# 1916–17 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1916–17 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1916, progressed through the regular season, and concluded in March 1917.

## Season headlines

* In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Washington State as its national champion for the 1916–17 season.
* In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Washington State as its national champion for the 1916–17 season.

## Conference membership changes

| School | Former Conference | New Conference |
| Oregon Webfoots | No basketball team | Pacific Coast Conference |
| Southwestern Pirates | Southwest Conference | No major basketball program |
| Stanford Indians | Independent | Pacific Coast Conference |
NOTE: Although Oregon joined the Pacific Coast Conference in 1915, it did not field a basketball team during the 1915–16 season, and its first season of Pacific Coast Conference play was 1916–17.

## Regular season
### Conferences
#### Conference winners

| Conference | Regular Season Winner | Conference Player of the Year | Conference Tournament | Tournament Venue (City) | Tournament Winner |
| Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Yale | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Kansas State | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Pacific Coast Conference | Washington State | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference | Colorado College | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Southwest Conference | Texas | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Western Conference | Illinois & Minnesota | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |

#### Conference standings

1916–17 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings :
| 1916–17 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Yale9–1 .90019–5  .792 Princeton8–2 .80015–5  .750 Penn5–5 .50011–7  .611 Dartmouth4–6 .40010–12  .455 Columbia3–7 .3006–8  .429 Cornell1–9 .1006–10  .375 | 1916–17 Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Kansas State10–2 .83315–2  .882 Missouri10–4 .71412–4  .750 Iowa State6–4 .60012–6  .667 Kansas9–7 .56312–6  .667 Nebraska4–8 .33312–10  .545 Washington University1–11 .0836–13  .316 Drake0–4 .0005–7  .417 | 1916–17 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Washington State8–1 .88925–1  .962 California5–1 .83315–1  .938 Washington7–5 .5838–8  .500 Oregon Agricultural7–6 .53811–7  .611 Stanford0–6 .0008–8  .500 Oregon0–8 .0000–11  .000 |
| 1916–17 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings ConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Colorado College7–1 .87510–1  .909 Colorado6–2 .7506–2  .750 Denver4–4 .5004–4  .500 Colorado Agricultural3–5 .3758–5  .615 Colorado Mines0–8 .0000–8  .000 | 1916–17 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Texas7–1 .87513–3  .813 Texas A&M3–3 .50011–8  .579 Baylor0–6 .0007–10  .412 | 1916–17 Western Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Minnesota10–2 .83317–2  .895 Illinois10–2 .83313–3  .813 Purdue7–2 .77811–3  .786 Wisconsin9–3 .75015–3  .833 Indiana3–5 .37513–6  .684 Chicago4–8 .33313–15  .464 Ohio State3–9 .25015–11  .577 Northwestern2–10 .1673–11  .214 Iowa1–8 .1117–9  .438 |

