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2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season

80th season of NCAA Division I men's basketball From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
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The 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 10, 2017. The first tournament was the 2K Sports Classic and the season ended with the Final Four at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on April 2, 2018. Practices officially began on September 29, 2017.[1]

Quick facts –18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Preseason AP No. 1 ...
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Rule changes

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The following rule changes were proposed for the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season:

  • Expanding the coaches' box from 28 feet to 38 feet.
  • Resetting the shot clock to 20 seconds when the ball is inbounded in the front court after a foul or violation (e.g. kicked ball) by the defense. If there are more than 20 seconds on the shot clock in this situation, the shot clock will not be reset. Previously the shot clock was reset to the full 30 seconds regardless of the time remaining on the shot clock.
  • Allow referees to use instant replay in the final 2:00 of the second half and/or overtime to determine if a secondary defensive player was either inside or outside of the restricted arc. If the defender was inside the arc, a blocking foul will be called. If the defender is outside of the restricted area, then a player control foul (charge) will be called.
  • Require a minimum of 0.3 seconds to be taken off the game clock when the ball is legally touched on a throw-in or other situation.
  • Make throw-in spots more consistent in the front court.
  • Redefine a "legal screen" to require the inside of the screener's feet be no wider than his shoulders.[2]

The NCAA approved a number of experimental rule changes for use in the 2018 postseason NIT:[3]

  • Games were played in 10-minute quarters instead of 20-minute halves, matching current practice in NCAA women's basketball.
  • The "one-and-one" foul shot was not used. Instead, starting with the fifth total foul in each quarter, non-shooting fouls by the defensive team resulted in two free throws, with the only exception being administrative technical fouls. This also matched current NCAA women's practice.
  • The three-point line was extended to the current FIBA distance of 6.75 meters (22 ft 1.75 in) from the center of the basket, except where the arc approaches the sideline; the line was a minimum distance of 3 feet (0.91 m) from the sidelines.
  • The free throw lane was extended to the 16-foot width used in NBA and FIBA play, instead of the NCAA standard of 12 feet.
  • After an offensive rebound, the shot clock was reset to 20 seconds instead of 30.
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Season headlines

  • May 9, 2017 – The Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) announced that it extended an invitation to Valparaiso University to take effect July 1, with negotiations between the parties ongoing. Under its terms, the Crusaders would replace Wichita State University, departing on the same date for the American Athletic Conference.[4]
  • May 10 – The NCAA announced its Academic Progress Rate (APR) sanctions for the 2017–18 school year. A total of 17 programs in 9 sports were declared ineligible for postseason play due to failure to meet the required APR benchmark, including the following four Division I men's basketball teams:[5]
  • May 25 – The MVC officially announced Valparaiso would join on July 1, as reported earlier in the month.[8]
  • June 15 – Following a prolonged investigation into the Louisville program, after claims by a self-described madam that she had provided strip shows and sex parties at the Cardinals' team residence, Minardi Hall, for Cardinals players and prospective recruits, the NCAA announced the following penalties, subject to a planned appeal by Louisville:[9][10]
    • Four years of probation.
    • A reduction of four scholarships in all over the probation period, with Louisville choosing when to take the reductions.
    • Former director of basketball operations Andre McGee, who was found to have paid $10,000 from 2010 to 2014 in exchange for the parties, received a 10-year show-cause penalty.
    • Head coach Rick Pitino was suspended for the Cardinals' first five ACC games in the coming season.
    • Louisville was required to forfeit all money received from conference revenue sharing stemming from its appearances in the 2012–2015 NCAA tournaments.
    • All players who participated in the parties and played for Louisville were held to be ineligible. The school had 45 days to provide the NCAA with a list of games affected, and was to vacate any games in which ineligible players were involved. This would ultimately cost Louisville its 2013 national championship and 2012 Final Four appearance (see February 20), making Louisville the first Division I basketball champion (for either sex) to be stripped of its title.
  • June 16 – The governing boards of the Indiana University and Purdue University systems gave final approval to the split of Summit League member Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) into two separate institutions, ratifying a plan that both boards had approved in December 2016. On July 1, 2018, IU took over IPFW's degree programs in health sciences under the identity of Indiana University Fort Wayne, while Purdue took over all other degree programs as Purdue University Fort Wayne. The IPFW athletic program would continue in Division I and the Summit League, but represent only Purdue Fort Wayne.[11][12] The athletic program branding was changed from Fort Wayne Mastodons to Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons on June 18, 2018.[13]
  • June 28 – The Horizon League announced that IUPUI would move from the Summit League to replace Valparaiso effective July 1.[14]
  • August 24 – The University of Alaska Anchorage announced that the Great Alaska Shootout, which the school had hosted since 1978 and was the longest-running regular-season college basketball tournament, would be discontinued after this season.[15]
  • September 26 – The office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that 10 individuals, including assistant coaches at Arizona, Auburn, Oklahoma State, and USC, had been arrested on federal corruption charges. The accused were allegedly part of a scheme by which coaches accepted bribes to steer NBA-bound college players toward certain agents and financial advisers. Court documents also allege that an apparel company later identified as Adidas paid $100,000 to the family of an unnamed player to ensure his signing with an unnamed school that was later identified as Louisville.[16]
  • September 27 – In the first major fallout from the breaking bribery scandal, Louisville placed head coach Rick Pitino on unpaid administrative leave and athletic director Tom Jurich on paid administrative leave. Media reports indicated that both would be formally fired once contractual issues were sorted out. Assistant David Padgett was named interim head coach.[17]
  • September 28 – CBS News reported that Rick Pitino was the Louisville coach identified in court documents as "Coach-2", who was alleged to have spoken several times with an Adidas executive in the attempt to pay the family of a recruit in exchange for the player attending Louisville.[18]
  • November 6 – The Associated Press preseason All-American team was released. Michigan State forward Miles Bridges was the leading vote-getter (61 votes). Joining him on the team were Notre Dame forward Bonzie Colson (47 votes), Arizona guard Allonzo Trier (39), Villanova guard Jalen Brunson (33) and Missouri forward Michael Porter Jr. (30).[19]
  • November 27 – The Big West Conference announced that California State University, Bakersfield (CSU Bakersfield) and the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), already affiliate members, will join the conference in July 2020. CSU Bakersfield, a Big West beach volleyball member, will leave the Western Athletic Conference. UC San Diego, a member of Big West men's volleyball that will add women's water polo to its Big West membership in 2019–20, will transition from NCAA Division II and the California Collegiate Athletic Association; it will not be eligible for Division I national championships until the 2024–25 school year.[20][a]
  • December 30 – On what ESPN called "the day college basketball went nuts", four top-10 teams lost—top-ranked Villanova, #3 Arizona State, #5 Texas A&M, and #10 TCU, with all except for A&M entering the day unbeaten. The end result marked the first time in the AP poll era (since 1948–49) that no major-college men's team was unbeaten before the new calendar year.[21]
  • February 12 – Virginia rose to #1 in the AP poll for the first time since 1982, becoming the first team in poll history to move up to the #1 ranking despite losing a game in the prior week. Despite the Cavaliers' overtime loss at home to Virginia Tech the previous weekend, the previous #1 and #3 teams, Villanova and Purdue, respectively, also lost at home.[22]
  • February 20 – The NCAA announced that it had denied Louisville's appeal of sanctions imposed in the wake of the basketball program's sex scandal, officially making the Cardinals the first Division I basketball program stripped of a national title.[23]
  • February 28 – Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson confirmed to the San Diego Union-Tribune that his conference had discussed potential expansion with six schools since August 2017, with current West Coast Conference member Gonzaga the only school he specifically named. Thompson added that if the MW added Gonzaga, it could do so possibly as early as the 2018–19 school year. In addition, while Thompson said that BYU had not contacted him about expansion, several sources indicated that the school may return to the MW, at least in non-football sports, if Gonzaga were to join.[24]
  • April 2 – Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth notified the MW and WCC that the school would remain in the WCC for the immediate future. This followed WCC scheduling and revenue distribution changes that Gonzaga had long advocated.[25]

Milestones and records

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Conference membership changes

Three schools joined new conferences for the 2017–18 season.

In addition to the schools changing conferences, the 2017–18 season was the last for four schools in their then-current conferences.

Arenas

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New arenas

Arenas closing

Temporary arenas

Three Division I men's teams played the 2017–18 season in temporary homes due to renovation of their current venues. A fourth team moved its home schedule to what is normally an alternate home for the same reason. One additional team is playing in two temporary venues while its previous venue is being replaced by a completely new structure at the same site.

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Season outlook

Preseason polls

The top 25 from the AP and USA Today Coaches polls.

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Regular season

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Early-season tournaments

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  1. UCSD will remain eligible for national championships in four of its sports during its transition to Division I. Men's and women's water polo and the coeducational sport of fencing have one national championship for all three NCAA divisions, while men's volleyball has a combined Division I/II national championship.
  2. The tournament was originally scheduled to be held at Coliseo Municipal Tomás Dones in Fajardo, Puerto Rico,[73] but was moved to Coastal Carolina University due to major damage from Hurricane Maria. Coastal was chosen in part because its arena was available on every scheduled tournament day.[74]
  3. The tournament was originally scheduled for the Sports and Fitness Center in Saint Thomas, US Virgin Islands, but was moved due to damage from hurricanes Irma and Maria. Organizers decided to solicit hosting bids from the eight participating teams, with Liberty selected as the substitute host on September 29.[75]

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 #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, such as Intrust Bank Arena for Wichita State).

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

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Conference winners and tournaments

Each of the 32 Division I athletic conferences ends its regular season with a single-elimination tournament. The team with the best regular-season record in each conference is given the number one seed in each tournament, with tiebreakers used as needed in the case of ties for the top seeding. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

More information Conference, Regular season first place ...
  1. Top seed in conference tournament
  2. Ineligible for postseason play

Statistical leaders

Source for additional stats categories

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Postseason

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NCAA tournament

Tournament upsets

For this list, an "upset" is defined as a win by a team seeded 7 or more spots below its defeated opponent.

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Final Four – Alamodome, San Antonio, TX

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The Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, hosted the NCAA men's Final Four.
National Semifinals
March 31
National Championship Game
April 2
      
S11 Loyola–Chicago 57
W3 Michigan 69
W3 Michigan 62
E1 Villanova 79
MW1 Kansas 79
E1 Villanova 95

National Invitation Tournament

After the NCAA tournament field was announced, the NCAA invited 32 teams to participate in the National Invitation Tournament. The tournament began on March 13, 2018 with all games prior to the semifinals being played at campus sites.

NIT Semifinals and Final

Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 27 and 29

Semifinals
March 27
Championship game
March 29
      
4 Western Kentucky 64
2 Utah 69
4 Penn State 82
2 Utah 66
4 Penn State 75
4 Mississippi State 60

College Basketball Invitational

The eleventh College Basketball Invitational (CBI) Tournament began on March 13, 2018. This tournament features 16 teams who were left out of the NCAA tournament and NIT.

Semifinals
March 22
Championship Series
March 26, 28, 30
      
North Texas 90
Jacksonville State 68
North Texas 62 69 88
San Francisco 72 55 77
San Francisco 65
Campbell 62

CollegeInsider.com Postseason tournament

The eighth CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament began on March 12, 2018 and ended with the 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. 26 teams participate in this tournament.

Semifinals
March 28
Championship
March 30
      
UIC 67
Liberty 51
UIC 71
Northern Colorado 76
Sam Houston State 88
Northern Colorado 99
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Conference standings

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Award winners

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2018 Consensus All-America team

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Major player of the year awards

Major freshman of the year awards

Major coach of the year awards

Other major awards

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Coaching changes

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Several teams changed coaches during and after the season.

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See also

References

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