The 2007–08 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 5, 2007 ended with the

2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2007–08 basketball ...

's championship game on April 7, 2008, in the

Alamodome The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 milli ...

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Season headlines

* Behind Mario Chalmers' clutch three-pointer at the end of regulation, the

Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools in the state of Kansas that participate in NCAA Division I. The Jayhawks are also a mem ...

won an overtime battle against the

Memphis Tigers The Memphis Tigers are the athletic teams that represent the University of Memphis, located in Memphis, Tennessee. The teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the American Athletic C ...

to take their third NCAA tournament title, twenty years after

Danny Manning Daniel Ricardo Manning (born May 17, 1966) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the Associate Head Mens Basketball Coach at the University of Louisville. Manning played high school basketball at Walter Hin ...

led the Jayhawks to their last championship.

Bill Self Billy Eugene Self Jr. (born December 27, 1962) is an American basketball coach. He is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas, a position he has held since 2003. During his 19 seasons as head coach, he has led the Jayhawks to ...

sheds the title of "best coach never to go to a Final Four" in dramatic fashion. * For the first time since teams were seeded for the NCAA Tournament, all four number one seeds advanced to the Final Four. * In February,

Kelvin Sampson Kelvin Dale Sampson (born October 5, 1955) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach for the University of Houston of the American Athletic Conference. Early life Sampson was born in the Lumbee Native American community of ...

agreed to a buyout and was relieved of his duties as coach of

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. * Indiana Univers ...

following a recruiting scandal concerning impermissible phone calls.

Dan Dakich Daniel John Dakich (born August 17, 1962) is an American basketball sportscaster. He is a former player, assistant coach, interim head coach for the Indiana University Hoosiers and former head coach at Bowling Green State University. He current ...

was named interim coach, but the damage had been done as the Hoosiers (ranked No. 14 at the time Sampson was fired) go 3–4 the rest of the season and bow out to

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the ...

in a listless performance in the first round of the NCAA tournament. After the season, IU hired Marquette coach

Tom Crean Tom or Thomas Crean may refer to: *Thomas Crean (1873–1923), Irish rugby union player, British Army soldier and doctor *Tom Crean (explorer) Thomas Crean ( ga, Tomás Ó Cuirín; 16 February 1877 – 27 July 1938) was an Irish seaman and An ...

to tackle the major rebuilding job ahead. * Sophomore

Stephen Curry Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, ...

put on a shooting display as the

Davidson Wildcats The Davidson Wildcats are the NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics teams representing Davidson College of Davidson, North Carolina, United States. A member of the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10), Davidson College sponsors teams in ten men's ...

upset

Gonzaga Gonzaga may refer to: Places * Gonzaga, Lombardy, commune in the province of Mantua, Italy * Gonzaga, Cagayan, municipality in the Philippines *Gonzaga, Minas Gerais, town in Brazil *Forte Gonzaga, fort in Messina, Sicily People with the surna ...

, Georgetown and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

- then narrowly succumbed to eventual champion Kansas 59–57 - to go to their first Elite Eight since 1969. Curry scored 40, 30, 33 and 25 points in the four games and was named the Midwest Region Most Outstanding Player. * North Carolina's

Tyler Hansbrough Andrew Tyler Hansbrough (born November 3, 1985) is an American professional basketball player for Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional. He has played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for seven seasons, as well ...

and Kansas State's

Michael Beasley Michael Paul Beasley Jr. (born January 9, 1989) is an American professional basketball player, who most recently played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for Kansas State Universi ...

engaged in a season-long battle for National player of the year honors. Hansbrough swept the POY awards, while Beasley won all Freshman of the Year awards and joined Hansbrough as a unanimous first-team All-American. * Memphis flirted with being the first undefeated team since 1976. They started the season 26–0, but on February 23 cross-state rival

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

defeated the Tigers 66–62 on Memphis' home floor in a battle of the #1 and #2 teams. The Tigers finished the season 38–2, setting a single-season record for wins. However, all 38 wins were vacated by the NCAA in 2009, due to an invalid SAT score for star

Derrick Rose Derrick Martell Rose (born October 4, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one year of college basketball for the Memphis Tigers before being drafted ...

. * After beating Memphis, Tennessee attained the #1 ranking for the first time in school history. They lost their next game at Vanderbilt. * The preseason AP All-American team was named on November 5.

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

was the leading vote-getter (71 of 72 votes). The rest of the team included Roy Hibbert of Georgetown (62 votes), Chris Lofton of

(61),

Drew Neitzel Drew Neitzel (born May 7, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player. Basketball career High school Neitzel attended Wyoming Park High School in Wyoming, Michigan. He holds the school career records for points (2,462) and ass ...

