🏀 The 1979-80 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 · 29 conferences · 48-team tournament

← 1979 1981 →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

1980season

← 1979 1981 →

1979-80 national champion

The NCAA tournament winner.

National champion

Louisville

33-32 seedFinal AP #2

Title gameLouisville 59, UCLA 54 (Mar 24)

Final FourLouisvilleUCLAIowaPurdue

The 1980 NCAA tournament

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

48-team field · 4 regions

First Round

8Alcorn State70

9South Alabama62

5Missouri61

12San Jose State51

7Kansas State71

10Arkansas53

6Texas A&M55

11Bradley53

Second Round

1LSU98

8Alcorn State88

4Notre Dame84

5Missouri87

2Louisville71

7Kansas State69

3North Carolina61

6Texas A&M78

Regional Semifinals

1LSU68

5Missouri63

2Louisville66

6Texas A&M55

Regional Finals

1LSU66

2Louisville86

Midwest region

First Round

8Alcorn State70

9South Alabama62

5Missouri61

12San Jose State51

7Kansas State71

10Arkansas53

6Texas A&M55

11Bradley53

Second Round

1LSU98

8Alcorn State88

4Notre Dame84

5Missouri87

2Louisville71

7Kansas State69

3North Carolina61

6Texas A&M78

Regional Semifinals

1LSU68

5Missouri63

2Louisville66

6Texas A&M55

Regional Finals

1LSU66

2Louisville86

East region

First Round

7Tennessee80

10Furman69

6Iona84

11Holy Cross78

8Villanova77

9Marquette59

5Iowa86

12Virginia Commonwealth72

Second Round

2Maryland86

7Tennessee75

3Georgetown74

6Iona71

1Syracuse97

8Villanova83

4North Carolina State64

5Iowa77

Regional Semifinals

2Maryland68

3Georgetown74

1Syracuse77

5Iowa88

Regional Finals

3Georgetown80

5Iowa81

Mideast region

First Round

9Toledo91

12Pennsylvania62

6Purdue90

11La Salle82

Second Round

1Kentucky97

8Florida State78

4Duke52

12Pennsylvania42

2Indiana68

7Virginia Tech59

3St. John's72

6Purdue87

Regional Semifinals

1Kentucky54

4Duke55

2Indiana69

6Purdue76

Regional Finals

4Duke60

6Purdue68

West region

First Round

6Clemson76

11Utah State73

7Weber State86

10Lamar87

5Arizona State99

12Loyola Marymount71

8UCLA87

9Old Dominion74

Second Round

3BYU66

6Clemson71

2Oregon State77

10Lamar81

4Ohio State89

5Arizona State75

1DePaul71

8UCLA77

Regional Semifinals

6Clemson74

10Lamar66

4Ohio State68

8UCLA72

Regional Finals

6Clemson74

8UCLA85

Final Four and the title game

Final Four

2Louisville80

5Iowa72

Midwest vs East · Mar 22

6Purdue62

8UCLA67

Mideast vs West · Mar 22

Championship game: Louisville

2Louisville59

8UCLA54

Midwest vs West · Mar 24

Third-place games

5Iowa58

6Purdue75

Third Place Game · East vs Mideast · Mar 24

Conference tournaments

The champion and the other finalist of each of the 21 conference tournaments held in 1979-80.

