🏀 The 1976-77 men’s college basketball season

What the record holds for this season: the champion, the tournament bracket, the AP poll week by week, the conference tables, and the Elo ratings with the biggest upsets.

Source: Citizen of Nowhere college basketball database · 22 conferences · 32-team tournament

← 1976 1978 →All seasons

Jump to any season1896–2027

2020s

2027livein progress 2026Michigan 2025Florida 2024Connecticut 2023Connecticut 2022Kansas 2021Baylor 2020cancelled

2010s

2019Virginia 2018Villanova 2017North Carolina 2016Villanova 2015Duke 2014Connecticut 2013Louisville 2012Kentucky 2011Connecticut 2010Duke

2000s

2009North Carolina 2008Kansas 2007Florida 2006Florida 2005North Carolina 2004Connecticut 2003Syracuse 2002Maryland 2001Duke 2000Michigan State

1990s

1999Connecticut 1998Kentucky 1997Arizona 1996Kentucky 1995UCLA 1994Arkansas 1993North Carolina 1992Duke 1991Duke 1990UNLV

1980s

1989Michigan 1988Kansas 1987Indiana 1986Louisville 1985Villanova 1984Georgetown 1983North Carolina State 1982North Carolina 1981Indiana 1980Louisville

1970s

1979Michigan State 1978Kentucky 1977Marquette 1976Indiana 1975UCLA 1974North Carolina State 1973UCLA 1972UCLA 1971UCLA 1970UCLA

1960s

1969UCLA 1968UCLA 1967UCLA 1966Texas Western 1965UCLA 1964UCLA 1963Loyola-Chicago 1962Cincinnati 1961Cincinnati 1960Ohio State

1950s

1959California 1958Kentucky 1957North Carolina 1956San Francisco 1955San Francisco 1954La Salle 1953Indiana 1952Kansas 1951Kentucky 1950CCNY

1940s

1949Kentucky 1948Kentucky 1947Holy Cross 1946Oklahoma A&M 1945Oklahoma A&M 1944Utah 1943Wyoming 1942Stanford 1941Wisconsin 1940Indiana

1930s

1939Oregon 1938Temple 1937Stanford 1936 1935 1934 1933 1932Purdue 1931Northwestern 1930

1920s

1929Montana State 1928Pittsburgh 1927 1926Syracuse 1925Princeton 1924North Carolina 1923 1922 1921 1920Pennsylvania

1910s

1919 1918Syracuse 1917Washington State 1916Wisconsin 1915Illinois 1914Wisconsin 1913Navy 1912Wisconsin 1911St. John's 1910

1900s

1909Chicago 1908 1907 1906 1905Columbia 1904Columbia 1903 1902Minnesota 1901 1900

1890s

1899 1898 1897 1896

1977season

← 1976 1978 →

1976-77 national champion

The NCAA tournament winner.

National champion

Marquette

25-7Final AP #7

Title gameMarquette 67, North Carolina 59 (Mar 28)

Final FourMarquetteNorth CarolinaUNC CharlotteUNLV

The 1977 NCAA tournament

32 teams. Winners in bold, seeds before each team.

32-team field · 4 regions

First Round

Arizona77

Second Round

Regional Finals

Midwest region

First Round

Arizona77

Second Round

Regional Finals

East region

First Round

VMI73

Purdue66

Hofstra83

Second Round

VMI78

Regional Finals

West region

First Round

UCLA87

UNLV121

Utah72

Second Round

Idaho State76

UCLA75

UNLV88

Utah83

Regional Finals

Idaho State90

UNLV107

Mideast region

First Round

Detroit93

Middle Tennessee State76

Second Round

Detroit81

Regional Finals

Final Four and the title game

Final Four

Marquette51

UNC Charlotte49

Mar 26

North Carolina84

UNLV83

East vs West · Mar 26

Championship game: Marquette

Marquette67

North Carolina59

Midwest vs East · Mar 28

Third-place games

UNC Charlotte94

UNLV106

Third Place Game · Mar 28

Conference tournaments

The champion and the other finalist of each of the 13 conference tournaments held in 1976-77.

Conference	Champion	Runner-up	Final
Atlantic Coast	North Carolina 75-69, Mar 5	Virginia	75-69, Mar 5
Big Eight	Kansas State 72-67, Mar 4	Missouri	72-67, Mar 4
Big Sky	Idaho State 61-55, Mar 5	Weber State	61-55, Mar 5
East Coast	Hofstra	La Salle
Eastern Collegiate	Duquesne 57-54, Mar 5	Villanova	57-54, Mar 5
Metro	Cincinnati 74-61, Mar 5	Georgia Tech	74-61, Mar 5
Mid-Eastern	Morgan State	Howard
Missouri Valley	Southern Illinois 82-69, Mar 5	West Texas State	82-69, Mar 5
Ohio Valley	Middle Tennessee State 77-65, Mar 5	Austin Peay	77-65, Mar 5
Pacific Coast	Long Beach State	San Jose State
Southern	VMI 69-67, Feb 28	Appalachian State	69-67, Feb 28
Southwest	Arkansas 84-70, Mar 5	Houston	84-70, Mar 5
Sun Belt	UNC Charlotte 71-70, Mar 9	New Orleans	71-70, Mar 9

The 1976-77 AP poll, week by week

Each team's rank in every poll. Tap a rank to read it.

Team	Nov23	30	Dec7	14	21	28	Jan4	11	18	25	Feb1	8	15	22	Mar1	8	15
Michigan	1	1	1	1	1	1	5	6	5	2	7	5	5	3	3	1	1
UCLA	4	3	3	9	8	8	7	12	10	8	2	2	3	5	4	2	2
Kentucky	6	5	4	3	7	6	3	2	6	6	3	3	2	2	2	6	3
UNLV	7	6	5	12	12	11	9	8	7	5	4	10	6	4	5	5	4
North Carolina	3	9	12	11	10	9	6	5	4	4	13	14	13	9	6	4	5
Syracuse			20	15	17	18	19		20	17	17	17	20	15	13	10	6
Marquette	2	2	2	2	6	12	12	11	8	9	6	9	9	18	19	16	7
San Francisco	11	10	6	5	3	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	8
Wake Forest		14	11	10	9	7	10	7	9	10	5	4	7	11	16		9
Notre Dame	14	8	7	4	2	2	8	19								15	10
Alabama	13	13	10	7	5	4	4	4	3	3	8	7	4	8	12	12	11
Detroit											20	19	15	16	15	17	12
Minnesota					20	15	13	9	11	13	10	8	12	13	9	9	13
Utah					16	19								20	20	19	14
Tennessee	16	15	15		19				14	7	11	11	14	7	11	7	15
Kansas State																	16
UNC Charlotte		20														18	17
Arkansas				19	18	17	18	16	17	15	14	13	11	6	7	8	18
Louisville	9	7	14	17	13	14	14	13	12	11	9	6	8	10	10	14	19
VMI												20	19				20
Cincinnati	12	12	8	6	4	5	2	3	2	12	12	12	10	14	14	11
Providence							17	15	15	14	15	16	16	12	8	13
Arizona	10	11	9	8	14	13	11	10	16	16	19	18	17		17	20
Clemson			16	13	11	10	16	17		19	16	15	18	19	18
Oregon								20						17
Purdue									19	18	18
Memphis State							20	18	18	20
Maryland	8	16	17	14	15	16	15	14	13
Auburn						20
Indiana	5	4	13	16
Southern Illinois		17	18	18
St. John's				20
DePaul	18	18	19
Rutgers	17	19
North Carolina State	15
Missouri	20

Tap a rank to read it.

1977 final AP Top 20

The last Associated Press ranking of the season, with each team's record.

