The 1990–91 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1990 and ended with the Final Four at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 1, 1991. The Duke Blue Devils won their first NCAA national championship with a 72–65 victory over the Kansas Jayhawks.
Season headlines The Patriot League began play, with seven original members. In a game on January 5, 1991, between two teams specializing in the fast-break offense, Kevin Bradshaw of U.S.International set a new NCAA record for points scored by a single player against an NCAA Division I opponent, scoring 72 points in a 186–140 loss to Loyola Marymount. Bradshaw broke LSU shooting guard Pete Maravich's record of 69 points, set in a February 1970 game against Alabama."72-Point Performance Erases Maravich's Record," The New York Times, January 7, 1991. In the 1991 NCAA tournament, a No. 15 seed defeated a No. 2 seed for the first time in tournament history, when Richmond topped Syracuse 73–69 in a first-round game. UNLV was the first team since the 1975–76 Indiana Hoosiers to enter the NCAA tournament unbeaten. The Runnin' Rebels reached 34–0 (and 45 straight wins dating to the previous season) before losing 79–77 to Duke in the national semifinals. Eddie Sutton of Oklahoma State became the first head coach to take four different teams to the NCAA tournament. He had done it previously with Creighton in 1974, Arkansas in 1977, and Kentucky in 1986. North Carolina's Dean Smith became the first head coach to take a school to the NCAA tournament's Final Four in four different decades. He coached North Carolina to the Final Four 11 times between 1967 and 1997. Duke won its first national championship in its ninth (and fourth consecutive) Final Four appearance. The American South Conference disbanded at the end of the season.
Major rule changes Beginning in 1990–91, the following rule changes were implemented: Players fouled in the act of shooting a missed three-pointer received three free throws instead of the previous two. Starting with the 10th team foul of each half, the fouled team receives two free throws, regardless of whether the foul was committed in the act of shooting (except for player control fouls).
Season outlook
Pre-season polls The top 25 from the AP Poll and Coaches Poll during the pre-season.* Associated PressRankingTeam1 UNLV2 Arkansas3 Arizona4 Michigan State5 North Carolina6 Duke7 Alabama8 Indiana9 Georgetown10 Ohio State11 UCLA12 Pittsburgh13 Syracuse14 LSU15 16 Georgia Tech17 Connecticut18 Virginia19 Temple20 Missouri21 Georgia22 Texas23 Louisville24 Southern Miss25 St. John's UPI CoachesRankingTeam1 UNLV2 Arizona3 Arkansas4 North Carolina5 Michigan State6 Duke7 Georgetown8 Indiana9 Alabama 10 UCLA 11 Ohio State12 13 LSU Connecticut15 Pittsburgh16 Syracuse17 Georgia Tech18 Southern Miss19 Virginia 20 Kansas21 Texas22 Louisville23 Georgia24 Temple25 Notre Dame
Conference membership changes SchoolFormer conferenceNew conference NCAA Division I independent Mid-Continent Conference Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Patriot League East Coast Conference Patriot League CCAA (D-II) NCAA Division I independent NCAA Division I independent East Coast Conference American South Conference North Atlantic Conference Patriot League NCAA Division I independent Big South Conference Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Patriot League Trans America Athletic Conference Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (D-III) Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Patriot League East Coast Conference NCAA Division I independent East Coast Conference NCAA Division II independent NCAA Division I independent NCAA Division I independent Mid-Continent Conference No team NCAA Division I independent Mid-Continent Conference Missouri Valley Conference
Regular season Conferences Conference winners and tournaments
