The 1981–82 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 27, 1981, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1982 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament championship game on March 29, 1982, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The North Carolina Tar Heels won their second NCAA national championship with a 63–62 victory over the Georgetown Hoyas.

Season headlines

Major rule changes

Beginning in 1981–1982, the following rules changes were implemented:

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The top 20 from the AP Poll during the pre-season.

Conference membership changes

NOTE: Although the ECAC South Conference was founded in 1979, its members played as independents until conference play began this season. Catholic University left the ECAC South Conference before conference play began.

New arenas

Georgetown, which had used on-campus McDonough Gymnasium as its home court since the 1951–52 season, moved off campus to Capital Centre (later known as USAir Arena and USAirways Arena) in Landover, Maryland. Although they would continue to play occasional home games at McDonough Gymnasium, the Hoyas would use Capital Centre as their home court until early in the 1997–98 season. In its first game at Capital Centre, Georgetown defeated 71–53 before a crowd of 8,302 on December 5, 1981.

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference standings

Conference standings key

Division I independents

A total of 28 college teams played as Division I independents. Among them, DePaul (26–2) had both the best winning percentage (.929) and the most wins.

Independents key

Informal championships

Saint Joseph's and Temple both finished with records of 3–1 in head-to-head competition among the Philadelphia Big 5.

Statistical leaders

Postseason tournaments

NCAA tournament

North Carolina freshman Michael Jordan hit the game-winning shot as Dean Smith won his first national championship after many near-misses over his career, defeating the Georgetown Hoyas 63–62 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. Fred Brown's errant pass to James Worthy in the closing seconds sealed the game, which featured star freshmen Jordan and the Hoyas' Patrick Ewing. Worthy was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player.

Final Four – Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans

National Invitation tournament

The Bradley Braves, led by coach Dick Versace, defeated the Purdue Boilermakers 67–58 to win their fourth National Invitation tournament, tying them with St. John's for the most NIT championships (St. John's has since won two additional titles). Bradley's Mitchell Anderson was named NIT Most Valuable Player.

NIT Semifinals and Final

Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Major player of the year awards

Major coach of the year awards

Other major awards

Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches throughout the season and after the season ended.