1948–49 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1948–49 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1948, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1949 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 26, 1949, at Hec Edmundson Pavilion in Seattle, Washington. The Kentucky Wildcats won their second NCAA national championship with a 46–36 victory over the Oklahoma A&M Aggies.

1948–49 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Preseason AP No. 1	None
NCAA Tournament	1949
Tournament dates	March 18 – 26, 1949
National Championship	Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, Washington
NCAA Champions	Kentucky
Helms National Champions	Kentucky
Other champions	San Francisco (NIT)
Player of the Year (Helms)	Tony Lavelli, Yale

Rule changes

Coaches were permitted to speak to players during time-outs. Previously, under a rule in place since the 1910–11 season, no coaching of players had been permitted during the progress of a game.

Season headlines

• The Associated Press (AP) Poll debuted. The first national poll for ranking college basketball teams, it was modeled after the AP college football poll, which had begun in the mid-1930s. It ranked the Top 20 teams, and continued to do so until the 1961–62 season, when it became a Top 10 poll.
• The Ohio Valley Conference began play, with six original members.
• The Border Conference began a hiatus from major college basketball competition, playing at the non-major level for two seasons. It would return to major competition in the 1950–51 season.
• The Middle Atlantic States Conference North disbanded at the end of the season.
• The National Invitation Tournament expanded from eight to 12 teams.
• Kentucky became the first team to finish the season ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll and go on to win the NCAA tournament.
• Jim Lacy of Loyola (Maryland) completed his collegiate career with 2,154 points, the first player to score 2,000 or more points in his career.

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
Bradley Braves	Independent	Missouri Valley Conference
Creighton Bluejays	Missouri Valley Conference	Independent
Eastern Kentucky State Colonels	Independent	Ohio Valley Conference
Evansville Purple Aces	Non-major basketball program	Ohio Valley Conference
Louisville Cardinals	Independent	Ohio Valley Conference
Morehead State Eagles	Non-major basketball program	Ohio Valley Conference
Murray State Racers	Non-major basketball program	Ohio Valley Conference
Western Kentucky State Hilltoppers	Independent	Ohio Valley Conference

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference	Regular season winner	Conference player of the year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Big Seven Conference	Nebraska & Oklahoma	None selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Illinois	None selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Yale	None selected	No Tournament
Metropolitan New York Conference	Manhattan & St. John's		No Tournament
Mid-American Conference	Cincinnati	None selected	No Tournament
Middle Atlantic States Conference North	Lafayette & Muhlenberg		No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Oklahoma A&M	None selected	No Tournament
Mountain States (Skyline) Conference	Wyoming		No Tournament
Ohio Valley Conference	Western Kentucky State	None selected	1949 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament	Jefferson County Armory (Louisville, Kentucky)	Western Kentucky State
Pacific Coast Conference	Oregon State (North); UCLA (South)		No Tournament; Oregon State defeated UCLA in best-of-three conference championship playoff series
Southeastern Conference	Kentucky	None selected	1949 SEC men's basketball tournament	Jefferson County Armory, (Louisville, Kentucky)	Kentucky
Southern Conference	NC State	None selected	1949 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Duke Indoor Stadium (Durham, North Carolina)	NC State
Southwest Conference	Arkansas, Baylor, & Rice	None selected	No Tournament
Western New York Little Three Conference	Niagara		No Tournament
Yankee Conference	Connecticut	None selected	No Tournament

