The 1998–99 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1998 and concluded with the 64-team 1999 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, whose finals were held at

Tropicana Field Tropicana Field (nicknamed "The Trop") is a domed multipurpose stadium located in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. "The Trop" was the home of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1998 Tampa Bay Devil Rays season, 1998 to ...

in St. Petersburg,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. The Connecticut Huskies earned their first national championship by defeating the

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the N ...

, 77–74, on March 29, 1999. They were coached by Jim Calhoun, and the

NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player The Most Outstanding Player (MOP) is awarded to one player after the conclusion of the championship game of the NCAA Division I NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, men's and NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, women's basketb ...

was Richard Hamilton. In the 32-team 1999 National Invitation Tournament, the California Golden Bears defeated the Clemson Tigers at the

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

in New York City. Following the season, the 1999 NCAA Men's Basketball All-American Consensus First Team included Elton Brand, Mateen Cleaves, Richard Hamilton, Andre Miller and

Jason Terry Jason Eugene Terry (born September 15, 1977) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 19 seasons in the NBA as a combo guar ...

. The consensus second team was composed of Evan Eschmeyer, Steve Francis, Trajan Langdon, Chris Porter, and Wally Szczerbiak.

Season headlines

* The preseason AP All-American team was named on November 10. Richard Hamilton of

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

was the leading vote-getter (66 of 72 votes). The rest of the team included Mateen Cleaves of Michigan State (58 votes), Elton Brand of

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

(55), Lee Nailon of TCU (50) and Andre Miller of

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

(44).

Conference membership changes

These schools joined new conferences for the 1998–99 season.

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The top 25 from the AP Poll November 6, 1998 and the ESPN/USA Today Poll November 5, 1998.

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Twenty-eight conferences concluded their seasons with a single-elimination tournament, with only the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

and Pacific-10 Conference choosing not to conduct conference tournaments. Most conference tournament winners received an automatic bid to the 1999 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

Conference standings

Division I independents

Two schools played as Division I independents.

Informal championships

For the eighth consecutive season, the Philadelphia Big 5 did not play a full round-robin schedule in which each team met each other team once, a format it had used from its first season of competition in 1955–56 through the 1990–91 season. Instead, each team played only two games against other Big 5 members, and Villanova finished with a 2–0 record in head-to-head competition among the Big 5. The Big 5 did not revive its full round-robin schedule until the 1999–2000 season.

Statistical leaders

Source for additional stats categories

Postseason tournaments

NCAA tournament

Final Four –
Tropicana Field Tropicana Field (nicknamed "The Trop") is a domed multipurpose stadium located in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. "The Trop" was the home of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1998 Tampa Bay Devil Rays season, 1998 to ...
, St. Petersburg, Florida

# - Ohio State vacated 34 games, including all NCAA Tournament wins from the 1998–99 season due to the Jim O’Brien scandal. Unlike forfeiture, a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win, only with Ohio State removing the wins from its own record.

National Invitation tournament

Semifinals & finals

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

Major player of the year awards

* Wooden Award: Elton Brand,

* Naismith Award: Elton Brand,

* Associated Press Player of the Year: Elton Brand,

NABC Player of the Year The NABC Player of the Year is an award given annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) to recognize the top player in men's college basketball across the three largest college athletic associations in the United States. Th ...

: Elton Brand,

* Oscar Robertson Trophy ( USBWA): Elton Brand,

* Adolph Rupp Trophy: Elton Brand,

* Sporting News Player of the Year: Elton Brand,

Major freshman of the year awards

* USBWA Freshman of the Year: Quentin Richardson, DePaul * ''

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 ...

'' Freshman of the Year: Quentin Richardson, DePaul

Major coach of the year awards

* Associated Press Coach of the Year: Cliff Ellis, Auburn * Henry Iba Award ( USBWA): Cliff Ellis, Auburn *

NABC Coach of the Year The NABC Coach of the Year is an award given annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) to recognize the top head coach in men's college basketball across the four largest college athletic associations in the United States. ...

Mike Krzyzewski Michael William Krzyzewski ( , ; born February 13, 1947), nicknamed "Coach K", is an American former college basketball coach. He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980–81 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, 1980 to 2021� ...

& Jim O'Brien, Ohio State * Naismith College Coach of the Year:

* CBS/

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

Coach of the Year: Cliff Ellis, Auburn * ''Sporting News'' Coach of the Year: Cliff Ellis, Auburn

Other major awards

NABC Defensive Player of the Year The NABC Defensive Player of the Year is a college basketball award given annually by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) to recognize the top men's defensive player in NCAA Division I competition. It has been given since 1987 a ...

: Shane Battier,

Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award The Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award was an annual college basketball award in the United States intended to honor players who excelled on the court in spite of their height. The award, named in honor of James Naismith's daughter-in-law, was establi ...

(Best player under 6'0): Shawnta Rogers,

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

* Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Pepe Sánchez,

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

* NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

metro area):

Ron Artest Metta Sandiford-Artest (born Ronald William Artest Jr., November 13, 1979), previously legally named Metta World Peace, is an American former professional basketball player who played 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Un ...

, St. John's * Chip Hilton Player of the Year Award (Strong personal character): Tim Hill,

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

Coaching changes

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1998-99 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Season