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1953–54 NCAA men's basketball season
| 1953–54 NCAA men's basketball season |
|---|
| Indiana Hoosiers |
| 1954 |
| March 8 – 20, 1954 |
| Municipal AuditoriumKansas City, Missouri |
| La Salle Explorers |
| Kentucky Wildcats |
| Holy Cross Crusaders (NIT) |
| Tom Gola, La Salle Explorers |
The 1953–54 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1953, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1954 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 20, 1954, at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The La Salle Explorers won their first NCAA national championship with a 92–76 victory over the Bradley Braves.
- The Atlantic Coast Conference began play, with eight original members.
- Frank Selvy of Furman scored 100 points in a 149–95 victory over Newberry in Greenville, South Carolina, on February 13, 1954, becoming the first player to score 100 or more points in a game. Selvy finished the season with 1,209 points for the year, the first player to score 1,000 or more points in a single season. He also averaged 41.7 points per game for the season, the first player to average 40 or more points per game in a season, and finished his career (1952–1954) averaging 32.5 points a game, the first player to average 30 or more points per game during a collegiate career.
- The NCAA tournament expanded from 22 to 24 teams.
- Kentucky went undefeated, finishing with a 25–0 record. The Helms Athletic Foundation awarded its national championship to Kentucky rather than to the 1954 NCAA basketball tournament champion, La Salle. It was the fourth and final time that the NCAA champion and the Helms champion differed. In the final AP Poll, taken after the completion of the 1954 NCAA basketball tournament and the then-prestigious National Invitation Tournament, Kentucky was ranked No. 1 ahead of No. 2 La Salle (NCAA tournament champion) and No. 3 Holy Cross (1954 National Invitation Tournament champion).
- The NCAA tournament's Final Four games were played on Friday and Saturday for the first time.
- The NCAA tournament's championship game was televised nationally for the first time. The broadcast rights fee was $7,500.
The Top 20 from the AP Poll and the UP Coaches Poll during the pre-season.
| Associated Press | Ranking | Team | UP Coaches | Ranking | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indiana | ||||
| 2 | Kentucky | ||||
| 3 | Duquesne | ||||
| 4 | Oklahoma A&M | ||||
| 5 | Kansas | ||||
| 6 | La Salle | ||||
| 7 | NC State | ||||
| 8 | Kansas State | ||||
| 9 | Illinois | ||||
| 10 | LSU | ||||
| 11 | Western Kentucky State | ||||
| 12 | Minnesota | ||||
| 13 | Oregon State | ||||
| 14 | Wyoming | ||||
| 15 | Dayton | ||||
| 16 | Santa Clara | ||||
| 17 | California | ||||
| 18 | Saint Louis | ||||
| 19(tie) | Holy Cross | ||||
| Oklahoma City | |||||
| 1 | Indiana | ||||
| 2 | Kentucky | ||||
| 3 | Duquesne | ||||
| 4 | Kansas | ||||
| 5 | Oklahoma A&M | ||||
| 6 | La Salle | ||||
| 7 | LSU | ||||
| 8 | NC State | ||||
| 9 | Minnesota | ||||
| 10 | California | ||||
| 11 | Illinois | ||||
| 12 | Kansas State | ||||
| 13 | Saint Louis | ||||
| 14 | Holy Cross | ||||
| 15 | Oregon State | ||||
| 16 | Dayton | ||||
| 17 | Wyoming | ||||
| 18 | Santa Clara | ||||
| 19 | Notre Dame | ||||
| 20 | UCLA |
| School | Former conference | New conference |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona State College-Flagstaff Lumberjacks | Border Conference | Non-major basketball program |
| Bowling Green State Falcons | Independent | Mid-American Conference |
| Brown Bears | Independent | Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League |
| CCNY Beavers | Metropolitan New York Conference | Non-major basketball program |
| Cincinnati Bearcats | Mid-American Conference | Independent |
| Clemson Tigers | Southern Conference | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| Duke Blue Devils | Southern Conference | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| Marshall Thundering Herd | Independent | Mid-American Conference |
| Maryland Terrapins | Southern Conference | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| North Carolina Tar Heels | Southern Conference | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| North Carolina State Wolfpack | Southern Conference | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| South Carolina Gamecocks | Southern Conference | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| Wake Forest Demon Deacons | Southern Conference | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| Virginia Cavaliers | Independent | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| Conference | Regular season winner | Conference player of the year | Conference tournament | Tournament venue (City) | Tournament winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic Coast Conference | Duke | Dickie Hemric, Wake Forest | 1954 ACC men's basketball tournament | Reynolds Coliseum(Raleigh, North Carolina) | NC State |
