1950–51 NCAA men's basketball season explained

Year:	1950
Preseason Ap:	None
Tourney Start:	March 20
Nc Date:	27, 1951
Champ Stad:	Williams Arena
Champ City:	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Champ:	Kentucky
Helmschamp:	Kentucky
Nit Champ:	BYU
Helmspoy:	Dick Groat, Duke

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.^[1]
• 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.^[2]
• 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.^[2]

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

See main article: 1950–51 NCAA men's basketball rankings.

The Top 20 from the UP Coaches Poll during the pre-season.^{[3] [4]}

UP Coaches Ranking Team 1 CCNY 2 Bradley 3 Kentucky 4 NC State 5 Kansas 6 Oklahoma A&M 7 Long Island 8 Iowa 9 St. John's 10 Indiana 11 UCLA 12 Kansas State 13 (tie) Arkansas Syracuse Western Kentucky State 16 Washington 17 (tie) DePaul Illinois 19 Ohio State 20 BYU

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
	Mid-American Conference	Independent
	Non-major basketball program	Missouri Valley Conference
	Independent	No NCAA basketball program
	Independent	Southern Conference

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
	Arizona		No Tournament
		None selected	No Tournament
			No Tournament
		None selected	No Tournament
		None selected	No Tournament
		None selected		Jefferson County Armory (Louisville, Kentucky)	Murray State
			No Tournament; Washington defeated UCLA in best-of-three conference championship playoff series
			No Tournament
		None selected		Jefferson County Armory, (Louisville, Kentucky)	Vanderbilt
		None selected		Reynolds Coliseum (Raleigh,	NC State^[6]
		None selected	No Tournament
			No Tournament
		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.^{[7] [8]}

Informal championships

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.^[8]

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

See main article: 1951 NCAA basketball tournament and 1951 NCAA Basketball Championship Game.

Semifinals & finals

• Third Place – Illinois 61, Oklahoma A&M 46

National Invitation tournament

See main article: 1951 National Invitation Tournament.

Semifinals & finals

• Third Place – St. John's 70, Seton Hall 68

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

See main article: 1951 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans.

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.

Team	Former Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach	Reason
Iowa	Rollie Williams		Bucky O'Connor
John Carroll	Elmer Ripley		Fred George^[10]
Notre Dame	Moose Krause		John Jordan
Stanford	Everett Dean		Bob Burnett

Notes and References

1. Goldstein, Joe, "Explosion: 1951 scandals threaten college hoops" - ESPN - November 19, 2003
2. Web site: Playing Rules History . . . ncaa.org . NCAA . June 25, 2024 . 11.
3. Book: ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia . 978-0-345-51392-2 . . 2009 . 836.
4. Web site: 1977 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll. College Poll Archive. August 8, 2020.
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: 1950-51 Men's Independent Season Summary . . August 7, 2024.
8. Web site: 1950-51 Men's Middle Three Conference Season Summary . . August 7, 2024.
9. News: 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section. 2009. NCAA. 2009-02-14.
10. News: 2021 John Carroll Blue Streaks men's basketball history & records guide, page 28. May 9, 2021. John Carroll Blue Streaks.