New coach Tubby Smith brought Kentucky back to the final for the third straight year and guided the Wildcats to another magical comeback in beating Utah 78-69 for the title. It was Kentucky's second in three seasons and seventh in school history. And Jeff Sheppard of Kentucky won Most Outstanding Player honors.
64-Team Field
The NCAA field included 64 teams for the 13th consecutive year. The tournament ran from March 12 to March 30, 1998 with the Final Four being played in the Aladome in San Antonio, Texas. The tournament also saw the Southeast region renamed as the South region.
Kentucky No. 2 Seed In South Behind Duke
Former coach Rick Pitino left after bringing Kentucky to the final the past two seasons. But new coach Tubby Smith kept the Wildcats rolling and were given a No. 2 seed in the South behind Duke. Kentucky cruised past South Carolina 82-67 in the first round before blasting St. Louis 88-61 in the second round. The Wildcats then beat UCLA 94-68 in the Sweet Sixteen. In the South region final, Kentucky fell behind Duke by 17 points before coming back for an 86-84 victory to reach the Final Four.
Double-Digit Seeds Succeed
The 1998 tournament had plenty of highlights besides the Final Four teams. Eight double-digit seeds won games in the first round, including No. 13 seed Valparaiso's victory over 4 seed and Final Four sleeper candidate Mississippi in the first round. And 10th-seeded West Virginia knocked off No. 2 Cincinnati in the second round on a bank-in three-pointer at the buzzer by Jarrod West. Princeton also was awarded a No. 5 seed - the highest ever for an Ivy League team - and beat UNLV in the first round before losing to Michigan State.
North Carolina, Utah, Stanford In Final Four
Joining Kentucky into the Final Four were North Carolina - the No. 1 seed from the East in its 14th semifinal; West region No. 3 seed Utah; and Stanford, the No. 3 seed from the Midwest back in the Final Four for the first time since 1942.
Kentucky, Utah Reach Final
Smith's Comeback 'Cats had its second straight double-digit comeback in beating Stanford 86-85 in overtime to return to the final and improve Kentucky's all-time record in national semifinals to 10-3. Jeff Sheppard scored a career-high 27 points, including a key three-pointer and the winning free throw in overtime, and Nazr Mohammed added 17 of his 18 points after half-time. Utah returned to the final for the first time since 1944 with a 65-59 upset of North Carolina thanks to Andre Miller, who had 16 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists after a triple-double against Arizona in the West region final. Rick Majerus's team never trailed and even led 48-33 with 14 minutes left.
Kentucky Outlasts Utah
In the final, the Utah Utes were facing the team which eliminated them in three of the last four NCAA tournaments, including the 1997 West region final. Utah led by 10 points at halftime but was held to just eight field goals in the second half as Kentucky came back to win 78-69 as Sheppard collected 16 points. The 10-point comeback was the largest in the title-game history.
Smith Second First-Year Coach To Win Crown
With the title, Tubby Smith became the second first-year coach to win the NCAA Tournament after Steve Fisher guided Michigan to the 1989 crown as an interim coach. And he is the fourth Kentucky coach to win a title - Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall and Rick Pitino.
Kentucky Mark Best Since UCLA
Kentucky's seventh title follows crowns in 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978 and 1996. The seven championships ranks second behind UCLA's 11 crowns. And Kentucky became the first team to reach three straight NCAA finals since John Wooden's UCLA dynasty.
