# 1937–38 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1937–38 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1937, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1938.

## Rule changes

After a field goal, the opposing team receives possession of the ball. Previously, a jump ball at center court had taken place after every field goal.

## Season headlines

* The New England Conference played its first season at the major-program level.
* The Northern California Conference began play.
* Hank Luisetti of Stanford became the first player to score 50 or more points in one game when he scored 50 in a win over Duquesne on January 1, 1938.
* The Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association founded the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), which was played for the first time in 1938. A field of six teams participated, with the Temple Owls winning the first NIT championship. Although the NCAA tournament began play the following season, the NIT, playing its games at Madison Square Garden and easily accessible to the New York City media, was considered the more glamorous and prestigious of the two tournaments until at least the mid-1950s
* In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Temple as its national champion for the 1937–38 season.
* In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Temple as its national champion for the 1937–38 season.

## Conference membership changes

| School | Former conference | New conference |
| Colorado College Tigers | Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference | Non-major basketball program |
| Northeastern Huskies | Non-major basketball program | New England Conference |
| Pacific Tigers | Non-major basketball program | Northern California Conference |
| Saint Louis Billikens | Independent | Missouri Valley Conference |
| Saint Mary's (Calif.) Gaels | Independent | Northern California Conference |
| San Francisco Dons | Independent | Northern California Conference |
| San Jose State Spartans | Non-major basketball program | Northern California Conference |
| Santa Clara Broncos | Independent | Northern California Conference |
| Virginia Cavaliers | Southern Conference | Independent |

## Regular season
### Conferences
#### Conference winners and tournaments

| Conference | Regular season winner | Conference player of the year | Conference tournament | Tournament venue (City) | Tournament winner |
| Big Six Conference | Kansas | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Big Ten Conference | Purdue | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Border Conference | New Mexico State | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Dartmouth | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Eastern Intercollegiate Conference | Temple | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Metropolitan New York Conference | NYU | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Missouri Valley Conference | Oklahoma A&M | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| New England Conference | Rhode Island State | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Northern California Conference | San Jose State & Santa Clara | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Pacific Coast Conference | Oregon (North); Stanford (South) | | No Tournament; Stanford defeated Oregon in best-of-three conference championship playoff series | No Tournament; Stanford defeated Oregon in best-of-three conference championship playoff series | No Tournament; Stanford defeated Oregon in best-of-three conference championship playoff series |
| Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference | Colorado & Utah | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Southeastern Conference | Georgia Tech | None selected | 1938 SEC men's basketball tournament | Huey Long Field House (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) | Georgia Tech |
| Southern Conference | North Carolina | None selected | 1938 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament | Thompson Gym (Raleigh, North Carolina) | Duke |
| Southwest Conference | Arkansas | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |

#### Conference standings

1937–38 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings :
| 1937–38 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Kansas9–1 .90018–2  .900 Oklahoma8–2 .80014–4  .778 Missouri4–6 .4009–9  .500 Nebraska4–6 .4009–11  .450 Kansas State3–7 .3007–11  .389 Iowa State2–8 .2006–9  .400 | 1937–38 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Purdue10–2 .83318–2  .900 Minnesota9–3 .75016–4  .800 Ohio State7–5 .58312–8  .600 Northwestern7–5 .58310–10  .500 Michigan6–6 .50012–8  .600 Iowa6–6 .50011–9  .550 Wisconsin5–7 .41710–10  .500 Illinois4–8 .3339–9  .500 Indiana4–8 .33310–10  .500 Chicago2–10 .1676–12  .333 | 1937–38 Border Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT New Mexico A&M18–0 1.00022–3  .880 Arizona9–7 .56313–8  .619 Arizona State–Tempe9–9 .50011–12  .478 Texas Tech7–7 .5009–13  .409 New Mexico6–10 .3759–16  .360 Arizona State–Flagstaff4–12 .2506–15  .286 Texas State M&M3–11 .2144–17  .190 |
| 1937–38 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Dartmouth8–4 .66720–5  .800 Harvard7–5 .58313–5  .722 Penn7–5 .5838–10  .444 Cornell6–6 .50011–7  .611 Columbia6–6 .50010–8  .556 Princeton5–7 .41710–10  .500 Yale3–9 .2507–12  .368 | 1937–38 Eastern Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Temple9–1 .90023–2  .920 Penn State6–4 .60013–5  .722 Pittsburgh5–5 .5009–12  .429 Georgetown5–5 .5007–11  .389 Carnegie Tech3–7 .3003–7  .300 West Virginia2–8 .2006–13  .316 | 1937–38 Metropolitan New York Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT NYU6–0 1.00016–8  .667 LIU3–0 1.00023–5  .821 CCNY4–2 .66713–3  .813 St. John's4–2 .66715–4  .789 Manhattan2–4 .33312–6  .667 Brooklyn2–4 .3337–8  .467 St. Francis (NY)1–5 .16714–8  .636 Fordham0–6 .00010–10  .500 |
| 1937–38 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Oklahoma A&M13–1 .92925–3  .893 Drake10–4 .71414–6  .700 Tulsa8–6 .57112–10  .545 Grinnell7–7 .50010–9  .526 Creighton7–7 .50011–14  .440 Washington University6–8 .4294–17  .190 Saint Louis3–11 .2148–21  .276 Washburn2–12 .1439–13  .409 | 1937–38 New England Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Rhode Island State 8–0 1.00019–2  .905 Connecticut 4–4 .50013–5  .722 New Hampshire 4–4 .50012–6  .667 Northeastern 4–4 .5006–12  .333 Maine 1–7 .1254–9  .308 | 1937–38 Northern California Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT San Jose State6–2 .75019–4  .826 Santa Clara6–2 .75012–6  .667 Saint Mary's5–3 .62510–9  .526 San Francisco3–5 .37510–12  .455 Pacific0–8 .0006–13  .316 |
| 1937–38 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT North Oregon14–6 .70025–8  .758 Washington13–7 .65029–7  .806 Washington State12–8 .60019–11  .633 Idaho12–8 .60024–11  .686 Oregon State6–14 .30017–16  .515 Montana3–17 .15010–19  .345 South Stanford †10–2 .83321–3  .875 California8–4 .66718–11  .621 USC6–6 .50017–9  .654 UCLA0–12 .0004–20  .167 † Conference playoff series winner | 1937–38 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Utah10–2 .83320–4  .833 Colorado10–2 .83315–6  .714 Wyoming8–4 .66712–5  .706 Utah State6–6 .50011–9  .550 BYU4–8 .3338–13  .381 Colorado State3–9 .2507–9  .438 Denver1–11 .0832–16  .111 | 1937–38 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Kentucky6–0 1.00013–5  .722 Ole Miss11–2 .84622–12  .647 Georgia Tech †9–2 .81818–2  .900 Auburn6–3 .66714–5  .737 Tennessee7–4 .63615–8  .652 LSU7–6 .53810–10  .500 Tulane5–6 .4558–10  .444 Mississippi State7–9 .4389–12  .429 Georgia4–6 .40012–10  .545 Vanderbilt4–8 .3339–12  .429 Florida3–7 .30011–9  .550 Alabama4–12 .2504–13  .235 Sewanee2–10 .1674–13  .235 † Regular-season championship and SEC Tournament winner |
| 1937–38 Southern Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT North Carolina13–3 .81316–5  .762 North Carolina State10–3 .76913–6  .684 The Citadel7–3 .70013–5  .722 Clemson9–4 .69216–7  .696 Duke †9–5 .64315–9  .625 Richmond7–4 .63615–5  .750 Maryland6–4 .60015–9  .625 Washington and Lee6–5 .54512–9  .571 Wake Forest7–8 .4677–12  .368 Virginia Tech4–5 .4446–8  .429 Davidson4–11 .26710–12  .455 Furman2–6 .2506–13  .316 VMI2–7 .2224–11  .267 South Carolina2–12 .1433–21  .125 William & Mary0–9 .0002–10  .167 † Southern Conference Tournament winner | 1937–38 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Arkansas11–1 .91719–3  .864 Baylor9–3 .75010–6  .625 SMU8–4 .6679–6  .600 Texas A&M6–6 .50010–8  .556 Texas5–7 .41711–11  .500 Rice2–10 .1676–17  .261 TCU1–11 .0838–15  .348 |

