2023–24 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Season

The 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 6, 2023. The regular season ended on March 17, 2024, with the 2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament beginning with the First Four on March 19 and ending with the championship game at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on April 8.

Rule changes

On May 5, 2023, the NCAA Basketball Rules Committee proposed a suite of rule changes for the 2023–24 season. These changes were approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel during its June 8 conference call.
* A defender near the basket must be in position to draw a charge before the offensive player plants his foot to jump during a field goal attempt. If the defender arrives after the shooter has planted his foot, the officials are to call a blocking foul if contact occurs.
* Prerecorded or live video can be transmitted to the bench area during the game, on an optional basis. This had been an experimental rule since 2021–22, but is now permanent.
* Officials will be able to review basket interference or goaltending calls during the next media timeout to ensure the call's accuracy, as long as they were made during play. Review is immediate if a foul is called on a shot that ended with basket interference or goaltending.
* Non-student bench personnel will be allowed to serve as peacekeepers in any altercation.
* If a coach requests a review of an out-of-bounds play in the last two minutes, that team will be charged a timeout if the challenge is unsuccessful.
* The shot clock will reset to 20 seconds for all offensive rebounds when the original shot has touched the rim.
* If a player is called for a foul, and replay officials see that the foul is the direct result of a flagrant foul against the player who was originally charged with the foul, officials can rescind the foul on the victim of the flagrant foul.
* A timeout can be granted when a player has possession of the ball while airborne.
* A player will be disqualified if he commits three flagrant 1 fouls in a game, regardless of his overall foul count.
* Red and amber lights can now be placed on the backboard.
* Schools will no longer have to apply for a waiver to allow players to use religious headwear that is safe for competition.
* All jersey numbers from "0" to "99," including "00," will be allowed, although with the restriction that teams are allowed to use "0" or "00," but not both at the same time. It is the first time that players are allowed to wear the digits "6" through "9" on their uniforms since those digits were prohibited prior to the 1957–58 season as a means of simplifying referees' hand signals to the scorer's table after calling a foul.
* Conferences will be allowed to continue using an experimental rule that allows for media timeouts to be taken at the first dead ball after the 17-, 14-, 11-, 8-, and 4-minute marks of the second half. This rule may also be used in the 2024 NIT, subject to approval by the NCAA's NIT board.
* Also, subject to NIT board approval, the free-throw lane may be widened to 16 feet in the 2024 NIT.