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

(31) and

Darren Collison Darren Michael Collison (born August 23, 1987) is an American professional basketball player who is a free agent. Collison played four seasons of college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. He earned All-Pac-10 conference honors three times, and won ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

(31). * The

Drake Bulldogs The Drake Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent Drake University, located in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The Bulldogs' athletic program is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) and competes at the NCA ...

— picked in the preseason to finish ninth in the 10-team

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern United ...

— had a dream season, starting 13–0, finishing 28–5 - and were ranked as high as #14 at one point during the season. Drake's charge was led by an unlikely hero — senior point guard Adam Emmenecker, a three-year walk-on who would go on to capture both the MVC's regular-season and tournament

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

awards. * On February 4, career coaching wins leader

Bob Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (born October 25, 1940) is an American former basketball coach. Nicknamed "the General", Knight won 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball games, a record at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all-ti ...

retired as head coach of Texas Tech, handing the reins to his son Pat. Knight would reappear as a studio host for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

in the postseason. * A severe storm ripped a hole in the

Georgia Dome The Georgia Dome was a domed stadium in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west, it was owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of the Georgia World Congress Cent ...

, wreaking havoc on the SEC tournament. After game delays and a venue change, the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

scored an unlikely championship run that included winning two games in one day. * At

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

, coach

Lute Olson Robert Luther "Lute" Olson (September 22, 1934 – August 27, 2020) was an American basketball coach, who was inducted into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. He was the head c ...

took an unexpected leave of absence just prior to the season's start. Kevin O'Neill, assistant coach and supposed Olson successor, was named interim coach. Olson announced he would return for 2008–09 and did not retain O'Neill on his staff as rumors of a disagreement between the two swirled. * The

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

College Basketball Invitational The College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is a men's college basketball tournament created in 2007 by The Gazelle Group. The inaugural tournament occurred after the conclusion of the 2007-08 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, 2007–08 men ...

was held, offering a post-season alternative to teams not selected for the NCAA tournament or NIT.

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

defeats Bradley in a best of three series to take the inaugural title. * Wake Forest head coach

Skip Prosser George Edward "Skip" Prosser (November 3, 1950 – July 26, 2007) was an American college basketball coach who was head men's basketball coach at Wake Forest University at the time of his death. He was the only coach in NCAA history to take three ...

died at 56 of an apparent heart attack the July before the season began. Assistant

Dino Gaudio Dino Joseph Gaudio (born March 30, 1957) is an American former men’s college basketball coach and broadcaster who was most recently an assistant coach at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. Gaudio was a longtime assistant un ...

was named successor and led the Deacons through an emotional year punctuated by an upset 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 sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, t ...

. * Lester Hudson of Tennessee-Martin recorded the first-ever

quadruple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

in NCAA history. Against

Central Baptist College Central Baptist College (CBC) is a private Baptist college in Conway, Arkansas. CBC was founded in 1952 as Conway Baptist College, using the former campus of Central College, defunct since 1947. It awards both associate and bachelor's degrees. ...

, Hudson scored 25 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, dished out 10 assists and recorded 10 steals in a 116–74 win. * On January 23, Baylor beat

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

116–110 in five overtimes in the season's longest (and perhaps wildest) game. * Houston's

Rob McKiver Rob or ROB may refer to: Places * Rob, Velike Lašče, a settlement in Slovenia * Roberts International Airport (IATA code ROB), in Monrovia, Liberia People * Rob (given name), a given name or nickname, e.g., for Robert(o), Robin/Robyn * Rob (s ...

scored 52 points (including seven three-pointers) in a game against Southern Mississippi to set the single-game scoring high for the season. * Stephen Curry broke the NCAA record for three-pointers made in a season, connecting on 162. The previous record had been held by

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some al ...

's Darrin Fitzgerald set in 1987. *

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 to 2022, during which he led the Blue Devils to five nati ...

, and

Eddie Sutton Edward Eugene Sutton (March 12, 1936 – May 23, 2020) was an American college basketball coach. A native of Bucklin, Kansas, Sutton played college basketball at Oklahoma A&M (later Oklahoma State) and was a head coach at the high school, juni ...

each won their 800th career games. * North Carolina's

, Tennessee's Chris Lofton, Vanderbilt's Shan Foster, Virginia's Sean Singletary, Western Kentucky's Courtney Lee, Utah State's Jaycee Carroll, Colorado's Richard Roby, UNC Greensboro's

Kyle Hines Kyle Terrel Hines (born September 2, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for Olimpia Milano of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He plays at the power forward and center positions. Hines played colle ...

, High Point's Arizona Reid, Rider's Jason Thompson, Hofstra's Antoine Agudio, New Orleans' Bo McCalebb and VMI's Reggie Williams all eclipsed the career 2000-point mark during the season. * Effective this season, the Mid-Continent Conference changed its name to

The Summit League ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

. *

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their na ...

, Cal State Bakersfield, Florida Gulf Coast, South Carolina Upstate and

North Carolina Central North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a public historically black university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliation with the Chautauqua movement in 1909, it was supported by private funds from ...

, all moved up to Division I competition. * Conference realignments: IPFW, North Dakota State and

South Dakota State South Dakota State University is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually-operating university in South Dakota. The ...

began play in the

Summit League The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

, while

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the Uni ...

competed in the

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

for the first time. All four programs were independent in 2006–07. Valparaiso began play in the

Horizon League The Horizon League is an 11-school collegiate athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, whose members are located in and near the Great Lakes region. The Horizon League founded in 1979 as the Midw ...

after leaving the

. Florida Gulf Coast and South Carolina Upstate joined the

Atlantic Sun Conference The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Div ...

. *

Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on TNT. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "Chuck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley played 16 seasons in the Nati ...

Arnie Ferrin Chariton Arnold Ferrin Jr. (July 29, 1925 − December 27, 2022) was an American professional basketball player, executive, and college athletics administrator. He played college basketball for the Utah Utes and earned All-American honors fou ...

Billy Packer Anthony William Packer (born Anthony William Paczkowski,
Retr ...

, Jim Phelan,

Nolan Richardson Nolan Richardson Jr. (born December 27, 1941) is a former American basketball head coach best known for his tenure at the University of Arkansas, where he won the 1994 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and led the Razorbacks to three F ...

and

Dick Vitale Richard John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadcaster f ...

were inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame. *

Billy Packer Anthony William Packer (born Anthony William Paczkowski,
Retr ...

announced his last Final Four after 34 years of broadcasting the event.

Major rule changes

Beginning in 2007–08, the following rules changes were implemented: * During free throws, eliminated the first lane space nearest the basket on each side of the lane and used the second, third and fourth lane space on each side as an alignment for free throws. This rule had been used in NCAA women's basketball since the 2001–02 season. * Use of courtside monitor allowed for determining whether a flagrant foul occurred or to assess the situation during a fight.

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The top 25 from the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls November 5, 2007.

Conference membership changes

These schools joined new conferences for the 2007–08 season.

Regular season

Conference winners and tournaments

Thirty

athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Con ...

s each end their

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability ...

s with a

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

. The teams in each conference that win their regular season title are given the number one seed in each tournament. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the 2008 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schoo ...

doesn't have a conference tournament, and

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teac ...

, who won the regular season title, received their automatic invitation.

Major upsets

Regular season and conference tournaments

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

68,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

62 * Gardner-Webb 84,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

68 * Robert Morris 57,

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifi ...

51 * Winthrop 76, Miami (FL) 71 *

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

80,

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

55 *

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

82,

80 * Kentucky 72,

66 * Wake Forest 86,

73 *

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

71,

NCAA tournament

* #13

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

70, #4

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

69 (OT) * #13

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...

83, #4 Vanderbilt 64 * #10

Davidson Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA ...

74, #2 Georgetown 70 * #10

73, #3

56 * #12

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogn ...

101, #5

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

99 (OT)

Statistical leaders

Conference standings

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

The NCAA Tournament tipped off on March 18, 2008 with the opening round game in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater ...

, and concluded on April 7 at the

. Of the 65 teams that were invited to participate, 31 were automatic bids while 34 were

at-large bid A wild card (also wildcard or wild-card and also known as an at-large berth or at-large bid) is a tournament or playoff berth awarded to an individual or team that fails to qualify in the normal way; for example, by having a high ranking or winnin ...

s. The 34 at-large teams came from 10 conferences, with the

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and M ...

tying its own 2006 record with eight bids. Three other conferences, the

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

, and SEC, had six teams invited to the tournament. Notably absent from the field were

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

and

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, the champions and runners-up of the 2007 tournament, the first time that both teams from a previous year's finals failed to make the tournament since 1980.

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

defeated Memphis, 75–68 in overtime to win their third NCAA Tournament championship, and Jayhawks guard Mario Chalmers was named the tournament's

Most Outstanding Player The term Most Outstanding Player may refer to: * The recipient of the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award * The NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player award * The College World Series Most Outstanding Player in college baseball * The N ...

