The 1970–71 NCAA University Division men's basketball season began in December 1970, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1971 NCAA University Division basketball tournament championship game on March 27, 1971, at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. The UCLA Bruins won their seventh NCAA national championship with a 68–62 victory over the Villanova Wildcats.
Season headlines
- The NCAA introduced a new rule prohibiting any team which turned down an invitation to the NCAA tournament from playing in any other postseason tournament. The effect of the rule is to prevent NCAA Tournament invitees from accepting a National Invitation Tournament instead, diminishing the quality of the pool of teams eligible to play in the NIT.[3]
- UCLA won its fifth NCAA championship in a row, seventh overall, and seventh in eight seasons. In the Pacific 8 Conference, it also won its fifth of what ultimately would be 13 consecutive conference titles.
Season outlook
Pre-season polls
The Top 20 from the AP Poll and Coaches Poll during the pre-season.[4][5]
Conference membership changes
Regular season
Conferences
Conference winners and tournaments
Conference
|
Regular season winner[6]
|
Conference player of the year
|
Conference tournament
|
Tournament venue (City)
|
Tournament winner
|
Atlantic Coast Conference |
North Carolina |
Charlie Davis, Wake Forest[7] |
1971 ACC men's basketball tournament |
Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, North Carolina) |
South Carolina
|
Big Eight Conference |
Kansas |
Cliff Meely, Colorado, & Dave Robisch, Kansas[8] |
No Tournament
|
Big Sky Conference |
Weber State |
None selected |
No Tournament
|
Big Ten Conference |
Ohio State |
None selected |
No Tournament
|
Ivy League |
Penn |
None selected |
No Tournament
|
Mid-American Conference |
Ohio |
Ken Kowall, Ohio[9] |
No Tournament
|
Middle Atlantic Conference |
Saint Joseph's (East); Lafayette (West) |
|
No Tournament
|
Missouri Valley Conference |
Drake, Louisville, & Saint Louis |
Jeff Halliburton, Drake |
No Tournament
|
Ohio Valley Conference |
Western Kentucky |
Jim McDaniels, Western Kentucky |
No Tournament
|
Pacific 8 Conference |
UCLA |
None selected |
No Tournament
|
Pacific Coast Athletic Association |
Long Beach State |
George Trapp, Long Beach State |
No Tournament
|
Southeastern Conference |
Kentucky |
Johnny Neumann, Mississippi[10] |
No Tournament
|
Southern Conference |
Davidson |
Jim Gregory, East Carolina, & Tom Jasper, William & Mary[11] |
1971 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament |
Charlotte Coliseum (Charlotte, North Carolina) |
East Carolina[12]
|
Southland Conference |
Arkansas State |
Luke Adams, Lamar, & Allan Pruett, Arkansas State[13] |
No Tournament
|
Southwest Conference |
TCU |
Goo Kennedy, TCU |
No Tournament
|
West Coast Athletic Conference |
Pacific |
John Gianelli, Pacific |
No Tournament
|
Western Athletic Conference |
BYU |
None selected |
No Tournament
|
Yankee Conference |
Massachusetts |
None selected |
No Tournament
|
Conference standings
|
|
|
|
1970–71 Ivy League men's basketball standings
|
Conf. |
|
|
Overall
|
Team |
W |
|
L |
|
PCT |
|
|
W |
|
L |
|
PCT
|
No. 3 Pennsylvania |
14 |
– |
0 |
|
1.000 |
|
|
28 |
– |
1
|
|
.966
|
Harvard |
11 |
– |
3 |
|
.786 |
|
|
16 |
– |
10
|
|
.615
|
Columbia |
9 |
– |
5 |
|
.643 |
|
|
15 |
– |
9
|
|
.625
|
Princeton |
9 |
– |
5 |
|
.643 |
|
|
14 |
– |
11
|
|
.560
|
Brown |
5 |
– |
9 |
|
.357 |
|
|
10 |
– |
15
|
|
.400
|
Dartmouth |
5 |
– |
9 |
|
.357 |
|
|
10 |
– |
16
|
|
.385
|
Yale |
2 |
– |
12 |
|
.143 |
|
|
4 |
– |
20
|
|
.167
|
Cornell |
1 |
– |
13 |
|
.071 |
|
|
5 |
– |
21
|
|
.192
|
|
Rankings from AP Poll
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1970–71 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
|
Conf. |
|
|
Overall
|
Team |
W |
|
L |
|
PCT |
|
|
W |
|
L |
|
PCT
|
No. 8 Kentucky |
16 |
– |
2 |
|
.889 |
|
|
22 |
– |
6
|
|
.786
|
No. 17 Tennessee |
13 |
– |
5 |
|
.722 |
|
|
21 |
– |
7
|
|
.750
|
LSU |
10 |
– |
8 |
|
.556 |
|
|
14 |
– |
12
|
|
.538
|
Mississippi State |
9 |
– |
9 |
|
.500 |
|
|
15 |
– |
10
|
|
.600
|
Vanderbilt |
9 |
– |
9 |
|
.500 |
|
|
13 |
– |
13
|
|
.500
|
Auburn |
8 |
– |
10 |
|
.444 |
|
|
11 |
