1945–46 NCAA men's basketball season

1945–46 NCAA men's basketball season
NCAA Tournament1946
Tournament datesMarch 21 – 26, 1946
National ChampionshipMadison Square Garden
New York, New York
NCAA ChampionsOklahoma A&M Aggies
Helms National ChampionsOklahoma A&M Aggies
Other championsKentucky Wildcats (NIT)
Player of the Year
(Helms)		Bob Kurland, Oklahoma A&M Aggies

The 1945–46 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1945, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1946 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 26, 1946, at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. The Oklahoma A&M Aggies won their second NCAA national championship with a 43–40 victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Season headlines

  • The Middle Atlantic States Conference North began play, with five original members.
  • The New England Conference disbanded at the end of the season.[1]
  • The 1946 NCAA tournament was the first NCAA tournament in which four teams (California, North Carolina, Ohio State, and Oklahoma A&M) advanced to the finals site.[2] However, they advanced from two regional sites, so the NCAA does not consider the first "true" Final Four to have occurred until the 1952 tournament, when the four teams advanced from four separate regional sites.[2][3]
  • The NCAA tournament began holding a national third-place game between the teams which lost in the semifinals. The national third-place game continued through the 1981 tournament.
  • Bob Kurland of Oklahoma A&M became the first player to dunk in the NCAA championship game, doing so twice late in the game on March 26.[2]
  • Oklahoma A&M defeated North Carolina 43–40 in the championship game of the 1946 NCAA tournament, becoming the first school to repeat as NCAA champion, following its tournament championship in 1945.[2]
  • Bob Kurland of Oklahoma A&M became the first two-time NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player. He previously had received the honor in 1945.[2]
  • For the first time, the NCAA tournament championship game was televised. WCBS-TV aired the game locally in New York City, with an estimated viewership of 500,000.[2]
  • In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Oklahoma A&M as its national champion for the 1945–46 season.[4]

Conference membership changes

School Former conference New conference
Brooklyn Bulldogs Independent Metropolitan New York Conference
Bucknell Bison Independent Middle Atlantic States Conference North
CCNY Beavers Independent Metropolitan New York Conference
Fordham Rams Independent Metropolitan New York Conference
Georgetown Hoyas No athletic programs Independent
Gettysburg Bullets No NCAA basketball program Middle Atlantic States Conference North
Harvard Crimson Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Independent
Lafayette Leopards Independent Middle Atlantic States Conference North
Lehigh Engineers Independent Middle Atlantic States Conference North
Manhattan Jaspers Independent Metropolitan New York Conference
Muhlenberg Mules Independent Middle Atlantic States Conference North
NYU Violets Independent Metropolitan New York Conference
St. Francis (NY) Terriers Independent Metropolitan New York Conference
St. John's Redmen Independent Metropolitan New York Conference
Wichita Shockers Independent Missouri Valley Conference
Yale Bulldogs Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Independent

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference Regular
season winner[5] 		Conference
player of the year 		Conference
tournament 		Tournament
venue (City) 		Tournament
winner
Big Six Conference Kansas None selected No Tournament
Big Ten Conference Ohio State None selected No Tournament
Border Conference Arizona None selected No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Dartmouth None selected No Tournament
Metropolitan New York Conference NYU & St. John's No Tournament
Middle Atlantic States Conference North Lafayette No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference Oklahoma A&M None selected No Tournament
Mountain States (Skyline) Conference Wyoming No Tournament
New England Conference Rhode Island State No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference Idaho (North); California (South) No Tournament;
California defeated Idaho in best-of-three conference championship playoff series
Southeastern Conference Kentucky None selected 1946 SEC men's basketball tournament Jefferson County Armory,
(Louisville, Kentucky)		 Kentucky
Southern Conference North Carolina None selected 1946 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Thompson Gym
(Raleigh, North Carolina)		 Duke[6]
Southwest Conference Baylor None selected No Tournament

