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,
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 ...
*
Naismith Award:
Elton Brand,
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 ...
*
Associated Press Player of the Year:
Elton Brand,
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 ...
*
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,
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 ...
*
Oscar Robertson Trophy (
USBWA):
Elton Brand,
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 ...
*
Adolph Rupp Trophy:
Elton Brand,
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 ...
*
Sporting News Player of the Year:
Elton Brand,
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 ...
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� ...
,
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 ...
&
Jim O'Brien,
Ohio State
*
Naismith College Coach of the Year:
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� ...
,
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 ...
*
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,
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 ...
*
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