1978–79 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team

1978–79 Toledo Rockets men's basketball
1978–79 Toledo Rockets men's basketball
MAC champions
NCAA Tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 19
Record	22–8 (13–3 Mid-American)
Head coach	Bob Nichols;
Assistant coach	Greg Kampe (1st season)
Home arena	Centennial Hall
	Seasons ← 1977–78 1979–80 →

1978–79 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 19 Toledo	13	–	3	.813	22	–	8	.733
Central Michigan	13	–	3	.813	19	–	9	.679
Ohio	10	–	6	.625	16	–	11	.593
Ball State	9	–	7	.563	16	–	11	.593
Northern Illinois	8	–	8	.500	14	–	13	.519
Kent State	7	–	9	.438	13	–	14	.481
Bowling Green State	6	–	10	.375	14	–	13	.519
Miami (Ohio)	6	–	10	.375	9	–	18	.333
Eastern Michigan	5	–	11	.313	9	–	18	.333
Western Michigan	3	–	13	.188	7	–	23	.233

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978–79 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team represented University of Toledo as a member of the Mid-American Conference during the 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Bob Nichols and played their home games at Centennial Hall in Toledo, Ohio. Toledo won the MAC championship, reached the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament for the only time in program history, and finished with a record of 22–8 (13–3 MAC).

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
C		Jim Swaney	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Jr

Head coach

Bob Nichols

Assistant coach(es)

Greg Kampe

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 25, 1978*		at Detroit Mercy	L 64–67	0–1	Calihan Hall Detroit, Michigan
Nov 30, 1978*		Ohio State	W 64–58	1–1	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Dec 9, 1978*		at San Diego State	L 57–65	1–2	San Diego Sports Arena San Diego, California
Dec 13, 1978*		Northwestern State	W 64–48	2–2	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Dec 16, 1978		at Eastern Michigan	W 76–42	3–2 (1–0)	Bowen Field House Ypsilanti, Michigan
Dec 18, 1978*		Catholic	W 98–62	4–2	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Dec 27, 1978*		Loyola–Chicago	W 60–59	5–2	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Dec 29, 1978*		Villanova	L 50–55	5–3	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Dec 30, 1978*		Saint Louis	W 86–73	6–3	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Jan 3, 1979*		Eastern Kentucky	W 82–57	7–3	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Jan 6, 1979		Kent State	W 72–47	8–3 (2–0)	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Jan 10, 1979		at Northern Illinois	W 74–71	9–3 (3–0)	Chick Evans Fieldhouse DeKalb, Illinois
Jan 13, 1979		at Ball State	W 69–62	10–3 (4–0)	Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana
Jan 17, 1979		Miami (OH)	W 63–54	11–3 (5–0)	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Jan 20, 1979		at Western Michigan	W 80–72	12–3 (6–0)	University Arena Kalamazoo, Michigan
Jan 24, 1979		Ohio	W 79–67	13–3 (7–0)	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Jan 27, 1979		at Central Michigan	L 66–77	13–4 (7–1)	Rose Arena Mount Pleasant, Michigan
Jan 30, 1979*		Butler	W 101–71	14–4	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Feb 3, 1979		Bowling Green State	W 72–61	15–4 (8–1)	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Feb 7, 1979		Northern Illinois	W 87–46	16–4 (9–1)	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Feb 10, 1979		at Kent State	L 68–69	16–5 (9–2)	Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center Kent, Ohio
Feb 14, 1979*		at Dayton	L 68–69	16–6	University of Dayton Arena Dayton, Ohio
Feb 17, 1979		Ball State	W 82–69	17–6 (10–2)	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Feb 21, 1979		at Miami (OH)	L 68–72	17–7 (10–3)	Millett Hall Oxford, Ohio
Feb 24, 1979		Western Michigan	W 57–49	18–7 (11–3)	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Feb 28, 1979		at Ohio	W 75–70	19–7 (12–3)	Convocation Center Athens, Ohio
Mar 3, 1979		Eastern Michigan	W 79–43	20–7 (13–3)	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Mar 6, 1979*		vs. Central Michigan MAC Playoff	W 72–65	21–7	Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan
NCAA Tournament
Mar 11, 1979*	(5 ME) No. 19	vs. (4 ME) No. 14 Iowa Second Round	W 74–72^[1]	22–7	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
Mar 16, 1979*	(5 ME) No. 19	vs. (1 ME) No. 4 Notre Dame Mideast Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	L 71–79^[2]	22–8	Market Square Arena Indianapolis, Indiana
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=Mideast.

^[3]^[4]

Rankings

^[5]

References

^ "Wrestlers win nationals, cagers stymied: Hawks bow at buzzer" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. March 12, 1979. p. 1. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
^ "Toledo Within Point Before Irish Rally". The New York Times. March 17, 1979. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
^ "1978–79 Toledo Rockets Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
^ "1978–79 Toledo Rockets Schedule". UTrockets.com.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 856–857. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1] "Wrestlers win nationals, cagers stymied: Hawks bow at buzzer" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. March 12, 1979. p. 1. Retrieved February 19, 2023.

[2] "Toledo Within Point Before Irish Rally". The New York Times. March 17, 1979. Retrieved February 19, 2023.

[3] "1978–79 Toledo Rockets Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.

[4] "1978–79 Toledo Rockets Schedule". UTrockets.com.

[ESPN-5] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 856–857. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

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v t e Toledo Rockets men's basketball
Venues	The Field House (1931–1976) Savage Arena (1976–present)
Culture & lore	Point-shaving scandal
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25