Conference standings

1945–46 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Kansas 10 – 0   1.000 19 – 2   .905
Oklahoma 7 – 3   .700 11 – 10   .524
Iowa State 5 – 5   .500 8 – 8   .500
Missouri 3 – 7   .300 6 – 11   .353
Nebraska 3 – 7   .300 7 – 13   .350
Kansas State 2 – 8   .200 4 – 20   .167
1945–46 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Ohio State 10 – 2   .833 16 – 5   .762
Indiana 9 – 3   .750 18 – 3   .857
Iowa 8 – 4   .667 14 – 4   .778
Northwestern 8 – 4   .667 15 – 5   .750
Illinois 7 – 5   .583 14 – 7   .667
Minnesota 7 – 5   .583 14 – 7   .667
Michigan 6 – 6   .500 12 – 7   .632
Purdue 4 – 8   .333 10 – 11   .476
Wisconsin 1 – 11   .083 4 – 17   .190
Chicago 0 – 12   .000 6 – 14   .300
1945–46 Border Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Arizona 13 – 2   .867 25 – 5   .833
West Texas State 9 – 2   .818 19 – 8   .704
Texas Tech 7 – 4   .636 15 – 10   .600
New Mexico 13 – 8   .619 16 – 9   .640
Arizona State–Tempe 6 – 7   .462 12 – 16   .429
Arizona State–Flagstaff 4 – 6   .400 12 – 8   .600
Texas State M&M 4 – 7   .364 4 – 11   .267
New Mexico A&M 2 – 12   .143 5 – 16   .238
Hardin–Simmons 0 – 10   .000 2 – 10   .167
1945–46 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Dartmouth 7 – 1   .875 13 – 3   .813
Cornell 6 – 2   .750 12 – 5   .706
Pennsylvania 4 – 4   .500 7 – 10   .412
Columbia 3 – 5   .375 11 – 9   .550
Princeton 0 – 8   .000 7 – 12   .368
1945–46 Metropolitan New York Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
NYU 5 – 1   .833 19 – 3   .864
St. John's 5 – 1   .833 17 – 6   .739
CCNY 4 – 1   .800 14 – 4   .778
St. Francis (NY) 3 – 2   .600 12 – 6   .667
Manhattan 2 – 4   .333 15 – 8   .652
Brooklyn 1 – 5   .167 8 – 9   .471
Fordham 0 – 6   .000 4 – 17   .190
1945–46 Middle Atlantic States Conference North men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Lafayette 7 – 1   .875 17 – 3   .850
Muhlenberg 7 – 1   .875 23 – 5   .821
Gettysburg 3 – 5   .375 11 – 6   .647
Bucknell 2 – 6   .250 6 – 11   .353
Lehigh 1 – 7   .125 3 – 13   .188
1945–46 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Oklahoma A&M 12 – 0   1.000 31 – 2   .939
Wichita Municipal 6 – 4   .600 14 – 9   .609
Saint Louis 6 – 5   .545 13 – 11   .542
Drake 5 – 7   .417 11 – 15   .423
Washington University 3 – 6   .333 10 – 17   .370
Creighton 3 – 7   .300 9 – 10   .474
Tulsa 3 – 9   .250 6 – 12   .333
1945–46 Mountain States Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Wyoming 10 – 2   .833 22 – 4   .846
Colorado 9 – 3   .750 12 – 6   .667
