1979–80 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team

1979–80 Toledo Rockets men's basketball
1979–80 Toledo Rockets men's basketball
MAC champions
NCAA Tournament
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	23–6 (14–2 Mid-American)
Head coach	Bob Nichols;
Assistant coach	Greg Kampe (2nd season)
Home arena	Centennial Hall
	Seasons ← 1978–79 1980–81 →

The 1979–80 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team represented University of Toledo as a member of the Mid-American Conference during the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Bob Nichols and played their home games at Centennial Hall in Toledo, Ohio. Toledo won the MAC championship, finishing three games ahead of the field, and reached the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season (only time in program history), and finished with a record of 23–6 (14–2 MAC).

1979–80 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Toledo †	14	–	2	.875	23	–	6	.793
Bowling Green State	11	–	5	.688	20	–	10	.667
Northern Illinois	9	–	7	.563	16	–	13	.552
Kent State	7	–	9	.438	16	–	11	.593
Ball State	7	–	9	.438	14	–	15	.483
Miami (Ohio)	7	–	9	.438	9	–	18	.333
Eastern Michigan	7	–	9	.438	11	–	16	.407
Western Michigan	7	–	9	.438	12	–	14	.462
Central Michigan	6	–	10	.375	12	–	13	.480
Ohio	5	–	11	.313	8	–	18	.308

† 1980 MAC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

As of the 2022–23 season, this marks the most recent appearance in the NCAA tournament for the Toledo men's basketball program.

Roster

1979–80 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F		Dick Miller	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
C		Jim Swaney	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Sr

Head coach

Bob Nichols

Assistant coach(es)

Greg Kampe

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Dec 1, 1979*	at Charlotte	L 60–64	0–1	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Dec 3, 1979*	UMass	W 84–74	1–1	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Dec 5, 1979*	Michigan	W 67–64	2–1	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Dec 8, 1979	Northern Illinois	W 67–58	3–1 (1–0)	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Dec 15, 1979*	Cal Poly	W 83–60	4–1	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Dec 18, 1979*	vs. No. 5 Indiana	L 56–80	4–2	Market Square Arena Indianapolis, Indiana
Dec 22, 1979*	at Butler	W 76–66	5–2	Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, Indiana
Dec 28, 1979*	Northwestern	W 74–69	6–2	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Dec 29, 1979*	Washington	L 70–71	6–3	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Jan 2, 1980*	Charleston	W 82–75	7–3	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Jan 5, 1980	Kent State	W 81–65	8–3 (2–0)	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Jan 9, 1980	at Ohio	W 69–62	9–3 (3–0)	Convocation Center Athens, Ohio
Jan 12, 1980	at Central Michigan	W 115–88	10–3 (4–0)	Rose Arena Mount Pleasant, Michigan
Jan 16, 1980	Ball State	W 72–60	11–3 (5–0)	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Jan 19, 1980	at Bowling Green State	L 71–74	11–4 (5–1)	Anderson Arena Bowling Green, Ohio
Jan 23, 1980*	Miami (OH)	W 69–64	12–4 (6–1)	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Jan 26, 1980	at Eastern Michigan	W 81–68	13–4 (7–1)	Bowen Field House Ypsilanti, Michigan
Jan 29, 1980*	Dayton	W 76–75	14–4	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Feb 2, 1980	Western Michigan	W 87–68	15–4 (8–1)	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Feb 4, 1980	at Northern Illinois	W 73–70	16–4 (9–1)	Chick Evans Fieldhouse DeKalb, Illinois
Feb 6, 1980	Ohio	W 75–62	17–4 (10–1)	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Feb 9, 1980	at Kent State	L 73–83	17–5 (10–2)	Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center Kent, Ohio
Feb 13, 1980	at Miami (OH)	W 75–72	18–5 (11–2)	Millett Hall Oxford, Ohio
Feb 16, 1980	Central Michigan	W 85–65	19–5 (12–2)	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
Feb 20, 1980	at Ball State	W 102–73	20–5 (13–2)	Irving Gymnasium Muncie, Indiana
Feb 23, 1980	Bowling Green State	W 71–69	21–5 (14–2)	John F. Savage Hall Toledo, Ohio
MAC Tournament
Feb 27, 1980*	vs. Ball State Semifinals	W 91–83	22–5	Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan
Feb 28, 1980*	vs. Bowling Green State Championship game	W 85–70	23–5	Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan
NCAA Tournament
Mar 7, 1980*	vs. Florida State First round	L 91–94	23–6	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, Kentucky
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=Mideast.

^[1]^[2]

Rankings

^[3]

Awards and honors

Jim Swaney – MAC Player of the Year

References

^ "1979–80 Toledo Rockets Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
^ "1979–80 Toledo Rockets Schedule". UTrockets.com.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 867–868. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1] "1979–80 Toledo Rockets Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.

[2] "1979–80 Toledo Rockets Schedule". UTrockets.com.

[ESPN-3] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 867–868. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1]

[2]

[3]