1948–49 NCAA men's basketball season

(Redirected from 1948-49 NCAA men's basketball season) Men's collegiate basketball season

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
← 1947–48 1949–50 →

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.

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
v t e	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
v t e	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
v t e	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
v t e	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
v t e	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
v t e	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
v t e	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
v t e	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
v t e	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
v t e	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
v t e	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
v t e	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
v t e	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
v t e	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
v t e	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
v t e	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.

Statistical leaders

This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (April 2021)

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

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2021)

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

Team	Former Coach	New Coach
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

References

orangehoops.org History of NCAA Basketball Rule Changes
ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. p. 590. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
sports-reference.com Matchup Finder
"Playing Rules History" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. p. 12. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
"Playing Rules History" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. p. 13. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
"2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
sports-reference.com 1948-49 Big Seven Conference Season Summary
sports-reference.com 1948-49 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
^ "1948-49 Men's Independent Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
"1948-49 Men's Middle Three Conference Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
"1948-49 Men's College Basketball AP Polls". Sports Reference. Retrieved August 7, 2024.
"2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
1948–49 Men's Middle Three Conference Season Summary @ sports-reference.com
"2021 John Carroll Blue Streaks men's basketball history & records guide, page 28" (PDF). John Carroll Blue Streaks. Retrieved May 9, 2021.

v t e NCAA Division I men's basketball seasons
Pre-regulation	1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898-99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06
IAAUS / NCAA pre-Tournament era	1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38
NCAA Tournament era	1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

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