1943–44 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1943–44 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1943, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1944 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 28, 1944, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The Utah Redskins won their first NCAA national championship with a 42–40 victory over the Dartmouth Indians.

Season headlines

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Conference membership changes

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School Former conference New conference
Brooklyn Bulldogs Metropolitan New York Conference Independent
CCNY Beavers Metropolitan New York Conference Independent
Fordham Rams Metropolitan New York Conference Independent
Georgetown Hoyas Independent No athletic programs
Harvard Crimson Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Independent
Manhattan Jaspers Metropolitan New York Conference Independent
NYU Violets Metropolitan New York Conference Independent
Northeastern Huskies New England Conference Independent
St. Francis (NY) Terriers Metropolitan New York Conference Independent
St. John's Redmen Metropolitan New York Conference Independent
Yale Bulldogs Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Independent

Regular season

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Conferences

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Conference winners and tournaments

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Conference Regular
season winner[5]
Conference
player of the year
Conference
tournament
Tournament
venue (City)
Tournament
winner
Big Six Conference Iowa State & Oklahoma None selected No Tournament
Big Ten Conference Ohio State None selected No Tournament
Border Conference New Mexico & Arizona State–Flagstaff None selected No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Dartmouth None selected No Tournament
Metropolitan New York Conference Did not play as conference
Missouri Valley Conference Oklahoma A&M None selected No Tournament
New England Conference Connecticut No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference Washington (North); California (South) No Tournament
Mountain States (Skyline) Conference Did not play as conference
Southeastern Conference Kentucky None selected 1944 SEC men's basketball tournament Jefferson County Armory,
(Louisville, Kentucky)
Kentucky
Southern Conference North Carolina None selected 1944 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Thompson Gym
(Raleigh, North Carolina)
Duke[6]
Southwest Conference Arkansas & Rice None selected No Tournament

Conference standings

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1943–44 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Iowa State 9 1   .900 14 4   .778
Oklahoma 9 1   .900 15 8   .652
Kansas 5 5   .500 17 9   .654
Missouri 5 5   .500 10 9   .526
Kansas State 1 9   .100 7 15   .318
Nebraska 1 9   .100 2 13   .133
1943–44 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Ohio State 10 2   .833 14 7   .667
Iowa 9 3   .750 14 4   .778
Wisconsin 9 3   .750 12 9   .571
Northwestern 8 4   .667 12 7   .632
Purdue 8 4   .667 11 10   .524
Illinois 5 7   .417 11 9   .550
Michigan 5 7   .417 8 10   .444
Minnesota 2 10   .167 7 14   .333
Indiana 2 10   .167 7 15   .318
Chicago 0 8   .000 1 19   .050
1943–44 Border Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
New Mexico 3 0   1.000 11 2   .846
Texas Tech 0 3   .000 5 18   .217
Arizona State–Flagstaff   2 0   1.000
Arizona   12 2   .857
Arizona State–Tempe   12 2   .857
1943–44 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Dartmouth 8 0   1.000 19 2   .905
Pennsylvania 6 2   .750 10 4   .714
Cornell 2 6   .250 9 11   .450
Columbia 2 6   .250 7 9   .438
Princeton 2 6   .250 6 12   .333
1943–44 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Oklahoma A&M   27 6   .818
Washington University   12 5   .706
Tulsa   5 3   .625
Drake   7 13   .350
† Regular-season championship winner
1943–44 New England Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Connecticut 6 0   1.000 10 9   .526
Rhode Island State 4 2   .667 14 6   .700
Northeastern 1 5   .167 8 8   .500
Maine 1 5   .167 4 6   .400
1943–44 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
North
Washington 15 1   .938 26 6   .813
Oregon 11 5   .688 16 10   .615
Idaho 5 11   .313 7 16   .304
Oregon State 5 11   .313 8 16   .333
Washington State 4 12   .250 8 19   .296
South
California 4 0   1.000 7 3   .700
UCLA 3 3   .500 10 10   .500
USC 1 5   .167 8 12   .400
1943–44 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Tulane 4 0   1.000 16 6   .727
Georgia Tech 2 0   1.000 14 4   .778
Georgia 0 2   .000 7 10   .412
LSU 0 4   .000 10 15   .400
Kentucky   19 2   .905
Vanderbilt   12 3   .800
† Regular-season championship and SEC Tournament winner
1943–44 Southern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
North Carolina 9 1   .900 17 10   .630
Virginia Tech 4 1   .800 11 4   .733
Duke 4 2   .667 13 13   .500
Maryland 2 1   .667 4 14   .222
Richmond 2 2   .500 7 6   .538
Davidson 3 4   .429 16 7   .696
South Carolina 1 2   .333 13 2   .867
Clemson 1 2   .333 1 10   .091
North Carolina State 2 5   .286 5 13   .278
William & Mary 1 3   .250 10 11   .476
The Citadel 0 1   .000 2 3   .400
VMI 0 5   .000 0 14   .000
Southern Conference Tournament winner
1943–44 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Rice 11 1   .917 15 5   .750
Arkansas 11 1   .917 16 8   .667
Texas 6 6   .500 14 11   .560
SMU 6 6   .500 8 9   .471
TCU 6 6   .500 9 12   .429
Baylor 2 10   .167 6 12   .333
Texas A&M 0 12   .000 2 15   .118

