# 1997–98 Stanford Cardinal men's basketball team

The 1997–98 Stanford Cardinal men's basketball team represented Stanford University as a member of the Pac-10 Conference during the 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Mike Montgomery and played their home games at Maples Pavilion. Stanford finished second in the Pac-10 regular season standings and received an at-large bid to the 1998 NCAA tournament. The Cardinal would reach the Final Four for the first time in 56 years by defeating No. 14 seed College of Charleston, No. 11 seed Western Michigan, No. 2 seed Purdue, and No. 8 seed Rhode Island. The season came to and end after a 1-point overtime loss to eventual National champion Kentucky in the National Semifinals. Stanford finished with an overall record of 30–5 (15–3 Pac-10).

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 18, 1997* | No. 15 | San Diego | W 87–57 | 1–0 | Maples Pavilion (3,564) Stanford, CA |
| November 28, 1997* | No. 15 | at Hawaii Hilo Big Island Invitational | W 98–49 | 2–0 | Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium (2,146) Hilo, HI |
| November 29, 1997* | No. 15 | vs. Valparaiso Big Island Invitational | W 70–65 | 3–0 | Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium (2,420) Hilo, HI |
| November 30, 1997* | No. 15 | vs. Butler Big Island Invitational | W 99–86 | 4–0 | Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium (2,329) Hilo, HI |
| December 6, 1997* | No. 12 | vs. No. 21 Georgia Wooden Classic | W 76–74 | 5–0 | Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (8,947) Anaheim, CA |
| December 16, 1997* | No. 9 | at San Diego State | W 63–42 | 6–0 | Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl (5,096) San Diego, CA |
| December 19, 1997* | No. 9 | Pacific | W 67–61 | 7–0 | Maples Pavilion (7,293) Stanford, CA |
| December 22, 1997* | No. 8 | UC Santa Barbara | W 95–62 | 8–0 | Maples Pavilion (5,813) Stanford, CA |
| December 27, 1997* | No. 8 | Lehigh | W 95–42 | 9–0 | Maples Pavilion (4,357) Stanford, CA |
| December 29, 1997* | No. 7 | vs. No. 22 Rhode Island Cable Car Classic | W 70–69 | 10–0 | San Jose Arena (6,109) San Jose, CA |
| December 30, 1997* | No. 7 | vs. Santa Clara Cable Car Classic | W 69–60 | 11–0 | San Jose Arena (6,233) San Jose, CA |
| January 3, 1998 | No. 7 | at Oregon State | W 68–48 | 12–0 (1–0) | Gill Coliseum (8,133) Corvallis, OR |
| January 5, 1998 | No. 7 | at Oregon | W 89–67 | 13–0 (2–0) | McArthur Court (7,355) Eugene, OR |
| January 10, 1998 | No. 7 | California | W 84–74 | 14–0 (3–0) | Maples Pavilion (7,391) Stanford, CA |
| January 15, 1998 | No. 7 | USC | W 99–62 | 15–0 (4–0) | Maples Pavilion (7,391) Stanford, CA |
| January 17, 1998 CBS | No. 7 | No. 8 UCLA | W 93–80 | 16–0 (5–0) | Maples Pavilion (7,391) Stanford, CA |
| January 22, 1998 | No. 5 | at Washington State | W 82–72 | 17–0 (6–0) | Beasley Coliseum (4,744) Pullman, WA |
| January 24, 1998 | No. 5 | at Washington | W 74–72 | 18–0 (7–0) | Hec Edmundson Pavilion (6,560) Seattle, WA |
| January 29, 1998 | No. 4 | No. 6 Arizona | L 75–93 | 18–1 (7–1) | Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA |
| January 31, 1998 | No. 4 | Arizona State | L 87–90 $^{OT}$ | 18–2 (7–2) | Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA |
| February 4, 1998 | No. 9 | at California | W 74–72 | 19–2 (8–2) | The Arena in Oakland Oakland, CA |
| February 7, 1998* CBS | No. 9 | at No. 7 Connecticut | L 56–76 | 19–3 | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, CT |
| February 12, 1998 FSN | No. 14 | at No. 9 UCLA | W 84–81 | 20–3 (9–2) | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| February 14, 1998 | No. 14 | at USC | W 83–59 | 21–3 (10–2) | L.A. Sports Arena Los Angeles, CA |
| February 19, 1998 | No. 10 | Washington | W 93–70 | 22–3 (11–2) | Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA |
| February 21, 1998 | No. 10 | Washington State | W 72–56 | 23–3 (12–2) | Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA |
| February 26, 1998 | No. 8 | at Arizona State | W 86–73 | 24–3 (13–2) | Wells Fargo Arena Tempe AZ |
| February 28, 1998 | No. 8 | at No. 2 Arizona | L 58–90 | 24–4 (13–3) | McKale Center Tucson, AZ |
| March 5, 1998 | No. 11 | Oregon | W 95–67 | 25–4 (14–3) | Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA |
| March 7, 1998 | No. 11 | Oregon State | W 85–77 | 26–4 (15–3) | Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 13, 1998* CBS | (3 MW) No. 10 | (14 MW) College of Charleston First round | W 67–57 | 27–4 | United Center Chicago, IL |
| March 15, 1998* 12:00 pm, CBS | (3 MW) No. 10 | (11 MW) Western Michigan Second round | W 83–65 | 28–4 | United Center Chicago, IL |
| March 20, 1998* CBS | (3 MW) No. 10 | (2 MW) Purdue Sweet Sixteen | W 67–59 | 29–4 | Scottrade Center St. Louis, MO |
| March 22, 1998* CBS | (3 MW) No. 10 | (8 MW) Rhode Island Elite Eight | W 79–77 | 30–4 | Scottrade Center St. Louis, MO |
| March 28, 1998* CBS | (3 MW) No. 10 | (2 S) Kentucky Final Four | L 85–86 | 30–5 | Alamodome (40,509) San Antonio, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Pacific Time. (#) during NCAA is seed within region. ||||||
Poll Source: Schedule Source:

### NCAA basketball tournament

* West
** Stanford (#3 seed) 67, Charleston, South Carolina (#14 seed) 57
** Stanford 83, Western Michigan (#11 seed) 65
** Stanford 67, Purdue (#2 seed) 59
** Stanford 79, Rhode Island (#8 seed) 77
* Final Four
** Kentucky 86, Stanford 85

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Final |
| AP | 14 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 10 | Not released |
| Coaches | 12 | 12^ | 13 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 4 |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings ^Coaches did not release a week 2 poll