The 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 10, 2008, and ended with the

2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament in which 65 schools competed to determine the national champion of the men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2008–09 basketball ...

's championship game on April 6, 2009, at

Ford Field Ford Field is a domed American football stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It primarily serves as the home of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), as well as the annual Quick Lane Bowl college football bowl game, state champ ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. The season saw six different teams achieve the AP #1 ranking during the year (just one shy of the NCAA record).

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

sophomore

Blake Griffin Blake Austin Griffin (born March 16, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners, when he was named the consensu ...

was the dominant individual performer, sweeping National Player of the Year honors. The season began with

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

becoming the first unanimous preseason #1 team, and ended with the Tar Heels dominating the NCAA tournament en route to their fifth NCAA title. UNC won its six NCAA tournament games by double digits, and by an average of 19.8 points per game. Junior

Wayne Ellington Wayne Robert Ellington Jr. (born November 29, 1987) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played for the University of North Carolina from 2006 to ...

was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player.

Season headlines

* The

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to individuals from the state of North Carolina, the ''Tar Heel ...

became the first team in history to be the unanimous #1 team in the AP preseason poll. The ranking came based on UNC returning the majority of their ''Final Four'' squad from the year before, most notably

Tyler Hansbrough Andrew Tyler Hansbrough (born November 3, 1985) is an American professional basketball player for Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional. He has played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for seven seasons, as well ...

, who became the first reigning National player of the year to return to school since

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...

in the 1991–92 season. *

was named the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

, the

John Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

, the

Naismith Award Naismith Award is a basketball award named after James Naismith, and awarded by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. Naismith Awards include: * Naismith College Player of the Year (men's and women's; NCAA Division I basketball) * Naismith College Coach of t ...

and the

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

player of the year for the 2008–2009 college basketball season. When combined with

Sam Bradford Samuel Jacob Bradford (born November 8, 1987) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, most notably with the St. Louis Rams and Minnesota Vikings. He was also a member of the ...

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

became the first school to have a top winner in both basketball and football in the same year. *

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

achieved the #1 ranking for the first time in school history on January 5, 2009. * On December 18,

passed Phil Ford to become North Carolina's all-time leading scorer. On February 28, Hansbrough also broke

Dickie Hemric Ned Dixon "Dickie" Hemric (August 29, 1933 – August 3, 2017) was an American collegiate and professional basketball player for Wake Forest University (1952–1955) and the NBA's Boston Celtics ( 1955–1957). Hemric played the first two c ...

's NCAA record for most free throws made in a career. And on March 19, Hansbrough passed

JJ Redick Jonathan Clay "JJ" Redick (born June 24, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who is a podcaster and sports analyst for ESPN. He was selected 11th overall by the Orlando Magic in the 2006 NBA draft. He played college baske ...

as the leading scorer in

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

history. *

Jodie Meeks Orestes Jodie Meeks II (born August 21, 1987) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Birmingham Squadron of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the University of Kentucky. ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

scored 54 points against

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

on January 13, 2009. Meeks was 10–15 from 3-pt range. The output broke Kentucky's single-game scoring record, set by

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Dan Issel Daniel Paul Issel (born October 25, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. An outstanding collegian at the University of Kentucky, Issel was twice named an All-American en route to a school-record 25.7 points per ...

39 years before. * 2009 marked the first time in history that three #1 seeds in the NCAA tournament came from the same conference – as

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

and

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

of the

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

achieved the feat. * Two retired

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

coaches died during the season – UTEP's

Don Haskins Donald Lee Haskins (March 14, 1930 – September 7, 2008), nicknamed "The Bear", was an American basketball player and coach. He played college basketball for three years under coach Henry Iba at Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University). He w ...

on September 7, 2008, and

California's California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Pete Newell Peter Francis Newell (August 31, 1915 – November 17, 2008) was an American college men's basketball coach and basketball instructional coach. He coached for 15 years at the University of San Francisco, Michigan State University, and the Univer ...

on November 17, 2008. Newell's Bears won the NCAA championship in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, while Haskins' Miners won the title in 1966 in a historic win over

. * The preseason AP All-American team was named on November 3.

was the unanimous leading vote-getter (72 of 72 votes). The rest of the team included Stephen Curry of

Davidson Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA * ...