Major independents

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A total of 61 college teams played as major independents. Army (15–0) was undefeated. Bowling Green State (22–4), DePaul (22–4), Gonzaga (22–4), and Utah (22–4) finished with the most wins.[7]

1943–44 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Army   15 0   1.000
Denison   18 2   .900
Bowling Green State   22 4   .846
DePaul   22 4   .846
Gonzaga   22 4   .846
Utah   22 4   .846
Miami (Ohio)   10 2   .833
Indiana State   17 4   .810
LIU   12 3   .800
Loyola (Calif.)   4 1   .800
Muhlenberg   20 5   .800
Western Michigan   15 4   .789
St. John's   18 5   .783
Bucknell   9 3   .750
Rochester (N.Y.)   11 4   .733
St. Joseph's   18 7   .720
Canisius   15 6   .714
Navy   10 4   .714
Catholic   17 7   .708
Lafayette   7 3   .700
Yale   14 6   .700
Colgate   11 5   .688
Pacific   13 6   .684
Marshall   15 7   .682
Valparaiso   17 8   .680
Akron   10 5   .667
Detroit   13 7   .650
Washington & Jefferson   11 6   .647
St. Francis (NY)   10 6   .625
Temple   14 9   .609
BYU   3 2   .600
Western Kentucky State   13 9   .591
Pepperdine   20 14   .588
Virginia   11 8   .579
Marquette   8 6   .571
Ohio   9 7   .563
Loyola (Md.)   15 12   .556
Cincinnati   6 5   .545
Penn State   8 7   .533
Notre Dame   10 9   .526
La Salle   8 8   .500
Louisville   10 10   .500
NYU   7 7   .500
Pittsburgh   7 7   .500
Saint Mary's   5 5   .500
Villanova   9 11   .450
Delaware   7 9   .438
Holy Cross   6 8   .429
San Francisco   8 11   .421
West Virginia   8 11   .421
Brown   10 14   .417
CCNY   6 11   .353
Brooklyn   6 14   .300
Toledo   5 13   .278
Denver   6 18   .250
Lehigh   4 12   .250
Rider   3 12   .200
Tennessee Tech   3 13   .188
Montana   2 10   .167
Harvard   2 12   .143
Northern Colorado   1 13   .071

Statistical leaders

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Post-season tournaments

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NCAA tournament

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Semifinals & final

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National semifinals National Final
      
Dartmouth 60
Ohio State 53
Dartmouth 40
Utah 42
Iowa State 31
Utah 40

National Invitation tournament

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Semifinals & finals

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Semifinals Finals
    
Oklahoma A&M 38
DePaul 41
DePaul 39
St. John's 47
Kentucky 45
St. John's 48 Third place
Oklahoma A&M 29 29
Kentucky 45

Awards

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Consensus All-American teams

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Consensus First Team
Player Position Class Team
Bob Brannum C Sophomore Kentucky
Audley Brindley F Sophomore Dartmouth
Otto Graham F Senior Northwestern
Leo Klier F Junior Notre Dame
Bob Kurland C Sophomore Oklahoma A&M
George Mikan C Sophomore DePaul
Allie Paine G Junior Oklahoma


Consensus Second Team
Player Position Class Team
Bob Dille F Sophomore Valparaiso
Arnie Ferrin F Freshman Utah
Don Grate G Junior Ohio State
Dale Hall F Junior Army
Bill Henry C Junior Rice
Dick Triptow G Senior DePaul

Major player of the year awards

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Other major awards

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Coaching changes

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

Team Former
Coach
Interim
Coach
New
Coach
Reason
North Carolina Bill Lange Ben Carnevale

References

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  1. ^ a b "Playing Rules History" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. p. 11. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  2. ^ Chipman, Kit (April 30, 2010). "University of Utah 1944 NCAA Basketball Championship". Utah Communication History Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  3. ^ Reed, William F. (April 1994). A Barn Raising. Sports Illustrated. p. 8.
  4. ^ ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. pp. 526, 529–587. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  5. ^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
  6. ^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
  7. ^ "1943-44 Men's Independent Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved August 4, 2024.