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's championship game on April 6, 2009, at Ford Field in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. 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: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

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

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 ...

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 was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player.

Season headlines

* The North Carolina Tar Heels 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, who became the first reigning National player of the year to return to school since Shaquille O'Neal in the 1991–92 season. * Blake Griffin was named the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

, the John Wooden Award, the Naismith Award 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 ...

player of the year for the 2008–2009 college basketball season. When combined with Sam Bradford's

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

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

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

achieved the #1 ranking for the first time in school history on January 5, 2009. * On December 18, Tyler Hansbrough passed Phil Ford to become North Carolina's all-time leading scorer. On February 28, Hansbrough also broke Dickie Hemric's NCAA record for most free throws made in a career. And on March 19, Hansbrough passed JJ Redick as the leading scorer in

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 ...

history. * Jodie Meeks of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

scored 54 points against

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

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 Dan Issel 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,

and

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. ...

of the Big East achieved the feat. * Two retired Hall of Fame coaches died during the season – UTEP's Don Haskins on September 7, 2008, and California's Pete Newell on November 17, 2008. Newell's Bears won the NCAA championship in 1959, while Haskins' Miners won the title in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

in a historic win over

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

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

Stephen Curry Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player and point guard for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Chef Curry", he is widely regarded as the ...

of Davidson (66 votes), Luke Harangody of Notre Dame (58), Darren Collison of

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

(46) and Blake Griffin of

(45). * Kenny George 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 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 of Utah Valley had the highest single-game scoring mark of the season, netting 63 points in a 123–121 quadruple-overtime win over Chicago State on January 29, 2009. Chicago State teammates David Holston and John Cantrell each scored over 40 points in the loss. * On January 31, Texas's A. J. Abrams hit his 339th 3-point shot, breaking the previous Big 12 record of 338 held by Jeff Boschee of Kansas. In the same game, Kansas State's Denis Clemente tied his former teammate Michael Beasley's Big 12 single-game scoring record, netting 44 points in an 85–81 overtime win for the Wildcats. * North Dakota State 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, ...

, when Southwestern Louisiana, now Louisiana-Lafayette, accomplished this feat. The Bison reached the "Big Dance" by defeating Oakland 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 Big East history, and second longest in NCAA Division I history, at 70 total playing minutes. * Davidson guard

, Boston College guard Tyrese Rice, Miami (FL) guard Jack McClinton, Florida State guard Toney Douglas, Temple guard Dionte Christmas, UAB guard Robert Vaden,

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

guard Brandon Ewing, Chicago State guard David Holston, UTEP guard Stefon Jackson,

Central Florida Central Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, 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, in ...

guard Jermaine Taylor, North Dakota State guard Ben Woodside, VMI guard Chavis Holmes, East Tennessee State guard Courtney Pigram and Coppin State guard Tywain McKee each eclipsed the career 2000-point mark during the season. * Arkansas State changed its nickname from the "Indians" to the "Red Wolves", effective this season. * Bryant University and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville 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 the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

after 28 years. * Conference realignments: Gardner-Webb moved from the Atlantic Sun Conference 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), ...

, while

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

competes in the Big South 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 athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

to the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

. * Don Meyer passed

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 ...

as the winningest coach in NCAA history, breaking Knight's record of 902 victories. * 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. *

coach Jim Calhoun won his 800th career game, beating Marquette on February 25, 2009. * After the season, Northeastern's basketball program was placed on probation until 2011 due to recruiting and extra-benefits violations. * 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 season, Evan Turner and Manny Harris became the 4th and 5th players to finish in the top ten in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

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 Boston College for its first-ever win against a ranked opponent. During the 2008–09 Ivy League season, Harvard's Jeremy Lin 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 ...

men's

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

player who ranked in the top ten in his conference for scoring (17.8), rebounding (5.5), assists (4.3), steals (2.4), blocked shots (0.6), field goal percentage (0.502),

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

percentage (0.744), and 3-point shot percentage (0.400). * Bradley played in the 2009 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, becoming the first school to play in four different postseaon tournaments in four consecutive years. The Braves previously had played in the 2006 NCAA tournament, the 2007 National Invitation Tournament, and the 2008 College Basketball Invitational.

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 had more teams involved, only four play for the championship.

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Thirty conference seasons concluded with a

single-elimination tournament A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...

. The teams in each conference that won their regular-season conference title received the number one

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

in each tournament. Conference tournament winners received an automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball 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

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

Conference standings

Division I independents

Fifteen schools played as Division I independents. However, only , Longwood, Savannah State, and were considered full

schools, as the rest were still in a transition phase from NCAA Division II. David Holston of Chicago State was named Independent Player of the Year.

Informal championships

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

Statistical leaders

Source for additional stats categories

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

The NCAA Tournament tipped off on March 18, 2009, 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 6 at the Ford Field in

. 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 Big East, ACC and Big Ten each receiving seven bids. The Big 12 and Pac-10 each received six bids. The 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 Wayne Ellington was named tournament Most Outstanding Player.

Final Four – Ford Field,
Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

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 Notre Dame and 2008 Regional Finalist Davidson. Penn State defeated 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 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 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. Oregon State defeated 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. Old Dominion defeated Bradley 66–62 to win the first CIT championship in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...

. The Monarchs' Frank Hassell was named tournament MVP.

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

Major player of the year awards

* Wooden Award: Blake Griffin,

* Naismith Award: Blake Griffin, Oklahoma * 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'' Player of the Year: Blake Griffin, Oklahoma

Major freshman of the year awards

* USBWA Freshman of the Year: Tyreke Evans, Memphis * ''

'' Freshman of the Year: Tyreke Evans, Memphis

Major coach of the year awards

* Associated Press Coach of the Year: Bill Self,

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 ...

* Henry Iba Award ( USBWA): Bill Self, Kansas * NABC Coach of the Year: Mike Anderson,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

& John Calipari, Memphis * Naismith College Coach of the Year: Jamie Dixon,

* CBS/ Chevrolet Coach of the Year: Bill Self, Kansas * Adolph Rupp Cup: Rick Pitino, Louisville * ''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,

* Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player 6'0"/1.83 m or shorter): Darren Collison,

* Lowe's Senior CLASS Award (top senior): Tyler Hansbrough,

* Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Ahmad Nivins, St. Joseph's * 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): Charles Jenkins, Hofstra * Chip Hilton Player of the Year Award (Strong personal character): Jon Brockman, 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