Season headlines

* March 8, 2023
** Jim Boeheim retired as head coach at Syracuse after 47 seasons, ending with the Orange missing the 2023 NCAA tournament for only the 11th time in his coaching history. He finished his career at Syracuse with a 1,015–441 record; his 1,015 wins were 6th all time in NCAA history at the time of his retirement. He also led Syracuse to one national title, five Final Fours, ten Big East regular-season titles, and five Big East tournament titles, and he was Big East coach of the year four times and the 2010 Naismith, AP, NABC, Henry Iba and ''Sporting News'' coach of the year. Boeheim was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005, and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
* May 10 – The Northeast Conference (NEC) announced that Le Moyne would start a transition from Division II and join the conference on July 1.
* May 12 – The Ohio Valley Conference announced that Western Illinois would join from the Summit League effective July 1.
* May 24 – George Washington University announced that it would change its nickname from Colonials to Revolutionaries.
* July 20 – The Colonial Athletic Association announced it had changed its name to Coastal Athletic Association.
* July 27 – The Big 12 Conference announced that Colorado would rejoin the conference in 2024, after 13 seasons in the Pac-12 Conference.
* August 4
** The Big Ten Conference announced that Oregon and Washington would leave the Pac-12 to join the Big Ten in 2024.
** The Big 12 announced that Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah would leave the Pac-12 to join the Big 12 in 2024.
* September 1 – The Atlantic Coast Conference announced that California, SMU, and Stanford would join the conference in 2024. California and Stanford left the Pac-12, and SMU left the American Athletic Conference.
* September 6 – The ASUN Conference began to once again refer to itself by its former name, Atlantic Sun Conference, while still using ASUN as its official abbreviation.
* September 8 – The ASUN announced that the University of West Georgia would transition from Division II and be admitted as a full member of the conference, effective July 1, 2024.
* September 27 – The Grand Sierra Resort, the city of Reno, Nevada, and the University of Nevada, Reno jointly announced that the casino resort planned a 10-year, $1-billion-plus expansion. As part of the project, the resort would build a new arena for the Nevada men's basketball team. The university's current arena, the Lawlor Events Center, will continue to be the home of Nevada women's basketball, The new 10,000-seat venue is tentatively set to open in 2026.
* October 4 – The Division I Council announced changes to the transfer window for all sports. In men's and women's basketball, the transfer portal now opens on the day after Selection Sunday and remains open for 45 days, down from the previous 60.
* October 23 – The AP released its preseason All-America team. Reigning national player of the year Zach Edey of Purdue was the only unanimous choice, joined by guard Tyler Kolek of Marquette, forward Kyle Filipowski of Duke, center Hunter Dickinson of Kansas, and center Armando Bacot of North Carolina.
* October 23 – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announced that Merrimack and Sacred Heart would join from the NEC in July 2024.
* October 27 – The NCAA announced that conference regular season champions that do not win their conference tournaments or are not selected for the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, will no longer receive an automatic bid to the NIT. The NIT will now guarantee two teams, based on the NET Rankings from each of the six major conferences: ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC. The top two teams in the NET Rankings that do not qualify for the NCAA tournament from each conference regardless of their record, will be selected for the NIT. The twelve teams that are automatically selected will be guaranteed the ability to host a game for the first round. After the twelve teams have been selected, the NIT selection committee will select the twenty best teams that are available to participate in the NIT. Based on the selection committee's rankings, four of the twenty teams will be selected as one of the sixteen first round hosts and the NIT selection will defer to the first four teams out of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
* November 28 – Conference USA announced that Delaware would join from the Coastal Athletic Association in 2025.
* December 5 – The NEC announced that Chicago State would join from being the sole Independent in July 2024.
* December 20 – The two schools left behind in the mass exodus from the Pac-12, Oregon State and Washington State, were reported to be nearing a deal with the West Coast Conference (WCC) for affiliate membership in multiple sports, including men's and women's basketball. The arrangement, expected to be voted on by WCC member presidents in the coming days, would run for two years (through 2025–26), during which time the so-called "Pac-2" would be eligible for WCC championships and could represent the conference in NCAA championship events.
* December 22 – The reported deal between the "Pac-2" and the WCC became official, with Oregon State and Washington State joining as affiliate members in all non-football sports apart from baseball through 2025–26.
* February 29 – The Mid-American Conference (MAC) announced that UMass, currently a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, would join the MAC for all sports starting July 1, 2025. This confirmed prior reporting by multiple media outlets, with ''The Athletic'' being the first to break the news.
* March 5 – The Dartmouth men's basketball team voted to unionize in an unprecedented step toward forming the first labor union for college athletes. The National Labor Relations Board supervised the election inside of in the school’s human resources offices as the players voted 13–2 to join Service Employees International Union Local 560, which already represents some Dartmouth workers.
* March 25 – The Southland Conference announced that the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) would join from the Western Athletic Conference on July 1, 2024.
* April 4 – The NEC announced that Mercyhurst University, a member of the Division II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, would start a transition to Division I and join the NEC on July 1, 2024.

