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.
Season headlines
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.Goldstein, Joe, "Explosion: 1951 scandals threaten college hoops" - ESPN - November 19, 2003 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.
Season outlook
Pre-season polls
The Top 20 from the UP Coaches Poll during the pre-season.
UP CoachesRankingTeam1CCNY2Bradley3Kentucky4NC State5Kansas6Oklahoma A&M7Long Island8Iowa9St. John's10Indiana11UCLA12Kansas State13(tie)ArkansasSyracuseWestern Kentucky State16Washington17(tie)DePaulIllinois19Ohio State20BYU
Conference membership changes
SchoolFormer conferenceNew conference Mid-American Conference Independent Non-major basketball program Missouri Valley Conference Independent Big Ten Conference Independent No NCAA basketball program Independent Southern Conference
Regular season Conferences Conference winners and tournaments
ConferenceRegular season winnerConference player of the yearConference tournamentTournament venue (City)Tournament winnerBig Seven Conference Kansas State None selected No TournamentBig Ten Conference Illinois None selected No TournamentBorder Conference Arizona No TournamentEastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Columbia None selected No TournamentMetropolitan New York Conference St. John's No TournamentMid-American Conference Cincinnati None selected No TournamentMissouri Valley Conference None selected No TournamentOhio Valley Conference Murray State None selected 1951 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament Jefferson County Armory (Louisville, Kentucky) Murray StatePacific Coast Conference ; No Tournament;Washington defeated UCLA in best-of-three conference championship playoff seriesSkyline Conference BYU No TournamentSoutheastern Conference Kentucky None selected 1951 SEC men's basketball tournament Jefferson County Armory,(Louisville, Kentucky) VanderbiltSouthern Conference NC State None selected 1951 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Reynolds Coliseum(Raleigh, NC State2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section , Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09Southwest Conference Texas, , & TCU None selected No TournamentWestern New York Little Three Conference St. Bonaventure No TournamentYankee Conference Connecticut None selected No Tournament Conference standings
Major independents A total of 44 college teams played as major independents. Among them, (27–5) finished with both the best winning percentage (.844) and the most wins.
Informal championships ConferenceRegular season winnerConference player of the yearConference tournamentTournament venue (City)Tournament winnerMiddle Three Conference Rutgers None selectedNo 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.
Post-season tournaments
NCAA tournament
Semifinals & finals
National Invitation tournament
Semifinals & finals
National Campus Basketball Tournament
Awards
Consensus All-American teams
+ Consensus First Team 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
+ Consensus Second Team 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
Major player of the year awards
Helms Player of the Year: Dick Groat, Duke Sporting News Player of the Year: Sherman White, Long Island
Other major awards
NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): John Azary, Columbia
Coaching changes A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended. TeamFormerCoachInterimCoachNewCoachReasonArmyJohn MauerElmer Ripley Mauer left to coach at Florida.FloridaSam J. McAllisterJohn MauerGeorgiaJim WhatleyHarbin LawsonGeorgia TechRoy McArthurJohn HyderIowaRollie WilliamsBucky O'ConnorJohn CarrollElmer RipleyFred George Ripley left to coach at Army.LafayetteRay StanleyBill AndersonButch van Breda Kolff Loyola (Ill.)John JordanGeorge Ireland Jordan left to coach Notre Dame.MarquetteBill ChandlerTex WinterMiami (Ohio)John BrickelsBill RohrNew HampshireAndy MooradianDale HallNew MexicoWoody ClementsBen HuffmanNotre DameMoose KrauseJohn JordanOregonJohn A. WarrenBill BorcherStanfordEverett DeanBob BurnettTexasJack GraySlue HullValparaisoWilbur AllenKen SuesensVirginiaGus TebellEvan MaleWichita MunicipalKen GunningRalph MillerWilliam & MaryBarney WilsonH. Lester HookerXavierLew HirtNed Wulk
References