1945–46 NCAA men's basketball season explained

Year:	1945
Tourney Start:	March 21
Nc Date:	26, 1946
Champ Stad:	Madison Square Garden
Champ City:	New York, New York
Champ:	Oklahoma A&M
Helmschamp:	Oklahoma A&M
Nit Champ:	Kentucky
Helmspoy:	Bob Kurland,

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 as its national champion for the 1945–46 season.^[4]

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
	Independent	Metropolitan New York Conference
	Independent	Middle Atlantic States Conference North
	Independent	Metropolitan New York Conference
	Independent	Metropolitan New York Conference
	No athletic programs	Independent
	No NCAA basketball program	Middle Atlantic States Conference North
	Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Independent
	Independent	Middle Atlantic States Conference North
	Independent	Middle Atlantic States Conference North
	Independent	Metropolitan New York Conference
	Independent	Middle Atlantic States Conference North
	Independent	Metropolitan New York Conference
	Independent	Metropolitan New York Conference
	Independent	Metropolitan New York Conference
	Independent	Missouri Valley Conference
	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
		None selected	No Tournament
		None selected	No Tournament
		None selected	No Tournament
		None selected	No Tournament
	NYU &		No Tournament
			No Tournament
		None selected	No Tournament
			No Tournament
			No Tournament
			No Tournament; California defeated Idaho in best-of-three conference championship playoff series
		None selected		Jefferson County Armory, (Louisville, Kentucky)	Kentucky
		None selected		Thompson Gym (Raleigh,	Duke^[6]
		None selected	No Tournament

Conference standings

Major independents

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

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

See main article: 1946 NCAA basketball tournament and 1946 NCAA Basketball Championship Game.

Semifinals & finals

National Invitation tournament

See main article: 1946 National Invitation Tournament.

Semifinals & finals

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

See 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

• Helms Player of the Year: Bob Kurland, Oklahoma A&M

Other major awards

• NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Sid Tanenbaum, NYU

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

Notes and References

1. https://www.coachesdatabase.com/new-england-yankee-regular-season-champions/ "New England/Yankee regular-season champions," Coaches Database Accessed April 27, 2021
2. Web site: Playing Rules History . . . ncaa.org . NCAA . June 25, 2024 . 11.
3. Web site: 1952 NCAA tournament: Bracket, scores, stats, records . . May 27, 2020 . ncaa.com . NCAA . June 27, 2024.
4. Book: ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. ESPN. ESPN Books. New York, NY. 2009. 526, 529–587. 978-0-345-51392-2.
5. News: 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section. 2009. NCAA. 2009-02-14.
6. http://www.soconsports.com/fls/4000/socon/files/0809mbkguide/standingsandresults.pdf?SPSID=35819&SPID=1798&DB_OEM_ID=4000 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section
7. Web site: 1945-46 Men's Independent Season Summary . . August 5, 2024.
8. Web site: The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Head Coaches . 2014-01-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170527235527/http://www.hoyabasketball.com/coaches/bb-coach.htm . 2017-05-27 . dead .