ConferenceRegular season first placeConference player of the yearConference Coach of the YearConference tournamentTournament venue (city)Tournament winner American South Conference Arkansas State & New Orleans Tank Collins, New Orleans Nelson Catalina, Arkansas State 1991 American South Conference men's basketball tournament Lakefront Arena(New Orleans, LA) Louisiana Tech Atlantic 10 Conference Rutgers Keith Hughes, Rutgers John Carroll, Duquesne 1991 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament Palestra(Philadelphia, PA) Penn State Atlantic Coast Conference Duke Rodney Monroe, NC State Dave Odom, Wake Forest 1991 ACC men's basketball tournament Charlotte ColiseumCharlotte, NC North Carolina Big East Conference Syracuse Billy Owens, Syracuse Jim Boeheim, Syracuse 1991 Big East men's basketball tournament Madison Square Garden(New York, NY) Seton Hall Big Eight Conference Kansas & Oklahoma State Byron Houston, Oklahoma State & Doug Smith, Missouri Danny Nee, Nebraska 1991 Big Eight Conference men's basketball tournament Kemper Arena(Kansas City, MO) Missouri Big Sky Conference Montana Kevin Kearney, Montana Stew Morrill, Montana 1991 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament Dahlberg Arena(Missoula, MT) Montana Big South Conference Coastal Carolina Tony Dunkin, Coastal Carolina Oliver Purnell, Radford 1991 Big South Conference men's basketball tournament Civic Center of Anderson(Anderson, SC) Coastal Carolina Big Ten Conference Indiana & Ohio State Jim Jackson, Ohio State Randy Ayers, Ohio StateNo Tournament Big West Conference UNLV Larry Johnson, UNLV Jerry Tarkanian, UNLV 1991 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament Long Beach Arena(Long Beach, CA) UNLV Colonial Athletic Association James Madison Steve Hood, James Madison Dick Tarrant, Richmond 1991 CAA men's basketball tournament Richmond Coliseum(Richmond, VA) Richmond East Coast Conference Towson State Devin Boyd, Towson State Terry Truax, Towson State 1991 East Coast Conference men's basketball tournament Towson Center(Towson, MD) Towson State Ivy League Princeton Kit Mueller, Princeton Not namedNo Tournament Metro Conference Southern Miss Clarence Weatherspoon, Southern Miss Perry Clark, Tulane 1991 Metro Conference men's basketball tournament Roanoke Civic Center(Roanoke, VA) Florida State Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference La Salle & Siena Marc Brown, Siena Ted Fiore, Saint Peter's 1991 MAAC men's basketball tournament Knickerbocker Arena(Albany, NY) Saint Peter's Mid-American Conference Eastern Michigan Marcus Kennedy, Eastern Michigan Ben Braun, Eastern Michigan 1991 MAC men's basketball tournament Cobo Arena(Detroit, MI) Eastern Michigan Mid-Continent Conference Northern Illinois Tony Bennett, Wisconsin–Green Bay Jim Molinari, Northern Illinois 1991 Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball tournament Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena(Green Bay, WI) Wisconsin–Green Bay Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Coppin State Larry Stewart, Coppin State Fang Mitchell, Coppin State 1991 MEAC men's basketball tournament Norfolk Scope(Norfolk, VA) Florida A&M Midwestern Collegiate Conference Xavier Darin Archbold, Butler Barry Collier, Butler 1991 Midwestern Collegiate Conference men's basketball tournament UD Arena(Dayton, OH) Xavier Missouri Valley Conference Creighton Chad Gallagher, Creighton Tates Locke, Indiana State 1991 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament Kiel Auditorium(St. Louis, MO) Creighton North Atlantic Conference Northeastern Matt Johnson, Vermont Tom Brennan, Vermont 1991 North Atlantic Conference men's basketball tournament Matthews Arena(Boston, MA) Northeastern Northeast Conference Fairleigh Dickinson & Saint Francis (PA) Mike Iuzzolino, Saint Francis (PA) Rich Zvosec, St. Francis (NY) 1991 