1943–44 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1943–44 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1943, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1944 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 28, 1944, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The Utah Redskins won their first NCAA national championship with a 42–40 victory over the Dartmouth Indians.

• The Metropolitan New York Conference and the Mountain States (or Skyline) Conference did not compete during the season. Their members played as independents.
• Two teams from the same conference took part in the NCAA tournament for the first time, when Iowa State and Missouri, both of the Big Six Conference, participated in the Western regionals of the 1944 NCAA tournament.^[1]
• Arkansas was selected for the 1944 NCAA tournament but was forced to withdraw after a March 1944 automobile accident injured two Razorbacks starters and killed a physical education teacher who traveled with the team as a coaching assistant.^[2][3]
• Utah replaced Arkansas in the NCAA Tournament and became the first team to play in both the National Invitation Tournament and the NCAA tournament in the same season.
• Arnie Ferrin of Utah became the first freshman named NCAA tournament Most Outstanding Player.^[1]
• Army went undefeated (15–0), and the Helms Athletic Foundation selected Army rather than 1944 NCAA Tournament winner Utah as its national champion. It was the third time in history that the Helms champion differed from the NCAA champion.
• In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Army as its national champion for the 1943–44 season.^[4]

A total of 61 college teams played as

1943–44 NCAA men's basketball independents standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Army –   – 15 – 0   1.000 Denison –   – 18 – 2   .900 Bowling Green State –   – 22 – 4   .846 DePaul –   – 22 – 4   .846 Gonzaga –   – 22 – 4   .846 Utah –   – 22 – 4   .846 Miami (Ohio) –   – 10 – 2   .833 Indiana State –   – 17 – 4   .810 LIU –   – 12 – 3   .800 Loyola (Calif.) –   – 4 – 1   .800 Muhlenberg –   – 20 – 5   .800 Western Michigan –   – 15 – 4   .789 St. John's –   – 18 – 5   .783 Bucknell –   – 9 – 3   .750 Rochester (N.Y.) –   – 11 – 4   .733 St. Joseph's –   – 18 – 7   .720 Canisius –   – 15 – 6   .714 Navy –   – 10 – 4   .714 Catholic –   – 17 – 7   .708 Lafayette –   – 7 – 3   .700 Yale –   – 14 – 6   .700 Colgate –   – 11 – 5   .688 Pacific –   – 13 – 6   .684 Marshall –   – 15 – 7   .682 Valparaiso –   – 17 – 8   .680 Akron –   – 10 – 5   .667 Detroit –   – 13 – 7   .650 Washington & Jefferson –   – 11 – 6   .647 St. Francis (NY) –   – 10 – 6   .625 Temple –   – 14 – 9   .609 BYU –   – 3 – 2   .600 Western Kentucky State –   – 13 – 9   .591 Pepperdine –   – 20 – 14   .588 Virginia –   – 11 – 8   .579 Marquette –   – 8 – 6   .571 Ohio –   – 9 – 7   .563 Loyola (Md.) –   – 15 – 12   .556 Cincinnati –   – 6 – 5   .545 Penn State –   – 8 – 7   .533 Notre Dame –   – 10 – 9   .526 La Salle –   – 8 – 8   .500 Louisville –   – 10 – 10   .500 NYU –   – 7 – 7   .500 Pittsburgh –   – 7 – 7   .500 Saint Mary's –   – 5 – 5   .500 Villanova –   – 9 – 11   .450 Delaware –   – 7 – 9   .438 Holy Cross –   – 6 – 8   .429 San Francisco –   – 8 – 11   .421 West Virginia –   – 8 – 11   .421 Brown –   – 10 – 14   .417 CCNY –   – 6 – 11   .353 Brooklyn –   – 6 – 14   .300 Toledo –   – 5 – 13   .278 Denver –   – 6 – 18   .250 Lehigh –   – 4 – 12   .250 Rider –   – 3 – 12   .200 Tennessee Tech –   – 3 – 13   .188 Montana –   – 2 – 10   .167 Harvard –   – 2 – 12   .143 Northern Colorado –   – 1 – 13   .071

Statistical leaders

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Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Main articles:

1944 NCAA Basketball Championship Game

Semifinals & final

	National semifinals					National Final
	Dartmouth		60
	Ohio State		53
						Dartmouth		40
						Utah		42
	Iowa State		31
	Utah		40

National Invitation tournament

• Helms Player of the Year: George Mikan, DePaul
• Sporting News Player of the Year: Dale Hall, Army

• NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Dick McGuire, St. John's

Coaching changes

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A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.

Team	Former Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach	Reason
North Carolina	Bill Lange		Ben Carnevale

References