Conference standings

1948–49 Big Seven Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Nebraska 9 – 3   .750 16 – 10   .615 Oklahoma 9 – 3   .750 14 – 10   .583 Kansas State 8 – 4   .667 13 – 11   .542 Missouri 6 – 6   .500 11 – 13   .458 Colorado 4 – 8   .333 6 – 12   .333 Kansas 3 – 9   .250 12 – 12   .500 Iowa State 3 – 9   .250 8 – 14   .364 Rankings from AP Poll	1948–49 Big Nine Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 4 Illinois 10 – 2   .833 21 – 4   .840 No. 6 Minnesota 9 – 3   .750 18 – 3   .857 Michigan 7 – 5   .583 15 – 6   .714 No. 20 Ohio State 6 – 6   .500 14 – 7   .667 Indiana 6 – 6   .500 14 – 8   .636 Purdue 6 – 6   .500 13 – 9   .591 Wisconsin 5 – 7   .417 12 – 10   .545 Iowa 3 – 9   .250 10 – 10   .500 Northwestern 2 – 10   .167 5 – 16   .238 Rankings from AP Poll	1948–49 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 11 Yale 9 – 3   .750 22 – 8   .733 Columbia 8 – 4   .667 14 – 6   .700 Pennsylvania 8 – 4   .667 15 – 8   .652 Princeton 8 – 4   .667 13 – 9   .591 Cornell 5 – 7   .417 11 – 15   .423 Dartmouth 4 – 8   .333 15 – 11   .577 Harvard 0 – 12   .000 3 – 20   .130 Rankings from AP Poll
1948–49 Metropolitan New York Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Manhattan 5 – 1   .833 18 – 8   .692 St. John's 5 – 1   .833 15 – 9   .625 CCNY 3 – 2   .600 17 – 8   .680 NYU 3 – 2   .600 12 – 8   .600 St. Francis (NY) 2 – 2   .500 21 – 12   .636 Fordham 1 – 5   .167 9 – 16   .360 Brooklyn 0 – 6   .000 8 – 14   .364 Rankings from AP Poll	1948–49 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Cincinnati 9 – 1   .900 23 – 5   .821 No. 18 Butler 8 – 2   .800 18 – 5   .783 Western Michigan 4 – 6   .400 12 – 10   .545 Western Reserve 4 – 6   .400 9 – 15   .375 Miami (Ohio) 3 – 7   .300 8 – 13   .381 Ohio 2 – 8   .200 6 – 16   .273 Rankings from AP Poll	1948–49 Middle Atlantic States Conference North men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Lafayette 6 – 2   .750 20 – 9   .690 Muhlenberg 6 – 2   .750 17 – 8   .680 Gettysburg 5 – 3   .625 16 – 10   .615 Lehigh 3 – 5   .375 7 – 11   .389 Bucknell 0 – 8   .000 2 – 18   .100 Rankings from AP Poll
1948–49 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 2 Oklahoma A&M 9 – 1   .900 23 – 5   .821 No. 3 Saint Louis 8 – 2   .800 22 – 4   .846 No. 7 Bradley 6 – 4   .600 27 – 8   .771 Drake 4 – 6   .400 13 – 13   .500 Wichita State 3 – 7   .300 10 – 16   .385 Tulsa 0 – 10   .000 4 – 20   .167 Rankings from AP Poll	1948–49 Mountain States Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 17 Wyoming 15 – 5   .750 25 – 10   .714 No. 12 Utah 14 – 6   .700 24 – 8   .750 Denver 13 – 7   .650 18 – 15   .545 BYU 11 – 9   .550 21 – 13   .618 Utah State 4 – 16   .200 10 – 21   .323 Colorado State 3 – 17   .150 14 – 21   .400 Rankings from AP Poll	1948–49 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 5 Western Kentucky State† 8 – 2   .800 25 – 4   .862 Eastern Kentucky State 7 – 3   .700 17 – 4   .810 Louisville 6 – 3   .667 23 – 10   .697 Marshall 2 – 2   .500 16 – 12   .571 Evansville 4 – 5   .444 14 – 11   .560 Murray State 3 – 9   .250 13 – 12   .520 Morehead State 2 – 7   .222 14 – 9   .609 Tennessee Tech 0 – 1   .000 10 – 10   .500 † Ohio Valley Conference Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll
