1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
Season	1978–79
NCAA Tournament	1979
Preseason No. 1	Duke
NCAA Tournament Champions	Michigan State
NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings ← 1977–78 1979–80 →

The 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings was made up of two human polls, the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll, in addition to various other preseason polls.

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		New to rankings from previous week
Italics		Number of first place votes
(#–#)		Win–loss record
т		Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

AP Poll

	Preseason  [1]	Week 2 Nov. 28[2]	Week 3 Dec. 4[3]	Week 4 Dec. 11[4]	Week 5 Dec. 18[5]	Week 6 Dec. 25[6]	Week 7 Jan. 3[7]	Week 8 Jan. 8[8]	Week 9 Jan. 15[9]	Week 10 Jan. 22[10]	Week 11 Jan. 29[11]	Week 12 Feb. 5[12]	Week 13 Feb. 12[13]	Week 14 Feb. 19[14]	Week 15 Feb. 26[15]	Week 16 Mar. 5[16]	Final Mar. 12[17]
1.	Duke	Duke (1–0)	Duke (4–0)	Duke (5–0)	Duke (6–0)	Duke (6–0)	Michigan State (7–1)	Michigan State (9–1)	Notre Dame (8–1)	Notre Dame (11–1)	Notre Dame (12–2)	Notre Dame (15–2)	Indiana State (23–0)	UCLA (20–3)	Indiana State (24–0)	Indiana State (29–0)	Indiana State (30–0)	1.
2.	UCLA	UCLA (3–0)	UCLA (3–0)	Notre Dame (4–0)	Notre Dame (4–0)	Notre Dame (4–0)	Notre Dame (5–1)	Notre Dame (6–1)	North Carolina (12–2)	North Carolina (14–2)	Indiana State (18–0)	Indiana State (20–0)	UCLA (18–3)	Indiana State (24–0)	Notre Dame (22–3)	UCLA (23–4)	UCLA (24–4)	2.
3.	Notre Dame	Notre Dame (0–0)	Notre Dame (2–0)	Michigan State (2–0)	UCLA (4–1)	UCLA (6–1)	North Carolina (8–1)	North Carolina (10–1)	UCLA (11–2)	Indiana State (14–0)	Duke (14–3)	Duke (16–3)	Notre Dame (17–3)	Notre Dame (19–3)	UCLA (21–4)	North Carolina (23–5)	Michigan State (22–6)	3.
4.	Louisville	Kansas (0–0)	Michigan State (1–0)	Louisville (5–1)	NC State (7–1)	Michigan State (4–1)	Illinois (12–0)	Illinois (14–0)	Illinois (15–1)	Michigan State (11–3)	North Carolina (15–3)	UCLA (16–3)	North Carolina (18–4)	North Carolina (20–4)	Michigan State (20–5)	Michigan State (21–6)	Notre Dame (23–5)	4.
5.	Kansas	Louisville (3–1)	Kansas (3–0)	UCLA (3–1)	Michigan State (3–1)	North Carolina (6–1)	Duke (6–2)	LSU (10–0)	Indiana State (14–0)	Louisville (15–3)	UCLA (14–3)	Louisville (19–3)	Duke (17–4)	LSU (21–3)	Duke (20–6)	Notre Dame (22–5)	Arkansas (24–4)	5.
6.	Texas	NC State (3–0)	Michigan (2–0)	Kentucky (3–0)	North Carolina (5–1)	Illinois (9–0)	UCLA (7–2)	UCLA (9–2)	Michigan State (9–3)	UCLA (12–3)	Louisville (17–3)	North Carolina (16–4)	LSU (20–3)	Duke (19–5)	Syracuse (24–2)	Duke (22–7)	DePaul (23–5)	6.
7.	Michigan State	Michigan State (0–0)	Louisville (3–1)	NC State (6–1)	Kansas (5–1)	LSU (7–0)	LSU (8–0)	Duke (9–2)	Louisville (12–3)	Duke (12–3)	Ohio State (13–4)	Syracuse (18–2)	Syracuse (20–2)	Michigan State (18–5)	North Carolina (21–5)	Arkansas (23–4)	LSU (23–5)	7.
