| Year: | 1955 |
| Preseason Ap: | None San Francisco (UP) |
| Tourney Start: | March 12, 1956 |
| Nc Date: | March 24, 1956 |
| Champ Stad: | McGaw Hall |
| Champ City: | Evanston, Illinois |
| Champ: | San Francisco |
| Helmschamp: | San Francisco |
| Nit Champ: | Louisville |
| Helmspoy: | Bill Russell, |
The 1955–56 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1955, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1956 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 24, 1956, at McGaw Hall in Evanston, Illinois. The San Francisco Dons won their second NCAA national championship with an 83–71 victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Beginning in 1955–56, the following rules changes were implemented:
The top 20 from the AP Poll during the pre-season.[5]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conference | Regular season winner[6] | Conference player of the year | Conference tournament | Tournament venue (City) | Tournament winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ronnie Shavlik, [7] | Reynolds Coliseum (Raleigh, North Carolina) | NC State | ||||
| None Selected | No Tournament | |||||
| None Selected | No Tournament | |||||
| None Selected | No Tournament | |||||
| Bill Russell, | No Tournament | |||||
| None Selected | No Tournament | |||||
| None Selected | No Tournament | |||||
| None Selected | No Tournament | |||||
| None Selected | No Tournament | |||||
| None Selected | No Tournament | |||||
| Morehead State, & | None Selected | No Tournament | ||||
| None Selected | No Tournament | |||||
| None Selected | No Tournament | |||||
| George Washington & | Darrell Floyd, Furman[8] | Richmond Arena (Richmond, Virginia) | West Virginia[9] | |||
| None Selected | No Tournament | |||||
| No Tournament | ||||||
| No Tournament | ||||||
A total of 43 college teams played as major independents. Among them, (26–3) had the best winning percentage (.897) and finished with the most wins.[10]
| Player[11] | School | PPG | Player | School | REB% | Player | School | FG% | Player | School | FT% | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33.8 | .256 | 64.7 | 86.5 | ||||||||||||
| 32.9 | .235 | 60.1 | 85.7 | ||||||||||||
| 28.6 | .232 | 56.3 | 85.2 | ||||||||||||
| 27.4 | .231 | 54.0 | 83.7 | ||||||||||||
| 27.3 | .215 | 53.4 | 83.2 | ||||||||||||
Coach Phil Woolpert and his star Bill Russell successfully guided San Francisco to its second consecutive championship, capping an undefeated season. The Dons became the first team in college basketball history to go undefeated and win the NCAA tournament. Temple's Hal Lear was named tournament Most Outstanding Player.
Played at McGaw Hall in Evanston, Illinois
See main article: 1956 National Invitation Tournament. Louisville won its first NIT title, defeating Dayton 83–80. Louisville's Charlie Tyra won MVP honors
Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City
See main article: 1956 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans.
| Player | Position | Class | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robin Freeman | G | Senior | Ohio State | |
| Sihugo Green | G | Senior | Duquesne | |
| Tom Heinsohn | F | Senior | Holy Cross | |
| Bill Russell | C | Senior | San Francisco | |
| Ronnie Shavlik | F/C | Senior | North Carolina State |
| Player | Position | Class | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Burrow | F | Senior | Kentucky | |
| Darrell Floyd | G | Senior | Furman | |
| Rod Hundley | G/F | Junior | West Virginia | |
| K.C. Jones | G | Senior | San Francisco | |
| Willie Naulls | F | Senior | UCLA | |
| Bill Uhl | C | Senior | Dayton |
A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
| Team | Former Coach | Interim Coach | New Coach | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgetown | Buddy Jeannette | Tom Nolan | After four seasons, Jeannette resigned.[12] | |
| Houston | Alden Pasche | Guy Lewis | ||
| Kansas | Phog Allen | Dick Harp | Allen retired following the season and was replaced by assistant Harp. | |
| Yale | Howard Hobson | Joe Vancisin | ||