1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament explained

Year:1998
Teams:64
Finalfourarena:Alamodome
Finalfourcity:San Antonio, Texas
Champions:Kentucky Wildcats
Titlecount:7th
Champgamecount:10th
Champffcount:13th
Runnerup:Utah Utes
Gamecount:2nd
Runnerffcount:4th
Semifinal1:North Carolina Tar Heels
Finalfourcount:14th
Semifinal2:Stanford Cardinal
Finalfourcount2:2nd
Coach:Tubby Smith
Coachcount:1st
Mop:Jeff Sheppard
Mopteam:Kentucky
Attendance:663,876
Topscorer:Michael Doleac
Topscorerteam:Utah
Points:115

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.[1]

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

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

First and Second Rounds

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

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
ConferenceTeamAppearanceLast bid
ACCNorth Carolina32nd1997
America EastDelaware3rd1993
Atlantic 10Xavier12th1997
Big 12Kansas27th1997
Big EastConnecticut19th1995
Big SkyNorthern Arizona1st
Big SouthRadford1st
Big TenMichigan (vacated)–1995
Big WestUtah State12th1988
CAARichmond6th1991
Conference USACincinnati17th1997
Ivy LeaguePrinceton21st1997
MAACIona4th1985
MACEastern Michigan4th1996
MCCButler3rd1997
MEACSouth Carolina State3rd1996
Mid-ContinentValparaiso3rd1997
Missouri ValleyIllinois State6th1997
NECFairleigh Dickinson3rd1988
Ohio ValleyMurray State9th1997
Pac-10Arizona17th1997
PatriotNavy11th1997
SECKentucky39th1997
SouthernDavidson6th1986
SouthlandNicholls State2nd1995
SWACPrairie View A&M1st
Sun BeltSouth Alabama6th1997
TAACCollege of Charleston3rd1997
WACUNLV13th1991
West CoastSan Francisco16th1982

Tournament seeds

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East Regional – Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type
1North CarolinaACC30–3Automatic
2ConnecticutBig East29–4Automatic
3South CarolinaSEC22–6At-Large
4Michigan StateBig Ten20–7At-Large
5PrincetonIvy League26–1Automatic
6XavierAtlantic 1022–7Automatic
7IndianaBig Ten19–11At-Large
8UNC CharlotteConference USA19–10At-Large
9UICMCC22–5At-Large
10OklahomaBig 1222–10At-Large
11WashingtonPac-1018–9At-Large
12UNLVWAC20–12Automatic
13Eastern MichiganMAC20–9Automatic
14RichmondCAA22–7Automatic
15Fairleigh DickinsonNEC23–6Automatic
16NavyPatriot19–10Automatic
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South Regional – Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type
1DukeACC29–3At-Large
2KentuckySEC29–4Automatic
3Michigan (vacated)Big Ten24–8Automatic
4New MexicoWAC23–7At-Large
5SyracuseBig East24–8At-Large
6UCLAPac-1022–8At-Large
7UMassAtlantic 1021–10At-Large
8Oklahoma StateBig 1221–7At-Large
9George WashingtonAtlantic 1024–8At-Large
10Saint LouisConference USA21–10At-Large
11Miami (FL)Big East18–9At-Large
12IonaMAAC27–5Automatic
13ButlerMCC22–10Automatic
14DavidsonSouthern20–9Automatic
15South Carolina StateMEAC22–7Automatic
16RadfordBig South20–9Automatic
valign=top
West Regional – Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, Anaheim, California
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type
1ArizonaPac-1027–4Automatic
2CincinnatiConference USA26–5Automatic
3UtahWAC25–3At-Large
4MarylandACC19–10At-Large
5IllinoisBig Ten22–9At-Large
6ArkansasSEC23–8At-Large
7TempleAtlantic 1021–8At-Large
8TennesseeSEC20–8At-Large
9Illinois StateMissouri Valley24–5Automatic
10West VirginiaBig East22–8At-Large
11NebraskaBig 1220–11At-Large
12South AlabamaSun Belt21–6Automatic
13Utah StateBig West25–7Automatic
14San FranciscoWest Coast19–10Automatic
15Northern ArizonaBig Sky21–7Automatic
16Nicholls StateSouthland19–9Automatic
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Midwest Regional – Kiel Center, St. Louis, Missouri
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type
1KansasBig 1234–3Automatic
2PurdueBig Ten26–7At-Large
3StanfordPac-1026–4At-Large
4Ole MissSEC22–6At-Large
5TCUWAC27–5At-Large
6ClemsonACC18–13At-Large
7St. John'sBig East22–9At-Large
8Rhode IslandAtlantic 1022–8At-Large
9Murray StateOhio Valley29–3Automatic
10DetroitMCC24–5At-Large
11Western MichiganMid-American20–7At-Large
12Florida StateACC17–13At-Large
13ValparaisoMid-Continent21–9Automatic
14College of CharlestonTAAC24–5Automatic
15DelawareAmerica East20–9Automatic
16Prairie View A&MSWAC13–16Automatic

Bids by conference

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

Bracket

East Regional – Greensboro, North Carolina

East Regional all-tournament team

West Regional – Anaheim, California

West Regional all-tournament team

South Regional – St. Petersburg, Florida

  1. 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.

South Regional all-tournament team

Midwest Regional – St. Louis, Missouri

Midwest Regional all-tournament team

Final Four – San Antonio, Texas

National Championship

See main article: 1998 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game.

Final Four all-tournament team

Announcers

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.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: NCAA honors all-time greats as part of 75 years of March Madness celebration . . December 11, 2012 . April 4, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304195928/http://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/marchmadness75/2012-12-10/ncaa-honors-all-time-greats-part-75-years-march-madness-celebrat . March 4, 2016 . dead .

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