Milestones and records

* During the season, the following players reached the 2,000 career point milestone – Maryland guard Jahmir Young, North Carolina center Armando Bacot, Colorado State guard Isaiah Stevens, Rice guard Travis Evee, Kentucky guard Antonio Reeves, UC Davis guard Elijah Pepper, Hofstra guard Tyler Thomas, Purdue center Zach Edey, Northern Kentucky guard Marques Warrick, Kansas center Hunter Dickinson, Oklahoma State guard John-Michael Wright, Duquesne guard Dae Dae Grant, Creighton guard Baylor Scheierman, Wright State guard Trey Calvin, Denver guard Tommy Bruner, Clemson guard Joseph Girard III, Northwestern guard Boo Buie, George Washington guard James Bishop IV, Wright State guard Tanner Holden, Nevada guard Jarod Lucas, Illinois forward Marcus Domask, Seattle guard Cameron Tyson, Arizona guard Caleb Love, Iowa forward Ben Krikke, Xavier guard Quincy Olivari, Wyoming forward Sam Griffin, Michigan State guard Tyson Walker, Alabama guard Mark Sears, California guard Jalen Cone, USC guard Boogie Ellis, NC State guard DJ Horne, Illinois guard Terrence Shannon Jr., North Carolina guard R. J. Davis, NC State forward D. J. Burns Auburn forward/center Johni Broome, Ohio State forward Jamison Battle and UConn guard Tristen Newton.
*November 26 – La Salle coach Fran Dunphy won his 600th career game, an 81–62 win over Coppin State. Dunphy accumulated all of his career victories for Philadelphia Big 5 programs, having previously coached Penn and Temple.
*December 21 – Elijah Pepper became the leading scorer in UC Davis program history. Scoring 21 points in an 80–57 win over UC Merced, Pepper passed Audwin Thomas, whose program record had stood since 1979.
*February 10 – Marques Warrick became the leading scorer in Northern Kentucky program history. Scoring 22 points in a 79–67 win over Detroit Mercy, Warrick passed Drew McDonald's record of 2,066, set in 2019.
*February 19 – Texas fifth-year senior Max Abmas scored his 3,000th career point, becoming just the 12th player in Division I men's basketball history to reach the milestone. He scored eight points in a 62–56 win over Kansas State to finish the game with 3,001.
*February 22 – Northwestern fifth-year senior Boo Buie surpassed John Shurna (2,038 points) as the school's all-time leading scorer in a 76–62 win over Michigan. Shurna's record had stood since 2012.
*March 16 – Zach Edey became Purdue's all-time leading scorer in the Boilermakers' Big Ten tournament semifinal loss to Wisconsin. He broke Rick Mount's record of 2,323, which had stood since 1970. Earlier in the season (February 18) Edey became the school's all-time leading rebounder, passing Joe Barry Carroll (1,148).

Conference membership changes

Nineteen schools joined new conferences, became independents, or dropped athletics.

The 2023–24 season was the last for 20 Division I schools in their then-current conferences and two Division II schools in their then-current conferences before reclassification to Division I. It was also Chicago State's last season as a Division I independent.

In addition to the above changes, the Indiana University and Purdue University systems split IUPUI into separate IU- and Purdue-affiliated institutions at the end of the 2023–24 academic year, a move similar to the two systems' dissolution of their joint Fort Wayne campus in 2018. The IUPUI athletic program transferred to the new IU Indianapolis, maintaining IUPUI's memberships in Division I and the Horizon League. Shortly before the split became official, the IUPUI athletic website adopted a new brand of IU Indy.

Arenas

New arenas

* Austin Peay left the on-campus Winfield Dunn Center for the new F&M Bank Arena in downtown Clarksville, Tennessee after 49 seasons. The new arena opened on July 15, 2023. The first basketball event in the new arena was a joint practice by the Peay men's and women's teams on October 26, 2023. This was followed by an 82–43 exhibition win against Tennessee Tech on November 1. The first official games were a men's and women's doubleheader on January 6, with the men defeating NAIA Life University 90–72 in the second game.
* Baylor left the Ferrell Center for the new Foster Pavilion. The Bears defeated Cornell 98–79 in the arena opener on January 2, 2024.
* Georgia Southern will leave the Hanner Fieldhouse for the new Jack and Ruth Ann Hill Convocation Center. The venue was scheduled to open in the early fall of 2023, but was delayed until the 2024–25 season.
* Longwood left Willett Hall for the new Joan Perry Brock Center; the venue opened on August 25, 2023. The team played its first game there on November 11, 2023, with a 95–43 win against NCAA Division III St. Mary's of Maryland.
* Vermont was originally slated to open the new Tarrant Event Center, the replacement for Patrick Gym, in 2021. However, the new arena has since been placed on indefinite hold. Construction was initially halted by COVID-19. With the Tarrant Center being part of a much larger upgrade of UVM's athletic and recreation facilities, UVM chose to prioritize a new student recreation center. Construction of the Tarrant Center is now being hampered by increased borrowing costs.

Arena of new D-I team

Le Moyne plays on campus on Ted Grant Court in the Le Moyne Events Center.

Arena name change

On January 18, the name of the Rothman Center, the home arena of Fairleigh Dickinson, was changed to the Bogota Savings Bank Center.

Season outlook

The Top 25 from the AP and USA Today Coaching Polls.

Pre-season polls

Final polls

Top 10 matchups

Rankings reflect the AP poll Top 25.

