🏀 The 1978-79 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 · 24 conferences · 40-team tournament

← 1978 1980 →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

1979season

← 1978 1980 →

1978-79 national champion

The NCAA tournament winner.

National champion

Michigan State

26-62 seedFinal AP #3

Title gameIndiana State 64, Michigan State 75 (Mar 26)

Final FourMichigan StateIndiana StateDePaulPennsylvania

The 1979 NCAA tournament

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

40-team field · 4 regions

First Round

7Weber State81

Second Round

4Texas76

5Oklahoma90

2Arkansas74

7Weber State63

3Louisville69

6South Alabama66

Regional Semifinals

1Indiana State93

5Oklahoma72

2Arkansas73

3Louisville62

Regional Finals

1Indiana State73

2Arkansas71

Midwest region

First Round

7Weber State81

Second Round

4Texas76

5Oklahoma90

2Arkansas74

7Weber State63

3Louisville69

6South Alabama66

Regional Semifinals

1Indiana State93

5Oklahoma72

2Arkansas73

3Louisville62

Regional Finals

1Indiana State73

2Arkansas71

West region

First Round

8Utah88

9Pepperdine92

7USC86

10Utah State67

Second Round

1UCLA76

9Pepperdine71

4San Francisco86

5BYU63

2DePaul89

7USC78

3Marquette73

6Pacific48

Regional Semifinals

1UCLA99

4San Francisco81

2DePaul62

3Marquette56

Regional Finals

1UCLA91

2DePaul95

Mideast region

First Round

8Tennessee97

9Eastern Kentucky81

7Detroit87

10Lamar95

Second Round

1Notre Dame73

8Tennessee67

4Iowa72

5Toledo74

2Michigan State95

10Lamar64

3LSU71

6Appalachian State57

Regional Semifinals

1Notre Dame79

5Toledo71

2Michigan State87

3LSU71

Regional Finals

1Notre Dame68

2Michigan State80

East region

First Round

8Iona69

9Pennsylvania73

7Temple70

10St. John's75

Second Round

4Syracuse89

5Connecticut81

1North Carolina71

9Pennsylvania72

3Georgetown58

6Rutgers64

2Duke78

10St. John's80

Regional Semifinals

4Syracuse76

9Pennsylvania84

6Rutgers65

10St. John's67

Regional Finals

9Pennsylvania64

10St. John's62

Final Four and the title game

Final Four

1Indiana State76

2DePaul74

Midwest vs West · Mar 24

2Michigan State101

9Pennsylvania67

Mideast vs East · Mar 24

Championship game: Michigan State

1Indiana State64

2Michigan State75

Midwest vs Mideast · Mar 26

Third-place games

2DePaul96

9Pennsylvania93

Third Place Game · West vs East · Mar 26

Conference tournaments

The champion and the other finalist of each of the 15 conference tournaments held in 1978-79.

Conference	Champion	Runner-up	Final
Atlantic Coast	North Carolina 71-63, Mar 3	Duke	71-63, Mar 3
Big Eight	Oklahoma 80-65, Mar 3	Kansas	80-65, Mar 3
Big Sky	Weber State 92-70, Mar 3	Northern Arizona	92-70, Mar 3
East Coast	Temple 61-60, Mar 3	St. Joseph's	61-60, Mar 3
Eastern 8	Rutgers 61-57, Mar 2	Pittsburgh	61-57, Mar 2
Metro	Virginia Tech 68-60, Mar 3	Florida State	68-60, Mar 3
Mid-Eastern	North Carolina A&T 48-46, Feb 25	Howard	48-46, Feb 25
Missouri Valley	Indiana State 69-59, Mar 3	New Mexico State	69-59, Mar 3
Ohio Valley	Eastern Kentucky 78-77, Mar 3	Western Kentucky	78-77, Mar 3
Pacific Coast	Pacific	Utah State
Southeastern	Tennessee 75-69, Mar 3	Kentucky	75-69, Mar 3
Southern	Appalachian State 86-83, Mar 4	Furman	86-83, Mar 4
Southwest	Arkansas 39-38, Mar 3	Texas	39-38, Mar 3
Sun Belt	Jacksonville 68-54, Feb 25	South Florida	68-54, Feb 25
Trans America	Northeast Louisiana 90-69, Mar 3	Mercer	90-69, Mar 3

