1940–41 NCAA men's basketball season

Men's collegiate basketball season August 2023 March 2026 1940 March 21 29, 1941 Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri Wisconsin Badgers Wisconsin Badgers (retroactive selection in 1943) LIU Sharks George Glamack, North Carolina Tar Heels (retroactive selection in 1944) The 1940–41 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1940, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1941 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 29, 1941, at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The Wisconsin Badgers won their first NCAA national championship with a 39–34 victory over the Washington State Cougars. Season headlines The Border Conference and the Metropolitan New York Conference did not play as conferences during the season. Their members competed as independents. The National Invitation Tournament — considered by some until at least the mid-1950s to be more prestigious than the NCAA tournament — expanded from six to eight teams. The National Association of Basketball Coaches turned over operation of the NCAA tournament to the NCAA itself.Anonymous, "How the NCAA Overtook Its Rival, the NIT," Sport History Weekly, March 24, 2019 Accessed May 4, 2021 George Glamack of North Carolina became the first player to score 30 or more points in an NCAA tournament game, scoring 31 points against Dartmouth in a regional third-place game of the 1941 NCAA basketball tournament on March 22, 1941.http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/2010/Rules.pdf Playing Rules History ncaa.org NCAA June 25, 2024 11 In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Wisconsin as its national champion for the 1940–41 season.Jon Scott Nov 9, 2010 The truth behind the Helms Committee http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/helms.html 2015-12-14 In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Long Island as its top-ranked team for the 1940–41 season.ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game ESPN ESPN Books New York, NY 2009 526, 529–587 978-0-345-51392-2 Conference membership changes SchoolFormer conferenceNew conference Sewanee Sewanee Tigers Southeastern Conference Independent Regular season Conferences Conference winners and tournaments ConferenceRegular season winnerhttp://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 Six Conference Iowa State & Kansas None selected No TournamentBig Ten Conference Wisconsin None selected No TournamentBorder Conference Did not play as conferenceEastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Dartmouth None selected No TournamentMetropolitan New York Conference Did not play as conferenceMissouri Valley Conference Creighton None selected No TournamentMountain States (Skyline) Conference Wyoming No TournamentNew England Conference Connecticut & Rhode Island State No TournamentPacific Coast Conference Washington State (North); Stanford (South) No Tournament;Washington State defeated Stanford in best-of-three conference championship playoff seriesSoutheastern Conference Tennessee None selected 1941 SEC men's basketball tournament Jefferson County Armory,(Louisville, Kentucky) TennesseeSouthern Conference North Carolina None selected 1941 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Thompson Gym(Raleigh, North Carolina) Duke2008–09 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 Arkansas None selected No Tournament Conference standings Major independents A total of 73 college teams played as major independents. 1940 men LIU Blackbirds LIU (25–2) had the best winning percentage (.926) and finished with the most wins.https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/independent/men/1941.html Sports Reference 1940-41 Men's Independent Season Summary August 2, 2024 Post-season tournaments NCAA tournament 1941 NCAA basketball tournament 1941 NCAA Basketball Championship Game Semifinals & final no National Semifinals National Final Wisconsin 36   Pittsburgh 30   Arkansas 53   Washington State 64   Wisconsin 39   Washington State 34 National Invitation tournament 1941 National Invitation Tournament Semifinals & finals no Semifinals Finals Third place   CCNY 43   Ohio 45   Seton Hall 26   Long Island 49   Ohio 42   Long Island 56   CCNY 42   Seton Hall 27 Awards Consensus All-American teams 1941 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans + Consensus First Team Player Class Team John Adams Senior Arkansas Gus Broberg Senior Dartmouth Howard Engleman Senior Kansas Gene Englund Senior Wisconsin George Glamack Senior North Carolina + Consensus Second Team Player Class Team Frank Baumholtz Senior Ohio Bob Kinney Junior Rice Paul Lindemann Senior Washington State Stan Modzelewski Junior Rhode Island State Oscar Schectman Senior Long Island Major player of the year awards Helms Player of the Year: George Glamack, North Carolina (retroactive selection in 1944) Other major awards NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Jack Garfinkel, St. John's Coaching changes A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended. TeamFormerCoachInterimCoachNewCoachReasonBaylorRalph WolfBill HendersonWolf stayed with the school to become the athletic director.BYUEdwin KimballFloyd MilletKimball continued being BYU's athletic director.The CitadelBen ParkerBen Clemons ColgatePaul BixlerKarl J. Lawrence IdahoForrest TwogoodGuy WicksTwogood left to coach San Francisco.HarvardWes FeslerEarl Brown La SalleLeonard TanseerObie O'Brien LehighPaul R. CalvertMarty Westerman New MexicoBenjamin SacksWillis Barnes San FranciscoWally CameronForrest Twogood SienaHenry BunoskiDan Cunha TCUMike BrumbelowHerb McQuillanTexas A&MHerb McQuillanMarty Karow McQuillan left to coach TCU.TulsaJack SterrettTex Ryon Sterrett left to coach Wichita Municipal.USCSam BarryJulie BescosUtah StateDick RomneyRobert Burnett ValparaisoJake ChristiansenLoren Ellis VanderbiltJim BufordNorm Cooper Wichita MunicipalBill HennighJack Sterrett References 2