### Independents

A total of 129 college teams played as major independents. Among independents that played at least 10 games, Navy (11–0) and Washington and Lee (13–0) were undefeated, and Louisiana State (20–2) and Trinity (20–4) finished with the most wins.
1916–17 NCAA men's basketball independents standings :
* 1916–17 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
* vteConfOverall
* TeamW L PCTW L PCT
* Navy– –11–0
* 1.000
* Washington and Lee– –13–0
* 1.000
* Washington College– –2–0
* 1.000
* Montana State– –19–1
* .950
* Western Reserve– –12–1
* .923
* Kalamazoo– –12–1
* .923
* Louisiana State– –20–2
* .909
* Wabash– –19–2
* .905
* Canisius– –9–1
* .900
* Creighton– –18–2
* .900
* Virginia Tech– –17–2
* .895
* Georgia– –8–1
* .889
* North Dakota– –8–1
* .889
* Akron– –14–2
* .875
* Brigham Young– –14–2
* .875
* Roanoke– –7–1
* .875
* Central Missouri– –13–2
* .867
* Carleton– –12–2
* .857
* The Citadel– –6–1
* .857
* Penn State– –12–2
* .857
* SMU– –12–2
* .857
* Wisconsin–Stevens Point– –11–2
* .846
* Arizona– –10–2
* .833
* CCNY– –15–3
* .833
* Trinity (N.C.)– –20–4
* .833
* Denison– –13–3
* .813
* Seton Hall– –13–3
* .813
* Southwestern (Kan.)– –13–3
* .813
* Syracuse– –13–3
* .813
* Clemson– –8–2
* .800
* Miami (Ohio)– –12–3
* .800
* New Mexico– –4–1
* .800
* Santa Clara– –8–2
* .800
* Colgate– –15–4
* .789
* Lehigh– –15–4
* .789
* St. Joseph's– –18–5
* .783
* Indiana State– –13–4
* .765
* New York University– –9–3
* .750
* Oklahoma A&M– –11–4
* .733
* Augustana (Ill.)– –8–3
* .727
* Dayton– –8–3
* .727
* Fordham– –8–3
* .727
* Marquette– –8–3
* .727
* North Dakota Agricultural– –10–4
* .714
* Saint Mary's (Calif.)– –15–6
* .714
* Duquesne– –7–3
* .700
* Millikin– –14–6
* .700
* Nebraska Wesleyan– –14–6
* .700
* Grinnell– –9–4
* .692
* Bucknell– –11–5
* .688
* Gettysburg– –11–5
* .688
* Michigan State– –11–5
* .688
* Tulane– –11–5
* .688
* Marietta– –13–6
* .684
* Boston University– –6–3
* .667
* Georgetown– –8–4
* .667
* Nevada– –6–3
* .667
* New Mexico A&M– –10–5
* .667
* North Central– –10–5
* .667
* Pittsburgh– –12–6
* .667
* Rice– –10–5
* .667
* Springfield (Mass.)– –10–5
* .667
* Tennessee– –10–5
* .667
* Toledo– –2–1
* .667
* Davidson– –11–6
* .647
* VMI– –9–5
* .643
* Richmond– –7–4
* .636
* Bradley– –10–6
* .625
* Lafayette– –15–9
* .625
* Oklahoma– –13–8
* .619
* Notre Dame– –8–5
* .615
* Utah State– –8–5
* .615
* Ole Miss– –11–7
* .611
* Tulsa– –11–7
* .611
* Mississippi A&M– –6–4
* .600
* Wake Forest– –9–6
* .600
* Virginia– –7–5
* .583
* St. John's (N.Y.)– –11–8
* .579
* Delaware– –8–6
* .571
* Union (N.Y.)– –9–7
* .563
* Detroit– –5–4
* .556
* North Carolina– –5–4
* .556
* North Carolina State– –10–8
* .556
* Catholic– –6–5
* .545
* Butler– –7–6
* .538
* Western State Normal– –7–6
* .538
* Temple– –10–9
* .526
* Auburn– –2–2
* .500
* DePauw– –7–7
* .500
* Idaho– –8–8
* .500
* Loyola (Md.)– –6–6
* .500
* Millsaps– –5–5
* .500
* Stevens Institute– –3–3
* .500
* Utah– –3–3
* .500
* Washington & Jefferson– –5–5
* .500
* West Virginia– –8–8
* .500
* Wyoming– –4–4
* .500
* George Washington– –7–8
* .467
* Manhattan– –7–8
* .467
* South Carolina– –7–8
* .467
* Grove City– –5–6
* .455
* Saint Louis– –5–6
* .455
* Rutgers– –4–5
* .444
* Alabama– –6–8
* .429
* Buffalo– –6–8
* .429
* Mount Union– –6–8
* .429
* Northern Colorado– –5–7
* .417
* Connecticut– –4–6
* .400
* Kentucky– –4–6
* .400
* Southern California– –8–12
* .400
* Wooster– –5–8
* .385
* Swarthmore– –4–7
* .364
* Franklin– –1–2
* .333
* Muhlenberg– –2–4
* .333
* Washburn– –5–11
* .313
* William & Mary– –4–9
* .308
* Niagara– –2–5
* .286
* Army– –3–8
* .273
* Cincinnati– –3–8
* .273
* Vanderbilt– –3–8
* .273
* Montana– –4–11
* .267
* Bowling Green State– –2–6
* .250
* Kent State– –2–6
* .250
* Rhode Island State– –2–6
* .250
* Rochester (N.Y.)– –4–12
* .250
* Texas Christian– –2–6
* .250
* Fairmount– –2–11
* .154
* Ohio– –2–14
* .125
* Tempe Normal– –0–1
* .000

### 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 1916–17 season.
| Player | Team |
| Clyde Alwood | Illinois |
| Cyril Haas | Princeton |
| George Hjelte | California |
| Orson Kinney | Yale |
| Harold Olsen | Wisconsin |
| F. I. Reynolds | Kansas State |
| Francis Stadsvold | Minnesota |
| Charles Taft | Yale |
| Ray Woods | Illinois |
| Harry Young | Washington and Lee |

### Major player of the year awards

* Helms Player of the Year: Ray Woods, Illinois (retroactive selection in 1944)