🏀 The 1977-78 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 · 23 conferences · 32-team tournament

← 1977 1979 →All seasons

Jump to any season1896–2027

2020s

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2010s

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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

1978season

← 1977 1979 →

1977-78 national champion

The NCAA tournament winner.

National champion

Kentucky

30-2Final AP #1

Title gameDuke 88, Kentucky 94 (Mar 27)

Final FourKentuckyDukeArkansasNotre Dame

The 1978 NCAA tournament

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

32-team field · 4 regions

First Round

Arkansas73

Weber State52

Kansas76

UCLA83

Second Round

UCLA70

Regional Finals

West region

First Round

Arkansas73

Weber State52

Kansas76

UCLA83

Second Round

UCLA70

Regional Finals

Mideast region

First Round

Second Round

Regional Finals

East region

First Round

Duke63

Rhode Island62

Pennsylvania92

St. Bonaventure83

Furman62

Indiana63

La Salle97

Villanova103

Second Round

Duke84

Pennsylvania80

Indiana60

Villanova61

Regional Finals

Duke90

Villanova72

Midwest region

First Round

Creighton78

DePaul80

Louisville76

St. John's68

Houston77

Notre Dame100

Missouri79

Utah86

Second Round

DePaul90

Louisville89

Notre Dame69

Utah56

Regional Finals

DePaul64

Notre Dame84

Final Four and the title game

Final Four

Arkansas59

Kentucky64

West vs Mideast · Mar 25

Duke90

Notre Dame86

East vs Midwest · Mar 25

Championship game: Kentucky

Duke88

Kentucky94

East vs Mideast · Mar 27

Third-place games

Arkansas71

Notre Dame69

Third Place Game · West vs Midwest · Mar 27

Conference tournaments

The champion and the other finalist of each of the 13 conference tournaments held in 1977-78.

Conference	Champion	Runner-up	Final
Atlantic Coast	Duke 85-77, Mar 4	Wake Forest	85-77, Mar 4
Big Eight	Missouri 71-68, Mar 4	Kansas State	71-68, Mar 4
Big Sky	Weber State 62-55, Mar 5	Montana	62-55, Mar 5
East Coast	La Salle 73-72, Mar 4	Temple	73-72, Mar 4
Eastern Collegiate	Villanova 63-59, Mar 4	West Virginia	63-59, Mar 4
Metro	Louisville 94-93, Mar 4	Florida State	94-93, Mar 4
Mid-Eastern	North Carolina A&T	Morgan State
Missouri Valley	Creighton 54-52, Mar 5	Indiana State	54-52, Mar 5
Ohio Valley	Western Kentucky 77-69, Mar 4	Austin Peay	77-69, Mar 4
Pacific Coast	CSU-Fullerton	Long Beach State
Southern	Furman 69-53, Feb 27	Marshall	69-53, Feb 27
Southwest	Houston 92-90, Mar 4	Texas	92-90, Mar 4
Sun Belt	New Orleans 22-20, Feb 26	South Alabama	22-20, Feb 26

The 1977-78 AP poll, week by week

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

Team	Nov22	29	Dec6	13	20	27	Jan3	10	17	24	31	Feb7	14	21	28	Mar6	13
Kentucky	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	2	1	1	1
UCLA	6	6	5	8	7	8	7	7	3	6	5	5	4	3	2	2	2
DePaul								20	18	19	13	11	8	7	6	4	3
Michigan State							18	12	10	7	7	10	10	10	9	6	4
Arkansas	7	7	6	4	4	3	3	3	6	4	2	2	1	4	4	7	5
Notre Dame	4	3	3	2	5	4	5	5	7	5	4	4	7	9	7	10	6
Duke									17	11	17		20	13	15	8	7
Marquette	3	4	4	3	2	5	4	4	2	2	3	3	2	1	3	3	8
Louisville	10	9	16	10	8	7	10	9	9	12	9	9	9	20	20	12	9
Kansas			19	20	16	17	14	10	8	8	8	8	6	6	5	9	10
San Francisco	5	5	8	11	11	19	19				20					20	11
New Mexico									20	14	10	6	5	5	8	5	12
Indiana						15	11	18									13
Utah		20	14		17										19	15	14
Florida State						18				17	15	16	14	12	11	13	15
North Carolina	1	2	2	5	3	2	2	2	5	3	6	7	11	8	10	11	16
Texas									15	15	12	12	12	14	12	16	17
Detroit	19	19	17	16	15	20						17	19	16	16	19	18
Miami (OH)																	19
Pennsylvania																	20
Houston																14
Illinois State										20	19	15	15	15	13	17
Syracuse	11	12	18	12	10	10	8	8	11	10	18	18	16	17	14	18
Georgetown							20	17	19	16	14		18	18	17
Providence			20	14	14	13	17	14	12	9	16	20	13	11	18
Minnesota	16													19
Virginia					19	16	13	15	13	18	11	13
Wake Forest	17	18										14
Nebraska												19
Indiana State			11	7	6	6	6	6	4	13
Holy Cross	18	17	15	13	13	12	16	13	14
UNLV	8	10	10	9	9	9	9	11	16
North Carolina State								16
Cincinnati	9	8	7	6	12	11	12	19
Maryland	14	14	12	18	20	14	15
Alabama	15	15			18
Michigan	13	13	9	15
Purdue	12	11		17
Kansas State				19
St. John's	20	16	13