Utah 8 – 4   .667 12 – 8   .600
Colorado State 6 – 6   .500 15 – 9   .625
BYU 6 – 6   .500 12 – 13   .480
Utah State 2 – 10   .167 7 – 12   .368
Denver 1 – 11   .083 9 – 15   .375
1945–46 New England Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Rhode Island State 4 – 0   1.000 21 – 3   .875
Connecticut 4 – 2   .667 11 – 6   .647
Maine 4 – 4   .500 10 – 4   .714
Northeastern 2 – 4   .333 4 – 13   .235
New Hampshire 0 – 3   .000 3 – 7   .300
1945–46 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
North
Idaho 11 – 5   .688 23 – 11   .676
Oregon State 10 – 6   .625 13 – 11   .542
Oregon 8 – 8   .500 16 – 17   .485
Washington 6 – 10   .375 14 – 14   .500
Washington State 5 – 11   .313 16 – 13   .552
South
California † 11 – 1   .917 30 – 6   .833
USC 8 – 4   .667 14 – 7   .667
UCLA 5 – 7   .417 8 – 16   .333
Stanford 0 – 12   .000 6 – 18   .250
† Conference championship playoff series winner
1945–46 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Kentucky † 6 – 0   1.000 28 – 2   .933
LSU 8 – 0   1.000 18 – 3   .857
Tennessee 8 – 3   .727 14 – 4   .778
Alabama 8 – 4   .667 11 – 5   .688
Auburn 7 – 6   .538 7 – 9   .438
Georgia Tech 7 – 7   .500 10 – 11   .476
Georgia 6 – 6   .500 12 – 9   .571
Tulane 4 – 5   .444 15 – 7   .682
Vanderbilt 2 – 5   .286 3 – 10   .231
Florida 2 – 6   .250 7 – 14   .333
Ole Miss 2 – 8   .200 8 – 11   .421
Mississippi State 3 – 13   .188 5 – 14   .263
† Regular-season championship and SEC Tournament winner
1945–46 Southern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
North Carolina 13 – 1   .929 30 – 5   .857
Duke † 12 – 2   .857 21 – 6   .778
Virginia Tech 7 – 3   .700 11 – 8   .579
Wake Forest 8 – 5   .615 12 – 6   .667
Maryland 5 – 4   .556 9 – 12   .429
William & Mary 5 – 5   .500 10 – 10   .500
Furman 4 – 4   .500 16 – 3   .842
George Washington 4 – 5   .444 7 – 8   .467
Clemson 5 – 7   .417 9 – 11   .450
North Carolina State 5 – 7   .417 6 – 12   .333
South Carolina 4 – 7   .364 9 – 11   .450
Davidson 5 – 9   .357 13 – 12   .520
Richmond 3 – 7   .300 8 – 12   .400
The Citadel 1 – 6   .143 7 – 11   .389
VMI 1 – 6   .143 1 – 10   .091
Washington and Lee 0 – 4   .000 2 – 11   .154
† Southern Conference tournament winner
1945–46 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Baylor 11 – 1   .917 25 – 5   .833
Arkansas 9 – 3   .750 16 – 7   .696
Texas 7 – 5   .583 16 – 7   .696
TCU 6 – 6   .500 13 – 11   .542
Rice 5 – 7   .417 10 – 11   .476
Texas A&M 4 – 8   .333 9 – 14   .391
SMU 0 – 12   .000 7 – 16   .304

