Puneet Varma (Editor)

1998 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament

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Season
  
1997–98

Dates
  
12 Mar 1998 – 30 Mar 1998

Attendance
  
663,876

MOP
  
Jeff Sheppard Kentucky

Teams
  
64

Finals site
  
Alamodome

1998 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament httpsiytimgcomvi4mrTUWACzoQhqdefaultjpg

Champions
  
Kentucky (7th title, 10th title game, 13th Final Four)

Runner-up
  
Utah (2nd title game, 4th Final Four)

Semifinalists
  
North Carolina (14th Final Four) Stanford (2nd Final Four)

Winning coach
  
Tubby Smith (1st title)

Champion
  
Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball

Similar
  
1999 NCAA Division I, 1997 NCAA Division I, 1995 NCAA Division I, 2002 NCAA Division I, 2000 NCAA Division I

The 1998 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 1998, and ended with the championship game on March 30 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. A total of 63 games were played.

Contents

The Final Four consisted of Kentucky, making their third consecutive Final Four, Stanford, making their first appearance since their initial Final Four run in 1942, Utah, making their fourth Final Four and first since 1966, and North Carolina, who returned for a fourteenth overall time and third in four seasons.

Kentucky won the national title, its second in three seasons and seventh overall, by defeating Utah 78-69 in the championship game.

Jeff Sheppard of Kentucky was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Kentucky came back from double-digit deficits in each of its last three games in the tournament, including a 17-point second half comeback against the Duke Blue Devils, leading to the school's fans dubbing the team the "Comeback Cats". This was Kentucky's third straight championship game appearance.

Bryce Drew led the 13th-ranked Valparaiso Crusaders to the Sweet Sixteen, including a memorable play that remains part of March Madness lore.

First and Second Rounds

March 12 and 14
ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California (Host: University of the Pacific) BSU Pavilion, Boise, Idaho (Host: Boise State University) Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut MCI Center, Washington, D.C. (Host: George Mason University)
March 13 and 15
Georgia Dome, Atlanta (Host: Georgia Institute of Technology) Myriad Convention Center, Oklahoma City (Host: University of Oklahoma) Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky (Host: University of Kentucky) United Center, Chicago (Host: Big Ten Conference)

Regionals

March 19 and 21
East Regional, Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina (Host: Atlantic Coast Conference) West Regional, Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, Anaheim, California (Host: Big West Conference)
March 20 and 22
Midwest Regional, Kiel Center, St. Louis (Host: Missouri Valley Conference) South Regional, Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida (Host: University of South Florida)

Final Four

March 28 and 30
Alamodome, San Antonio

Announcers

  • Jim Nantz and Billy Packer – First & Second Round at Atlanta; South Regional at St. Petersburg, Florida; Final Four at San Antonio, Texas
  • Sean McDonough and Bill Raftery – First & Second Round at Washington, D.C.; East Regional at Greensboro, North Carolina
  • Gus Johnson and Jon Sundvold – First & Second Round at Hartford, Connecticut; West Regional at Anaheim, California
  • Tim Brando and Al McGuire – First & Second Round at Lexington, Kentucky; Midwest Regional at St. Louis
  • Ted Robinson and Rolando Blackman – First & Second Round at Oklahoma City
  • Jim Durham and Greg Kelser – First & Second Round at Boise, Idaho
  • Tim Ryan and Dan Bonner – First & Second Round at Chicago
  • Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel – First & Second Round at Sacramento, California

    • References

    1998 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA