The 1942–43 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1942, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1943 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 30, 1943, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The Wyoming Cowboys won their first NCAA national championship with a 46–34 victory over the Georgetown Hoyas.
Rule changes
In overtime, a player can commit a fifth foul before fouling out. Previously, a player fouled out after committing four fouls, regardless of whether the game went into overtime or not.orangehoops.org History of NCAA Basketball Rule Changes
Season headlines In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected its national champions for the seasons from 1919–20 through 1941–42. Beginning with the 1942–43 season, it began to pick each season's national champion annually, a practice it continued through the 1981–82 season. Top-ranked Illinois declined to participate in either the NCAA tournament or the National Invitation Tournament after three of its starters were drafted into the United States Army for World War II service. The 1943 NCAA Tournament championship game between Wyoming and Georgetown was the only one in history not filmed for posterity. It had a smaller crowd than expected because of the greater local interest in New York City in the championship run St. John's made in the 1943 National Invitation Tournament. Until at least the mid-1950s, the NIT was the more prestigious of the two tournaments. As a fundraiser for the American Red Cross, the finalists and semifinalists of the NCAA Tournament and NIT took part in the Sportswriters Invitational Playoff, in which the two tournament champions, Wyoming (NCAA) and St. John's (NIT), and the two runners-up, Georgetown (NCAA) and Toledo (NIT), played each other at Madison Square Garden after their tournaments ended, with the games counting in the teams' records for the season. The NCAA Tournament teams prevailed in both games: Wyoming beat St. John's 52–47 with 18,000 fans in attendance, and the Hoyas defeated Toledo 54–40 to close out the season.Anonymous, "How the NCAA Overtook Its Rival, the NIT," Sport History Weekly, March 24, 2019 Accessed May 4, 2021 The post-tournament benefit games — touted as the "mythical national championship" between the two tournament winners — would be played again in each of the next two seasons. With a final record of 31–2, Wyoming became the first team to win 30 or more games in a single season. In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Illinois as its top-ranked team for the 1942–43 season.
Conference membership changes SchoolFormer conferenceNew conference Non-major basketball program Metropolitan New York Conference
Regular season Conferences Conference winners and tournaments
ConferenceRegular season winnerConference player of the yearConference tournamentTournament venue (City)Tournament winnerBig Six Conference Kansas None selected No TournamentBig Ten Conference Illinois None selected No TournamentBorder Conference None selected No TournamentEastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Dartmouth None selected No TournamentMetropolitan New York Conference No TournamentMissouri Valley Conference Creighton None selected No TournamentNew England Conference Rhode Island State No TournamentPacific Coast Conference ; No Tournament;Washington defeated USC in best-of-three conference championship playoff seriesMountain States (Skyline) Conference Wyoming No TournamentSoutheastern Conference Tennessee None selected 1943 SEC men's basketball tournament Jefferson County Armory,(Louisville, Kentucky) TennesseeSouthern Conference Duke None selected 1943 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Thompson Gym(Raleigh, George Washington2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section , Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09Southwest Conference Rice & Texas None selected No Tournament
Conference standings
Major independents A total of 60 college teams played as major independents. (19–2) had the best winning percentage (.905) and (24–3) finished with the most wins.
Informal championships ConferenceRegular season winnerConference tournamentTournament venue (City)Tournament winnerMiddle Three Conference 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 1942–43, Rutgers finished with a 3–1 record and with a 2–2 record, while had record of 1–3.1942–43 Independents standings @ sports-reference.com
Post-season tournaments
NCAA tournament
Semifinals and final
National Invitation tournament
Semifinals and finals
Awards
Consensus All-American teams
+ Consensus First Team Player Class Team Ed Beisser Senior Creighton Charles B. Black Sophomore Kansas Harry Boykoff Sophomore St. John's Bill Closs Senior Rice Andy Phillip Junior Illinois Kenny Sailors Junior Wyoming George Senesky Senior Saint Joseph's
+ Consensus Second Team Player Class Team Gale Bishop Junior Washington State Otto Graham Junior Northwestern John Kotz Senior Wisconsin Robert Rensberger Senior Notre Dame Gene Rock Junior Southern California Gerry Tucker Junior Oklahoma
Major player of the year awards
Helms Player of the Year: George Senesky, Saint Joseph's (retroactive selection in 1944) Sporting News Player of the Year: Andy Phillip, Illinois
Other major awards
NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Andrew Levane, St. John's
Coaching changes A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended. TeamFormerCoachInterimCoachNewCoachReasonArmyValentine LentzEd Kelleher BaylorBill HendersonVan Sweet BucknellJohn SitarskyJ. Ellwood Ludwig The CitadelBo ShermanBen Clemons ColumbiaCliff BattlesElmer Ripley DartmouthOsborne CowlesEarl BrownDenverEllison KetchumMark DuncanArt Quinlan DrakeEvan O. WilliamsBill Easton GeorgetownElmer RipleyNoneAfter the end of the season, Georgetown suspended all athletic programs for the duration of Ripley moved to the head coaching position at Columbia.Georgia TechRoy MundorffDwight KeithHarvardEarl BrownFloyd Stahl IndianaBranch McCracken Harry Good Kansas StateChili CochraneCliff Rock La SalleObie O'BrienJoseph Meehan LehighJames GordonLeo Prendergast MontanaClyde Carpenter & Ed ChinskeEd Buzzetti New MexicoWillis BarnesGeorge White Notre DameGeorge KeoganMoose KrausePennLon JourdetRed Kellett PrincetonFranklin CapponWilliam Logan South CarolinaRex EnrightHenry Findley TulsaMike MilliganWoody West VanderbiltNorm CooperSmokey Harper VMIAllison HubertJoe Daher West VirginiaRudy BaricHarry Lothes William & MaryDwight StuessyRube McCray
References