Tap a rank to read it.

1978 final AP Top 20

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

1978 final AP Top 20AP

1Kentucky30-2
2UCLA25-3
3DePaul27-3
4Michigan State25-5
5Arkansas32-4
6Notre Dame23-8
7Duke27-7
8Marquette24-4
9Louisville23-7
10Kansas24-5

11San Francisco23-6
12New Mexico24-4
13Indiana21-8
14Utah23-6
15Florida State23-6
16North Carolina23-8
17Texas26-5
18Detroit25-4
19Miami (OH)19-9
20Pennsylvania20-8

1978 standings by conference

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

1978 standings by conference23 conferences

Atlantic Coast7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
North Carolina	23-8	9-3	★ NCAA AP 16
Duke	27-7	8-4	🏆 NCAA AP 7
North Carolina State	21-10	7-5
Virginia	20-8	6-6
Wake Forest	19-10	6-6
Clemson	15-12	3-9
Maryland	15-13	3-9

Big Eight8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Kansas	24-5	13-1	★ NCAA AP 10
Nebraska	22-8	9-5
Iowa State	14-13	9-5
Kansas State	18-11	7-7
Oklahoma	14-13	7-7
Missouri	14-16	4-10	🏆 NCAA
Oklahoma State	10-16	4-10
Colorado	9-18	3-11

Big Sky8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Montana	20-8	12-2	★
Idaho State	16-10	11-3
Weber State	19-10	9-5	🏆 NCAA
Boise State	13-14	8-6
Gonzaga	14-15	7-7
Northern Arizona	10-15	4-10
Montana State	10-16	4-10
Idaho	4-22	1-13

Big Ten10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Michigan State	25-5	15-3	★ NCAA AP 4
Indiana	21-8	12-6	NCAA AP 13
Minnesota	17-10	12-6
Michigan	16-11	11-7
Purdue	16-11	11-7
Ohio State	16-11	9-9
Illinois	13-14	7-11
Iowa	12-15	5-13
Northwestern	8-19	4-14
Wisconsin	8-19	4-14

East Coast12 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Lafayette	23-8	10-0	★
La Salle	18-12	5-0	★ 🏆 NCAA
Temple	24-5	4-1
Delaware	16-11	5-5
Bucknell	13-15	5-5
Lehigh	8-18	5-5
American	16-12	2-3
Drexel	13-13	2-3
St. Joseph's	13-15	2-3
Rider	11-16	4-6
West Chester	6-19	1-9
Hofstra	8-19	0-5

Eastern Collegiate8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Rutgers	24-7	7-3	★
Villanova	23-9	7-3	★ 🏆 NCAA
Pittsburgh	16-11	5-5
Massachusetts	15-12	5-5
Duquesne	11-17	5-5
George Washington	15-11	4-6
Penn State	8-19	4-6
West Virginia	12-16	3-7

Ivy8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Pennsylvania	20-8	12-2	★ NCAA AP 20
Princeton	17-9	11-3
Columbia	15-11	11-3
Harvard	11-15	7-7
Dartmouth	10-16	5-9
Cornell	9-17	5-9
Yale	8-16	3-11
Brown	4-22	2-12

