The 2006–07 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 7, 2006, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship game on April 2, 2007, at the Georgia Dome in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. The Florida Gators successfully defended their national championship with an 84–75 victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Season headlines

* The Florida Gators successfully defended their national championship, becoming the first team in 15 years to win consecutive titles. The

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 ...

also became the first school to win both the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

football and basketball championships during the same academic year. * The Gators' Lee Humphrey broke Bobby Hurley's NCAA tournament record for three-pointers. Humphrey hit 55 threes in 14 games over his career. * It was the year of the freshman as Texas'

Kevin Durant Kevin Wayne Durant (born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Durant has won two List of NBA champions, NBA champ ...

became the first freshman ever to be named national player of the year. Meanwhile, Ohio State's Greg Oden was an AP first-team All-American, as well as national defensive player of the year. * Texas Tech coach

Bob Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (October 25, 1940 – November 1, 2023) was an American men's college basketball coach (basketball), coach. Nicknamed "the General", he won 902 NCAA Division I men's basketball games, a record at the time of his retire ...

won his 880th game in a 70–68 win over

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

on January 1, 2006. The win moved Knight ahead of Dean Smith for the most career coaching wins in Division I history. * Florida coach Billy Donovan made headlines as he accepted the Orlando Magic head coaching job, only to return to the Gators. * Five Duquesne players were shot and injured at an altercation following a campus dance party on September 17, 2006. Coach Ron Everhart drew praise from the media and coaching community as he brought the team together after the tragedy. * Two players broke the NCAA Division I career free throw percentage record that had been held by Villanova's Gary Buchanan since 2004 (91.3%). Blake Ahearn of Missouri State became the new record-holder, finishing his career with a 94.6%. Derek Raivio of Gonzaga finished second in Division I history at 92.7%. * Alabama A&M's Mickell Gladness broke the NCAA single-game blocked shot record, swatting 16 shots in a February 24 game against Texas Southern. The previous record had been 14, held by four players. * The preseason AP All-American team was named on November 8. Tyler Hansbrough of

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

was the leading vote-getter (65 of 72 votes). The rest of the team included Joakim Noah of

(64 votes), Ronald Steele of

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

(55), Glen Davis of

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

(51) and Brandon Rush of

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

(26). * Wisconsin's Alando Tucker, Boston College's Jared Dudley, Nevada's

Nick Fazekas Nicholas Ryan Fazekas (born June 17, 1985) is an American-born Japanese former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball, Nevada Wolf Pack. Early career Fazekas attended Ralston Valley ...

, Albany's Jamar Wilson, Jackson State's Trey Johnson, San Diego State's Brandon Heath, Texas Tech's Jarius Jackson, Hofstra's Loren Stokes, Liberty's Larry Blair, and Towson's Gary Neal (who transferred from La Salle) all eclipsed the career 2000-point mark during the season. * Oral Roberts had a pair of teammates – Caleb Green and Ken Tutt – both reach the career 2000-point milestone during the season. * Jackson State's Trey Johnson had the highest single-game scoring output of the season, scoring 49 points in a game against UTEP on December 22, 2006. * Winston-Salem State and NJIT moved up to Division I competition. * Conference realignments: Chicago State moved out of the Mid-Continent Conference and became independent. Florida Atlantic moved from the Atlantic Sun Conference to the Sun Belt Conference. Northern Colorado joined the Big Sky Conference after being independent. Central Arkansas and Texas A&M – Corpus Christi joined the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference (SLC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in ...

. TAMU-CC had been independent while Central Arkansas moved up to division I. * Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Austin Carr, Dick Groat, Dick Barnett, Adolph Rupp, Lefty Driesell, Phog Allen, Guy Lewis, John McLendon, Norm Stewart and Vic Bubas were inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.

Rules changes

Beginning in 2006–2007, the following rules changes were implemented: * Players can no longer call a time out while they are in the air.

