 | |||||
| Season | 1997–98 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 64 | ||||
| Finals site | Alamodome San Antonio, Texas | ||||
| Champions | Kentucky Wildcats (7th title, 10th title game, 13th Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up | Utah Utes (2nd title game, 4th Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
| ||||
| Winning coach | Tubby Smith (1st title) | ||||
| MOP | Jeff Sheppard (Kentucky) | ||||
| Attendance | 663,876 | ||||
| Top scorer | Michael Doleac (Utah) (115 points) | ||||
| |||||
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.
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-seeded Valparaiso Crusaders to the Sweet Sixteen, including a memorable play that remains part of March Madness lore.[1]
For the second consecutive season, a #14 seed advanced from the first round; Richmond, coached by John Beilein, upset South Carolina.
For the second time in three years, a top seeded team failed to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. That distinction belonged to Midwest Region #1 seed Kansas, who was defeated by #8 seed Rhode Island.
- ^ "NCAA honors all-time greats as part of 75 years of March Madness celebration". NCAA. December 11, 2012. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 4, 2018.