1977 final AP Top 20AP

1Michigan26-4
2UCLA24-5
3Kentucky26-4
4UNLV29-3
5North Carolina28-5
6Syracuse26-4
7Marquette25-7
8San Francisco29-2
9Wake Forest22-8
10Notre Dame22-7

11Alabama25-6
12Detroit25-4
13Minnesota24-3
14Utah22-7
15Tennessee22-6
16Kansas State23-8
17UNC Charlotte28-5
18Arkansas26-2
19Louisville21-7
20VMI26-4

1977 standings by conference

Overall and conference record. A star marks the regular-season champion, a trophy the conference-tournament champion.

1977 standings by conference22 conferences

Atlantic Coast7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
North Carolina	28-5	9-3	★ 🏆 NCAA AP 5
Clemson	22-6	8-4
Wake Forest	22-8	8-4	NCAA AP 9
Maryland	19-8	7-5
North Carolina State	17-11	6-6
Duke	14-13	2-10
Virginia	12-17	2-10

Big Eight8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Kansas State	23-8	11-3	★ 🏆 NCAA AP 16
Missouri	21-8	9-5
Oklahoma	18-10	9-5
Kansas	18-10	8-6
Nebraska	15-14	7-7
Colorado	11-16	5-9
Oklahoma State	10-17	4-10
Iowa State	7-20	3-11

Big Sky8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Idaho State	25-5	13-1	★ 🏆 NCAA
Weber State	20-8	11-3
Montana	18-8	9-5
Gonzaga	11-16	7-7
Boise State	10-16	5-9
Montana State	9-17	5-9
Northern Arizona	11-15	3-11
Idaho	5-21	3-11

Big Ten10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Michigan	26-4	16-2	★ NCAA AP 1
Minnesota	24-3	15-3	AP 13
Purdue	19-9	13-5	NCAA
Iowa	18-9	10-8
Indiana	14-13	9-9
Michigan State	10-17	7-11
Illinois	14-16	6-12
Wisconsin	9-18	5-13
Northwestern	7-20	5-13
Ohio State	9-18	4-14

East Coast12 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Lafayette	21-6	9-1	★
Hofstra	23-7	4-1	★ 🏆 NCAA
Temple	17-11	4-1	★
Delaware	12-13	7-3
La Salle	17-12	3-2
Lehigh	12-15	6-4
Bucknell	10-15	5-5
American	13-13	2-3
St. Joseph's	13-13	2-3
West Chester	11-14	2-8
Rider	8-18	1-9
Drexel	11-13	0-5

Eastern Collegiate8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Rutgers	18-10	7-1	★
Villanova	23-10	6-1
George Washington	14-12	5-3
West Virginia	18-11	5-5	★
Penn State	11-15	5-5	★
Massachusetts	20-11	3-4
Duquesne	15-15	3-7	🏆 NCAA
Pittsburgh	6-21	1-9

Ivy8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Princeton	21-5	13-1	★ NCAA
Pennsylvania	18-8	12-2
Columbia	16-10	8-6
Harvard	9-16	6-8
Cornell	8-18	5-9
Brown	6-20	5-9
Yale	6-20	4-10
Dartmouth	4-22	3-11

Metro7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Louisville	21-7	6-1	★ NCAA AP 19
Cincinnati	25-5	4-2	🏆 NCAA
Georgia Tech	18-10	3-3
Tulane	10-17	3-3
Memphis State	20-9	3-4
Saint Louis	7-19	1-5
Florida State	16-11	0-2

Mid-American10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Miami (OH)	20-6	13-3
Central Michigan	18-10	13-3	★ NCAA
Toledo	21-6	12-4
Northern Illinois	13-14	10-6
Western Michigan	14-13	8-8
Ball State	11-14	7-9
Bowling Green	9-18	5-11
Ohio	9-17	4-12
Eastern Michigan	9-18	4-12
Kent State	8-19	4-12

Mid-Eastern7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
South Carolina State	15-11	10-2	★
Howard	16-9	8-4
North Carolina A&T	3-24	3-9
Delaware State	2-25	0-12
Morgan State	14-10		🏆
North Carolina Central	13-15
MD-Eastern Shore	7-18