1948–49 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT North Oregon State † 12 – 4   .750 24 – 12   .667 Washington State 8 – 8   .500 21 – 9   .700 Oregon 7 – 9   .438 12 – 18   .400 Idaho 7 – 9   .438 17 – 15   .531 Washington 6 – 10   .375 11 – 15   .423 South No. 15 UCLA 10 – 2   .833 22 – 7   .759 USC 8 – 4   .667 14 – 10   .583 Stanford 5 – 7   .417 19 – 9   .679 California 1 – 11   .083 14 – 19   .424 † Conference playoff series winner Rankings from AP Poll	1948–49 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 1 Kentucky 13 – 0   1.000 32 – 2   .941 No. 9 Tulane 12 – 3   .800 24 – 4   .857 Tennessee 8 – 3   .727 19 – 7   .731 Vanderbilt 9 – 5   .643 14 – 8   .636 LSU 7 – 6   .538 15 – 10   .600 Alabama 9 – 9   .500 13 – 12   .520 Georgia Tech 7 – 9   .438 11 – 13   .458 Georgia 6 – 9   .400 17 – 13   .567 Florida 4 – 8   .333 11 – 16   .407 Auburn 5 – 11   .313 9 – 15   .375 Ole Miss 4 – 12   .250 8 – 13   .381 Mississippi State 3 – 12   .200 4 – 13   .235 † 1949 SEC Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll	1948–49 Southern Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 13 North Carolina State† 14 – 1   .933 25 – 8   .758 William & Mary 10 – 3   .769 24 – 10   .706 North Carolina 13 – 5   .722 20 – 8   .714 George Washington 9 – 4   .692 18 – 8   .692 Davidson 11 – 6   .647 18 – 8   .692 South Carolina 7 – 6   .538 10 – 12   .455 Wake Forest 7 – 7   .500 11 – 13   .458 Maryland 7 – 7   .500 9 – 17   .346 Virginia Tech 6 – 8   .429 10 – 13   .435 Duke 5 – 7   .417 13 – 9   .591 Clemson 6 – 9   .400 10 – 11   .476 Washington and Lee 5 – 9   .357 10 – 12   .455 Richmond 5 – 10   .333 8 – 15   .348 Furman 4 – 11   .267 8 – 14   .364 VMI 3 – 8   .273 3 – 16   .158 The Citadel 0 – 11   .000 1 – 17   .056 † Southern Conference Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll
1948–49 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Arkansas 9 – 3   .750 15 – 11   .577 Baylor 9 – 3   .750 14 – 10   .583 Rice 9 – 3   .750 13 – 11   .542 Texas 7 – 5   .583 17 – 7   .708 SMU 5 – 7   .417 11 – 13   .458 Texas A&M 2 – 10   .167 5 – 19   .208 TCU 1 – 11   .083 4 – 20   .167 Rankings from AP Poll	1948–49 Western New York Little Three Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Niagara 3 – 1   .750 24 – 7   .774 Canisius 2 – 2   .500 16 – 12   .571 St. Bonaventure 1 – 3   .250 18 – 8   .692 Rankings from AP Poll	1948–49 Yankee Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Connecticut 7 – 1   .875 19 – 6   .760 Rhode Island State 5 – 1   .833 16 – 6   .727 Vermont 2 – 1   .667 15 – 5   .750 Massachusetts 2 – 2   .500 6 – 12   .333 New Hampshire 2 – 6   .250 7 – 10   .412 Maine 0 – 7   .000 4 – 14   .222

