14
–
13
.519
Auburn 6
–
12
.333
13
–
13
.500
Vanderbilt 6
–
12
.333
10
–
16
.385
Ole Miss 5
–
13
.278
11
–
16
.407
Georgia 3
–
15
.167
9
–
18
.333
Rankings from AP Poll [ 23]
1976–77 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W
L
PCT W
L
PCT
No. 18 Arkansas †16
–
0
1.000
26
–
2
.929
Houston 13
–
3
.813
29
–
8
.784
Texas Tech 12
–
4
.750
20
–
9
.690
Texas 8
–
8
.500
13
–
13
.500
Texas A&M 8
–
8
.500
14
–
14
.500
SMU 7
–
9
.438
8
–
19
.296
Baylor 5
–
11
.313
11
–
17
.393
Rice 3
–
13
.188
9
–
18
.333
TCU 0
–
16
.000
3
–
23
.115
† 1977 SWC tournament winnerAP Poll
1976–77 WAC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W
L
PCT W
L
PCT
No. 14 Utah 11
–
3
.786
22
–
7
.759
Arizona 11
–
4
.733
21
–
6
.778
New Mexico 8
–
6
.571
19
–
11
.633
Wyoming 8
–
6
.571
17
–
10
.630
Colorado State 6
–
8
.429
13
–
12
.520
Arizona State 6
–
9
.400
15
–
13
.536
BYU 4
–
10
.286
12
–
15
.444
UTEP 3
–
11
.214
11
–
15
.423
Rankings from AP Poll
Division I independents
A total of 74 college teams played as Division I independents . Among them, UNLV (29–3) had both the best winning percentage (.906) and the most wins.[ 26] [ 27]
The New Jersey-New York 7 Conference was an informal scheduling alliance made up of Columbia, Fordham , Manhattan , Princeton , Rutgers , St. John's , and Seton Hall. The Philadelphia Big 5 was an informal scheduling alliance composed of La Salle , Penn, St. Joseph's , Temple, and Villanova .
Statistical leaders
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(April 2021 )
Post-season tournaments
NCAA tournament
Final Four
National Invitation tournament
Awards
Consensus All-American teams
Major player of the year awards
Major coach of the year awards
Other major awards
Coaching changes
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.
References
^ 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 .^ Fitzpatrick, Frank, "When college basketball outlawed the dunk," Philadelphia Inquirer , March 23, 2014 Accessed April 6, 2021 ^ "Burnsed, Brian, "A Brief History of Men's College Basketball," Champion , Fall 2018 Accessed April 6, 2021" . Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021 .^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia . Random House . 2009. p. 836. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2 ^ "1977 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll" . College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020 .^ "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^ Carson, Chris, "UConn Basketball: The Top 50 Players in School History," Bleacher Report, November 8, 2011 Accessed April 3, 2021 ^ 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 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^ 2007–08 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Media Guide , Sun Belt Conference , retrieved 2009-02-07^ Varsity Pride: ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments ^ sports-reference.com 1976-77 Big Eight Conference Season Summary ^ sports-reference.com 1976-77 Ivy Group Season Summary ^ "2017-18 Men's Basketball Media Guide" . Pac-12 Conference. p. 72. Retrieved February 16, 2018 .^ "1976-77 Pacific Coast Athletic Association Season Summary" . Sports Reference . Retrieved June 9, 2019 .^ sports-reference.com 1976-77 Southeastern Conference Season Summary ^ "1976-77 Men's Southland Conference Season Summary" . Sports Reference . Retrieved August 20, 2024 .^ 1976-77 Men's West Coast Athletic Conference Season Summary Sports Reference Accessed August 20, 2024 ^ "1976-77 Men's Independent Season Summary" . Sports Reference . Retrieved August 20, 2024 .^ "1976-77 Men's New Jersey-New York 7 Conference Season Summary" . Sports Reference . Retrieved August 20, 2024 .
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