| Big Seven Conference | Colorado & Kansas | None selected | No Tournament | ||
| Big Ten Conference | Indiana | None selected | No Tournament | ||
| Border Conference | Texas Tech | No Tournament | |||
| California Basketball Association | Santa Clara | None selected | No Tournament | ||
| Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Cornell | None selected | No Tournament | ||
| Metropolitan New York Conference | St. Francis (NY) | No Tournament | |||
| Mid-American Conference | Toledo | None selected | No Tournament | ||
| Missouri Valley Conference | Oklahoma A&M | None selected | No Tournament | ||
| Mountain States (Skyline) Conference | Colorado A&M | No Tournament | |||
| Ohio Valley Conference | Western Kentucky State | None selected | 1954 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament | Jefferson County Armory (Louisville, Kentucky) | Western Kentucky State |
| Pacific Coast Conference | Oregon State (North); USC (South) | No Tournament;USC defeated Oregon State in best-of-three conference championship playoff series | |||
| Southeastern Conference | Kentucky & LSU | None selected | No Tournament | ||
| Southern Conference | George Washington | Frank Selvy, Furman | 1954 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament | WVU Fieldhouse(Morgantown, West Virginia) | George Washington |
| Southwest Conference | Rice & Texas | None selected | No Tournament | ||
| Western New York Little Three Conference | Niagara | No Tournament | |||
| Yankee Conference | Connecticut | None selected | No Tournament |
A total of 42 college teams played as major independents. Among them, Holy Cross (26–2) and Seattle (26–2) had the best winning percentage (.929), and Holy Cross, Seattle, Duquesne (26–3), and La Salle (26–4) finished with the most wins.
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | Column 4 | Column 5 | Column 6 | Column 7 | Column 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National semifinals | National finals | ||||||
| Penn State | 54 | ||||||
| La Salle | 69 | ||||||
| La Salle | 92 | ||||||
| Bradley | 76 | ||||||
| Bradley | 74 | ||||||
| USC | 72 | Third place | |||||
| Penn State | 70 | ||||||
| USC | 61 |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | Column 4 | Column 5 | Column 6 | Column 7 | Column 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semifinals | Finals | ||||||
| Western Kentucky State | 69 | ||||||
| Holy Cross | 75 | ||||||
| Holy Cross | 71 | ||||||
| Duquesne | 62 | ||||||
| Duquesne | 66 | ||||||
| Niagara | 51 | Third place | |||||
| Western Kentucky State | 66 | ||||||
| Niagara | 71 |
| Player | Position | Class | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Gola | F | Junior | La Salle |
| Cliff Hagan | F | Senior | Kentucky |
| Bob Pettit | C | Senior | Louisiana State |
| Don Schlundt | C | Junior | Indiana |
| Frank Selvy | G | Senior | Furman |
| Player | Position | Class | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Leonard | G | Senior | Indiana |
| Tom Marshall | F | Senior | Western Kentucky State |
| Bob Mattick | C | Senior | Oklahoma A&M |
| Frank Ramsey | G/F | Senior | Kentucky |
| Dick Ricketts | F/C | Junior | Duquesne |
-
Helms Player of the Year: Tom Gola, La Salle
-
NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Ed Conlin, Fordham
A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
| Team | FormerCoach | InterimCoach | NewCoach | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | Bob Vanatta | Orvis Sigler | Vanatta left to coach Bradley. | |
| Bradley | Forddy Anderson | Bob Vanatta | Anderson left to coach Michigan State. | |
| Brown | Robert Morris | L. Stanley Ward | ||
| California | Nibs Price | Pete Newell | ||
| The Citadel | Leo Zack | Jim Browning | ||
| Colorado A&M | Bill Strannigan | Jim Williams | Strannigan left to coach Iowa State. | |
| Harvard | Norman Shepard | Floyd Wilson | ||
| Idaho | Charles Finley | Harlan Hodges | ||
| Iowa State | Clay Sutherland | Bill Strannigan | ||
| John Carroll | Fred George | Silvio Cornachione | ||
| Maine | Rome Rankin | Russell DeVette | ||
| Miami | Dave Wike | Bruce Hale | ||
| Michigan State | Pete Newell | Forddy Anderson | Newell left to Coach California. | |
| Montana State | Brick Breeden | Wally Lemm | ||
| Murray State | Harlan Hodges | Rex Alexander | ||
| Nebraska | Harry Good | Jerry Bush | ||
| Pennsylvania | Howie Dallmar | Ray Stanley | Dallmar left to coach Stanford. | |
| Penn State | Elmer Gross | John Egli | ||
| Portland | Mush Torson | Art McLarney | ||
| Stanford | Bob Burnett | Howie Dallmar | ||
| Toledo | Jerry Bush | Ed Melvin | Bush left to coach Nebraska. | |
| West Virginia | Red Brown | Fred Schaus |
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