# 1997–98 Utah Utes men's basketball team

The 1997–98 Utah Utes men's basketball team represented the University of Utah as a member of the Western Athletic Conference during the 1997–98 men's basketball season. Led by head coach Rick Majerus, the Utes made a run through the NCAA tournament all the way to the National Championship Game and finished with an overall record of 30–4 (12–2 WAC).
Including the previous season, Utah won 59 of 67 games overall and 27 of 30 games in conference play.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 15* | No. 16 | Cal State Fullerton | W 87–59 | 1–0 | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT |
| November 19* | No. 16 | at Weber State | W 87–72 | 2–0 | Dee Events Center Ogden, UT |
| November 22* | No. 16 | Southern Utah | W 66–48 | 3–0 | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT |
| November 25* | No. 16 | at Loyola Marymount | W 89–50 | 4–0 | Gersten Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| November 29* | No. 16 | UC Irvine | W 83–45 | 5–0 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,921) Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 2* | No. 11 | vs. Providence Great Eight Tournament | W 64–58 | 6–0 | United Center Chicago, IL |
| December 6* | No. 11 | at No. 24 Wake Forest | W 62–53 | 7–0 | LJVM Coliseum Winston-Salem, NC |
| December 10* | No. 9 | Utah State | W 71–55 | 8–0 | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 12* | No. 9 | Azusa Pacific | W 78–58 | 9–0 | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT |
| December 20* | No. 7 | at Oregon State Ford Holiday Classic | W 69–61 | 10–0 | Rose Garden Portland, OR |
| December 27* | No. 6 | at Milwaukee | W 65–51 | 11–0 | Wisconsin Center Arena Milwaukee, WI |
| January 3 | No. 4 | Rice | W 73–65 | 12–0 | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 10 | No. 3 | at BYU | W 71–61 | 13–0 | Marriott Center Provo, UT |
| WAC regular season ||||||
| January 15 | No. 4 | Colorado State | W 65–51 | 14–0 (1–0) | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 17 | No. 4 | Wyoming | W 75–58 | 15–0 (2–0) | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT |
| January 22 | No. 4 | at Air Force | W 57–46 | 16–0 (3–0) | Clune Arena Colorado Springs, CO |
| January 24 | No. 4 | at UNLV | W 67–54 | 17–0 (4–0) | Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, NV |
| January 29 | No. 3 | UTEP | W 62–56 | 18–0 (5–0) | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT |
| February 1 | No. 3 | at No. 14 New Mexico | L 74–77 | 18–1 (5–1) | University Arena Albuquerque, NM |
| February 5 | No. 5 | BYU | W 83–68 | 19–1 (6–1) | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT |
| February 7 | No. 5 | at Rice | W 60–49 | 20–1 (7–1) | Rice Gymnasium Houston, TX |
| February 12 | No. 5 | at Wyoming | L 56–62 | 20–2 (7–2) | Arena-Auditorium Laramie, WY |
| February 14 | No. 5 | at Colorado State | W 60–48 | 21–2 (8–2) | Moby Arena Fort Collins, CO |
| February 21 | No. 6 | Air Force | W 55–41 | 22–2 (9–2) | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT |
| February 23 | No. 6 | UNLV | W 79–68 | 23–2 (10–2) | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT |
| February 26 | No. 5 | at UTEP | W 87–70 | 24–2 (11–2) | Special Events Center El Paso, TX |
| February 28 | No. 5 | No. 16 New Mexico | W 65–55 | 25–2 (12–2) | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, UT |
| WAC Tournament ||||||
| March 5* | (M1) No. 5 | vs. (M5) UNLV Quarterfinals | L 51–54 | 25–3 | Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, NV |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| March 12* | (3 W) No. 7 | vs. (14 W) San Francisco NCAA tournament first round | W 85–68 | 26–3 | BSU Pavilion Boise, ID |
| March 14* | (3 W) No. 7 | vs. (6 W) No. 17 Arkansas NCAA tournament second round | W 75–69 | 27–3 | BSU Pavilion Boise, ID |
| March 19* | (3 W) No. 7 | vs. (10 W) West Virginia West Regional semifinal | W 65–62 | 28–3 | Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Anaheim, CA |
| March 21* | (3 W) No. 7 | vs. (1 W) No. 4 Arizona West Regional final | W 76–51 | 29–3 | Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Anaheim, CA |
| March 28* | (3 W) No. 7 | vs. (1) No. 1 E North Carolina Final Four | W 65–59 | 30–3 | Alamodome San Antonio, TX |
| March 30* CBS | (3 W) No. 7 | vs. (2 S) No. 5 Kentucky NCAA Championship Game | L 69–78 | 30–4 | Alamodome (40,509) San Antonio, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. ||||||

## Team players in the 1998 NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1 | 12 | Michael Doleac | Orlando Magic |