1991–92 NCAA Division I men's basketball season explained

Year:	1991
Preseason Ap:	Duke
Tourney Start:	March 19, 1992
Nc Date:	April 6, 1992
Champ Stad:	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Champ City:	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Champ:	Duke
Nit Champ:	Virginia
Playeroftheyear:	Christian Laettner, Duke

The 1991–92 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1991 and ended with the Final Four at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota on April 6, 1992.

Season headlines

Michigan became the first program to land four McDonald's All-Americans – Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, and Jimmy King – in a single recruiting class. Joined by Ray Jackson, the group of freshmen was known as the Fab Five.
The 1992 East Regional Final, a 104-103 Duke win over Kentucky in overtime, is considered by many to be the greatest NCAA tournament game (or college basketball game overall) of all time.^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5]
Duke held the #1 ranking in both polls the entire season, played in its fifth consecutive Final Four, and became the first repeat national champion since the 1972–73 UCLA Bruins.

Major rule changes

Beginning in 1991–92, the following rules changes were implemented:

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The top 25 from the AP Poll and Coaches Poll during the pre-season.^[6]

Associated Press
Ranking	Team
1	Duke
2	Indiana
3	Arkansas
4	Kentucky
5	Arizona
6	LSU
7	Ohio State
8	North Carolina
9	Seton Hall
10	St. John's
11	UCLA
12	Kansas
13
14
15	Connecticut
16	Georgetown
17	Alabama
18	DePaul
19	Oklahoma
20	Michigan
21	Iowa
22	Wake Forest
23	Georgia Tech
24
25	Louisville

UPI Coaches
Ranking	Team
1	Duke
2	Indiana
3	Arkansas
4	North Carolina
5	Ohio State
6	LSU
7	Arizona
8	Kentucky
9	Seton Hall
10	St. John's
11	UCLA
12
13	Kansas
14	Georgetown
15	Connecticut
16	Alabama
17
18	Wake Forest
19	Michigan
20	Iowa
21	Oklahoma
22
23	DePaul
24	Georgia Tech
25	Texas

Conference membership changes

These schools joined new conferences for the 1991–92 season.

School	Former conference	New conference
Arkansas	Southwest Conference	Southeastern Conference
Arkansas-Little Rock	Trans America Athletic Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Arkansas State	American South Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Brooklyn	NCAA Division I Independent	East Coast Conference
Buffalo	Mideast Collegiate Conference (D-II)	East Coast Conference
Cincinnati	Metro Conference	Great Midwest Conference
College of Charleston	NAIA Independent	NCAA Division I Independent
Delaware	East Coast Conference	North Atlantic Conference
DePaul	NCAA Division I Independent	Great Midwest Conference
Drexel	East Coast Conference	North Atlantic Conference
Florida International	NCAA Division I Independent	Trans America Athletic Conference
Lamar	American South Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Louisiana Tech	American South Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Marquette	Midwestern Collegiate Conference	Great Midwest Conference
Memphis State	Metro Conference	Great Midwest Conference
Miami (FL)	NCAA Division I Independent	Big East Conference
Navy	Colonial Athletic Association	Patriot League
New Orleans	American South Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Northern Iowa	Mid-Continent Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Old Dominion	Sun Belt Conference	Colonial Athletic Association
Saint Louis	Midwestern Collegiate Conference	Great Midwest Conference
South Carolina	Metro Conference	Southeastern Conference
Southeast Missouri State	Missouri Intercoll. Athletics Assn. (D-II)	Ohio Valley Conference
SE Louisiana	NCAA Division I Independent	Trans America Athletic Conference
SW Louisiana	American South Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Nicholls State	NCAA Division I Independent	Southland Conference
Texas-Rio Grande Valley	American South Conference	Sun Belt Conference
UAB	Sun Belt Conference	Great Midwest Conference
UCF	American South Conference	Sun Belt Conference
UNC Charlotte	Sun Belt Conference	Metro Conference
UTSA	Trans America Athletic Conference	Southland Conference
VCU	Sun Belt Conference	Metro Conference
Wright State	NCAA Division I Independent	Mid-Continent Conference