(66 votes),

Luke Harangody Luke Cameron Harangody (born January 2, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for Divina Seguros Joventut of the Spanish Liga ACB. He completed his college career at the University of Notre Dame in 2010. He ...

of Notre Dame (58),

Darren Collison Darren Michael Collison (born August 23, 1987) is an American professional basketball player who is a free agent. Collison played four seasons of college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. He earned All-Pac-10 conference honors three times, and won ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(46) and

(45). *

Kenny George Kenneth George Jr. (born 1986) is an American former college basketball player. Somewhere between and , he was the tallest basketball player in the United States during the two years he played for the UNC Asheville Bulldogs, and may have been t ...

of UNC Asheville, the tallest player in Division I (7'7") and the nation's leader in FG% for 2007–08, had part of his right foot amputated before the start of the season, threatening to end his career. * The

New Jersey Institute of Technology {{Infobox university , name = {{nowrap, New Jersey Institute of Technology , image = New Jersey IT seal.svg , image_upright = 0.9 , former_names = Newark College of Engineering (1930–1975)Ne ...

broke a 51-game losing streak that stretched back to February 19, 2007, by defeating Bryant 61–51 on January 21. * Travis and Chavis Holmes of VMI became the highest-scoring twins in NCAA Division I history. *

Ryan Toolson Ryan Toolson (born March 21, 1985) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Baxi Manresa of the Liga ACB. Standing at , he plays at the shooting guard position. Professional career In June 2013, Toolson signed a one- ...

Utah Valley Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

had the highest single-game scoring mark of the season, netting 63 points in a 123–121 quadruple-overtime win over

Chicago State Chicago State University (CSU) is a predominantly black public university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1867 as the Cook County Normal School, it was an innovative teachers college. Eventually the Chicago Public Schools assumed control of t ...

on January 29, 2009.

teammates

David Holston David Holston (born January 26, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for JDA Dijon Basket of France's LNB Pro A. He played college basketball at the Chicago State University (CSU). In 2019, he was named the Most Valuable Player of ...

and John Cantrell each scored over 40 points in the loss. * On January 31, Texas's

A. J. Abrams Adrian Glenn Abrams Jr. (born October 16, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player. High school career Abrams went to Deerpark Middle School and McNeil High School in Round Rock, Texas, where he is the school's all-time scorin ...

hit his 339th 3-point shot, breaking the previous Big 12 record of 338 held by

Jeff Boschee Jeffrey Allen Boschee (; born on December 21, 1979) is an American former basketball player and current coach. He currently serves as head coach of the men's team at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas. He was formerly the head coach ...

of Kansas. In the same game, Kansas State's

Denis Clemente Denis Clemente (born April 10, 1986 in Bayamón, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican professional basketball player for the Brujos de Guayama of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN). He played collegiately in the United States with the Kansas Sta ...

tied his former teammate

Michael Beasley Michael Paul Beasley Jr. (born January 9, 1989) is an American professional basketball player, who most recently played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for Kansas State Univers ...

's Big 12 single-game scoring record, netting 44 points in an 85–81 overtime win for the Wildcats. *

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...

became the first men's team in Division I or its predecessors to reach the NCAA Tournament in its first year of postseason eligibility since

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

, when Southwestern Louisiana, now

Louisiana-Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...

, accomplished this feat. The Bison reached the "Big Dance" by defeating

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

in the final of the 2009 Summit League tournament on March 10. * Syracuse upset

, 127–117, in a six-overtime game in the Big East Conference tournament Quarterfinals that started on March 12 and ended after midnight on March 13. It was the longest game in

history, and second longest in NCAA Division I history, at 70 total playing minutes. *

guard Stephen Curry,

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

guard

Tyrese Rice Tyrese Jammal Rice (born May 15, 1987) is an American-born naturalized Montenegrin former professional basketball player who last played for AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League and the Basketball Champions League. He also represents the senior m ...

Miami (FL) Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at the ...

guard Jack McClinton,

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

guard

Toney Douglas Toney Bernard Douglas (born March 16, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for Benfica of the Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol. He played college basketball for Auburn for one year, eventually becoming frustrated with his role on t ...

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

guard Dionte Christmas, UAB guard Robert Vaden,

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

guard Brandon Ewing,

guard

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stu ...

guard Stefon Jackson,

Central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...

guard Jermaine Taylor,

guard Ben Woodside, VMI guard Chavis Holmes, East Tennessee State guard Courtney Pigram and

Coppin State Coppin State University (Coppin) is a public historically black university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland and a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. In terms of demographics, the Coppin State st ...

guard

Tywain McKee Tywain "Ty" McKee (born March 7, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for BC Borisfen of the Belarusian Premier League. He played college basketball for Coppin State University, where he was named the MEAC Player of the Year in 20 ...