Major independents

A total of 43 college teams played as major independents. Villanova (23–4) had the best winning percentage (.852). San Francisco (25–5) and Loyola of Illinois (25–6) finished with the most wins.

Although not considered a major independent during the season, Hamline (28–3) played as an independent and was ranked No. 19 in the season's final AP Poll.

1948–49 NCAA men's basketball independents standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 14 Villanova –   – 23 – 4   .852 No. 8 San Francisco –   – 25 – 5   .833 No. 16 Loyola (Ill.) –   – 25 – 6   .806 No. 10 Bowling Green State –   – 24 – 7   .774 Duquesne –   – 17 – 5   .773 Siena –   – 22 – 7   .759 La Salle –   – 21 – 7   .750 West Virginia –   – 18 – 6   .750 Akron –   – 16 – 6   .727 Syracuse –   – 18 – 7   .720 Notre Dame –   – 17 – 7   .708 Holy Cross –   – 19 – 8   .704 Miami (Fla.) –   – 19 – 8   .704 Seton Hall –   – 16 – 8   .667 DePaul –   – 16 – 9   .640 Brown –   – 13 – 8   .619 Xavier –   – 16 – 10   .615 Colgate –   – 11 – 7   .611 Temple –   – 14 – 9   .609 LIU –   – 18 – 12   .600 Baldwin Wallace –   – 13 – 9   .591 Washington University –   – 13 – 9   .591 Navy –   – 12 – 9   .571 Virginia –   – 13 – 10   .565 Detroit –   – 12 – 10   .545 Rutgers –   – 14 – 12   .538 Dayton –   – 16 – 14   .533 St. Joseph's –   – 12 – 11   .522 Toledo –   – 13 – 12   .520 Boston College –   – 9 – 9   .500 Pittsburgh –   – 12 – 13   .480 Wayne –   – 11 – 13   .458 Saint Mary's –   – 13 – 17   .433 Army –   – 7 – 10   .412 Penn State –   – 7 – 10   .412 Creighton –   – 9 – 14   .391 Marquette –   – 8 – 13   .381 Georgetown –   – 9 – 15   .375 Santa Clara –   – 8 – 15   .348 Boston University –   – 6 – 12   .333 Valparaiso –   – 8 – 17   .320 John Carroll –   – 7 – 17   .292 Providence –   – 7 – 19   .269 Rankings from AP Poll

Informal championships

Conference	Regular season winner	Conference player of the year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Middle Three Conference	Rutgers	None selected	No 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 play among the three member schools in 1948–49, Rutgers finished with a 3–1 record in games played between the three members.

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Main articles: 1949 NCAA basketball tournament and 1949 NCAA Basketball Championship Game

Semifinals & finals

	National semifinals				National Finals
	Illinois	47
	Kentucky	76
					Kentucky	46
					Oklahoma A&M	36
	Oklahoma A&M	55
	Oregon State	30			Third place
					Illinois	57
					Oregon State	53

National Invitation tournament

Main article: 1949 National Invitation Tournament

Semifinals & finals

	Semifinals				Finals
	Loyola (Ill.)	55
	Bradley	50
					Loyola (Ill.)	47
					San Francisco	48
	San Francisco	49
	Bowling Green State	39			Third place
					Bradley	77
					Bowling Green State	82

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Main article: 1949 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

Consensus First Team

Player	Position	Class	Team
Ralph Beard	G	Senior	Kentucky
Vince Boryla	F	Junior	Denver
Alex Groza	C	Senior	Kentucky
Tony Lavelli	F	Senior	Yale
Ed Macauley	F	Senior	Saint Louis

Consensus Second Team

Player	Position	Class	Team
Bill Erickson	G	Junior	Illinois
Vern Gardner	F	Senior	Utah
Wallace Jones	F	Senior	Kentucky
Jim McIntyre	C	Senior	Minnesota
Ernie Vandeweghe	G	Senior	Colgate

Major player of the year awards

• Helms Player of the Year: Tony Lavelli, Yale

Other major awards

• NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Dick McGuire, St. John's

Coaching changes

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

Team	Former Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach	Reason
Georgetown	Elmer Ripley		Buddy O'Grady
John Carroll	Norb Rascher		Elmer Ripley
La Salle	Charles McGlone		Ken Loeffler
Seton Hall	Jack Reitmeier		Honey Russell
Washington & Lee	Bob Spessard		Conn Davis