Conference	Champion	Runner-up	Final
Atlantic Coast	Duke 73-72, Mar 1	Maryland	73-72, Mar 1
Big East	Georgetown 87-81, Mar 1	Syracuse	87-81, Mar 1
Big Eight	Kansas State	Kansas
Big Sky	Weber State 50-42, Mar 1	Montana	50-42, Mar 1
ECAC North	Holy Cross 81-75, Mar 1	Boston University	81-75, Mar 1
East Coast	La Salle 59-49, Mar 1	St. Joseph's	59-49, Mar 1
Eastern 8	Villanova 74-62, Feb 28	West Virginia	74-62, Feb 28
Ivy	Pennsylvania 50-49, Mar 3	Princeton	50-49, Mar 3
Metro	Louisville 81-72, Mar 2	Florida State	81-72, Mar 2
Mid-American	Toledo 85-70, Feb 28	Bowling Green	85-70, Feb 28
Mid-Eastern	Howard	South Carolina State
Midwestern City	Oral Roberts 103-93, Mar 2	Loyola-Chicago	103-93, Mar 2
Missouri Valley	Bradley 62-59, Mar 1	West Texas State	62-59, Mar 1
Ohio Valley	Western Kentucky 54-51, Feb 29	Murray State	54-51, Feb 29
Pacific Coast	San Jose State	Long Beach State
Southeastern	LSU 80-78, Mar 2	Kentucky	80-78, Mar 2
Southern	Furman 80-62, Feb 25	Marshall	80-62, Feb 25
Southwest	Texas A&M 52-50, Mar 1	Arkansas	52-50, Mar 1
Southwestern Athletic	Alcorn State 83-61, Mar 2	Grambling	83-61, Mar 2
Sun Belt	Virginia Commonwealth 105-88, Feb 25	UAB	105-88, Feb 25
Trans America	Centenary 79-77, Mar 2	Northeast Louisiana	79-77, Mar 2

The 1979-80 AP poll, week by week

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

Team	Nov27	Dec4	11	18	26	Jan2	8	15	22	29	Feb5	12	19	26	Mar4
DePaul	9	10	11	6	4	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Louisville	10	14	12	11	12	15	11	7	7	7	3	3	2	4	2
LSU	7	6	6	7	5	4	6	14	11	10	6	6	5	5	3
Kentucky	2	5	5	3	2	2	4	6	5	3	5	5	3	2	4
Oregon State	17	15	14	19	18	14	9	4	2	2	4	4	6	6	5
Syracuse	12	11	10	10	9	9	5	3	6	4	2	2	4	3	6
Indiana	1	1	1	5	10	11	19	19	16	18	20		19	13	7
Maryland									15	12	7	8	9	7	8
Notre Dame	5	4	4	4	3	7	7	8	8	8	9	12	10	14	9
Ohio State	4	3	3	2	7	5	3	2	4	6	13	9	11	9	10
Georgetown	19	17	16	17	17	18	20							20	11
BYU	15	18	18	18	20	19	17	18	20	19	14	13	14	12	12
St. John's	16	9	15	15	15	17	14	10	9	9	8	7	7	8	13
Duke	3	2	2	1	1	1	1	5	3	5	10	16	17		14
North Carolina	6	8	8	8	6	6	15	9	13	11	11	11	8	10	15
Missouri			19	16	13	12	13	15	10	14	15	14	13	11	16
Weber State									18	15	17	17	16	16	17
Arizona State											19	18	18	15	18
Iona															19
Purdue	11	12	9	9	8	8	10	11	14	17	12	15	15	18	20
Clemson							18	17	12	16	16	10	12	17
North Carolina State								16						19
Washington State													20
Kansas State										20		19
Iowa		20	17	13	11	10	12	13				20
Virginia	13	13	13	12	14	13	8	12	17	13	18
Tennessee								20	19
UCLA	8	7	7	14	16	16	16
Illinois						20
Arkansas			20	20	19
Marquette	18	16
Kansas	20	19
Texas A&M	14

Tap a rank to read it.

1980 final AP Top 20

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

1980 final AP Top 20AP

1DePaul26-2
2Louisville33-3
3LSU26-6
4Kentucky29-6
5Oregon State26-4
6Syracuse26-4
7Indiana21-8
8Maryland24-7
9Notre Dame22-6
10Ohio State21-8

11Georgetown26-6
12BYU24-5
13St. John's24-5
14Duke24-9
15North Carolina21-8
16Missouri25-6
17Weber State26-3
18Arizona State22-7
19Iona29-5
20Purdue23-10

