The 1972–73 NCAA University Division men's basketball season began in November 1972, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1973 NCAA University Division basketball tournament championship game on March 26, 1973, at St. Louis Arena in St. Louis, Missouri. The UCLA Bruins won their ninth NCAA national championship with an 87–66 victory over the Memphis State Tigers.

• Freshmen became eligible to play on varsity teams.^[3] Previously, they had played on separate freshman teams.
• The free throw on a common foul for the first six personal fouls in a half was eliminated. Instead, the team that was fouled threw the ball in from out of bounds after each such foul.^[3]
• A "flop" — an unnecessary fall to the floor to get a charging call against a player dribbling the ball — was deemed a form of unsportsmanlike conduct.^[3]

• UCLA went undefeated (30–0) for the second straight season and won its seventh NCAA championship in a row, ninth overall, and ninth in 10 seasons. In the Pacific 8 Conference, it also won its seventh of what would ultimately be 13 consecutive conference titles.
• This was the last season for the NCAA University Division as the subdivision of the NCAA made up of colleges and universities competing at the highest level of college sports, as well as for the NCAA College Division for colleges and universities competing at a lower level. After the season, the NCAA replaced the University Division with Division I and the College Division with Division II for schools awarding limited athletic scholarships and Division III for schools offering no athletic scholarships.^[4]

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A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.