each eclipsed the career 2000-point mark during the season. *

Arkansas State Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage l ...

changed its nickname from the "Indians" to the "Red Wolves", effective this season. * Bryant University and

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a public university in Edwardsville, Illinois. SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.Butler 1976, p. 18 It is the younger of the two major inst ...

competed at the Division I level for the first time, while Houston Baptist returned to Division I play after a 20-year absence and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

after 28 years. * Conference realignments: Gardner-Webb moved from the

Atlantic Sun Conference The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Divisi ...

to the

Big South Conference The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

, while

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

competes in the

Big South The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

as well after playing as an independent in 2007–08. Samford moved from the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern and Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It participates in NCAA Divisi ...

to the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

. *

Don Meyer Donald Wayne Meyer (December 16, 1944 – May 18, 2014) was an American college basketball coach who completed his career in 2010 as head coach of the men's team at Northern State University. He was once head coach at Hamline University and Lipsco ...

passed

Bob Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (born October 25, 1940) is an American former basketball coach. Nicknamed "the General", Knight won 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball games, a record at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all-ti ...

as the winningest coach in NCAA history, breaking Knight's record of 902 victories. * Syracuse Orange men's basketball, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim led the Orange to 20 wins for the 31st time in his career, a new record. Boeheim had previously been tied with Dean Smith at 30 20-win seasons. * Connecticut Huskies men's basketball, Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun won his 800th career game, beating Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball, Marquette on February 25, 2009. * After the season, Northeastern Huskies, Northeastern's basketball program was placed on probation until 2011 due to recruiting and extra-benefits violations. * Centenary Gentlemen men's basketball, Centenary became the first men's basketball to receive a postseason ban due to their poor showing against Academic Progress Rate (APR) standards. The Gentlemen will not be eligible for postseason play for the 2009–10 season. * 27,767,111 fans attended Division I games during the season, the second-highest all-time for the division. * Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Jud Heathcote, Wayman Tisdale, Gene Bartow, Travis Grant, Walter Byers and Bill Wall were inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. * During the 2008–09 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season, 2008–09 Big Ten season, Evan Turner and Manny Harris became the 4th and 5th players to finish in the top ten in the Big Ten Conference in average points rebounds and assists in the same season since assists became a statistic in 1983–84. Harris is the first to finish in the top six in each one. Turner would finish in the top two the following year. * beats 2008–09 Boston College Eagles men's basketball team, Boston College for its first-ever win against a ranked opponent. During the 2008–09 Ivy League men's basketball season, 2008–09 Ivy League season, Harvard's Jeremy Lin was the only NCAA Division I men's college basketball player who ranked in the top ten in his conference for point (basketball), scoring (17.8), rebound (basketball), rebounding (5.5), assist (basketball), assists (4.3), steal (basketball), steals (2.4), blocked shots (0.6), field goal percentage (0.502), free throw percentage (0.744), and 3-point shot percentage (0.400).

Major rule changes

Beginning in 2008–2009, the following rules changes were implemented: * The three-point line moved from 19 feet, 9 inches to 20 feet, 9 inches. * If the entire ball is above the rim when it comes into contact with the backboard and is subsequently touched by a player, it is goaltending. Previously only a ball moving downward after hitting the backboard could be subject to goaltending.

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The top 25 from the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls, October 31, 2008.

Conference membership changes

These schools joined new conferences for the 2008–09 season.

Regular season

Early-season tournaments

* *Although these tournaments technically have more teams involved, only 4 can play for the championship.

Conference winners and tournaments

Thirty athletic conferences each end their regular seasons with a single-elimination tournament. The teams in each conference that win their regular season title are given the number one seed in each tournament. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the

. The Ivy League does not have a conference tournament, instead giving their automatic invitation to their regular-season champion Cornell.

Statistical leaders

Conference standings

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

The NCAA Tournament tipped off on March 18, 2009, with the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Play-in Game, opening round game in Dayton, Ohio, and concluded on April 6 at the

. Of the 65 teams that were invited to participate, 31 were automatic bids while 34 were at-large bids. The 34 at-large teams came from 8 conferences, with the 2008–09 Big East Conference men's basketball season, Big East, 2008–09 Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball season, ACC and 2008–09 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season, Big Ten each receiving seven bids. The 2008–09 Big 12 Conference men's basketball season, Big 12 and 2008–09 Pacific-10 Conference men's basketball season, Pac-10 each received six bids. The Southeastern Conference, SEC and Atlantic 10 each received three bids. This season also marked the first time that three teams from the same conference were selected as #1 seeds (Louisville, Pittsburgh and Connecticut). North Carolina tore through the tournament, winning each game by 12 or more points and beating Michigan State in the Final 89–72 behind an NCAA-record 55 first-half points to win its fifth National Championship. Ty Lawson recorded a record 8 steals, while

was named tournament NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player, Most Outstanding Player.