Major independents

A total of 54 college teams played as major independents. Yale (14–1) had the best winning percentage (.933) and Nevada (28–5) finished with the most wins.[7]

1945–46 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Yale –   – 14 – 1   .933
West Virginia –   – 24 – 3   .889
Harvard –   – 20 – 3   .870
Boston University –   – 12 – 2   .857
Loyola (Ill.) –   – 23 – 4   .852
Syracuse –   – 23 – 4   .852
Nevada –   – 28 – 5   .848
Bowling Green State –   – 27 – 5   .844
Notre Dame –   – 17 – 4   .810
Holy Cross –   – 12 – 3   .800
Navy –   – 12 – 3   .800
St. Bonaventure –   – 12 – 3   .800
DePaul –   – 19 – 5   .792
Louisville –   – 22 – 6   .786
Indiana State –   – 15 – 5   .750
Toledo –   – 20 – 7   .741
Marshall –   – 24 – 10   .706
Virginia –   – 12 – 5   .706
Loyola (Md.) –   – 18 – 8   .692
Western Michigan –   – 15 – 7   .682
Colgate –   – 12 – 6   .667
Saint Mary's –   – 10 – 5   .667
Detroit –   – 15 – 8   .652
Rutgers –   – 13 – 7   .650
Temple –   – 12 – 7   .632
Montana State –   – 17 – 10   .630
Marquette –   – 11 – 7   .611
LIU –   – 14 – 9   .609
Valparaiso –   – 17 – 11   .607
Army –   – 9 – 6   .600
Butler –   – 12 – 8   .600
Hamline –   – 12 – 8   .600
Santa Clara –   – 9 – 6   .600
Niagara –   – 11 – 8   .579
Michigan State –   – 12 – 9   .571
Georgetown –   – 11 – 9   .550
Miami (Ohio) –   – 10 – 9   .526
Kent State –   – 10 – 10   .500
Pittsburgh –   – 7 – 7   .500
Bradley –   – 11 – 12   .478
St. Joseph's –   – 9 – 11   .450
Montana –   – 13 – 16   .448
Western Kentucky State –   – 15 – 19   .441
Penn State –   – 7 – 9   .438
Villanova –   – 10 – 13   .435
San Francisco –   – 9 – 12   .429
Canisius –   – 8 – 11   .421
La Salle –   – 9 – 14   .391
Cincinnati –   – 8 – 13   .381
Merchant Marine –   – 5 – 10   .333
Brown –   – 5 – 15   .250
Boston College –   – 3 – 11   .214
Dayton –   – 3 – 13   .188
Xavier –   – 3 – 16   .158

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Main articles: 1946 NCAA basketball tournament and 1946 NCAA Basketball Championship Game

Semifinals & finals

National Semifinals National Finals
    
Ohio State 57
North Carolina 60OT
North Carolina 40
Oklahoma A&M 43
Oklahoma A&M 52
California 35 Third place
Ohio State 63
California 45

National Invitation tournament

Main article: 1946 National Invitation Tournament

Semifinals & finals

Semifinals Finals
    
Rhode Island State 59
Muhlenberg 49
Rhode Island State 45
Kentucky 46
West Virginia 51
Kentucky 59' Third place
Muhlenberg 40
West Virginia 65

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Main article: 1946 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans
Consensus First Team
Player Position Class Team
Leo Klier F Senior Notre Dame
Bob Kurland C Senior Oklahoma A&M
George Mikan C Senior DePaul
Max Morris F Senior Northwestern
Sid Tanenbaum G Junior NYU


Consensus Second Team
Player Position Class Team
Charles B. Black F Junior Kansas
John Dillon G Sophomore North Carolina
Billy Hassett G Senior Notre Dame
Tony Lavelli F Freshman Yale
Jack Parkinson G Junior Kentucky
Ken Sailors G Senior Wyoming

Major player of the year awards

Other major awards

Coaching changes

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

Team Former
Coach 		Interim
Coach 		New
Coach 		Reason
Georgetown Ken Engles Elmer Ripley Engles – the only player-coach in Georgetown men's basketball history – stepped aside at the end of the year after coaching the Hoyas for a single season as they reconstituted their basketball program with a mostly walk-on team after a two-season hiatus due to World War II, making way for Ripley to return after a three-year absence for a third stint as coach.[8]
Kansas State Fitz Knorr Jack Gardner
NC State Leron Jay Everett Case
North Carolina Ben Carnevale Tom Scott
Notre Dame Elmer Ripley Moose Krause
Purdue Ward Lambert Mel Taube

References

  1. ^ "New England/Yankee regular-season champions," Coaches Database Accessed April 27, 2021
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Playing Rules History" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. p. 11. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  3. ^ "1952 NCAA tournament: Bracket, scores, stats, records". ncaa.com. NCAA. May 27, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  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. ^ "1945-46 Men's Independent Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  8. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Head Coaches". Archived from the original on May 27, 2017. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
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