8.	Michigan	Michigan (0–0)	NC State (4–1)	Kansas (4–1)	Syracuse (6–0)	Michigan (4–1)	NC State (8–2)	NC State (11–2)	Duke (10–3)	Illinois (16–2)	Syracuse (18–2)	LSU (19–3)	Michigan State (16–5)	Syracuse (21–2)	LSU (22–4)	DePaul (22–4)	Syracuse (26–3)	8.
9.	Syracuse	Syracuse (1–0)	Syracuse (4–0)	Michigan (3–1)	Michigan (4–1)	NC State (7–2)	Kentucky (5–2)	Indiana State (11–0)	LSU (12–2)	LSU (13–2)	Georgetown (16–2)	Marquette (16–3)	Louisville (21–4)	Marquette (19–4)	Arkansas (21–4)	LSU (22–5)	North Carolina (23–6)	9.
10.	Indiana	Kentucky (0–0)	Kentucky (2–0)	Syracuse (5–0)	LSU (6–0)	Louisville (7–2)	Texas A&M (11–2)	Arkansas (9–0)	Georgetown (12–2)	Ohio State (11–4)	LSU (15–3)	Michigan State (14–5)	Marquette (17–4)	Arkansas (20–4)	Marquette (19–5)	Syracuse (25–3)	Marquette (22–6)	10.
11.	Kentucky	LSU (1–0)	USC (2–0)	LSU (5–0)	Kentucky (3–1)	Indiana State (8–0)	Indiana State (9–0)	Texas A&M (11–2)	Arkansas (10–2)	Georgetown (14–2)	Texas (15–4)	Texas A&M (20–4)	Arkansas (18–4)	Texas (20–5)	Iowa (19–6)	Georgetown (24–4)	Duke (22–8)	11.
12.	NC State	USC (0–0)	LSU (4–0)	USC (3–0)	Louisville (6–2)	Texas A&M (9–2)	Georgetown (9–1)	Louisville (10–3)	Syracuse (12–2)	Syracuse (14–2)	Marquette (14–3)	Texas (16–5)	Texas (18–5)	Iowa (18–5)	Temple (22–3)	Marquette (21–6)	San Francisco (22–6)	12.
13.	USC	Texas (0–1)	Texas (3–1)	North Carolina (4–1)	Marquette (5–0)	Kentucky (4–2)	Michigan (6–2)	Marquette (10–1)	Marquette (11–2)	Marquette (13–2)	Alabama (13–4)	Ohio State (13–6)	Purdue (19–5)	Louisville (22–6)	Louisville (23–6)	Temple (25–3)	Louisville (24–7)	13.
14.	LSU	North Carolina (0–0)	North Carolina (3–1)	Marquette (4–0)	Georgetown (6–0)	UNLV (8–1)	Arkansas (7–0)	Georgetown (10–2)	NC State (11–4)	Texas A&M (15–3)	Illinois (16–4)	Arkansas (15–4)	Iowa (16–5)	Ohio State (16–7)	Texas (20–6)	Iowa (20–7)	Penn (23–5)	14.
15.	Rutgers	San Francisco (1–0)	UNLV (3–0)	UNLV (3–0)	Illinois (7–0)	Georgetown (7–1)	Long Beach State (8–0)	Kansas (8–3)	Texas A&M (13–3)	Arkansas (11–3)	Michigan State (11–5)	Iowa (15–4)	Temple (19–3)	Temple (20–3)	DePaul (20–4)	Texas (21–7)	Purdue (24–7)	15.
16.	North Carolina	Rutgers (0–0)	Marquette (2–0)	Georgetown (5–0)	Indiana State (8–0)	Marquette (6–1)	Louisville (8–3)	Michigan (7–3)	Ohio State (9–1)	Temple (12–1)	Texas A&M (17–4)	Alabama (13–5)	Georgetown (18–4)	Detroit (20–4)	Georgetown (22–4)	Purdue (23–7)	Oklahoma (21–9)	16.
17.	San Francisco	Marquette (0–0)	San Francisco (3–1)	Texas (4–2)	Texas A&M (8–1)	Long Beach State (7–0)	Marquette (8–1)	Kentucky (9–4)	Temple (12–1)	Texas (11–4)	Maryland (14–5)	Vanderbilt (15–4)	Ohio State (16–7)	Georgetown (20–4)	Ohio State (17–8)	Detroit (22–5)	St. John's (20–10)	17.
18.	Marquette	UNLV (1–0)	Rutgers (2–1)	Illinois (6–0)	UNLV (5–1)	Kansas (5–3)	Mississippi State (8–0)	Temple (11–0)	Alabama (10–4)	Alabama (11–4)	Temple (15–3)	Georgetown (16–4)	Detroit (18–4)	Purdue (20–6)	Detroit (21–5)	Louisville (23–7)	Rutgers (22–8)	18.
19.	Alabama	Maryland (1–0)	Maryland (2–2)	San Francisco (5–2)	Texas (5–2)	Syracuse (6–2)	Kansas (8–3)	Long Beach State (8–2)	Maryland (11–4)	Vanderbilt (12–2)	Arkansas (13–4)	Temple (17–3)	Vanderbilt (16–5)	Vanderbilt (18–6)	Purdue (21–7)	San Francisco (21–6)	Toledo (22–7)	19.
20.	UNLV	Indiana (1–2)	Georgetown (3–0)	Indiana State (6–0)	USC (6–2)	Arkansas (6–0)	Maryland (10–3)	Syracuse (9–2)	Kansas (9–4)	NC State (11–6)	Vanderbilt (14–3)	Illinois (17–5)	Alabama (15–7)	DePaul (18–4)	San Francisco (21–6)	Tennessee (20–11)	Iowa (20–8)	20.
	Preseason  [1]	Week 2 Nov. 28[2]	Week 3 Dec. 4[3]	Week 4 Dec. 11[4]	Week 5 Dec. 18[5]	Week 6 Dec. 25[6]	Week 7 Jan. 3[7]	Week 8 Jan. 8[8]	Week 9 Jan. 15[9]	Week 10 Jan. 22[10]	Week 11 Jan. 29[11]	Week 12 Feb. 5[12]	Week 13 Feb. 12[13]	Week 14 Feb. 19[14]	Week 15 Feb. 26[15]	Week 16 Mar. 5[16]	Final Mar. 12[17]
		Dropped: Alabama (1–1)	Dropped: Indiana (2–2)	Dropped: Rutgers (3–2) Maryland (3–2)	Dropped: San Francisco (6–3)	Dropped: Texas (5–2) USC (6–3)	Dropped: UNLV (8–3) Syracuse (8–2)	Dropped: Mississippi State (8–2) Maryland (10–3)	Dropped: Michigan (7–5) Kentucky (10–5) Long Beach State (9–4)	Dropped: Maryland (11–6) Kansas (10–5)	Dropped: NC State (13–6)	Dropped: Maryland (15–6)	Dropped: Texas A&M (20–6)	Dropped: Alabama (16–8)	Dropped: Vanderbilt (18–8)	Dropped: Ohio State (17–10)	Dropped: Georgetown (24–5) Temple (25–3) Texas (21–7) Detroit (22–5) Tennessee (20–11)

UPI Poll

	Preseason Pre[18]	Week 2 Dec. 12[18]	Week 3 Dec. 19[18]	Week 4 Dec. 26[18]	Week 5 Jan. 3[18]	Week 6 Jan. 9[18]	Week 7 Jan. 16[18]	Week 8 Jan. 23[18]	Week 9 Jan. 30[18]	Week 10 Feb. 6[18]	Week 11 Feb. 13[19]	Week 12 Feb. 20[19]	Week 13 Feb. 27[19]	Final Mar. 6[19]
1.	Duke	Duke (5–0)	Duke (6–0)	Duke (6–0)	Michigan State (7–1)	Michigan State (9–1)	Notre Dame (8–1)	Notre Dame (11–1)	Notre Dame (12–2)	Notre Dame (15–2)	UCLA (18–3)	UCLA (20–3)	Indiana State (24–0)	Indiana State (29–0)	1.
2.	UCLA	Notre Dame (4–0)	Notre Dame (4–0)	Notre Dame (4–0)	Notre Dame (5–1)	Notre Dame (6–1)	Illinois (15–1)	North Carolina (14–2)	Indiana State (18–0)	Indiana State (20–0)	Indiana State (23–0)	Indiana State (24–0)	Notre Dame (22–3)	UCLA (23–4)	2.