Regular season

*Nov. 21, 2023
**No. 2 Purdue defeated No. 7 Tennessee, 73–59 ( Maui Invitational – Stan Sheriff Center, Honolulu, HI)
**No. 4 Marquette defeated No. 1 Kansas, 73–59 (Maui Invitational – Stan Sheriff Center, Honolulu, HI)

*Nov. 22
**No. 2 Purdue defeated No. 4 Marquette, 78–75 (Maui Invitational – Stan Sheriff Center, Honolulu, HI)
**No. 1 Kansas defeated No. 7 Tennessee, 69–60 (Maui Invitational – Stan Sheriff Center, Honolulu, HI)

*Dec. 1
**No. 5 Kansas defeated No. 4 UConn, 69–65 ( Big East–Big 12 Battle – Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, KS)

*Dec. 5
**No. 5 UConn defeated No. 9 North Carolina, 87–76 ( Jimmy V Classic – Madison Square Garden, New York, NY)

*Dec. 15
**No. 5 UConn defeated No. 10 Gonzaga, 76–63 (Continental Tire Seattle Tip-Off – Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, WA)

*Dec. 16
**No. 3 Purdue defeated No. 1 Arizona, 92–84 ( Indy Classic – Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN)

*Jan. 5, 2024
**No. 1 Purdue defeated No. 9 Illinois, 83–78 ( Mackey Arena, West Lafayette, IN)

*Jan. 13
**No. 3 Kansas defeated No. 9 Oklahoma, 78–66 (Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, KS)

*Feb. 3
**No. 8 Kansas defeated No. 4 Houston, 78–65 (Allen Fieldhouse, Lawrence, KS)
**No. 3 North Carolina defeated No. 7 Duke, 93–84 ( Dean Smith Center, Chapel Hill, NC)
**No. 5 Tennessee defeated No. 10 Kentucky, 103–92 ( Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY)

*Feb. 4
**No. 2 Purdue defeated No. 6 Wisconsin, 75–69 ( Kohl Center, Madison, WI)

*Feb. 17
**No. 1 UConn defeated No. 4 Marquette, 81–53 ( XL Center, Hartford, CT)

*Feb. 19
**No. 2 Houston defeated No. 6 Iowa State, 73–65 ( Fertitta Center, Houston, TX)

*Mar. 6
**No. 2 UConn defeated No. 8 Marquette, 74–67 ( Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, WI)

*Mar. 9
**No. 7 North Carolina defeated No. 9 Duke, 84–79 ( Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, NC)

*March 16
**No. 7 Iowa State defeated No. 1 Houston, 69–41 ( Big 12 tournament, T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, MO)
**No. 2 UConn defeated No. 10 Marquette, 73–57 ( Big East tournament, Madison Square Garden, New York, NY)

Postseason

*March 28
**No. 10 Illinois defeated No. 4 Iowa State, 72–69 (Sweet Sixteen, TD Garden, Boston, MA)

*March 30
**No. 1 UConn defeated No. 10 Illinois, 77–52 (Elite Eight, TD Garden, Boston, MA)

*March 31
**No. 3 Purdue defeated No. 6 Tennessee, 72–66 (Elite Eight, Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, MI)

*April 8
**No. 1 UConn defeated No. 3 Purdue, 75–60 ( National Championship Game, State Farm Stadium, Phoenix, AZ)

Regular season

Early season tournaments

Head-to-head conference challenges

Upsets

An upset is a victory by an underdog team. In the context of NCAA Division I men's basketball, this generally constitutes an unranked team defeating a team currently ranked in the top 25. This list will highlight those upsets of ranked teams by unranked teams as well as upsets of No. 1 teams. Rankings are from the AP poll. Bold type indicates winning teams in "true road games"—i.e., those played on an opponent's home court (including secondary homes). ''Italics'' type indicates winning teams in an early season tournament (or event). Early season tournaments are tournaments played in the early season. Events are the tournaments with the same teams in it every year (even rivalry games).

In addition to the above listed upsets in which an unranked team defeated a ranked team, there have been five non-Division I teams that defeated a Division I team so far this season. Bold type indicates winning teams in "true road games"—i.e., those played on an opponent's home court (including secondary homes).