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The top 25 from the AP and ESPN/''USA Today'' Coaches Polls, November 6, 2006:

Conference membership changes

These schools joined new conferences for the 2006–07 season.

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Thirty conference seasons concluded with a single-elimination tournament. Generally, all member schools were eligible to participate in their conference tournament regardless of their records, but the Big East did not invite its teams with the worst records to its 2007 tournament. Conference tournament winners received an automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, while a school that won its conference regular season title but did not win its conference tournament was guaranteed a bid to the 2007 National Invitation Tournament unless it received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. 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 ...

was the only

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

conference that did not hold a conference tournament, instead sending its regular-season champion to the NCAA tournament.

Conference standings

Division I independents

Twelve schools played as Division I independents. Only , , , and were considered full

schools, as the rest were still in a transition phase from NCAA Division II.

Informal championships

Villanova finished with a 4–0 record in head-to-head competition among the Philadelphia Big 5.

Major upsets

Regular season and conference tournaments

Key games

Statistical leaders

Source for additional stats categories

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

The NCAA Tournament tipped off on March 13, 2007, with the opening round game in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, and concluded on April 2 at the Georgia Dome in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Georgia. A total of 65 teams entered the tournament. Thirty of the teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. The automatic bid of the

, which does not conduct a post-season tournament, went to its regular season champion. The remaining 34 teams were granted "at-large" bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. The

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

led the way with seven bids, while the Big East, Big Ten and Pac-10 each placed six teams in the field.

successfully defended their title, beating Ohio State 84–75 in the final and becoming the first team since the 1991–92 Duke Blue Devils to repeat as champions. Florida swingman Corey Brewer was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, while guard Lee Humphrey broke the career NCAA Tournament record for three-pointers made.

Final Four – Georgia Dome,
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, Georgia

National Invitation tournament

After the NCAA Tournament field was announced, the National Invitation Tournament invited 32 teams to participate, reducing the field's size from 40. Eight teams were given automatic bids for winning their conference regular seasons, and 24 other teams were also invited. The field came from 18 conferences, with the Big East and

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

tying for the most teams invited with four. For the first time since the NIT began seeding teams, all four No. 1 seeds reached the final four. John Beilein's West Virginia Mountaineers won the title, defeating the Oliver Purnell-coached Clemson Tigers 78–73 in the championship game. The Mountaineers reached the championship game after Darris Nichols' dramatic 3-pointer at the buzzer stunned Mississippi State in the semifinals. Mountaineer guard Frank Young was named tournament MVP.

Semifinals and finals

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

Major player of the year awards

* Wooden Award:

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

* Naismith Award:

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Player of the Year:

* NABC Player of the Year:

* Oscar Robertson Trophy ( USBWA):

* Adolph Rupp Trophy:

* CBS/ Chevrolet Player of the Year:

* ''Sporting News'' Player of the Year:

Major freshman of the year awards

* USBWA Freshman of the Year:

* ''

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:

Major coach of the year awards

Coach of the Year:

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

, Washington State * Henry Iba Award ( USBWA):

, Washington State * NABC Coach of the Year: Todd Lickliter, Butler * Naismith College Coach of the Year:

, Washington State * CBS/ Chevrolet Coach of the Year:

, Washington State * Adolph Rupp Cup: Bo Ryan,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

* ''Sporting News'' Coach of the Year:

, Washington State

Other major awards

* Bob Cousy Award (best point guard): Acie Law IV,

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

* Pete Newell Big Man Award (best big man): Greg Oden, Ohio State * NABC Defensive Player of the Year: Greg Oden, Ohio State * Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (best player under 6'0"): Tre Kelley,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

* Lowe's Senior CLASS Award (top senior): Alando Tucker,

* Robert V. Geasey Trophy (top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Ibrahim Jaaber, Penn * 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): Jared Jordan, Marist * Chip Hilton Player of the Year Award (Strong personal character): Acie Law IV, Texas A&M

Coaching changes

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

References

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