3.	Notre Dame	Michigan State (2–0)	UCLA (4–1)	UCLA (6–1)	Illinois (12–0)	Illinois (14–0)	North Carolina (12–2)	Indiana State (14–0)	UCLA (14–3)	UCLA (16–3)	Notre Dame (17–3)	Notre Dame (19–3)	UCLA (21–4)	North Carolina (23–5)	3.
4.	Michigan State	Louisville (5–1)	Michigan State (3–1)	Michigan State (4–1)	North Carolina (8–1)	North Carolina (10–1)	UCLA (11–2)	Michigan State (11–3)	Duke (14–3)	Duke (16–3)	North Carolina (18–4)	North Carolina (20–4)	Michigan State (20–5)	Michigan State (21–6)	4.
5.	Kansas т	UCLA (3–1)	NC State (7–1)	Illinois (9–0)	UCLA (7–2)	LSU (10–0)	Indiana State (14–0)	Louisville (15–3)	Louisville (17–3)	Louisville (19–3)	LSU (20–3)	LSU (21–3)	Syracuse (24–2)	Notre Dame (22–5)	5.
6.	Louisville т	Kentucky (3–0)	North Carolina (5–1)	North Carolina (6–1)	LSU (8–0)	UCLA (9–2)	Michigan State (9–3)	Duke (12–3)	North Carolina (15–3)	North Carolina (16–4)	Duke (17–4)	Syracuse (21–2)	Duke (20–6)	Arkansas (23–4)	6.
7.	Texas	NC State (6–1)	Michigan (4–1)	Michigan (4–1)	Duke (6–2)	Duke (9–2)	Louisville (12–3)	UCLA (12–3)	Ohio State (13–4)	LSU (19–3)	Syracuse (20–2)	Duke (19–5)	North Carolina (21–5)	Duke (22–7)	7.
8.	Michigan	Kansas (4–1)	Kansas (5–1)	LSU (7–0)	Kentucky (5–2)	NC State (11–2)	LSU (12–2)	Illinois (16–2)	Syracuse (18–2)	Marquette (16–3)	Michigan State (16–5)	Michigan State (18–5)	LSU (22–4)	DePaul (22–4)	8.
9.	NC State	Michigan (3–1)	Syracuse (6–0)	Louisville (7–2)	Indiana State (9–0)	Indiana State (11–0)	Duke (10–3)	Ohio State (11–4)	Marquette (14–3)	Michigan State (14–5)	Louisville (21–4)	Marquette (19–4)	Arkansas (21–4)	LSU (22–5)	9.
10.	USC	LSU (5–0)	LSU (6–0)	Texas A&M (9–2)	NC State (8–2)	Arkansas (9–0)	Marquette (11–2)	LSU (13–2)	Georgetown (16–2)	Syracuse (18–2)	Marquette (17–4)	Texas (20–5)	Iowa (19–6)	Syracuse (25–3)	10.
11.	Indiana	Syracuse (5–0)	Louisville (6–2)	Indiana State (8–0)	Long Beach State (8–0)	Marquette (10–1)	Ohio State (9–4)	Marquette (13–2)	Texas (15–4)	Texas A&M (20–4)	Arkansas (18–4)	Iowa (18–5)	DePaul (20–4)	Iowa (20–7)	11.
12.	North Carolina	North Carolina (4–1)	Kentucky (3–1)	Georgetown (7–1)	Michigan (6–2)	Texas A&M (11–2)	Temple (12–1)	Georgetown (14–2)	LSU (15–3)	Ohio State (13–6)	Texas (18–5)	Arkansas (20–4)	Marquette (19–5)	Georgetown (24–4)	12.
13.	Syracuse	USC (3–0)	Marquette (5–0)	Long Beach State (7–0)	Mississippi State (8–0)	Louisville (10–3)	Arkansas (10–2)	Syracuse (14–2)	Michigan State (11–5)	Iowa (15–4)	Purdue (19–5)	Ohio State (16–7)	Temple (22–3)	Marquette (21–6)	13.
14.	Kentucky	Marquette (4–0)	Georgetown (6–0)	Kansas (5–3)	Texas A&M (11–2)	Kansas (8–3)	Georgetown (12–2)	Texas A&M (15–3)	Texas A&M (17–4)	Arkansas (15–4)	Temple (19–3)	Louisville (22–6)	Texas (20–6)	Purdue (23–7)	14.