Metro7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Florida State	23-6	11-1	★ NCAA AP 15
Louisville	23-7	9-3	🏆 NCAA AP 9
Memphis State	19-9	7-5
Cincinnati	17-10	6-6
Georgia Tech	15-12	6-6
Saint Louis	7-20	2-10
Tulane	5-22	1-11

Mid-American10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Miami (OH)	19-9	12-4	★ NCAA AP 19
Toledo	21-6	11-5
Central Michigan	16-10	11-5
Bowling Green	12-15	10-6
Northern Illinois	11-16	9-7
Eastern Michigan	11-16	7-9
Ohio	13-14	6-10
Ball State	10-15	6-10
Western Michigan	7-20	4-12
Kent State	6-21	4-12

Mid-Eastern7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
North Carolina A&T	20-8	11-1	★ 🏆
Howard	14-8	8-4
South Carolina State	16-12	5-7
Delaware State	10-15	5-7
Morgan State	13-11
MD-Eastern Shore	7-19
North Carolina Central	6-20

Missouri Valley9 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Creighton	19-9	12-4	★ 🏆 NCAA
Indiana State	23-9	11-5
Southern Illinois	17-10	11-5
New Mexico State	15-14	9-7
Bradley	14-14	8-8
Wichita State	13-14	8-8
Tulsa	9-18	7-9
West Texas State	8-19	4-12
Drake	6-22	2-14

Ohio Valley8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Middle Tennessee State	18-8	10-4	★
East Tennessee State	18-9	10-4
Western Kentucky	16-14	9-5	🏆 NCAA
Eastern Kentucky	15-11	8-6	★
Austin Peay	15-12	8-6
Tennessee Tech	11-15	7-7
Murray State	8-17	4-10
Morehead State	4-19	0-14

Pacific Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Fresno State	21-6	11-3	★
San Diego State	19-9	11-3	★
CSU-Fullerton	23-9	9-5	🏆 NCAA
Pacific	17-10	9-5
Long Beach State	16-13	7-7
San Jose State	8-19	4-10
UC Santa Barbara	8-19	3-11
UC Irvine	8-17	2-12

Pacific-88 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
UCLA	25-3	14-0	★ NCAA AP 2
Oregon State	16-11	9-5
Washington State	16-11	7-7
USC	14-13	7-7
Oregon	16-11	6-8
Washington	14-13	6-8
California	11-16	4-10
Stanford	13-14	3-11

Southeastern10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Kentucky	30-2	16-2	★ NCAA AP 1
Mississippi State	18-9	13-5
LSU	18-9	12-6
Alabama	17-10	11-7
Florida	15-12	8-10
Auburn	13-14	8-10
Tennessee	11-16	6-12
Vanderbilt	10-17	6-12
Georgia	11-16	5-13
Mississippi	10-17	5-13

Southern8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Appalachian State	15-13	9-3	★
VMI	21-7	7-3
Marshall	14-15	8-5
Furman	19-11	7-5	🏆 NCAA
UT-Chattanooga	16-11	7-5
Western Carolina	7-19	4-8
Davidson	9-18	3-7
Citadel	8-19	2-11

Southland6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
McNeese State	20-8	8-2	★
Lamar	18-9	8-2	★
SW Louisiana	19-8	7-3
Texas-Arlington	10-17	3-7
Arkansas State	9-18	2-8
Louisiana Tech	6-21	2-8

Southwest9 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Arkansas	32-4	14-2	★ NCAA AP 5
Texas	26-5	14-2	★ AP 17
Houston	25-8	11-5	🏆 NCAA
Texas Tech	19-10	10-6
Baylor	14-13	8-8
SMU	10-18	6-10
Texas A&M	12-15	5-11
Rice	4-22	2-14
TCU	4-22	2-14

Southwestern Athletic7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Southern	23-5	9-3	★
Jackson State	21-5	9-3	★
Alcorn State	22-7	8-4
Texas Southern	16-10	7-5
Grambling	10-14	3-9
Prairie View	14-13
Mississippi Valley State	15-20

Sun Belt6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
UNC Charlotte	20-7	9-1	★
New Orleans	21-6	8-2	🏆
Jacksonville	14-14	6-4
South Alabama	18-10	3-7
South Florida	13-14	2-8
Georgia State	5-21	2-8

West Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
San Francisco	23-6	12-2	★ NCAA AP 11
Nevada	19-8	10-4
Portland	19-8	9-5
Santa Clara	21-8	8-6
Seattle	11-16	6-8
St. Mary's	13-14	5-9
Loyola Marymount	11-15	4-10
Pepperdine	7-19	2-12

Western Athletic8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
New Mexico	24-4	13-1	★ NCAA AP 12
Utah	23-6	12-2	NCAA AP 14
Colorado State	18-9	8-6
Arizona	15-11	6-8
Arizona State	13-14	6-8
BYU	12-18	6-8
Wyoming	12-15	3-11
UTEP	10-16	2-12

Independent78 teams

School	W-L	Note
DePaul	27-3	NCAA AP 3
Detroit	25-4	AP 18
Illinois State	24-4
Marquette	24-4	NCAA AP 8
Texas-Pan American	22-4
Virginia Commonwealth	24-5
Fairfield	22-5
North Texas	22-6
Syracuse	22-6	NCAA
Rhode Island	24-7	NCAA
Providence	24-8	NCAA
St. John's	21-7	NCAA
Utah State	21-7
Georgetown	23-8
Notre Dame	23-8	NCAA AP 6
Holy Cross	20-7
Northeast Louisiana	20-7
NC-Wilmington	19-7
St. Bonaventure	21-8	NCAA
UNLV	20-8
Virginia Tech	19-8
James Madison	18-8
Maine	17-8
Army	19-9
Dayton	19-10
St. Francis (NY)	16-9
Iona	17-10
William & Mary	16-10
Air Force	15-10
Loyola-Chicago	16-11
Mercer	16-11
Oklahoma City	16-11
Seton Hall	16-11
Boston College	15-11
Butler	15-11
St. Francis (PA)	15-11
South Carolina	16-12
Siena	13-10
Navy	14-11
Wisconsin-Milwaukee	15-12
Niagara	14-12
Northeastern	14-12
Southern Mississippi	13-12
Portland State	14-13
Stetson	14-13
Oral Roberts	13-14
Xavier	13-14
Cleveland State	12-13
Tennessee State	11-12
Catholic	12-14
Manhattan	12-14
Georgia Southern	12-15
Northwestern State	12-15
Connecticut	11-15
Old Dominion	11-15
Vermont	11-15
Boston University	10-15
Hardin-Simmons	10-16
Campbell	9-15
Centenary	10-17
Denver	10-17
Colgate	9-17
East Carolina	9-17
Fordham	8-18
LIU-Brooklyn	8-18
St. Peter's	8-18
Charleston Southern	8-19
Samford	8-19
Canisius	7-19
Houston Baptist	7-19
New Hampshire	7-19
Wagner	7-19
Evansville	1-3
Fairleigh Dickinson	6-18
Valparaiso	6-19
Robert Morris	4-19
Richmond	4-22
Hawaii	1-26

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.

1978 Elo and upsets

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

1978 Elo and upsetsElo

Elo, top 10

1Kentucky2095
2UCLA2034
3Duke2020
4Wake Forest1934
5Arkansas1922
6North Carolina1921
7Notre Dame1915
8Michigan State1911
9Texas1897
10Marquette1895

Biggest upsets

New Hampshire 73, Massachusetts 60
Feb 23 · regular season · 5.5% win chance
Tennessee Tech 65, Middle Tennessee State 60
Jan 14 · regular season · 5.8% win chance
Bowling Green 69, Toledo 68
Feb 11 · regular season · 6.1% win chance
Ohio 72, Toledo 71
Feb 4 · regular season · 6.6% win chance
William & Mary 78, North Carolina 75
Dec 7 · regular season · 6.7% win chance
Citadel 74, Marshall 57
Feb 4 · regular season · 7.4% win chance
East Carolina 90, NC-Wilmington 85
Feb 9 · regular season · 7.8% win chance
Penn State 75, Pittsburgh 68
Feb 18 · regular season · 7.9% win chance
East Carolina 58, William & Mary 56
Jan 7 · regular season · 8.0% win chance
Georgia State 71, Old Dominion 68
Jan 21 · regular season · 8.2% 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.