Conference winners and tournaments

Each of the 32 Division I athletic conferences ended its regular season with a single-elimination tournament. The team with the best regular-season record in each conference receives the number one seed in each tournament, with tiebreakers used as needed in the case of ties for the top seeding. Unless otherwise noted, the winners of these tournaments received automatic invitations to the 2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

Postseason tournaments

The NCAA Tournament tipped off on March 19, 2024 with the First Four in Dayton, Ohio, and will conclude on April 8 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. A total of 68 teams entered the tournament. Thirty-two of the teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. The remaining 36 teams were granted "at-large" bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee.

Final Four – State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona

Tournament upsets

Per the NCAA, an upset occurs "when the losing team in an NCAA tournament game was seeded at least five seed lines better than the winning team." The 2024 tournament had nine upsets, with seven in the first round, one in the Sweet Sixteen, and one in the Elite Eight.

National Invitation Tournament

After the NCAA Tournament field is announced, the National Invitation Tournament invites 32 teams to participate, reducing the field's size from 40. For the first time in recent years, automatic bids will not be granted to regular-season conference champions that fail to reach the NCAA tournament. Instead, after the NCAA tournament bracket is filled, the NCAA will award NIT bids to the top two remaining teams in NET rating from each of the so-called "Power 6" conferences (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC). All games before the semifinals will be at campus sites, with the semifinals and final at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Semifinals and finals

College Basketball Invitational

After the NCAA Tournament field was announced, the College Basketball Invitational invited 15 teams to participate.

Semifinals and finals

CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament

After the NCAA Tournament field was announced, the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament invited 9 teams to participate.

Semifinals and finals

Conference standings

Award winners

2024 consensus All-Americans

Major player of the year awards

* Wooden Award: Zach Edey, Purdue
* Naismith Award: Zach Edey, Purdue
* Associated Press Player of the Year: Zach Edey, Purdue
* NABC Player of the Year: Zach Edey, Purdue
* Oscar Robertson Trophy ( USBWA): Zach Edey, Purdue
* ''Sporting News'' Player of the Year: Zach Edey, Purdue

Major freshman of the year awards

* Wayman Tisdale Award ( USBWA): Reed Sheppard, Kentucky
* NABC Freshman of the Year: Reed Sheppard, Kentucky

Major coach of the year awards

* Associated Press Coach of the Year: Kelvin Sampson, Houston
* Henry Iba Award ( USBWA): Kelvin Sampson, Houston
* NABC Coach of the Year: Kelvin Sampson, Houston
* Naismith College Coach of the Year: Dan Hurley, UConn
* ''Sporting News'' Coach of the Year: Dan Hurley, UConn

Other major awards

* Naismith Starting Five:
** Bob Cousy Award (best point guard): Tristen Newton, UConn
** Jerry West Award (best shooting guard): R. J. Davis, North Carolina
** Julius Erving Award (best small forward): Dalton Knecht, Tennessee
** Karl Malone Award (best power forward): Jaedon LeDee, San Diego State
** Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (best center): Zach Edey, Purdue
* Pete Newell Big Man Award (best big man): Zach Edey, Purdue
* NABC Defensive Player of the Year: Jamal Shead, Houston
* Naismith Defensive Player of the Year: Jamal Shead, Houston
* Lute Olson Award: Zach Edey, Purdue
* Robert V. Geasey Trophy (top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Eric Dixon, Villanova
* Haggerty Award (top player in NYC metro area): Tyler Thomas, Hofstra
* Ben Jobe Award (top minority coach): Donte Jackson, Grambling State
* Hugh Durham Award (top mid-major coach): Josh Schertz, Indiana State
* Jim Phelan Award (top head coach): Fred Hoiberg, Nebraska
* Lefty Driesell Award (top defensive player): Boo Buie, Northwestern
* Lou Henson Award (top mid-major player): Trey Townsend, Oakland
* Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award (coach with moral character): Niko Medved, Colorado State
* Academic All-American of the Year (top scholar-athlete): Max Abmas, Texas
* Elite 90 Award (top GPA among upperclass players at Final Four): Max Scharnowski, Alabama
* Perry Wallace Most Courageous Award: Not presented to a Division I figure; the recipient, Jeremiah Armstead, played for NAIA member Fisk.

Coaching changes

Many teams will change coaches during the season and after it ends.

Attendances

The top 30 NCAA Division I men's basketball teams by average home attendance:

See also

* 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2023-24 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball season