# 1927–28 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1927–28 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1927, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1928.

## Season headlines

* On April 9, 1927, the Joint Basketball Rules Committee announced a sudden change in dribbling rules, eliminating the continuous dribble that had become legal in the 1909–10 season and replacing it with the rule in use from the 1901–02 through 1908–09 seasons, which restricted each dribble to a single bounce. The committee made the change in the belief that elimination of the continuous dribble would make the game less rough and reward greater team play by encouraging more passing. In response, Kansas head coach Phog Allen founded the National Association of Basketball Coaches, which under his leadership sponsored a nationwide protest against the change. By May 1927, the committee had reversed its decision, and the continuous dribble remained legal.
* After the end of the 1927–28 season, the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) split into the Big Six Conference and the Missouri Valley Conference in May 1928. Both claimed to be a continuation of the MVIAA.
* In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Pittsburgh as its national champion for the 1927–28 season.
* In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Pittsburgh as its national champion for the 1927–28 season.

## Conference membership changes

| School | Former conference | New conference |
| UCLA Bruins | Independent | Pacific Coast Conference |

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

| Conference | Regular season winner | Conference player of the year | Conference tournament | Tournament venue (City) | Tournament winner |
| Big Ten Conference | Indiana & Purdue | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Penn | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Oklahoma | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Pacific Coast Conference | Washington (North); USC (South) | | No Tournament; USC defeated Washington in best-of-three conference championship playoff series | No Tournament; USC defeated Washington in best-of-three conference championship playoff series | No Tournament; USC defeated Washington in best-of-three conference championship playoff series |
| Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference | Wyoming (Eastern); Montana State (Western) | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Southern Conference | Auburn | None selected | 1928 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament | Municipal Auditorium (Atlanta, Georgia) | Mississippi |
| Southwest Conference | Arkansas | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |

#### Conference standings

1927–28 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings :
| 1927–28 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Indiana10–2 .83315–2  .882 Purdue10–2 .83315–2  .882 Wisconsin9–3 .75013–4  .765 Northwestern9–3 .75012–5  .706 Michigan7–5 .58310–7  .588 Chicago5–7 .4178–9  .471 Iowa3–9 .2506–11  .353 Ohio State3–9 .2505–12  .294 Illinois2–10 .1675–12  .294 Minnesota2–10 .1674–12  .250 | 1927–28 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Penn†7–3 .70022–5  .815 Princeton7–3 .70014–10  .583 Dartmouth6–4 .60019–8  .704 Cornell5–5 .5007–11  .389 Yale3–7 .30012–9  .571 Columbia2–8 .2004–13  .235 † Conference championship winner | 1927–28 Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Oklahoma18–0 1.00018–0  1.000 Missouri13–5 .72213–5  .722 Oklahoma A&M11–7 .61111–8  .579 Kansas9–9 .5009–9  .500 Kansas State8–10 .44410–10  .500 Washington University8–10 .44410–12  .455 Drake7–11 .3897–13  .350 Nebraska7–11 .3897–11  .389 Grinnell6–12 .3336–13  .316 Iowa State3–15 .1673–15  .167 |
| 1927–28 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT North Washington9–1 .90022–6  .786 Oregon8–2 .80018–3  .857 Idaho4–6 .4007–7  .500 Oregon State4–6 .40015–16  .484 Montana4–6 .4006–8  .429 Washington State1–9 .1007–17  .292 South USC †6–3 .66722–4  .846 California6–3 .6679–6  .600 UCLA5–4 .55610–5  .667 Stanford1–8 .1118–13  .381 † Conference playoff series winner | 1927–28 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings ConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Eastern Wyoming9–3 .75013–8  .619 Colorado College9–5 .64310–7  .588 Denver8–6 .57110–6  .625 Northern Colorado8–6 .5718–6  .571 Colorado5–7 .4175–7  .417 Colorado Agricultural5–7 .4175–7  .417 Colorado Mines5–7 .4175–7  .417 Western State1–9 .10010–12  .455 Western Montana State11–1 .91736–2  .947 Utah Agricultural5–7 .4177–7  .500 Utah5–7 .4177–10  .412 BYU3–9 .25013–10  .565 |
| 1927–28 Southern Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Auburn12–1 .92320–2  .909 Mississippi A&M10–1 .90913–7  .650 North Carolina8–1 .88917–2  .895 Maryland8–1 .88914–4  .778 Kentucky8–1 .88912–6  .667 LSU7–3 .70014–4  .778 Virginia10–5 .66720–6  .769 Georgia8–5 .61513–10  .565 VMI5–5 .5007–6  .538 Alabama5–5 .50010–10  .500 Clemson5–7 .4179–14  .391 South Carolina4–7 .3648–12  .400 Mississippi†5–9 .35710–9  .526 NC State3–6 .33310–8  .556 Vanderbilt2–5 .2865–7  .417 Virginia Tech3–7 .3005–11  .313 Washington and Lee3–7 .3005–12  .294 Florida2–10 .1675–16  .238 Sewanee1–5 .1672–7  .222 Tulane3–15 .1673–15  .167 Tennessee0–8 .0000–12  .000 † Southern Conference Tournament winner | 1927–28 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Arkansas12–0 1.00019–1  .950 SMU10–2 .83314–3  .824 Texas7–5 .58312–5  .706 TCU5–7 .4179–8  .529 Rice3–9 .2503–9  .250 Baylor2–8 .2008–10  .444 Texas A&M1–9 .1004–12  .250 |