### Major independents

A total of 46 college teams played as major independents. St. Bonaventure (9–0) was undefeated, and Western Kentucky State (30–3) finished with the most wins.
1937–38 NCAA men's basketball independents standings :
* 1937–38 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
* vteConfOverall
* TeamW L PCTW L PCT
* St. Bonaventure– –9–0
* 1.000
* Western Kentucky State– –30–3
* .909
* Bradley– –18–2
* .900
* Marshall– –28–4
* .875
* Notre Dame– –20–3
* .870
* Army– –12–2
* .857
* Villanova– –25–5
* .833
* Montana State– –22–5
* .815
* Bowling Green State– –16–4
* .800
* Detroit– –16–4
* .800
* Navy– –11–3
* .786
* George Washington– –13–4
* .765
* Marquette– –14–5
* .737
* Syracuse– –14–5
* .737
* Rutgers– –11–4
* .733
* St. Joseph's– –13–5
* .722
* Toledo– –14–6
* .700
* Miami (Ohio)– –11–5
* .688
* Valparaiso– –13–6
* .684
* Loyola (Ill.)– –12–8
* .600
* Ohio– –11–8
* .579
* Loyola (Md.)– –9–7
* .563
* Seton Hall– –10–8
* .556
* DePaul– –12–10
* .545
* Bucknell– –7–6
* .538
* La Salle– –9–8
* .529
* Lafayette– –9–8
* .529
* Michigan State Normal– –9–8
* .529
* Colgate– –10–9
* .526
* Xavier– –10–9
* .526
* Boston University– –9–9
* .500
* Butler– –11–12
* .478
* Canisius– –8–9
* .471
* Lehigh– –7–8
* .467
* Muhlenberg– –9–11
* .450
* Kent State– –10–13
* .435
* Wichita Municipal– –10–13
* .435
* Brown– –7–11
* .389
* Niagara– –8–13
* .381
* Virginia– –6–10
* .375
* Cincinnati– –6–11
* .353
* Dayton– –6–11
* .353
* Duquesne– –6–11
* .353
* Western State Teachers– –6–12
* .333
* Louisville– –4–11
* .267
* Indiana State– –1–17
* .056

### Statistical leaders
## Post-season tournaments
### National Invitation Tournament
#### Semifinals & finals

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| Oklahoma A&M | 55 | | |
| Temple | 56 | | |
| Temple | 56 | Temple | 60 |
| | | Colorado | 36 |
| Colorado | 48 | Colorado | 36 |
| NYU | 47 | Third place | Third place |
| | | Oklahoma A&M | 37 |
| | | NYU | 24 |

## Awards
### Consensus All-American team

Consensus Team :
| Player | Class | Team |
| Meyer Bloom | Senior | Temple |
| Hank Luisetti | Senior | Stanford |
| John Moir | Senior | Notre Dame |
| Paul Nowak | Senior | Notre Dame |
| Fred Pralle | Senior | Kansas |
| Jewell Young | Senior | Purdue |

### Major player of the year awards

* Helms Player of the Year: Hank Luisetti, Stanford (retroactive selection in 1944)

### Other major awards

* NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Bernie Fliegel, CCNY

## Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
| Team | Former Coach | New Coach | Reason |
| Georgetown | Fred Mesmer | Elmer Ripley | Mesmer stepped aside after seven seasons to allow Ripley to return for a second stint as head coach. |
| Indiana | Everett Dean | Branch McCracken | |
| Oklahoma | Hugh McDermott | Bruce Drake | |
| Stanford | John Bunn | Everett Dean | |