The 1975–76 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1975, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1976 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on March 29, 1976, at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Indiana Hoosiers won their third NCAA national championship with a 86–68 victory over the Michigan Wolverines.
Season headlines The Metro Conference began play, with six original members. The last basketball season for the Yankee Conference, which dropped all sports except football at the end of the season. Indiana went undefeated (32–0) during the season. In the Pacific 8 Conference, UCLA won its 10th of what would ultimately be 13 consecutive conference titles. The National Invitation Tournament contracted from 16 to 12 teams. Two African-American head coaches met in an NCAA tournament game for the first time, when Fred Snowden’s Arizona Wildcats faced John Thompson’s Georgetown Hoyas in a first-round game on March 13, 1976. Two teams from the same conference played in the NCAA championship game for the first time, when Big Ten Conference members Indiana and Michigan met on March 29, 1976. Such an occurrence was impossible prior to the 1975 tournament, since only one team per conference could qualify from 1939 through 1974. Bob Knight of Indiana became the first head coach to win the NCAA championship after playing for an NCAA championship team. He had played for the 1960 champion Ohio State team.
Season outlook
Pre-season polls
The top 20 from the AP Poll during the pre-season.
'Associated Press'RankingTeam1Indiana (30)2UCLA (13)3Maryland4Marquette5North Carolina6Kentucky (2)7Notre Dame8Louisville9Tennessee (1)10Cincinnati11Arizona12Alabama13NC State14Kansas State15San Francisco16Michigan17Providence18Arizona State19(tie)Memphis StateAuburn20Syracuse UPI CoachesRankingTeam1Indiana2Marquette3Maryland4North Carolina5UCLA6Tennessee7Louisville8Notre Dame9Arizona10Alabama11Cincinnati12UNLV13Washington14San Francisco15USC16Kentucky17Rutgers18NC State19Michigan20Kansas State
Conference membership changes
SchoolFormer conferenceNew conference Division I independent Mid-American Conference Division I independent California Collegiate Athletic Association (D–II) Division I independent Metro Conference Division I independent Metro Conference Division I independent Southwest Conference Missouri Valley Conference Metro Conference Division I independent Metro Conference West Coast Athletic Conference Division I independent Division II independent Division I independent Missouri Valley Conference Division I independent Division I independent Mid-American Conference Division I independent Metro Conference Division I independent Missouri Valley Conference Division I independent Metro Conference
Regular season Conferences Conference winners and tournaments ConferenceRegular season winnerConference player of the yearConference tournamentTournament venue (City)Tournament winnerAtlantic Coast Conference North Carolina Mitch Kupchak, North Carolina2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section , retrieved 2009-02-14 1976 ACC men's basketball tournament Capital Centre(Landover, Maryland) VirginiaBig Eight Conference Missouri Willie Smith, Missouri2008–09 Big 12 Men's Basketball Media Guide – Awards section, Big 12 Conference, retrieved 2009-02-04 No TournamentBig Sky Conference Boise State, Idaho State, & Weber State None selected 1976 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament Swenson Gym(Ogden, Utah) Boise StateBig Ten Conference Indiana None Selected No TournamentEast Coast Conference Saint Joseph's (East)Lafayette (West) Todd Tripucka, Lafayette 1976 East Coast Conference men's basketball tournament The Palestra(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) Hofstra Eastern College AthleticConference (ECAC) Division I ECAC membersplayed as independentsduring the regular season(see note) 1976 ECAC Metro Region tournament Jadwin Gymnasium(Princeton, ) Rutgers 1976 ECAC New England Region tournament Springfield Civic Center(Springfield, Massachusetts) Connecticut 1976 ECAC Southern Region tournament WVU Coliseum(Morgantown, ) Georgetown 1976 ECAC Upstate Region tournament Manley Field House(Syracuse, New York) SyracuseIvy League Princeton Armond Hill, PrincetonMen's Ivy League Outstanding performers , Ivy League, retrieved 2009-02-01 No TournamentMetro Conference Tulane Gary Yoder, Cincinnati 1976 Metro Conference men's basketball tournament Freedom Hall(Louisville, Kentucky) CincinnatiMid-American Conference Western Michigan Jeff Tyson, Western Michigan2008–09 MAC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Records Section, Mid-American Conference, retrieved 2009-02-14 No TournamentMissouri Valley Conference Wichita State Mike Glenn, Southern Illinois No TournamentOhio Valley Conference Western Kentucky Johnny Britt, Western Kentucky, & Middle Tennessee 1976 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament E.A. Diddle Arena( Kentucky)(Semifinals and Finals) Western KentuckyPacific-8 Conference UCLA Ron Lee, OregonNo TournamentPacific Coast Athletic Association Long Beach State & Cal State Fullerton Steve Copp, San Diego State, & Cal State Fullerton 1976 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball tournament Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium(Stockton, California) San Diego StateSoutheastern Conference Alabama Bernard King, Tennessee2008–09 SEC Men's Basketball Record Book, Southeastern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-06 No TournamentSouthern Conference VMI Rodney McKeever,The Citadel2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section , Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09 1976 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Greenville Memorial Auditorium(Greenville, )(Semifinals and Finals) VMI2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section , Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09Southland Conference Louisiana Tech Mike McConathy, Louisiana Tech2008–09 Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Media Guide, Southland Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07 No TournamentSouthwest Conference Texas A&M Ira Terrell, SMU 1976 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament Moody Coliseum(Dallas, Texas) Texas TechWest Coast Athletic Conference Pepperdine Marcos Leite, Pepperdine No TournamentWestern Athletic Conference Arizona None Selected No TournamentYankee Conference Massachusetts None Selected No Tournament NOTE: From 1975 to 1981, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), a loosely organized sports federation of colleges and universities in the Northeastern United States, organized Division I ECAC regional tournaments for those of its members that were independents in basketball. Each 1976 tournament winner received an automatic bid to the 1976 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in the same way that the tournament champions of conventional athletic conferences did.Varsity Pride: ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
Conference standings
Division I independents A total of 77 college teams played as Division I independents. Among them, Rutgers (31–2) had both the best winning percentage (.939) and the most wins.