15.	Alabama	Georgetown (5–0)	Indiana State (8–0)	Kentucky (4–2)	Arkansas (7–0)	Temple (11–0)	Syracuse (12–2)	Temple (12–1)	Alabama (13–4)	Texas (16–5)	Iowa (16–5)	Temple (20–3)	Georgetown (22–4)	Texas (21–7)	15.
16.	San Francisco	Indiana State (6–0)	Illinois (7–0)	Washington State (7–0)	Louisville (8–3)	Georgetown (10–2)	Alabama (10–4)	Texas (11–4)	Vanderbilt (14–3)	Vanderbilt (15–4)	Georgetown (18–4)	Georgetown (20–4)	Louisville (23–6)	Temple (25–3)	16.
17.	LSU	Texas (4–2)	Long Beach State (6–0)	Marquette (6–1)	Kansas (8–3)	Long Beach State (8–2)	Texas A&M (13–3)	Vanderbilt (12–2)	Illinois (16–4)	Temple (17–3)	Vanderbilt (16–5)	Purdue (20–6)	Ohio State (17–8)	San Francisco (21–6)	17.
18.	Rutgers	Long Beach State (4–0)	Texas A&M (8–1)	Syracuse (6–2)	Georgetown (9–1)	Syracuse (9–2)	NC State (11–4)	Arkansas (11–3)	Temple (15–3)	Purdue (17–5)	Ohio State (16–7) т	Detroit (20–4)	Purdue (21–7)	Tennessee (20–11)	18.
19.	Minnesota	Illinois (6–0)	Texas (5–2)	Maryland (7–2)	Marquette (8–1)	USC (6–3)	Kansas (9–4)	NC State (11–6)	Weber State (19–4)	Georgetown (16–4) т	Texas A&M (20–6) т	Vanderbilt (18–6)	San Francisco (21–6)	Louisville (23–7)	19.
20.	Marquette	Arkansas (2–0)	Arkansas (4–0)	Texas (5–2)	Maryland (9–2)	Michigan (7–3)	USC (9–4)	Alabama (11–4)	Purdue (15–5)	USC (13–6) т	Detroit (18–4)	DePaul (18–4)	Detroit (21–5)	Detroit (22–5)	20.
	Preseason Pre[18]	Week 2 Dec. 12[18]	Week 3 Dec. 19[18]	Week 4 Dec. 26[18]	Week 5 Jan. 3[18]	Week 6 Jan. 9[18]	Week 7 Jan. 16[18]	Week 8 Jan. 23[18]	Week 9 Jan. 30[18]	Week 10 Feb. 6[18]	Week 11 Feb. 13[19]	Week 12 Feb. 20[19]	Week 13 Feb. 27[19]	Final Mar. 6[19]
		Dropped: Indiana (3–3) Alabama (3–2) San Francisco (3–2) Rutgers (2–2) Minnesota (2–2)	Dropped: USC (6–2)	Dropped: NC State (7–2) Arkansas (6–0)	Dropped: Washington State (9–1) Syracuse (8–2) Texas (6–3)	Dropped: Kentucky (9–4) Mississippi State (8–2) Maryland (10–3)	Dropped: Long Beach State (9–4) Michigan (7–5)	Dropped: Kansas (9–6) USC (10–6)	Dropped: Arkansas (13–4) NC State (13–6)	Dropped: Alabama (13–5) Illinois (17–5) Weber State (20–4)	Dropped: USC (13–8)	Dropped: Texas A&M (21–7)	Dropped: Vanderbilt (18–8)	Dropped: Ohio State (17–10)

References

1. "1979 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
2. "November 27, 1978 AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
3. "December 4, 1978 AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
4. "December 11, 1978 AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
5. "December 18, 1978 AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
6. "December 25, 1978 AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
7. "January 3, 1979 AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
8. "January 8, 1979 AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
9. "January 15, 1979 AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
10. "January 22, 1979 AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
11. "January 29, 1979 AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
12. "February 5, 1979 AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
13. "February 12, 1979 AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
14. "February 19, 1979 AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
15. "February 26, 1979 AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
16. "March 5, 1979 AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
17. "1979 Final AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
18. ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. p. 856. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
19. ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. p. 857. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.