The 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 9, 2009, and ended with the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April 5, 2010, on the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The opening round occurred on Tuesday, March 16, 2010, followed by first and second rounds on Thursday through Sunday, March 18–21, 2010. Regional games were played on Thursday through Sunday, March 25–28, 2010, with the Final Four played on Saturday and Monday, April 3 and 5, 2010.

Season headlines

Major rule changes

Beginning in 2009–10, the following rules changes were implemented:

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The top 25 from the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls, October 29, 2009. Collegeinsider.com released the preseason Mid-Major Top 25 poll on November 3. This poll was meant to recognize the top teams outside of major conferences.

Conference membership changes

These schools joined new conferences for the 2009–10 season.

Regular season

Early-season tournaments

*****Although these tournaments included more teams, only four played for the championship.

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Thirty-one conference seasons concluded with a single-elimination tournament. Conference tournament winners received an automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament except for the winner of the Great West Conference tournament, although Great West Tournament champion South Dakota received an automatic bid to the 2010 CollegeInsider.com Tournament. The Ivy League was the only NCAA Division I conference that did not hold a conference tournament, instead sending its regular-season champion to the NCAA tournament.

Conference standings

Division I independents

Seven schools played as Division I independents. However, only Longwood and Savannah State were considered full NCAA Division I schools, as the rest were still in a transition phase from NCAA Division II. Charles Garcia of Seattle was selected for the Lou Henson All-America Team.

Informal championships

Temple finished with a 4–0 record in head-to-head competition among the Philadelphia Big 5.

Statistical leaders

Source for additional stats categories

Postseason tournaments

NCAA tournament

The NCAA Tournament tipped off on March 16, 2010, with the opening round game in Dayton, Ohio, and concluded on April 5 at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Of the 65 teams that were invited to participate, 31 were automatic bids while 34 were at-large bids. The 34 at-large teams came from 11 conferences, with the Big East receiving the most bids – eight. The tournament was marked by a number of significant upsets. The biggest saw Northern Iowa knock off #1 overall seed Kansas 69–67 on an Ali Farokhmanesh three-pointer in the waning seconds. Another surprise was Ivy League champion Cornell making a surprise run to the Sweet 16 – becoming the first Ivy school to win an NCAA tournament game since 1998. Duke made a big run in the NCAA tournament, defeating Arkansas Pine-Bluff (73–44), California (68–53), Purdue (70–57), and Baylor (78–72) in their region. In the semifinals, the Blue Devils routed West Virginia 78–57 to make their 10th championship game appearance. In the end, Duke defeated surprise finalist Butler 61–59, after a three-point attempt by the Bulldogs' Gordon Hayward barely missed at the buzzer. Duke claimed its fourth National title as Blue Devil forward Kyle Singler was named Most Outstanding Player

Final Four – Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana

Tournament upsets

A "major upset" is defined as a win by a team seeded 7 or more spots below its defeated opponent.

National Invitation tournament

After the NCAA Tournament field was announced, the National Invitation Tournament invited 32 teams to participate. There was much speculation during the NIT that the NCAA Tournament would expand to 96 teams and that 2010 could be the last NIT after 73 years. (Ultimately, the NCAA decided to expand only to 68 teams, keeping the NIT intact for the near future.) Dayton defeated defending National Champion North Carolina 79–68 in the Final on April 1. The Flyers' Chris Johnson was named tournament Most Outstanding Player.

NIT Semifinals and Final

Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City

College Basketball Invitational

The second College Basketball Invitational (CBI) Tournament was held beginning March 16 and ended with a best-of-three final, ending March 31. VCU defeated Saint Louis 2–0 in the final series to win the title. The Rams' Joey Rodriguez was named tournament MVP.

CollegeInsider.com tournament

The CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament was held beginning March 16 and ended with a championship game on March 30. This tournament places an emphasis on selecting successful teams from "mid-major" conferences who were left out of the NCAA Tournament and NIT. Missouri State defeated Pacific 78–65 to win the CIT championship in Springfield, Missouri. The Bears' Will Creekmore was named tournament MVP.

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

Major player of the year awards

Major freshman of the year awards

Major coach of the year awards

Other major awards

CollegeInsider.com awards

Coaching changes

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