Informal championships ConferenceRegular season winnerMost Valuable PlayerPhiladelphia Big 5 & Villanova Charlie Wise, La Salle Saint Joseph's and Villanova both finished with 3–1 records in head-to-head competition among the Philadelphia Big 5.
Post-season tournaments
NCAA tournament
Final Four
National Invitation tournament
Semifinals & finals
Awards
Consensus All-American teams
+ Consensus First Team Player Position Class Team Kent Benson C Junior Indiana Adrian Dantley F Junior Notre Dame John Lucas G Senior Maryland Scott May F Senior Indiana Richard Washington F/C Junior UCLA
+ Consensus Second Team Player Position Class Team Phil Ford G Sophomore North Carolina Bernard King F Sophomore Tennessee Mitch Kupchak F/C Senior North Carolina Phil Sellers G Senior Rutgers Earl Tatum G/F Senior Marquette
Major player of the year awards
Naismith Award: Scott May, Indiana Helms Player of the Year: Kent Benson, Indiana, & Scott May, Indiana Associated Press Player of the Year: Scott May, Indiana UPI Player of the Year: Scott May, Indiana NABC Player of the Year: Scott May, Indiana Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): Adrian Dantley, Notre Dame Adolph Rupp Trophy: Scott May, Indiana Sporting News Player of the Year: Scott May, Indiana
Major coach of the year awards
Associated Press Coach of the Year: Bob Knight, Indiana Henry Iba Award (USBWA): Johnny Orr, Michigan NABC Coach of the Year: Johnny Orr, Michigan UPI Coach of the Year: Tom Young, Rutgers Sporting News Coach of the Year: Tom Young, Rutgers
Other major awards
Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player under 6'0): Frank Alagia, St. John's Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Charlie Wise, La Salle NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Phil Sellers, Rutgers
Coaching changes A number of teams changed coaches throughout the season and after the season ended. TeamFormerCoachInterimCoachNewCoachReasonArkansas StateJohn RoseMarvin AdamsBowling Green StatePat HaleyJohn WeinertColgateBill VespMike GriffinColoradoSox WalsethBill BlairDavidsonRobert BricklesDave PritchettDelawareDonald HarnumRonald RaineyEast Tennessee StateLeroy FisherSonny SmithEastern KentuckyBob MulcahyEd ByhreEastern MichiganAllan FreundRay ScottFordhamHal WisselDae StewartHawaiiBruce O'NeilRick PitinoLarry LittleIowa StateKen TrickeyLynn NanceLamarJack MartinBilly TubbsMichigan StateGus GanakasJud Heathcote MontanaJud HeathcoteJim Brandenburg Heathcote left to coach Michigan State.NavyDave SmalleyBob HamiltonNevadaJim PadgettJim CareyNiagaraFrank LaydenDan RaskinNorthern IllinoisEmory LuckJohn McDougalOhio StateFred TaylorEldon MillerOle MissCob JarvisBob WeltlichPan AmericanAbe LemonsBill WhiteSouthern MissJeep ClarkM. K. TurkSyracuseRoy DanforthJim BoeheimRoy Danforth departed for the head coaching position at Tulane. Boeheim, Danforth's lead assistant, held the position for 47 seasons.Tennessee TechConnie InmanCliff MalpassTexasLeon BlackAbe Lemons Texas–Pan AmericanAbe LemonsBill White TulaneCharles MoirRoy Danforth Danforth succeeded Charles Moir, who left the Green Wave for Virginia Tech.Texas–ArlingtonBarry DowdBob "Snake" LeGrandVanderbiltRoy SkinnerWayne DobbsVCUChuck NoeDana KirkVirginia TechDon DeVoeCharles MoirVMIBill BlairCharlie Schmaus Blair left to coach Colorado.Western MichiganEldon MillerDick Shilts WyomingMoe RadovichDon DeVoe
References