The 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1977, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1978 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on March 27, 1978, at The Checkerdome in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Kentucky Wildcats won their fifth NCAA national championship with a 94–88 victory over the Duke Blue Devils.

[11] NOTE: From 1975 to 1981, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), a loosely organized sports federation of colleges and universities in the Northeastern United States, organized Division I ECAC regional tournaments for those of its members that were independents in basketball.

[33][34] Rutgers finished with a 6–1 record in head-to-head competition among members of the New Jersey-New York 7 Conference.

Temple and Villanova both finished with 3–1 records in head-to-head competition among the Philadelphia Big 5.