1980 standings by conference

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

1980 standings by conference29 conferences

Atlantic Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Maryland	24-7	11-3	★ 2 seed AP 8
North Carolina	21-8	9-5	3 seed AP 15
North Carolina State	20-8	9-5	4 seed
Clemson	23-9	8-6	6 seed
Duke	24-9	7-7	🏆 4 seed AP 14
Virginia	24-10	7-7
Wake Forest	13-14	4-10
Georgia Tech	8-18	1-13

Big East7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Syracuse	26-4	5-1	★ 1 seed AP 6
St. John's	24-5	5-1	★ 3 seed AP 13
Georgetown	26-6	5-1	★ 🏆 3 seed AP 11
Connecticut	20-9	3-3
Boston College	19-10	2-4
Seton Hall	14-13	1-5
Providence	11-16	0-6

Big Eight8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Missouri	25-6	11-3	★ 5 seed AP 16
Kansas State	22-9	8-6	🏆 7 seed
Nebraska	18-13	8-6
Colorado	17-10	7-7
Kansas	15-14	7-7
Oklahoma	15-12	6-8
Iowa State	11-16	5-9
Oklahoma State	10-17	4-10

Big Sky8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Weber State	26-3	13-1	★ 🏆 7 seed AP 17
Idaho	17-10	9-5
Montana	17-11	8-6
Montana State	14-12	7-7
Northern Arizona	14-12	5-9
Idaho State	9-17	5-9
Nevada	10-19	5-9
Boise State	10-16	4-10

Big Ten10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Indiana	21-8	13-5	★ 2 seed AP 7
Ohio State	21-8	12-6	4 seed AP 10
Purdue	23-10	11-7	6 seed AP 20
Iowa	23-10	10-8	5 seed
Minnesota	21-11	10-8
Illinois	22-13	8-10
Michigan	17-13	8-10
Wisconsin	15-14	7-11
Michigan State	12-15	6-12
Northwestern	10-17	5-13

East Coast12 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
St. Joseph's	21-9	10-1	★
Bucknell	20-7	13-3
Lafayette	21-8	13-3	★
Temple	14-12	8-3
La Salle	22-9	7-4	🏆 11 seed
Hofstra	14-14	6-5
American	13-14	5-6
Delaware	9-19	7-9
Drexel	12-15	4-7
Rider	10-18	5-11
Lehigh	5-20	2-14
West Chester	3-23	1-15

Eastern 88 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Villanova	23-8	7-3	★ 🏆 8 seed
Duquesne	18-10	7-3	★
Rutgers	14-14	7-3	★
St. Bonaventure	16-11	5-5
Pittsburgh	17-12	5-5
George Washington	15-11	5-5
West Virginia	15-14	4-6
Massachusetts	2-24	0-10

ECAC Metro11 teams

School	W-L	Note
Iona	29-5	NCAA AP 19
St. Peter's	22-9
LIU-Brooklyn	14-12
Wagner	14-13
Siena	14-14
Fairleigh Dickinson	13-14
St. Francis (NY)	11-15
Fairfield	11-16
Fordham	11-17
Army	9-17
Manhattan	4-22

ECAC North10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Northeastern	19-8	19-7	★
Boston University	21-9	19-7	★
Holy Cross	19-11	16-10	🏆 11 seed
Maine	15-13	14-12
Rhode Island	15-13	14-12
Canisius	13-14	13-13
Vermont	12-15	12-14
Niagara	11-16	11-15
Colgate	8-17	8-17
New Hampshire	4-22	4-22

ECAC South11 teams

School	W-L	Note
Old Dominion	25-5	NCAA
James Madison	18-8
Navy	14-13
Richmond	13-14
Baltimore	12-15
William & Mary	12-15
St. Francis (PA)	12-16
Towson	9-17
Catholic	8-19
Robert Morris	7-19
George Mason	5-21

Ivy8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Pennsylvania	17-12	11-3	★ 🏆 12 seed
Princeton	15-15	11-3	★
Brown	12-14	9-5
Yale	16-10	8-6
Harvard	11-15	6-8
Columbia	10-16	5-9
Dartmouth	6-20	3-11
Cornell	5-19	3-11

