2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
The 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 9, 2009, and ended with the 2010 NCAA Men's Division I 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. 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 is 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. Conference winners and tournaments. Thirty athletic conferences each end their regular seasons with a single-elimination tournament. The teams in each conference that win their regular season title are given the number one seed  in each tournament. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The Ivy League does not have a conference tournament, instead giving their automatic invitation to their regular-season champion. The Great West Conference began play in 2009–10 and does not receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. 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 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. Coaching changes. A number of teams changed coaches throughout the season and after the season ended.