Regular season

Conference winners and tournaments

Regular season first place	Conference player of the year	Conference Coach of the Year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (city)	Tournament winner
UMass	Harper Williams, UMass	Al Skinner, Rhode Island	1992 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament	McGonigle Hall & The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Curry Hicks Cage Amherst, Massachusetts	UMass
Duke	Christian Laettner, Duke	Pat Kennedy, Florida State	1992 ACC men's basketball tournament	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina	Duke
Georgetown, St. John's, & Seton Hall	Alonzo Mourning, Georgetown	John Thompson, Georgetown	1992 Big East men's basketball tournament	Madison Square Garden New York, New York	Syracuse
Kansas	Anthony Peeler, Missouri	Roy Williams, Kansas	1992 Big Eight Conference men's basketball tournament	Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri	Kansas
Montana	Kevin Soares, Nevada, & Montana	Blaine Taylor, Montana	1992 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament	Dahlberg Arena Missoula, Montana	Montana
Radford	Tony Dunkin, Coastal Carolina	Ron Bradley, Radford	1992 Big South Conference men's basketball tournament	Civic Center of Anderson Anderson, South Carolina	Campbell
Ohio State	Jim Jackson, Ohio State	Randy Ayers, Ohio State	No Tournament
UNLV	Lucius Davis,	Jerry Pimm, & UNLV	1992 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament	Long Beach Arena Long Beach, California	New Mexico State
James Madison & Richmond	Curtis Blair, Richmond	Lefty Driesell, James Madison	1992 CAA men's basketball tournament	Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia	Old Dominion
Hofstra	Terrance Jacobs, Towson State		1992 East Coast Conference men's basketball tournament	RAC Arena Catonsville, Maryland	Towson State
Cincinnati & DePaul	Penny Hardaway, Memphis State		1992 Great Midwest Conference men's basketball tournament	Chicago Stadium Chicago, Illinois	Cincinnati
Princeton	Sean Jackson, Princeton	Not named	No Tournament
Tulane	Clarence Weatherspoon, Southern Miss	Perry Clark, Tulane	1992 Metro Conference men's basketball tournament	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky	UNC Charlotte
Manhattan	Randy Woods, La Salle	Steve Lappas, Manhattan	1992 MAAC men's basketball tournament	Knickerbocker Arena Albany, New York	La Salle
Miami (OH)	Lewis Geter, Ohio	Bob Donewald, Western Michigan	1992 MAC men's basketball tournament	Cobo Arena Detroit, Michigan	Miami (OH)
Wisconsin–Green Bay	Tony Bennett, Wisconsin–Green Bay	Dick Bennett, Wisconsin–Green Bay	1992 Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball tournament	CSU Convocation Center Cleveland, Ohio	Eastern Illinois
Howard &	DeLon Turner,	Butch Beard, Howard	1992 MEAC men's basketball tournament	Norfolk Scope Norfolk, Virginia	Howard
Evansville	Parrish Casebier, Evansville	Jim Crews, Evansville	1992 Midwestern Collegiate Conference men's basketball tournament	Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio	Evansville
Illinois State & Southern Illinois	Ashraf Amaya, Southern Illinois	Bob Bender, Illinois State	1992 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament	St. Louis Arena St. Louis, Missouri	Southwest Missouri State
Delaware	Kevin Roberson, Vermont	Steve Steinwedel, Delaware	1992 North Atlantic Conference men's basketball tournament	Delaware Field House, Newark, Delaware	Delaware
Robert Morris	Myron Walker, Robert Morris	Tim Capstraw, Wagner	1992 Northeast Conference men's basketball tournament	Charles L. Sewall Center Moon Township, Pennsylvania	Robert Morris
Murray State	Brett Roberts, Morehead State	Scott Edgar, Murray State	1992 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky	Murray State
UCLA	Harold Miner, USC	George Raveling, USC	No Tournament
Bucknell & Fordham	Patrick King, Bucknell	Jack Bruen, Colgate	1992 Patriot League men's basketball tournament	Stabler Arena Bethlehem, Pennsylvania	Fordham
Kentucky (East) Arkansas (West)	Shaquille O'Neal, LSU	Lon Kruger, Florida	1992 SEC men's basketball tournament	Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Birmingham, Alabama	Kentucky
Chattanooga & East Tennessee State	Terry Boyd, Western Carolina, & Chattanooga	Mack McCarthy, Chattanooga	1992 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Asheville Civic Center Asheville, North Carolina	East Tennessee State
Texas–San Antonio	Ryan Stuart, Northeast Louisiana	Rickey Broussard, Nicholls State	1992 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament	Convocation Center San Antonio, Texas	Northeast Louisiana
Houston & Texas	Will Flemons, Texas Tech	James Dickey, Texas Tech, &, Houston	1992 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament	Reunion Arena Dallas, Texas	Houston
& Texas Southern	Steve Rogers, Alabama State	Lafayette Stribling, Mississippi Valley State	1992 SWAC men's basketball tournament	Riverside Centroplex Baton Rouge, Louisiana	Mississippi Valley State
Louisiana Tech & Southwestern Louisiana	Ron Ellis, Louisiana Tech	Marty Fletcher, Louisiana Tech	1992 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament	Mississippi Coast Coliseum Biloxi, Mississippi	Southwestern Louisiana
Georgia Southern	Tony Windless, Georgia Southern	Frank Kerns, Georgia Southern	1992 TAAC men's basketball tournament	Hanner Fieldhouse Statesboro, Georgia	Georgia Southern
Pepperdine	Doug Christie, Pepperdine	Tom Asbury, Pepperdine	1992 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament	Chiles Center Portland, Oregon	Pepperdine
BYU & UTEP	Reggie Slater, Wyoming	Roger Reid, BYU	1992 WAC men's basketball tournament	Moby Arena Fort Collins, Colorado	BYU