Missouri Valley9 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Southern Illinois	22-7	8-4	★ 🏆 NCAA
New Mexico State	17-10	8-4	★
Wichita State	18-10	7-5
West Texas State	17-13	7-5
Drake	10-17	5-7
Bradley	9-18	4-8
Tulsa	6-21	3-9
Indiana State	25-3
Creighton	21-7

Ohio Valley8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Austin Peay	24-4	13-1	★
Middle Tennessee State	20-9	9-5	🏆 NCAA
Murray State	17-10	9-5
Morehead State	15-10	9-5
East Tennessee State	12-14	6-8
Western Kentucky	10-16	6-8
Eastern Kentucky	8-16	3-11
Tennessee Tech	7-19	1-13

Pacific Coast7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Long Beach State	21-8	9-3	★ 🏆 NCAA
San Diego State	13-15	9-3	★
San Jose State	18-11	8-4
CSU-Fullerton	16-10	7-5
Pacific	11-14	5-7
UC Santa Barbara	8-18	3-9
Fresno State	7-20	1-11

Pacific-88 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
UCLA	24-5	11-3	★ NCAA AP 2
Oregon	19-10	9-5
Washington State	19-8	8-6
Washington	17-10	8-6
Oregon State	16-13	8-6
California	12-15	7-7
Stanford	11-16	3-11
USC	6-20	2-12

Southeastern10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Kentucky	26-4	16-2	★ NCAA AP 3
Tennessee	22-6	16-2	★ NCAA AP 15
Alabama	25-6	14-4	AP 11
Florida	17-9	10-8
LSU	15-12	8-10
Mississippi State	14-13	6-12
Auburn	13-13	6-12
Vanderbilt	10-16	6-12
Mississippi	11-16	5-13
Georgia	9-18	3-15

Southern10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
VMI	26-4	8-2	★ 🏆 NCAA AP 20
Furman	18-10	8-2	★
Appalachian State	17-12	8-4
William & Mary	16-14	7-4
East Carolina	10-18	3-9
Davidson	5-22	2-8
Citadel	8-19	2-9
UT-Chattanooga	27-5
Western Carolina	8-16
Marshall	8-19

Southland6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
SW Louisiana	21-8	8-2	★
McNeese State	20-7	7-3
Lamar	12-17	6-4
Arkansas State	14-13	4-6
Louisiana Tech	13-13	4-6
Texas-Arlington	3-24	1-9

Southwest9 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Arkansas	26-2	16-0	★ 🏆 NCAA AP 18
Houston	29-8	13-3
Texas Tech	20-9	12-4
Texas	13-13	8-8
Texas A&M	14-14	8-8
SMU	8-19	7-9
Baylor	11-17	5-11
Rice	9-18	3-13
TCU	3-23	0-16

Sun Belt6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
UNC Charlotte	28-5	5-1	★ 🏆 NCAA AP 17
New Orleans	18-10	4-2
South Alabama	17-10	3-3
Georgia State	10-18	2-4
Jacksonville	10-19	2-4
South Florida	9-18	2-4

West Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
San Francisco	29-2	14-0	★ NCAA AP 8
Santa Clara	17-10	9-5
Nevada	15-12	7-7
Seattle	13-14	7-7
Portland	11-15	6-8
Pepperdine	13-13	5-9
Loyola Marymount	11-15	4-10
St. Mary's	11-16	4-10

Western Athletic8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Utah	22-7	11-3	★ NCAA AP 14
Arizona	21-6	10-4	NCAA
New Mexico	19-11	8-6
Wyoming	17-10	8-6
Arizona State	15-13	6-8
Colorado State	13-12	6-8
BYU	12-15	4-10
UTEP	11-15	3-11