The 1978-79 AP poll, week by week

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

Team	Nov21	28	Dec5	12	19	26	Jan3	9	16	23	30	Feb6	13	20	27	Mar6	13
Indiana State				20	16	11	11	9	5	3	2	2	1	2	1	1	1
UCLA	2	2	2	5	3	3	6	6	3	6	5	4	2	1	3	2	2
Michigan State	7	7	4	3	5	4	1	1	6	4	15	10	8	7	4	4	3
Notre Dame	3	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	3	3	2	5	4
Arkansas						20	14	10	11	15	19	14	11	10	9	7	5
DePaul														20	15	8	6
LSU	14	11	12	11	10	7	7	5	9	9	10	8	6	5	8	9	7
Syracuse	9	9	9	10	8	19		20	12	12	8	7	7	8	6	10	8
North Carolina	16	14	14	13	6	5	3	3	2	2	4	6	4	4	7	3	9
Marquette	18	17	16	14	13	16	17	13	13	13	12	9	10	9	10	12	10
Duke	1	1	1	1	1	1	5	7	8	7	3	3	5	6	5	6	11
San Francisco	17	15	17	19											20	19	12
Louisville	4	5	7	4	12	10	16	12	7	5	6	5	9	13	13	18	13
Pennsylvania																	14
Purdue													13	18	19	16	15
Oklahoma																	16
St. John's																	17
Rutgers	15	16	18														18
Toledo																	19
Iowa												15	14	12	11	14	20
Georgetown			20	16	14	15	12	14	10	11	9	18	16	17	16	11
Temple								18	17	16	18	19	15	15	12	13
Texas	6	13	13	17	19					17	11	12	12	11	14	15
Detroit													18	16	18	17
Tennessee																20
Ohio State									16	10	7	13	17	14	17
Vanderbilt										19	20	17	19	19
Alabama	19								18	18	13	16	20
Texas A&M					17	12	10	11	15	14	16	11
Illinois				18	15	6	4	4	4	8	14	20
Maryland		19	19				20		19		17
North Carolina State	12	6	8	7	4	9	8	8	14	20
Kansas	5	4	5	8	7	18	19	15	20
Michigan	8	8	6	9	9	8	13	16
Kentucky	11	10	10	6	11	13	9	17
Long Beach State						17	15	19
Mississippi State							18
UNLV	20	18	15	15	18	14
USC	13	12	11	12	20
Indiana	10	20

Tap a rank to read it.

1979 final AP Top 20

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

1979 final AP Top 20AP

1Indiana State33-1
2UCLA25-5
3Michigan State26-6
4Notre Dame24-6
5Arkansas25-5
6DePaul26-6
7LSU23-6
8Syracuse26-4
9North Carolina23-6
10Marquette22-7

11Duke22-8
12San Francisco22-7
13Louisville24-8
14Pennsylvania25-7
15Purdue27-8
16Oklahoma21-10
17St. John's21-11
18Rutgers22-9
19Toledo22-8
20Iowa20-8

1979 standings by conference

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

1979 standings by conference24 conferences

Atlantic Coast7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
North Carolina	23-6	9-3	★ 🏆 1 seed AP 9
Duke	22-8	9-3	★ 2 seed AP 11
Virginia	19-10	7-5
Maryland	19-11	6-6
Clemson	19-10	5-7
North Carolina State	18-12	3-9
Wake Forest	12-15	3-9

Big Eight8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Oklahoma	21-10	10-4	★ 🏆 5 seed AP 16
Kansas	18-11	8-6
Kansas State	16-12	8-6
Missouri	13-15	8-6
Nebraska	14-13	7-7
Iowa State	11-16	6-8
Oklahoma State	12-15	5-9
Colorado	14-13	4-10

Big Sky8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Weber State	25-9	10-4	★ 🏆 7 seed
Idaho State	14-13	8-6
Northern Arizona	13-14	8-6
Gonzaga	16-10	7-7
Montana	14-13	7-7
Montana State	15-11	6-8
Boise State	11-15	6-8
Idaho	11-15	4-10

Big Ten10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Michigan State	26-6	13-5	★ 2 seed AP 3
Purdue	27-8	13-5	★ AP 15
Iowa	20-8	13-5	★ 4 seed AP 20
Ohio State	19-12	12-6
Indiana	22-12	10-8
Michigan	15-12	8-10
Illinois	19-11	7-11
Wisconsin	12-15	6-12
Minnesota	11-16	6-12
Northwestern	6-21	2-16

East Coast12 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Temple	25-4	13-0	★ 🏆 7 seed
St. Joseph's	19-11	11-3
La Salle	15-13	10-3
Bucknell	18-9	12-6	★
American	14-13	7-5
Drexel	18-9	7-6
Lafayette	16-12	9-9
Rider	11-15	7-9
West Chester	8-18	5-13
Hofstra	8-19	3-9
Lehigh	8-18	4-13
Delaware	5-22	3-15