Statistical leaders

PPG	Player	School	RPG	APG	Player	School	BPG

28.1			14.4	8.8			5.2
27.6	Shaquille O'Neal	LSU	14.0	8.5			5.0
27.5			13.2	8.3			5.0
27.3			12.2	7.8			4.0
27.3			12.2	7.8	Vin Baker	Hartford	3.7

Conference standings

Postseason tournaments

NCAA Tournament

See main article: 1992 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

signifies Michigan's final two games, in the 1992 Final Four, 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.

National Invitation Tournament

See main article: 1992 National Invitation Tournament.

NIT Semifinals and Final

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

See main article: 1992 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans.

**Consensus First Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Jimmy Jackson	G/F	Junior	Ohio State
Christian Laettner	F	Senior	Duke
Harold Miner	G	Junior	Southern California
Alonzo Mourning	C	Senior	Georgetown
Shaquille O'Neal	C	Junior	LSU

**Consensus Second Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Byron Houston	F	Senior	Oklahoma State
Don MacLean	F	Senior	UCLA
Anthony Peeler	G	Senior	Missouri
Malik Sealy	G/F	Senior	St. John's
Walt Williams	G	Senior	Maryland

Coaching changes

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

Team	Former Coach	New Coach	Reason
Canisius	Marty Marbach	John Beilein
Manhattan	Steve Lappas	Fran Fraschilla	Lappas left for Villanova and Providence assistant Fraschilla replaced him.^[7]
St. John's	Lou Carnesecca	Brian Mahoney	Carnesecca retired after 27 years and assistant Mahoney replaced him.^[8]
UNLV	Jerry Tarkanian	Rollie Massimino	Tarkanian left to coach the San Antonio Spurs and Massimino replaced him.
Villanova	Rollie Massimino	Steve Lappas	Massimino left to coach UNLV and Lappas replaced him.

Notes and References

Web site: Greatest 63 games in NCAA Tournament history . . March 25, 2002 . March 10, 2018 .
Web site: Top 10 NCAA Tournament games of all-time . . March 19, 2015 . March 10, 2018 .
Web site: Kentucky-Duke: The greatest game ever played . . March 25, 2017 . March 10, 2018 .
Web site: Best team, moment and players recognized on tournament's 75th anniversary . . April 5, 2013 . March 10, 2018 .
Web site: Revisiting the Greatest Game Ever Played: The 1992 East Regional Finals . . March 29, 2009 . March 10, 2018 .
- Book: ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 998. 2009. 978-0-345-51392-2.
Web site: Manhattan hires Fraschilla. May 4, 1992. New York Times. May 8, 2021.
News: Muscatine. Alison. Carnesecca of St. John's announces retirement. April 14, 1992. The Washington Post. May 8, 2021.