Final Four –
Alamodome The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 milli ...
,
San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...
,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

National Invitation tournament

After the NCAA Tournament field was announced, the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

invited teams to participate. Eight teams were given automatic bids for winning their conference regular seasons, and 24 other teams were also invited. The field came from 10 conferences, with the

Atlantic 10 The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

having the most teams invited with four. The Atlantic Coast and Missouri Valley Conferences each had three bids, and five other conferences placed two teams in the tournament. Last year's NCAA finalists,

and

both made the semifinals, with the Buckeyes winning the tournament, defeating UMass 92–85 in the final. Ohio State center Kosta Koufos was named tournament MVP.

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 and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsyl ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

on April 1 and 3

College Basketball Invitational

The inaugural

(CBI) Tournament was held starting March 18 and ended with a best-of-three final which saw

defeat Bradley for the championship. Jerome Jordan of Tulsa was named tournament MVP.

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

Major player of the year awards

* Wooden Award:

* Naismith Award:

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...

Player of the Year:

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. The award has been given since the 1974–75 season to National Collegiate Athl ...

Oscar Robertson Trophy The Oscar Robertson Trophy is given out annually to the outstanding men's college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the ...

(

USBWA The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 by National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The USBWA annually awar ...

* Adolph Rupp Trophy:

* CBS/ Chevrolet Player of the Year:

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

Major freshman of the year awards

Freshman of the Year:

, Kansas State * ''

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 pr ...

'' Freshman of the Year:

, Kansas State

Major coach of the year awards

Coach of the Year: Keno Davis,

Henry Iba Award The Henry Iba Award was established in 1959 to recognize the best college basketball coach of the year by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). Five nominees are presented and the individual with the most votes receives the a ...

(

): Keno Davis,

NABC Coach of the Year The NABC Coach of the Year Award has been presented by the National Association of Basketball Coaches since . A longtime sponsor of the award was Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company th ...

: Bob McKillop,

Naismith College Coach of the Year Naismith College Coach of the Year Award is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate coach each season since 1987. The award was originally given to the two winning coaches of the NCAA Divisi ...

John Calipari John Vincent Calipari (born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach. Since 2009, he has been the head coach of the University of Kentucky men's team, with whom he won the NCAA Championship in 2012. He has been named Naismith College ...

, Memphis * CBS/ Chevrolet Coach of the Year: Keno Davis,

Adolph Rupp Cup The Adolph Rupp Cup was an award given annually since 2004 to the men's college basketball head coach in NCAA Division I competition "who best exemplifies excellence in his dedication to the game of basketball and to his student athletes." The a ...

Bruce Pearl Bruce Alan Pearl (born March 18, 1960) is an American college basketball coach, and the head coach of the Auburn Tigers men's basketball team. He previously served as the head coach at Tennessee, Milwaukee, and Southern Indiana. Pearl led Souther ...

* ''Sporting News'' Coach of the Year: Keno Davis,

Other major awards

Bob Cousy Award The Bob Cousy Award presented by The College of the Holy Cross (or Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award) is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate point guard ...

(Best point guard):

D. J. Augustin Darryl Gerard "D. J." Augustin Jr. (born November 10, 1987) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Texas Long ...

Pete Newell Big Man Award The Pete Newell Big Man Award has been awarded by the National Association of Basketball Coaches since 2000. It is presented to the top low-post player each season. The award is named after Pete Newell, the coach who ran the Pete Newell Big Man C ...

(Best big man):

, Kansas State * NABC Defensive Player of the Year: Hasheem Thabeet,

Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award The Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award was an annual college basketball award in the United States intended to honor shorter-than-average players who excelled on the court despite their size. The award, named in honor of James Naismith's daughter-in-la ...

(Best player under 6'0): Mike Green,

* Lowe's Senior CLASS Award (top senior): Shan Foster, Vanderbilt *

Robert V. Geasey Trophy The Robert V. Geasey Trophy is awarded to the most outstanding men's basketball player in the Philadelphia Big 5, an informal association of college athletic programs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The trophy does not represent the e ...

(Top player in

Philadelphia Big 5 The Big 5 is an informal association of college athletic programs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is not a conference, but rather a group of NCAA Division I basketball schools who compete for the city’s collegiate championship. The Big 5 c ...

): Pat Calathes, St. Joseph's and Mark Tyndale,

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called church (building), churches), Hindui ...

(Co-MVPs) * NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in

metro area): Jason Thompson, Rider *

Chip Hilton Player of the Year Award The Chip Hilton Player of the Year Award was presented to a men's college basketball player who was a senior and who had demonstrated strong personal character both on and off the court, similar to the fictional Chip Hilton character depicted by Hal ...

(Strong personal character): Mike Green,

Coaching changes

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2007-08 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Season