1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season

The 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 17, 1979, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1980 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship game on March 24, 1980, at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. The Louisville Cardinals won their first NCAA national championship with a 59–54 victory over the UCLA Bruins.

Rule changes

 * Officials were ordered to more strictly enforce foul rules already on the books, including bench decorum, hand-checking and charging fouls.
 * Any mistaken attempt to call a time-out after a team runs out of time-outs results in a technical foul and two free throws for the opposing team. The rule would figure prominently in the outcome of the 1993 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

Season headlines

 * ESPN launched on September 7, 1979, as the first all-sports television network and began televising college basketball in November. It took advantage of college basketball's rapidly growing popularity to begin a highly profitable relationship with the NCAA which greatly expanded television coverage of college basketball in the United States.
 * The basketball-centered original Big East Conference began play. Working closely with ESPN, it rapidly developed a reputation as a powerhouse of college basketball and a dominating force in the sport.
 * The NCAA tournament expanded from 40 to 48 teams. For the first time, more than two teams from each conference could be selected for the tournament.
 * ESPN televised 23 games of the 1980 NCAA tournament, becoming the first television network to broadcast the early rounds of an NCAA Tournament.
 * For the first time, none of the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament advacned to the Final Four.
 * Louisville's "doctors of dunk" brought Denny Crum his first NCAA title with a 59–54 win over surprise finalist UCLA and coach Larry Brown. Wooden Award winner Darrell Griffith was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
 * The first year of the Ralph Sampson era ended with a Virginia Cavaliers National Invitation Tournament championship – a 58–55 win over Minnesota. Sampson, a 7 ft freshman center, was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

Pre-season polls
The top 20 from the AP Poll and UPI Coaches Poll during the pre-season.

Conference winners and tournaments
Note: From 1975 to 1982, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), a loosely organized sports federation of colleges and universities in the Northeastern United States, organized Division I ECAC regional tournaments for those of its members that were independents in basketball. Each 1980 tournament winner received an automatic bid to the 1980 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament in the same way that the tournament champions of conventional athletic conferences did. The ECAC North was a separate, conventional conference.

Final Four
Played at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana


 * Third Place – Purdue 75, Iowa 58

NIT semifinals and final
Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City


 * Third Place – Illinois 84, UNLV 74

Major player of the year awards

 * Wooden Award: Darrell Griffith, Louisville
 * Naismith Award: Mark Aguirre, DePaul
 * Helms Player of the Year: Darrell Griffith, Louisville
 * Associated Press Player of the Year: Mark Aguirre, DePaul
 * UPI Player of the Year: Mark Aguirre, DePaul
 * NABC Player of the Year: Michael Brooks, La Salle
 * Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): Mark Aguirre, DePaul
 * Adolph Rupp Trophy: Mark Aguirre, DePaul
 * Sporting News Player of the Year: Darrell Griffith, Louisville

Major coach of the year awards

 * Associated Press Coach of the Year: Ray Meyer, DePaul
 * Henry Iba Award (USBWA): Ray Meyer, DePaul
 * NABC Coach of the Year: Lute Olson, Iowa
 * UPI Coach of the Year: Ray Meyer, DePaul
 * Sporting News Coach of the Year: Lute Olson, Iowa

Other major awards

 * Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player under 6'0): Jim Sweeney, Boston College
 * Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Michael Brooks, La Salle
 * NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Jeff Ruland, Iona

Coaching changes
A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after the season ended.