Metro7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Louisville	33-3	12-0	★ 🏆 2 seed AP 2
Virginia Tech	21-8	8-4	7 seed
Florida State	22-9	7-5	8 seed
Memphis State	13-14	5-7
Saint Louis	12-15	4-8
Cincinnati	13-15	3-9
Tulane	10-17	3-9

Mid-American10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Toledo	23-6	14-2	★ 🏆 9 seed
Bowling Green	20-10	11-5
Northern Illinois	16-13	9-7
Kent State	16-11	7-9
Ball State	14-15	7-9
Western Michigan	12-14	7-9
Eastern Michigan	11-16	7-9
Miami (OH)	9-18	7-9
Central Michigan	12-13	6-10
Ohio	8-18	5-11

Mid-Eastern7 teams

School	W-L	Note
Howard	21-7	★ 🏆
Delaware State	15-12
South Carolina State	12-17
Morgan State	7-15
North Carolina A&T	8-19
North Carolina Central	7-17
Florida A&M	7-22

Midwestern City6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Loyola-Chicago	19-10	5-0	★
Oral Roberts	18-10	4-1	🏆
Oklahoma City	13-15	3-2
Butler	12-15	2-3
Evansville	18-10	1-4
Xavier	8-18	0-5

Missouri Valley9 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Bradley	23-10	13-3	★ 🏆 11 seed
West Texas State	19-11	9-7
Wichita State	17-12	9-7
Creighton	16-12	9-7
New Mexico State	17-10	8-8
Indiana State	16-11	8-8
Drake	15-12	6-10
Southern Illinois	9-17	5-11
Tulsa	8-19	5-11

Ohio Valley7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Murray State	23-8	10-2	★
Western Kentucky	21-8	10-2	★ 🏆 10 seed
Eastern Kentucky	15-12	7-5
Morehead State	15-12	7-5
Middle Tennessee State	13-13	5-7
Austin Peay	8-18	2-10
Tennessee Tech	5-21	1-11

Pacific Coast8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Utah State	18-9	11-2	★ 11 seed
Long Beach State	22-12	11-3
Fresno State	17-7	8-4
San Jose State	17-12	7-6	🏆 12 seed
Pacific	15-16	7-7
UC Santa Barbara	11-16	5-9
CSU-Fullerton	10-17	4-10
UC Irvine	9-18	1-13

Pacific-1010 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Oregon State	26-4	16-2	★ 2 seed AP 5
Arizona State	22-7	15-3	5 seed AP 18
Washington State	22-6	14-4	5 seed
UCLA	22-10	12-6	8 seed
Washington	18-10	9-9
Arizona	12-15	6-12
USC	12-15	5-13
Oregon	10-17	5-13
Stanford	7-19	5-13
California	8-19	3-15

Southeastern10 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Kentucky	29-6	15-3	★ 1 seed AP 4
LSU	26-6	14-4	🏆 1 seed AP 3
Tennessee	18-11	12-6	7 seed
Alabama	18-12	12-6
Mississippi	17-13	9-9
Georgia	14-13	7-11
Vanderbilt	13-13	7-11
Mississippi State	13-14	7-11
Auburn	10-18	5-13
Florida	7-21	2-16

Southern9 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Furman	23-7	14-1	★ 🏆 10 seed
Marshall	17-12	10-6
East Tennessee State	15-13	8-6
Western Carolina	17-10	9-7
UT-Chattanooga	13-14	7-9
Citadel	14-13	6-10
Appalachian State	12-16	6-10
VMI	11-16	6-10
Davidson	8-18	4-11

Southland6 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Lamar	22-11	8-2	★ 10 seed
SW Louisiana	21-9	5-5
Arkansas State	15-12	5-5
McNeese State	15-12	5-5
Louisiana Tech	17-10	4-6
Texas-Arlington	14-13	3-7

Southwest9 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Texas A&M	26-8	14-2	★ 🏆 6 seed
Arkansas	21-8	13-3	10 seed
Texas	19-11	10-6
Texas Tech	16-13	8-8
Houston	14-14	8-8
SMU	16-12	7-9
Baylor	11-16	6-10
Rice	7-19	4-12
TCU	7-19	2-14

Southwestern Athletic7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Alcorn State	28-2	12-0	★ 🏆 8 seed
Grambling	22-8	8-4
Jackson State	15-14	7-5
Southern	14-15	6-6
Texas Southern	9-17	5-7
Mississippi Valley State	3-24	2-10
Prairie View	3-24	2-10

Sun Belt8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
South Alabama	23-6	12-2	★ 9 seed
Jacksonville	20-9	10-4
UAB	18-12	10-4
UNC Charlotte	15-12	9-5
Virginia Commonwealth	18-12	8-6	🏆 12 seed
Georgia State	6-21	4-10
New Orleans	5-21	2-12
South Florida	6-21	1-13

Trans America7 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
Northeast Louisiana	18-10	6-0	★
Texas-Pan American	19-9	4-2
Mercer	16-12	3-3
Centenary	15-14	3-3	🏆
Samford	8-19	3-3
Houston Baptist	14-13	2-4
Hardin-Simmons	5-21	0-6

West Coast9 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
San Francisco	22-7	11-5	★
Loyola Marymount	14-14	10-6	12 seed
Pepperdine	17-11	9-7
Portland	17-11	9-7
St. Mary's	13-14	9-7	★
Gonzaga	16-11	8-8
Santa Clara	13-14	8-8
Seattle	11-16	7-9
San Diego	5-20	1-15

Western Athletic8 teams

School	W-L	Conf	Note
BYU	24-5	13-1	★ 3 seed AP 12
UTEP	20-8	10-4
Utah	18-10	10-4
Wyoming	18-10	8-6
Colorado State	10-17	5-9
Hawaii	13-14	4-10
New Mexico	7-21	3-11
San Diego State	6-21	3-11

Independent25 teams

School	W-L	Note
DePaul	26-2	1 seed AP 1
Notre Dame	22-6	4 seed AP 9
Tennessee State	19-7
UNLV	23-9
Cleveland State	18-8
Illinois State	20-9
Marquette	18-9	9 seed
NC-Wilmington	19-10
Penn State	18-10
Southern Mississippi	17-10
Arkansas-Little Rock	16-10
South Carolina	16-11
Campbell	15-12
East Carolina	15-12
Stetson	15-12
Detroit	14-13
Dayton	13-14
North Texas	13-14
Wisconsin-Milwaukee	9-17
Air Force	8-17
Valparaiso	8-18
Northwestern State	5-20
Portland State	5-21
Georgia Southern	5-22
Charleston Southern	2-23

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.

1980 Elo and upsets

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

1980 Elo and upsetsElo

Elo, top 10

1Louisville2041
2Kentucky1989
3Purdue1987
4UCLA1977
5Duke1961
6Indiana1956
7LSU1948
8Georgetown1936
9Maryland1936
10DePaul1929

Biggest upsets

Georgia State 77, Virginia Commonwealth 71
Jan 19 · regular season · 1.6% win chance
San Diego 70, Pepperdine 63
Jan 19 · regular season · 4.6% win chance
Manhattan 77, Wagner 70
Jan 12 · regular season · 5.2% win chance
Santa Clara 61, San Francisco 59
Jan 10 · regular season · 7.7% win chance
CSU-Fullerton 96, Utah State 88
Jan 31 · regular season · 7.7% win chance
Cornell 98, Yale 93
Feb 23 · regular season · 8.0% win chance
Alabama 78, Kentucky 64
Jan 12 · regular season · 8.2% win chance
Saint Louis 83, Alabama 75
Dec 28 · regular season · 8.3% win chance
Southern Illinois 72, Creighton 71
Feb 11 · regular season · 8.5% win chance
St. Mary's 91, San Francisco 90
Jan 12 · regular season · 8.6% 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.