Eastern 88 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Villanova	13-13	9-1	★
Rutgers	22-9	7-3	🏆 6 seed AP 18
West Virginia	16-12	7-3
Pittsburgh	18-11	6-4
George Washington	13-14	5-5
Penn State	12-18	4-6
Duquesne	13-13	2-8
Massachusetts	5-22	0-10

Ivy8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Pennsylvania	25-7	13-1	★ 9 seed AP 14
Columbia	17-9	10-4
Princeton	14-12	7-7
Dartmouth	14-12	6-8
Brown	8-18	6-8
Harvard	8-21	6-8
Yale	11-15	5-9
Cornell	8-18	3-11

Metro7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Louisville	24-8	9-1	★ 3 seed AP 13
Florida State	19-10	7-3
Memphis State	13-15	5-5
Virginia Tech	22-9	4-6	🏆 8 seed
Cincinnati	13-14	4-6
Saint Louis	10-17	3-7
Tulane	8-19	2-8

Mid-American10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Toledo	22-8	13-3	★ 5 seed AP 19
Central Michigan	19-9	13-3
Ohio	16-11	10-6
Ball State	16-11	9-7
Northern Illinois	14-13	8-8
Kent State	13-14	7-9
Bowling Green	14-13	6-10
Miami (OH)	9-18	6-10
Eastern Michigan	9-18	5-11
Western Michigan	7-23	3-13

Mid-Eastern7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
North Carolina A&T	20-7	11-1	★ 🏆
Delaware State	18-10	7-5
Morgan State	17-9	6-6
Howard	14-11	6-6
MD-Eastern Shore	7-16	5-7
North Carolina Central	5-21	4-8
South Carolina State	8-19	3-9

Missouri Valley9 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Indiana State	33-1	16-0	★ 🏆 1 seed AP 1
New Mexico State	22-10	11-5	10 seed
Drake	15-12	8-8
Southern Illinois	15-13	8-8
Creighton	14-13	8-8
Wichita State	14-14	8-8
Tulsa	13-14	7-9
Bradley	9-17	3-13
West Texas State	8-19	3-13

Ohio Valley7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Eastern Kentucky	21-8	9-3	★ 🏆 9 seed
Western Kentucky	17-11	7-5
Middle Tennessee State	16-11	7-5
Morehead State	14-13	7-5
Tennessee Tech	11-15	7-5
Austin Peay	8-18	3-9
Murray State	4-22	2-10

Pacific Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Pacific	18-12	11-3	★ 🏆 6 seed
Utah State	19-11	9-5	10 seed
Fresno State	16-12	9-5
CSU-Fullerton	16-11	7-7
Long Beach State	16-12	7-7
UC Santa Barbara	12-15	6-8
San Jose State	7-20	4-10
UC Irvine	9-17	3-11

Pacific-1010 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
UCLA	25-5	15-3	★ 1 seed AP 2
USC	20-9	14-4	7 seed
Oregon State	18-10	11-7
Washington State	18-9	10-8
Arizona	16-11	10-8
Arizona State	16-14	7-11
Oregon	12-15	7-11
Stanford	12-15	6-12
Washington	11-16	6-12
California	6-21	4-14

Southeastern10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
LSU	23-6	14-4	★ 3 seed AP 7
Tennessee	21-12	12-6	🏆 8 seed
Mississippi State	19-9	11-7
Alabama	22-11	11-7
Vanderbilt	18-9	11-7
Kentucky	19-12	10-8
Georgia	14-14	7-11
Mississippi	11-16	6-12
Auburn	13-16	5-13
Florida	8-19	3-15

Southern9 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Appalachian State	23-6	11-3	★ 🏆 6 seed
Furman	20-9	9-3
Citadel	20-7	10-4
Western Carolina	14-14	5-7
Marshall	11-16	5-8
Davidson	8-19	3-7
UT-Chattanooga	14-13	3-8
VMI	12-15	2-8
East Tennessee State	16-11

Southland6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Lamar	23-9	9-1	★ 10 seed
Louisiana Tech	17-8	6-4
SW Louisiana	16-11	6-4
Arkansas State	15-12	5-5
McNeese State	10-17	3-7
Texas-Arlington	11-16	1-9

Southwest9 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Arkansas	25-5	13-3	★ 🏆 2 seed AP 5
Texas	21-8	13-3	★ 4 seed
Texas A&M	24-9	11-5
Texas Tech	19-11	9-7
Baylor	16-12	9-7
Houston	16-15	6-10
SMU	11-16	6-10
Rice	7-20	4-12
TCU	6-21	1-15

Southwestern Athletic7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Alcorn State	28-1	12-0	★
Grambling	16-11	6-6
Southern	16-12	6-6
Texas Southern	13-14	6-6
Mississippi Valley State	15-16	5-7
Jackson State	13-14	4-8
Prairie View	17-14	3-9