Northeast Conference men's basketball tournament DeGol Arena(Loretto, PA) Saint Francis (PA) Ohio Valley Conference Murray State Popeye Jones, Murray State Dave Loos, Austin Peay 1991 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament Racer Arena(Murray, KY) Murray State Pacific-10 Conference Arizona Terrell Brandon, Oregon Kelvin Sampson, Washington StateNo Tournament Patriot League Fordham Damon Lopez, Fordham Nick Macarchuk, Fordham 1991 Patriot League men's basketball tournament Hart Center(Worcester, MA) Fordham Southeastern Conference LSU & Mississippi State Shaquille O'Neal, LSU Rick Pitino, Kentucky 1991 SEC men's basketball tournament Memorial Gymnasium(Nashville, TN) Alabama Southern Conference East Tennessee State & Furman Keith Jennings, East Tennessee State Butch Estes, Furman 1991 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Asheville Civic Center(Asheville, NC) East Tennessee State Southland Conference Northeast Louisiana Carlos Funchess, Northeast Louisiana & Anthony Jones, Northeast Louisiana Ned Fowler, Stephen F. Austin 1991 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament Fant–Ewing Coliseum(Monroe, LA) Northeast Louisiana Southwest Conference Arkansas Oliver Miller, Arkansas Nolan Richardson, Arkansas 1991 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament Reunion Arena(Dallas, TX) Arkansas Southwestern Athletic Conference Jackson State Steve Rogers, Alabama State Andy Stoglin, Jackson State 1991 SWAC men's basketball tournament Health and Physical Education Arena(Houston, TX) Jackson State Sun Belt Conference South Alabama Chris Gatling, Old Dominion Ronnie Arrow, South Alabama 1991 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament Mobile Civic Center(Mobile, AL) South Alabama Trans America Athletic Conference Texas–San Antonio Patrick Greer, Centenary Tommy Vardeman, Centenary 1991 TAAC men's basketball tournament Edmunds Center(DeLand, FL) Georgia State West Coast Athletic Conference Pepperdine Doug Christie, Pepperdine Tom Asbury, Pepperdine 1991 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament Toso Pavilion(Santa Clara, CA) Pepperdine Western Athletic Conference Utah Josh Grant, Utah Rick Majerus, Utah 1991 WAC men's basketball tournament Arena-Auditorium(Laramie, WY) BYU
Conference standings
Division I independents A total of 17 college teams played as Division I independents. Among them, DePaul (20–9) had both the best winning percentage (.690) and the most wins.
Informal championships ConferenceRegular season winnerMost Valuable PlayerPhiladelphia Big 5 Saint Joseph's & Temple Mark Macon, Temple Saint Joseph's and Temple both finished with 3–1 records in head-to-head competition among the Philadelphia Big 5. After this season, the Big 5 dropped its full round-robin schedule in which each team met each other team once, which it had used since its first season of competition in 1955–56. Instead, each team played only two games against other Big 5 members from the 1991–92 season through the 1998–99 season. The Big 5 did not revive its full round-robin schedule until 1999–2000 season.
Statistical leaders Points per game Rebounds per game Assists per game Steals per game Player School PPG Player School RPG Player School APG Player School SPG Kevin Bradshaw US International 37.6 Shaquille O'Neal LSU 14.7 Chris Corchiani NC State 9.6 Van Usher Tenn. Tech 3.7 Alphonso Ford Miss. Valley St. 32.7 Popeye Jones Murray St. 14.2 Danny Tirado Jacksonville 9.3 Scott Burrell Connecticut 3.6 Von McDade UW–Milwaukee 29.6 Larry Stewart Coppin St. 13.4 Terrell Lowery Loyola Marymount 9.1 Eric Murdock Providence 3.5 Steve Rogers Alabama St. 29.4 Tim Burroughs Jacksonville 13.0 Keith Jennings E. Tenn. St. 9.1 Von McDade UW–Milwaukee 3.5 Terrell Lowery Loyola Marymount 28.5 Warren Kidd Middle Tenn St. 12.3 Greg Anthony UNLV 8.9 Lynn Smith St. Francis (NY) 3.4