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2007–08 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
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| 2007–08 NCAA Division I men's basketball season | |
|---|---|
 The Alamodome was the site of the season ending Final Four and Championship game for 2007-08. | |
| Preseason AP No. 1 | North Carolina Tar Heels |
| Regular season | November 5, 2007– March 16, 2008 |
| NCAA Tournament | 2008 |
| Tournament dates | March 20 – April 7, 2008 |
| National Championship | Alamodome San Antonio, Texas |
| NCAA Champions | Kansas |
| Other champions | Ohio State (NIT), Tulsa (CBI) |
| Player of the Year (Naismith, Wooden) | Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina |
The 2007–08 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 5, 2007 ended with the 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April 7, 2008, in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Season headlines
- Behind Mario Chalmers' clutch three-pointer at the end of regulation, the Kansas Jayhawks won an overtime battle against the Memphis Tigers to take their third NCAA tournament title, twenty years after Danny Manning led the Jayhawks to their last championship. Bill Self sheds the title of "best coach never to go to a Final Four" in dramatic fashion.
- For the first time since teams were seeded for the NCAA tournament, all four number one seeds (Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina, and UCLA) advanced to the Final Four.[1]
- In February, Kelvin Sampson agreed to a buyout and was relieved of his duties as coach of Indiana University following a recruiting scandal concerning impermissible phone calls. Dan Dakich was named interim coach, but the damage had been done as the Hoosiers (ranked No. 14 at the time Sampson was fired) go 3–4 the rest of the season and bow out to Arkansas in a listless performance in the first round of the NCAA tournament.[2] After the season, IU hired Marquette coach Tom Crean to tackle the major rebuilding job ahead.
- Sophomore Stephen Curry put on a shooting display as the Davidson Wildcats upset Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin - then narrowly succumbed to eventual champion Kansas 59–57 - to go to their first Elite Eight since 1969. Curry scored 40, 30, 33 and 25 points in the four games and was named the Midwest Region Most Outstanding Player.[3]
- North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough and Kansas State's Michael Beasley engaged in a season-long battle for National player of the year honors. Hansbrough swept the POY awards, while Beasley won all Freshman of the Year awards and joined Hansbrough as a unanimous first-team All-American.
- Memphis flirted with being the first undefeated team since 1976. They started the season 26–0, but on February 23 cross-state rival Tennessee defeated the Tigers 66–62 on Memphis' home floor in a battle of the #1 and #2 teams.[4] The Tigers finished the season 38–2, setting a single-season record for wins. However, all 38 wins were vacated by the NCAA in 2009, due to an invalid SAT score for star Derrick Rose.[5]
- After beating Memphis, Tennessee attained the #1 ranking for the first time in school history.[6] They lost their next game at Vanderbilt.
- The preseason AP All-American team was named on November 5. Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina was the leading vote-getter (71 of 72 votes). The rest of the team included Roy Hibbert of Georgetown (62 votes), Chris Lofton of Tennessee (61), Drew Neitzel of Michigan State (31) and Darren Collison of UCLA (31).[7]
- The Drake Bulldogs — picked in the preseason to finish ninth in the 10-team Missouri Valley Conference[8] — had a dream season, starting 13–0, finishing 28–5 - and were ranked as high as #14 at one point during the season. Drake's charge was led by an unlikely hero — senior point guard Adam Emmenecker, a three-year walk-on who would go on to capture both the MVC's regular-season and tournament Most Valuable Player awards.
- On February 4, career coaching wins leader Bob Knight retired as head coach of Texas Tech,[9] handing the reins to his son Pat. Knight would reappear as a studio host for ESPN in the postseason.
- A severe storm ripped a hole in the Georgia Dome, wreaking havoc on the SEC tournament. After game delays and a venue change, the Georgia Bulldogs scored an unlikely championship run that included winning two games in one day.[10]
- At Arizona, coach Lute Olson took an unexpected leave of absence just prior to the season's start. Kevin O'Neill, assistant coach and supposed Olson successor, was named interim coach. Olson announced he would return for 2008–09 and did not retain O'Neill on his staff as rumors of a disagreement between the two swirled.[11]
- The first College Basketball Invitational was held, offering a post-season alternative to teams not selected for the NCAA tournament or NIT. Tulsa defeats Bradley in a best of three series to take the inaugural title.
- Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser died at 56 of an apparent heart attack the July before the season began.[12] Assistant Dino Gaudio was named successor and led the Deacons through an emotional year punctuated by an upset of Duke.
- Lester Hudson of Tennessee-Martin recorded the first-ever quadruple-double in NCAA history. Against Central Baptist College, Hudson scored 25 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, dished out 10 assists and recorded 10 steals in a 116–74 win.[13]
- On January 23, Baylor beat Texas A&M 116–110 in five overtimes in the season's longest (and perhaps wildest) game.[14]
- Houston's Rob McKiver scored 52 points (including seven three-pointers) in a game against Southern Mississippi to set the single-game scoring high for the season.[15]
- Stephen Curry broke the NCAA record for three-pointers made in a season, connecting on 162. The previous record had been held by Butler's Darrin Fitzgerald set in 1987.[16]
- Mike Krzyzewski,[17] and Eddie Sutton[18] each won their 800th career games.
- North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough, Tennessee's Chris Lofton, Vanderbilt's Shan Foster, Virginia's Sean Singletary, Western Kentucky's Courtney Lee, Utah State's Jaycee Carroll, Colorado's Richard Roby, UNC Greensboro's Kyle Hines, High Point's Arizona Reid, Rider's Jason Thompson, Hofstra's Antoine Agudio, New Orleans' Bo McCalebb and VMI's Reggie Williams all eclipsed the career 2000-point mark during the season.
- Effective this season, the Mid-Continent Conference changed its name to The Summit League.
- Presbyterian, Cal State Bakersfield, Florida Gulf Coast, South Carolina Upstate and North Carolina Central, all moved up to Division I competition.
- Conference realignments: IPFW, North Dakota State and South Dakota State began play in the Summit League, while UC Davis competed in the Big West Conference for the first time. All four programs were independent in 2006–07. Valparaiso began play in the Horizon League after leaving the Summit League. Florida Gulf Coast and South Carolina Upstate joined the Atlantic Sun Conference.
- Charles Barkley, Arnie Ferrin, Danny Manning, Billy Packer, Jim Phelan, Nolan Richardson and Dick Vitale were inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.[19]
- Billy Packer announced his last Final Four after 34 years of broadcasting the event.[20]
Major rule changes
Beginning in 2007–08, the following rules changes were implemented:[21]
- During free throws, eliminated the first lane space nearest the basket on each side of the lane and used the second, third and fourth lane space on each side as an alignment for free throws. This rule had been used in NCAA women's basketball since the 2001–02 season.
- Use of courtside monitor allowed for determining whether a flagrant foul occurred or to assess the situation during a fight.
Season outlook
Pre-season polls
The top 25 from the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls November 5, 2007.[22]
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Conference membership changes
These schools joined new conferences for the 2007–08 season.
| School | Former conference | New conference |
|---|---|---|
| Florida Gulf Coast | NCAA Division II | Atlantic Sun Conference |
| IPFW | NCAA Division I Independent | Summit League |
| North Carolina Central | NCAA Division II | NCAA Division I Independent |
| North Dakota State | NCAA Division I Independent | Summit League |
| Presbyterian | NCAA Division II | Big South Conference |
| South Dakota State | NCAA Division I Independent | Summit League |
| UC Davis | NCAA Division I Independent | Big West Conference |
| USC Upstate | NCAA Division II | Atlantic Sun Conference |
| Valparaiso | Summit League | Horizon League |
| Winston-Salem State | NCAA Division I Independent | Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference |
Regular season
Conference winners and tournaments
Thirty athletic conferences each end their regular seasons with a single-elimination tournament. The teams in each conference that win their regular season title are given the number one seed in each tournament. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The Ivy League doesn't have a conference tournament, and Cornell, who won the regular season title,[23] received their automatic invitation.