Sun Belt6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
South Alabama	20-7	10-0	★ 6 seed
UNC Charlotte	16-11	6-4
South Florida	14-14	6-4
Jacksonville	19-11	5-5	🏆 9 seed
New Orleans	11-16	3-7
Georgia State	7-20	0-10

Trans America8 teams

School	W-L	Note
Northeast Louisiana	23-6	★ 🏆
Mercer	21-6
Oklahoma City	18-11
Texas-Pan American	13-13
Houston Baptist	11-16
Samford	10-15
Centenary	9-20
Hardin-Simmons	7-20

West Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
San Francisco	22-7	12-2	★ 4 seed AP 12
Pepperdine	22-10	10-4	9 seed
Nevada	21-7	9-5
Seattle	15-11	8-6
Santa Clara	13-14	6-8
Portland	18-10	5-9
St. Mary's	13-15	5-9
Loyola Marymount	5-21	1-13

Western Athletic7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
BYU	20-8	10-2	★ 5 seed
Utah	20-10	9-3	8 seed
New Mexico	19-10	8-4
Wyoming	15-12	5-7
San Diego State	15-12	4-8
UTEP	11-15	3-9
Colorado State	11-16	3-9

Independent72 teams

School	W-L	Note
Syracuse	26-4	4 seed AP 8
Georgetown	24-5	3 seed
DePaul	26-6	2 seed AP 6
Notre Dame	24-6	1 seed AP 4
Virginia Commonwealth	20-5
Iona	23-6	8 seed
Detroit	22-6	7 seed
Tennessee State	20-6
Old Dominion	23-7
Marquette	22-7	3 seed AP 10
Wagner	21-7
Connecticut	21-8	5 seed
UNLV	21-8
NC-Wilmington	19-8
Boston College	21-9
James Madison	18-8
Rhode Island	20-9
George Mason	17-8
St. Bonaventure	19-9
Illinois State	20-10
St. John's	21-11	10 seed AP 17
Dayton	19-10
Boston University	17-9
Fairfield	17-9
Georgia Tech	17-9
Oral Roberts	17-10
Holy Cross	17-11
Cleveland State	15-10
Seton Hall	16-11
Maine	14-10
Army	14-11
Denver	15-12
South Carolina	15-12
Stetson	15-12
Siena	14-12
St. Francis (NY)	14-12
Navy	13-12
Xavier	14-13
Northeastern	13-13
St. Francis (PA)	13-13
Robert Morris	13-14
Southern Mississippi	13-14
Air Force	12-13
LIU-Brooklyn	12-13
Canisius	12-14
Colgate	12-14
Evansville	13-16
East Carolina	12-15
Loyola-Chicago	12-15
Butler	11-16
North Texas	11-16
St. Peter's	10-15
Campbell	10-16
New Hampshire	10-16
Providence	10-16
Richmond	10-16
Hawaii	10-17
William & Mary	9-17
Georgia Southern	9-18
Fairleigh Dickinson	8-18
Vermont	8-18
Wisconsin-Milwaukee	8-18
Northwestern State	7-19
Fordham	7-22
Arkansas-Little Rock	6-20
Catholic	6-20
Manhattan	6-20
Niagara	6-20
Portland State	6-21
Baltimore	4-20
Valparaiso	4-21
Charleston Southern	2-25

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.

1979 Elo and upsets

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

1979 Elo and upsetsElo

Elo, top 10

1Michigan State2083
2UCLA2029
3North Carolina1989
4Purdue1952
5Indiana State1946
6Duke1929
7DePaul1913
8Indiana1900
9Arkansas1899
10Notre Dame1887

Biggest upsets

Pittsburgh 71, Duke 69
Feb 10 · regular season · 3.5% win chance
Murray State 66, Western Kentucky 64
Feb 19 · regular season · 3.6% win chance
Rice 62, Texas Tech 56
Jan 13 · regular season · 3.6% win chance
Boise State 70, Weber State 63
Feb 1 · regular season · 3.9% win chance
Davidson 75, Wake Forest 72
Jan 22 · regular season · 5.1% win chance
Old Dominion 65, Virginia 61
Dec 2 · regular season · 5.5% win chance
Denver 68, Colorado State 64
Jan 6 · regular season · 5.6% win chance
Wagner 86, Alabama 74
Nov 24 · regular season · 5.8% win chance
Texas A&M 73, Kentucky 69
Dec 22 · regular season · 5.8% win chance
Western Carolina 67, Furman 61
Jan 18 · regular season · 6.1% 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.