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1950–51 NCAA men's basketball season
| 1950–51 NCAA men's basketball season |
|---|
| None |
| 1951 |
| March 20 – 27, 1951 |
| Williams ArenaMinneapolis, Minnesota |
| Kentucky Wildcats |
| Kentucky Wildcats |
| BYU Cougars (NIT) |
| 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
The Top 20 from the UP Coaches Poll during the pre-season.
| UP Coaches | Ranking | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CCNY | |
| 2 | Bradley | |
| 3 | Kentucky | |
| 4 | NC State | |
| 5 | Kansas | |
| 6 | Oklahoma A&M | |
| 7 | Long Island | |
| 8 | Iowa | |
| 9 | St. John's | |
| 10 | Indiana | |
| 11 | UCLA | |
| 12 | Kansas State | |
| 13(tie) | Arkansas | |
| Syracuse | ||
| Western Kentucky State | ||
| 16 | Washington | |
| 17(tie) | DePaul | |
| Illinois | ||
| 19 | Ohio State | |
| 20 | BYU |
| School | Former conference | New conference |
|---|---|---|
| Butler Bulldogs | Mid-American Conference | Independent |
| Houston Cougars | Non-major basketball program | Missouri Valley Conference |
| Michigan State Spartans | Independent | Big Ten Conference |
| Wayne Warriors | Independent | No NCAA basketball program |
| West Virginia Mountaineers | Independent | Southern Conference |
| Conference | Regular season winner | Conference player of the year | Conference tournament | Tournament venue (City) | Tournament winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Seven Conference | Kansas State | None selected | No Tournament | ||
| Big Ten Conference | Illinois | None selected | No Tournament | ||
| Border Conference | Arizona | No Tournament | |||
| Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Columbia | None selected | No Tournament | ||
| Metropolitan New York Conference | St. John's | No Tournament | |||
| Mid-American Conference | Cincinnati | None selected | No Tournament | ||
| Missouri Valley Conference | Oklahoma A&M | None selected | No Tournament | ||
| Ohio Valley Conference | Murray State | None selected | 1951 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament | Jefferson County Armory (Louisville, Kentucky) | Murray State |
| Pacific Coast Conference | Washington (North); UCLA (South) | No Tournament;Washington defeated UCLA in best-of-three conference championship playoff series | |||
| Skyline Conference | BYU | No Tournament | |||
| Southeastern Conference | Kentucky | None selected | 1951 SEC men's basketball tournament | Jefferson County Armory,(Louisville, Kentucky) | Vanderbilt |
| Southern Conference | NC State | None selected | 1951 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament | Reynolds Coliseum(Raleigh, North Carolina) | NC State |
| Southwest Conference | Texas, Texas A&M, & TCU | None selected | No Tournament | ||
| Western New York Little Three Conference | St. Bonaventure | No Tournament | |||
| Yankee Conference | Connecticut | None selected | No Tournament |
A total of 44 college teams played as major independents. Among them, Dayton (27–5) finished with both the best winning percentage (.844) and the most wins.
| 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 1950–51, Rutgers finished with the best record in games played between the three members.
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | Column 4 | Column 5 | Column 6 | Column 7 | Column 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Semifinals | National Finals | ||||||
| Illinois | 74 | ||||||
| Kentucky | 76 | ||||||
| Kentucky | 68 | ||||||
| Kansas State | 58 | ||||||
| Kansas State | 68 | ||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 44 | Third place | |||||
| Illinois | 61 | ||||||
| Oklahoma A&M | 46 |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | Column 4 | Column 5 | Column 6 | Column 7 | Column 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semifinals | Finals | ||||||
| BYU | 69 | ||||||
| Seton Hall | 59 | ||||||
| BYU | 62 | ||||||
| Dayton | 43 | ||||||
| St. John's | 62 | ||||||
| Dayton | 69 | Third place | |||||
| Seton Hall | 68 | ||||||
| St. John's | 70 |
| Column 1 | Column 2 |
|---|---|
| This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (July 2025) |
| 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 |
| 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 |
-
Helms Player of the Year: Dick Groat, Duke
-
Sporting News Player of the Year: Sherman White, Long Island
-
NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): John Azary, Columbia
A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
| Team | FormerCoach | InterimCoach | NewCoach | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | John Mauer | Elmer Ripley | Mauer left to coach at Florida. | |
| Florida | Sam J. McAllister | John Mauer | ||
| Georgia | Jim Whatley | Harbin Lawson | ||
| Georgia Tech | Roy McArthur | John Hyder | ||
| Iowa | Rollie Williams | Bucky O'Connor | ||
| John Carroll | Elmer Ripley | Fred George | Ripley left to coach at Army. | |
| Lafayette | Ray Stanley | Butch van Breda Kolff | ||
| Loyola (Ill.) | John Jordan | George Ireland | Jordan left to coach Notre Dame. | |
| Marquette | Bill Chandler | Tex Winter | ||
| Miami (Ohio) | John Brickels | Bill Rohr | ||
| New Hampshire | Andy Mooradian | Dale Hall | ||
| New Mexico | Woody Clements | Ben Huffman | ||
| Notre Dame | Moose Krause | John Jordan | ||
| Oregon | John A. Warren | Bill Borcher | ||
| Stanford | Everett Dean | Bob Burnett | ||
| Texas | Jack Gray | Slue Hull | ||
| Valparaiso | Wilbur Allen | Ken Suesens | ||
| Virginia | Gus Tebell | Evan Male | ||
| Wichita Municipal | Ken Gunning | Ralph Miller | ||
| William & Mary | Barney Wilson | H. Lester Hooker | ||
| Xavier | Lew Hirt | Ned Wulk |
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