– |
15
|
|
.423
|
Florida |
8 |
– |
10 |
|
.444 |
|
|
11 |
– |
15
|
|
.423
|
Ole Miss |
6 |
– |
12 |
|
.333 |
|
|
11 |
– |
15
|
|
.423
|
Alabama |
6 |
– |
12 |
|
.333 |
|
|
10 |
– |
16
|
|
.385
|
Georgia |
5 |
– |
13 |
|
.278 |
|
|
6 |
– |
19
|
|
.240
|
|
Rankings from AP Poll
|
|
|
|
1970–71 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
|
Conf. |
|
|
Overall
|
Team |
W |
|
L |
|
PCT |
|
|
W |
|
L |
|
PCT
|
TCU |
11 |
– |
3 |
|
.786 |
|
|
15 |
– |
12
|
|
.556
|
Baylor |
10 |
– |
4 |
|
.714 |
|
|
18 |
– |
8
|
|
.692
|
Texas Tech |
9 |
– |
5 |
|
.643 |
|
|
16 |
– |
10
|
|
.615
|
SMU |
8 |
– |
6 |
|
.571 |
|
|
16 |
– |
10
|
|
.615
|
Rice |
6 |
– |
8 |
|
.429 |
|
|
14 |
– |
12
|
|
.538
|
Texas |
6 |
– |
8 |
|
.429 |
|
|
12 |
– |
12
|
|
.500
|
Texas A&M |
5 |
– |
9 |
|
.357 |
|
|
9 |
– |
17
|
|
.346
|
Arkansas |
1 |
– |
13 |
|
.071 |
|
|
5 |
– |
21
|
|
.192
|
|
Rankings from AP Poll
|
|
|
1970–71 WAC men's basketball standings
|
Conf. |
|
|
Overall
|
Team |
W |
|
L |
|
PCT |
|
|
W |
|
L |
|
PCT
|
BYU |
10 |
– |
4 |
|
.714 |
|
|
18 |
– |
11
|
|
.621
|
UTEP |
9 |
– |
5 |
|
.643 |
|
|
15 |
– |
10
|
|
.600
|
Utah |
9 |
– |
5 |
|
.643 |
|
|
15 |
– |
11
|
|
.577
|
Arizona State |
8 |
– |
6 |
|
.571 |
|
|
16 |
– |
10
|
|
.615
|
Colorado State |
7 |
– |
7 |
|
.500 |
|
|
15 |
– |
10
|
|
.600
|
Wyoming |
6 |
– |
8 |
|
.429 |
|
|
10 |
– |
15
|
|
.400
|
New Mexico |
4 |
– |
10 |
|
.286 |
|
|
14 |
– |
12
|
|
.538
|
Arizona |
3 |
– |
11 |
|
.214 |
|
|
10 |
– |
16
|
|
.385
|
|
Rankings from AP Poll
|
|
|
University Division independents
A total of 62 college teams played as University Division independents. Among them, Marquette (28–1) had both the best winning percentage (.966) and the most wins.[22]
Penn finished with a 4–0 record in head-to-head competition among the Philadelphia Big 5.
Statistical leaders
Postseason tournaments
NCAA tournament
Final Four
National Invitation tournament
Semifinals & finals
Awards
Consensus All-American teams
Major player of the year awards
Major coach of the year awards
Other major awards
Coaching changes
A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
References
- ^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 846. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
- ^ "1978 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
- ^ John Feinstein (February 1, 2016). "Kryzyzewski, Knight coached at Army. It still lacks an NCAA tournament appearance". The Washington Post.
- ^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 836. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
- ^ "1977 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
- ^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
- ^ 2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2009-02-14
- ^ 2008–09 Big 12 Men's Basketball Media Guide – Awards section, Big 12 Conference, retrieved 2009-02-04
- ^ 2008–09 MAC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Records Section, Mid-American Conference, retrieved 2009-02-14
- ^ 2008–09 SEC Men's Basketball Record Book, Southeastern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-06
- ^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
- ^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
- ^ 2008–09 Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Media Guide, Southland Conference, retrieved 2009-02-07
- ^ sports-reference.com 1970-71 Big Eight Conference Season Summary
- ^ "1970-71 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved August 5, 2023.
- ^ "Pacific-8 Conference: final standings". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). March 14, 1971. p. 1D.
- ^ 1972 Official Collegiate Basketball Guide, College Athletics Publishing Service, 1971
- ^ "Both wire service polls agree-- UCLA is best club in country". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 16, 1971. p. 2B.
- ^ "1970-71 Pacific Coast Athletic Association Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
- ^ "1970-701 Men's Southland Conference Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
- ^ https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/wcac/1971.html
- ^ "1970-71 Men's Independent Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved August 16, 2024.