Independent74 teams

School	W-L	Note
UNLV	29-3	NCAA AP 4
Syracuse	26-4	NCAA AP 6
Detroit	25-4	NCAA AP 12
Old Dominion	25-4
Providence	24-5	NCAA
Holy Cross	23-6	NCAA
St. Bonaventure	23-6
Marquette	25-7	NCAA AP 7
North Texas	21-6
Illinois State	22-7
Notre Dame	22-7	NCAA AP 10
Oral Roberts	21-7
Army	20-8
St. John's	22-9	NCAA
Wisconsin-Milwaukee	19-8
Georgetown	19-9
Virginia Tech	19-10
James Madison	17-9
Northwestern State	17-9
Texas-Pan American	17-9
Connecticut	17-10
Seton Hall	18-11
NC-Wilmington	16-10
Portland State	16-10
Iona	15-10
Dayton	16-11
Fairfield	16-11
Georgia Southern	16-11
Richmond	15-11
St. Francis (PA)	15-11
DePaul	15-12
Northeast Louisiana	15-12
Stetson	15-12
Utah State	15-12
Colgate	13-11
Navy	13-11
Oklahoma City	14-12
South Carolina	14-12
Valparaiso	13-12
Catholic	13-13
Fairleigh Dickinson	13-13
Loyola-Chicago	13-13
Maine	13-13
Niagara	13-13
Rhode Island	13-13
St. Peter's	13-13
Virginia Commonwealth	13-13
Butler	13-14
Manhattan	13-14
New Hampshire	12-14
Northeastern	12-14
St. Francis (NY)	12-14
Air Force	12-15
Denver	12-15
Southern Mississippi	11-16
Siena	9-15
Cleveland State	10-17
Xavier	10-17
Centenary	11-19
LIU-Brooklyn	9-16
Hawaii	9-18
Vermont	8-17
Boston College	8-18
Charleston Southern	8-19
Boston University	7-19
Robert Morris	7-19
Samford	7-19
Mercer	6-19
Hardin-Simmons	6-21
Houston Baptist	6-23
Buffalo	5-21
Fordham	5-21
Wagner	3-21
Canisius	3-22

Elo ratings and upsets use the games in our record for this season, which is incomplete before 1995-96; team records come from the season standings.

1977 Elo and upsets

The ten highest-rated teams when the season ended, and the results the ratings gave the winner the least chance of.

1977 Elo and upsetsElo

Elo, top 10

1North Carolina2071
2Kentucky2021
3Marquette1976
4UCLA1975
5Minnesota1969
6Michigan1963
7UNLV1950
8Purdue1884
9Kansas State1877
10Tennessee1873

Biggest upsets

Columbia 85, Rutgers 75
Dec 2 · regular season · 2.8% win chance
Pittsburgh 65, Cincinnati 64
Feb 2 · regular season · 4.1% win chance
Virginia 71, Clemson 65
Feb 16 · regular season · 4.6% win chance
Eastern Michigan 75, Northern Illinois 70
Feb 23 · regular season · 5.6% win chance
Nevada 53, Oregon State 51
Dec 9 · regular season · 5.8% win chance
Wichita State 75, Marquette 64
Feb 19 · regular season · 6.8% win chance
William & Mary 71, Virginia 65
Jan 10 · regular season · 6.9% win chance
Virginia Tech 98, Wake Forest 97
Feb 19 · regular season · 7.5% win chance
New Hampshire 78, Massachusetts 76
Feb 16 · regular season · 7.5% win chance
DePaul 77, Marquette 72
Feb 14 · regular season · 7.7% win chance

Where these numbers come from

Enough to disbelieve this page on purpose rather than by accident.

Champions, brackets, polls and standings are read from the Citizen of Nowhere college basketball database, one season at a time. A section appears only where the database holds its data: the NCAA tournament began in 1939 (earlier champions are retroactive selections), the AP poll in 1949, and game-by-game results, and so the Elo ratings and upsets, in 1950.

Elo ratings and upsets come from the site’s own men’s college basketball Elo, built from every game since 1950. An upset’s win chance is the winner’s pre-game probability from those ratings.