Final Four –
Ford Field Ford Field is a domed American football stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It primarily serves as the home of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), as well as the annual Quick Lane Bowl college football bowl game, state champ ...
,
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
,
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

National Invitation tournament

After the NCAA Tournament field was announced, the National Invitation Tournament invited 32 teams to participate. Five teams were automatic qualifiers for winning their conference regular-season championships, while the remaining 27 bids were named from an at-large pool. Notable entrants included

, who broke a 17-year NCAA tournament appearance streak by missing the field, as well as preseason top ten team 2008–09 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team, Notre Dame and 2008 Regional Finalist

. 2008-09 Penn State Nittany Lions men's basketball team, Penn State defeated 2008-09 Baylor Bears men's basketball team, Baylor 69–63 in the Final on April 2. The Nittany Lions' Jamelle Cornley was named tournament Most Outstanding Player.

NIT Semifinals and Final

Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 31 and April 2

College Basketball Invitational

The second College Basketball Invitational (CBI) Tournament was held beginning March 17 and ended with a best-of-three final, ending March 30. It was the second year that the CBI tournament has conducted a post-season tournament. 2008–09 Oregon State Beavers men's basketball team, Oregon State defeated UTEP Miners men's basketball, UTEP 2-1 in the final series to win the title. Oregon State's Roeland Schaftenaar was named tournament MVP.

CollegeInsider.com tournament

The inaugural CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament was held beginning March 17 and ended with a championship game on March 30. This tournament places an emphasis on selecting successful teams from "mid-major" conferences who were left out of the NCAA Tournament and NIT. 2008–09 Old Dominion Monarchs basketball team, Old Dominion defeated Bradley Braves men's basketball, Bradley 66–62 to win the first CIT championship in Peoria, Illinois. The Monarchs' Frank Hassell was named tournament MVP.

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

Major player of the year awards

* John R. Wooden Award, Wooden Award:

, 2008-09 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team, Oklahoma * Naismith College Player of the Year, Naismith Award: Blake Griffin, Oklahoma * Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year, Associated Press Player of the Year: Blake Griffin, Oklahoma * NABC Player of the Year: Blake Griffin, Oklahoma * Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): Blake Griffin, Oklahoma * Adolph Rupp Trophy: Blake Griffin, Oklahoma * CBS/Chevrolet Player of the Year: Blake Griffin, Oklahoma * Sporting News Men's College Basketball Player of the Year, ''Sporting News'' Player of the Year: Blake Griffin, Oklahoma

Major freshman of the year awards

* USBWA Freshman of the Year: Tyreke Evans, Memphis Tigers men's basketball, Memphis * ''

'' Freshman of the Year: Tyreke Evans, Memphis

Major coach of the year awards

* Associated Press College Basketball Coach of the Year, Associated Press Coach of the Year: Bill Self, 2008-09 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team, Kansas * Henry Iba Award (USBWA): Bill Self, Kansas * NABC Coach of the Year: Mike Anderson (basketball coach), Mike Anderson, 2008-09 Missouri Tigers men's basketball team, Missouri & John Calipari, Memphis Tigers men's basketball, Memphis * Naismith College Coach of the Year: Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball, Pittsburgh * CBS/Chevrolet Coach of the Year: Bill Self, Kansas * Adolph Rupp Cup: Rick Pitino, Louisville Cardinals men's basketball, Louisville * Sporting News Men’s College Basketball Coach of the Year Award, ''Sporting News'' Coach of the Year: Bill Self, Kansas

Other major awards

* Bob Cousy Award (Best point guard): Ty Lawson,

* Pete Newell Big Man Award (Best big man): Blake Griffin, Oklahoma * NABC Defensive Player of the Year: Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut Huskies men's basketball, Connecticut * Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player 6'0"/1.83 m or shorter):

* List of Lowe's Senior CLASS Award men's basketball winners, Lowe's Senior CLASS Award (top senior):

* Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Ahmad Nivins, Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball, St. Joseph's * NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Charles Jenkins (basketball), Charles Jenkins, Hofstra Pride, Hofstra * Chip Hilton Player of the Year Award (Strong personal character): Jon Brockman, Washington Huskies men's basketball, Washington

Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches throughout the season and after the season ended.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2008-09 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Season 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season,