### Independents

A total of 90 college teams played as major independents. Pittsburgh (21–0) finished both undefeated and with the most wins.
1927–28 NCAA men's basketball independents standings :
* 1927–28 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
* vteConfOverall
* TeamW L PCTW L PCT
* Pittsburgh– –21–0
* 1.000
* Detroit City College– –18–1
* .947
* Carleton– –13–1
* .929
* Illinois Wesleyan– –13–1
* .929
* Georgetown– –12–1
* .923
* Springfield (Mass.)– –18–2
* .900
* Xavier– –9–1
* .900
* Butler– –19–3
* .864
* Santa Clara– –12–2
* .857
* Westminster (Pa.)– –17–3
* .850
* Furman– –15–3
* .833
* West Texas State– –19–4
* .826
* Evansville– –14–3
* .824
* Notre Dame– –18–4
* .818
* St. John's (N.Y.)– –18–4
* .818
* Arizona– –13–3
* .813
* Miami (Ohio)– –13–3
* .813
* Fordham– –16–4
* .800
* Loyola (Ill.)– –16–4
* .800
* Northern Arizona State– –12–3
* .800
* Connecticut– –11–3
* .786
* Cincinnati– –14–4
* .778
* Temple– –17–5
* .773
* Manhattan– –13–4
* .765
* Wooster– –13–4
* .765
* Bucknell– –16–5
* .762
* Pittsburg State– –16–5
* .762
* St. Ignatius– –16–5
* .762
* Louisville– –12–4
* .750
* Rhode Island State– –15–5
* .750
* William & Mary– –15–5
* .750
* Bradley– –14–5
* .737
* CCNY– –11–4
* .733
* Detroit– –11–4
* .733
* Michigan State– –11–4
* .733
* Valparaiso– –11–4
* .733
* Navy– –13–5
* .722
* The Citadel– –13–5
* .722
* Indiana State– –12–5
* .706
* Wichita Municipal– –14–6
* .700
* Seton Hall– –9–4
* .692
* Washburn– –9–4
* .692
* Dayton– –11–5
* .688
* Niagara– –11–5
* .688
* Richmond– –11–5
* .688
* Holy Cross– –13–6
* .684
* Duquesne– –15–7
* .682
* Tempe State– –10–5
* .667
* Army– –10–5
* .667
* Lehigh– –10–5
* .667
* Mount Union– –12–6
* .667
* Penn State– –10–5
* .667
* St. Bonaventure– –14–7
* .667
* West Virginia– –13–7
* .650
* George Washington– –11–6
* .647
* Duke– –9–5
* .643
* Rutgers– –9–5
* .643
* New Mexico– –12–7
* .632
* Syracuse– –10–6
* .625
* Canisius– –8–5
* .615
* Colgate– –12–8
* .600
* Lafayette– –10–7
* .588
* Western Kentucky State– –10–7
* .588
* New York University– –8–6
* .571
* Bowling Green State– –9–7
* .563
* Davidson– –9–7
* .563
* Texas Tech– –9–7
* .563
* Toledo– –9–7
* .563
* Harvard– –8–7
* .533
* Saint Francis (N.Y.)– –9–8
* .529
* Western State Teachers– –9–8
* .529
* Boston University– –8–8
* .500
* Buffalo– –8–8
* .500
* Marshall– –10–10
* .500
* Ohio– –10–10
* .500
* Saint Louis– –11–11
* .500
* DePauw– –8–9
* .471
* Saint Mary's (Calif.)– –7–8
* .467
* Texas State M&M– –6–8
* .429
* Brown– –7–10
* .412
* Marquette– –7–11
* .389
* Muhlenberg– –6–11
* .353
* St. Joseph's– –6–11
* .353
* Wake Forest– –6–14
* .300
* DePaul– –2–5
* .286
* Villanova– –4–11
* .267
* Loyola (Md.)– –4–12
* .250
* New Mexico A&M– –3–11
* .214
* Kent State Normal– –3–13
* .188
* Tulsa– –2–12
* .143

### Statistical leaders
## Awards
### Helms College Basketball All-Americans

The practice of selecting a Consensus All-American Team did not begin until the 1928–29 season. The Helms Athletic Foundation later retroactively selected a list of All-Americans for the 1927–28 season.
Helms NCAA All-Americans :
| Player | Team |
| Victor Holt | Oklahoma |
| Charley Hyatt | Pittsburgh |
| Alfred James | Washington |
| Stretch Murphy | Purdue |
| Bennie Oosterbaan | Michigan |
| Sykes Reed | Pittsburgh |
| Glen Rose | Arkansas |
| Joe Schaaf | Penn |
| Ernest Simpson | Colorado College |
| Cat Thompson | Montana State |

### Major player of the year awards

* Helms Player of the Year: Victor Holt, Oklahoma (retroactive selection in 1944)

## Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
| Team | Former Coach | Interim Coach | New Coach | Reason |
| Oregon State | Robert Hager | | Slats Gill | |
| Washington State | Karl Schlademan | | Jack Friel | |