1950–51 NCAA men's basketball season

Men's collegiate basketball season August 2023 March 2026 1950 None March 20 27, 1951 Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota Kentucky Wildcats Kentucky Wildcats BYU Cougars Dick Groat, Duke Blue Devils The 1950–51 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1950, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1951 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 27, 1951, at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Kentucky Wildcats won their third NCAA national championship with a 68–58 victory over the Kansas State Wildcats. Season headlines The United Press (later United Press International) Coaches Poll made its debut. After a two-season hiatus during which its teams competed as non-major programs, the Border Conference resumed basketball competition as a major conference. During January and February 1951, the CCNY point-shaving scandal was revealed. Over the next few months, it results in the arrests of 32 players from seven schools for point shaving in 86 games between 1947 and 1950.Goldstein, Joe, "Explosion: 1951 scandals threaten college hoops" - ESPN - November 19, 2003 The NCAA tournament expanded for the first time, from eight to 16 teams. Conference champions qualified automatically for the NCAA tournament for the first time.http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/2010/Rules.pdf Playing Rules History ncaa.org NCAA June 25, 2024 11 Columbia (21–0) became the first undefeated team to play in an NCAA tournament. The Lions lost to Illinois 79-71 in the first round. Season outlook Pre-season polls 1950–51 NCAA men's basketball rankings The Top 20 from the UP Coaches Poll during the pre-season.ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia 978-0-345-51392-2 Random House 2009 836 UP CoachesRankingTeam1CCNY2Bradley3Kentucky4NC State5Kansas6Oklahoma A&M7Long Island8Iowa9St. John's10Indiana11UCLA12Kansas State13(tie)ArkansasSyracuseWestern Kentucky State16Washington17(tie)DePaulIllinois19Ohio State20BYU Conference membership changes SchoolFormer conferenceNew conference Butler Butler Bulldogs Mid-American Conference Independent Houston Houston Cougars Non-major basketball program Missouri Valley Conference Michigan State Michigan State Spartans Independent Big Ten Conference Wayne State Wayne Warriors Independent No NCAA basketball program West Virginia West Virginia Mountaineers Independent Southern Conference Regular season Conferences Conference winners and tournaments ConferenceRegular season winnerhttps://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/m_basketball_RB/2009/Standings.pdf 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section 2009 NCAA 2009-02-14Conference player of the yearConference tournamentTournament venue (City)Tournament winnerBig Seven Conference Kansas State None selected No TournamentBig Ten Conference Illinois None selected No TournamentBorder Conference Arizona No TournamentEastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Columbia None selected No TournamentMetropolitan New York Conference St. John's No TournamentMid-American Conference Cincinnati None selected No TournamentMissouri Valley Conference Oklahoma A&M None selected No TournamentOhio Valley Conference Murray State None selected 1951 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament Jefferson County Armory (Louisville, Kentucky) Murray StatePacific Coast Conference Washington (North); UCLA (South) No Tournament;Washington defeated UCLA in best-of-three conference championship playoff seriesSkyline Conference BYU No TournamentSoutheastern Conference Kentucky None selected 1951 SEC men's basketball tournament Jefferson County Armory,(Louisville, Kentucky) VanderbiltSouthern Conference NC State None selected 1951 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Reynolds Coliseum(Raleigh, North Carolina) NC State2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section https://web.archive.org/web/20110930163611/http://www.soconsports.com/fls/4000/socon/files/0809mbkguide/standingsandresults.pdf?SPSID=35819&SPID=1798&DB_OEM_ID=4000 September 30, 2011 , Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09Southwest Conference Texas, Texas A&M, & TCU None selected No TournamentWestern New York Little Three Conference St. Bonaventure No TournamentYankee Conference Connecticut None selected No Tournament Conference standings Major independents A total of 44 college teams played as major independents. Among them, 1950 University of Dayton Dayton Flyers Dayton (27–5) finished with both the best winning percentage (.844) and the most wins.https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/independent/men/1951.html Sports Reference 1950-51 Men's Independent Season Summary August 7, 2024https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/middle-three/men/1951.html Sports Reference 1950-51 Men's Middle Three Conference Season Summary August 7, 2024 Informal championships ConferenceRegular season winnerhttps://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/m_basketball_RB/2009/Standings.pdf 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section 2009 NCAA 2009-02-14Conference player of the yearConference tournamentTournament venue (City)Tournament winnerMiddle Three Conference Rutgers None selectedNo Tournament NOTE: Despite its name, the Middle Three Conference was an informal scheduling alliance rather than a true conference, and its members played as independents. In 1950–51, Rutgers finished with the best record in games played between the three members. Post-season tournaments NCAA tournament 1951 NCAA basketball tournament Semifinals & finals no National Semifinals National Finals Third place Illinois 74 Kentucky 76 Kansas State 68 Oklahoma A&M 44 Kentucky 68 Kansas State 58 Illinois 61 Oklahoma A&M 46 National Invitation tournament 1951 National Invitation Tournament Semifinals & finals no Semifinals Finals Third place   BYU 69   Seton Hall 59   St. John's 62   Dayton 69   BYU 62   Dayton 43   Seton Hall 68   St. John's 70 National Campus Basketball Tournament National Campus Basketball Tournament July 2025 Awards Consensus All-American teams 1951 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans + Consensus First Team Player Position Class Team Clyde Lovellette C Junior Kansas Gene Melchiorre G Senior Bradley Bill Mlkvy F Junior Temple Sam Ranzino G Senior North Carolina State Bill Spivey C Junior Kentucky + Consensus Second Team Player Position Class Team Ernie Barrett G/F Senior Kansas State Bill Garrett F Senior Indiana Dick Groat G Junior Duke Mel Hutchins F/C Senior BYU Gale McArthur G Senior Oklahoma A&M Major player of the year awards Helms Player of the Year: Dick Groat, Duke Sporting News Player of the Year: Sherman White, Long Island Other major awards NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): John Azary, Columbia Coaching changes A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended. TeamFormerCoachInterimCoachNewCoachReasonArmyJohn MauerElmer Ripley Mauer left to coach at Florida.FloridaSam J. McAllisterJohn MauerGeorgiaJim WhatleyHarbin LawsonGeorgia TechRoy McArthurJohn HyderIowaRollie WilliamsBucky O'ConnorJohn CarrollElmer RipleyFred George2021 John Carroll Blue Streaks men's basketball history & records guide, page 28 https://s3.amazonaws.com/jcusports.com/documents/2021/1/28/Men_s_Basketball_Media_Guide.pdf May 9, 2021 John Carroll Blue Streaks Ripley left to coach at Army.LafayetteRay StanleyBill AndersonButch van Breda Kolff Loyola (Ill.)John JordanGeorge Ireland Jordan left to coach Notre Dame.MarquetteBill ChandlerTex WinterMiami (Ohio)John BrickelsBill RohrNew HampshireAndy MooradianDale HallNew MexicoWoody ClementsBen HuffmanNotre DameMoose KrauseJohn JordanOregonJohn A. WarrenBill BorcherStanfordEverett DeanBob BurnettTexasJack GraySlue HullValparaisoWilbur AllenKen SuesensVirginiaGus TebellEvan MaleWichita MunicipalKen GunningRalph MillerWilliam & MaryBarney WilsonH. Lester HookerXavierLew HirtNed Wulk References 2