# 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.

## Season headlines

* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.

## Conference membership changes

| School | Former conference | New conference |
| Brooklyn Bulldogs | Metropolitan New York Conference | Independent |
| CCNY Beavers | Metropolitan New York Conference | Independent |
| Fordham Rams | Metropolitan New York Conference | Independent |
| Georgetown Hoyas | Independent | No athletic programs |
| Harvard Crimson | Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Independent |
| Manhattan Jaspers | Metropolitan New York Conference | Independent |
| NYU Violets | Metropolitan New York Conference | Independent |
| Northeastern Huskies | New England Conference | Independent |
| St. Francis (NY) Terriers | Metropolitan New York Conference | Independent |
| St. John's Redmen | Metropolitan New York Conference | Independent |
| Yale Bulldogs | Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | 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 | Iowa State & Oklahoma | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Big Ten Conference | Ohio State | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Border Conference | New Mexico & Arizona State–Flagstaff | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Dartmouth | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Metropolitan New York Conference | Did not play as conference | Did not play as conference | Did not play as conference | Did not play as conference | Did not play as conference |
| Missouri Valley Conference | Oklahoma A&M | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| New England Conference | Connecticut | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Pacific Coast Conference | Washington (North); California (South) | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Mountain States (Skyline) Conference | Did not play as conference | Did not play as conference | Did not play as conference | Did not play as conference | Did not play as conference |
| Southeastern Conference | Kentucky | None selected | 1944 SEC men's basketball tournament | Jefferson County Armory, (Louisville, Kentucky) | Kentucky |
| Southern Conference | North Carolina | None selected | 1944 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament | Thompson Gym (Raleigh, North Carolina) | Duke |
| Southwest Conference | Arkansas & Rice | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |

#### Conference standings

1943–44 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings :
| 1943–44 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Iowa State9–1 .90014–4  .778 Oklahoma9–1 .90015–8  .652 Kansas5–5 .50017–9  .654 Missouri5–5 .50010–9  .526 Kansas State1–9 .1007–15  .318 Nebraska1–9 .1002–13  .133 | 1943–44 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Ohio State10–2 .83314–7  .667 Iowa9–3 .75014–4  .778 Wisconsin9–3 .75012–9  .571 Northwestern8–4 .66712–7  .632 Purdue8–4 .66711–10  .524 Illinois5–7 .41711–9  .550 Michigan5–7 .4178–10  .444 Minnesota2–10 .1677–14  .333 Indiana2–10 .1677–15  .318 Chicago0–8 .0001–19  .050 | 1943–44 Border Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT New Mexico3–0 1.00011–2  .846 Texas Tech0–3 .0005–18  .217 Arizona State–Flagstaff– –2–0  1.000 Arizona– –12–2  .857 Arizona State–Tempe– –12–2  .857 |
| 1943–44 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Dartmouth8–0 1.00019–2  .905 Pennsylvania6–2 .75010–4  .714 Cornell2–6 .2509–11  .450 Columbia2–6 .2507–9  .438 Princeton2–6 .2506–12  .333 | 1943–44 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Oklahoma A&M†– –27–6  .818 Washington University– –12–5  .706 Tulsa– –5–3  .625 Drake– –7–13  .350 † Regular-season championship winner | 1943–44 New England Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Connecticut 6–0 1.00010–9  .526 Rhode Island State 4–2 .66714–6  .700 Northeastern 1–5 .1678–8  .500 Maine 1–5 .1674–6  .400 |
| 1943–44 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT North Washington15–1 .93826–6  .813 Oregon11–5 .68816–10  .615 Idaho5–11 .3137–16  .304 Oregon State5–11 .3138–16  .333 Washington State4–12 .2508–19  .296 South California4–0 1.0007–3  .700 UCLA3–3 .50010–10  .500 USC1–5 .1678–12  .400 | 1943–44 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Tulane4–0 1.00016–6  .727 Georgia Tech2–0 1.00014–4  .778 Georgia0–2 .0007–10  .412 LSU0–4 .00010–15  .400 Kentucky †– –19–2  .905 Vanderbilt– –12–3  .800 † Regular-season championship and SEC Tournament winner |
| 1943–44 Southern Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT North Carolina9–1 .90017–10  .630 Virginia Tech4–1 .80011–4  .733 Duke †4–2 .66713–13  .500 Maryland2–1 .6674–14  .222 Richmond2–2 .5007–6  .538 Davidson3–4 .42916–7  .696 South Carolina1–2 .33313–2  .867 Clemson1–2 .3331–10  .091 North Carolina State2–5 .2865–13  .278 William & Mary1–3 .25010–11  .476 The Citadel0–1 .0002–3  .400 VMI0–5 .0000–14  .000 † Southern Conference Tournament winner | 1943–44 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Rice11–1 .91715–5  .750 Arkansas11–1 .91716–8  .667 Texas6–6 .50014–11  .560 SMU6–6 .5008–9  .471 TCU6–6 .5009–12  .429 Baylor2–10 .1676–12  .333 Texas A&M0–12 .0002–15  .118 |

### Major independents

A total of 61 college teams played as major independents. Army (15–0) was undefeated. Bowling Green State (22–4), DePaul (22–4), Gonzaga (22–4), and Utah (22–4) finished with the most wins.
1943–44 NCAA men's basketball independents standings :
* 1943–44 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
* vteConfOverall
* TeamW L PCTW 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
## Post-season tournaments
### NCAA tournament
#### Semifinals & final

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

### National Invitation tournament
#### Semifinals & finals

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| Oklahoma A&M | 38 | | |
| DePaul | 41 | | |
| DePaul | 41 | DePaul | 39 |
| | | St. John's | 47 |
| Kentucky | 45 | St. John's | 47 |
| St. John's | 48 | Third place | Third place |
| | | Oklahoma A&M 29 | 29 |
| | | Kentucky | 45 |

## Awards
### Consensus All-American teams

Consensus First Team :
| Player | Position | Class | Team |
| Bob Brannum | C | Sophomore | Kentucky |
| Audley Brindley | F | Sophomore | Dartmouth |
| Otto Graham | F | Senior | Northwestern |
| Leo Klier | F | Junior | Notre Dame |
| Bob Kurland | C | Sophomore | Oklahoma A&M |
| George Mikan | C | Sophomore | DePaul |
| Allie Paine | G | Junior | Oklahoma |
Consensus Second Team :
| Player | Position | Class | Team |
| Bob Dille | F | Sophomore | Valparaiso |
| Arnie Ferrin | F | Freshman | Utah |
| Don Grate | G | Junior | Ohio State |
| Dale Hall | F | Junior | Army |
| Bill Henry | C | Junior | Rice |
| Dick Triptow | G | Senior | DePaul |

### Major player of the year awards

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

### Other major awards

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

## Coaching changes

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 | |