# 1941–42 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1941–42 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1941, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1942 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 28, 1942, at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The Stanford Indians won their first NCAA national championship with a 53–38 victory over the Dartmouth Big Green.

## Season headlines

* The Metropolitan New York Conference did not compete during the season. Its members played as independents.
* Dartmouth and Kansas became the first teams to play in more than one NCAA tournament when they appeared in the 1942 tournament.
* In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Stanford as its national champion for the 1941–42 season.
* In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Stanford as its national champion for the 1941–42 season.

## Conference membership changes

| School | Former conference | New conference |
| George Washington Colonials | Independent | Southern Conference |
| Sewanee Tigers | Independent | Non-major basketball program |
| Washburn Ichabods | Missouri Valley Conference | Non-major basketball program |

## 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 & Oklahoma | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Big Ten Conference | Illinois | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Border Conference | West Texas State | 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 | Creighton & Oklahoma A&M | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Mountain States (Skyline) Conference | Colorado | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| New England Conference | Rhode Island State | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Pacific Coast Conference | Oregon State (North); Stanford (South) | | No Tournament; Stanford defeated Oregon State in best-of-three conference championship playoff series | No Tournament; Stanford defeated Oregon State in best-of-three conference championship playoff series | No Tournament; Stanford defeated Oregon State in best-of-three conference championship playoff series |
| Southeastern Conference | Kentucky | None selected | 1942 SEC men's basketball tournament | Jefferson County Armory, (Louisville, Kentucky) | Kentucky |
| Southern Conference | Duke | None selected | 1942 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

1941–42 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings :
| 1941–42 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Kansas8–2 .80017–5  .773 Oklahoma8–2 .80011–7  .611 Iowa State5–5 .50011–6  .647 Nebraska4–6 .4006–13  .316 Kansas State3–7 .3008–10  .444 Missouri2–8 .2006–12  .333 | 1941–42 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Illinois13–2 .86718–5  .783 Indiana10–5 .66715–6  .714 Wisconsin10–5 .66714–7  .667 Iowa10–5 .66712–8  .600 Minnesota9–6 .60015–6  .714 Purdue9–6 .60014–7  .667 Northwestern5–10 .3338–13  .381 Michigan5–10 .3336–14  .300 Ohio State4–11 .2676–14  .300 Chicago0–15 .0001–20  .048 | 1941–42 Border Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT West Texas State16–0 1.00028–3  .903 Texas Tech12–4 .75016–11  .593 Arizona State–Tempe10–6 .62510–10  .500 Arizona State–Flagstaff8–8 .50011–10  .524 Texas State M&M7–9 .43811–11  .500 Arizona6–10 .3759–13  .409 Hardin–Simmons6–10 .3756–10  .375 New Mexico5–11 .3139–13  .409 New Mexico A&M2–14 .1258–18  .308 |
| 1941–42 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Dartmouth10–2 .83322–4  .846 Princeton10–2 .83316–5  .762 Cornell7–5 .5839–12  .429 Pennsylvania5–7 .4179–9  .500 Harvard5–7 .4178–16  .333 Yale3–9 .2507–12  .368 Columbia2–10 .1672–13  .133 | 1941–42 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Creighton9–1 .90019–5  .792 Oklahoma A&M9–1 .90020–6  .769 Washington University4–6 .40010–13  .435 Saint Louis4–6 .4008–12  .400 Tulsa3–7 .3003–13  .188 Drake1–9 .1002–13  .133 | 1941–42 Mountain States Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Colorado11–1 .91716–2  .889 BYU9–3 .75017–3  .850 Wyoming9–3 .75015–5  .750 Utah7–5 .58313–7  .650 Utah State3–9 .2506–10  .375 Denver2–10 .1674–16  .200 Colorado State1–11 .0833–16  .158 |
| 1941–42 New England Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Rhode Island State 8–0 1.00018–4  .818 Connecticut 6–2 .75012–5  .706 Northeastern 4–4 .5006–9  .400 Maine 2–6 .2507–7  .500 New Hampshire 0–8 .0004–15  .211 | 1941–42 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT North Oregon State11–5 .68818–9  .667 Washington10–6 .62518–7  .720 Washington State9–7 .56321–8  .724 Oregon7–9 .43812–15  .444 Idaho3–13 .18812–16  .429 South Stanford †11–1 .91728–4  .875 USC7–5 .58312–8  .600 California4–8 .33311–19  .367 UCLA2–10 .1675–18  .217 † Conference playoff series winner | 1941–42 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Tennessee7–1 .87519–3  .864 Alabama13–4 .76518–6  .750 Kentucky †6–2 .75019–6  .760 LSU8–3 .7278–7  .533 Auburn9–5 .64311–6  .647 Mississippi State9–6 .60013–7  .650 Georgia5–8 .3857–10  .412 Georgia Tech4–7 .3648–8  .500 Florida3–8 .2738–9  .471 Vanderbilt3–8 .2737–9  .438 Tulane3–9 .2504–12  .250 Ole Miss3–12 .2004–15  .211 † Regular-season championship and SEC Tournament winner |
| 1941–42 Southern Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Duke †15–1 .93822–2  .917 George Washington8–3 .72711–9  .550 Wake Forest13–5 .72216–8  .667 North Carolina State9–4 .69215–7  .682 William & Mary8–4 .66715–9  .625 South Carolina8–4 .66712–9  .571 North Carolina9–5 .64314–9  .609 Washington and Lee7–7 .50010–15  .400 Furman7–8 .46710–9  .526 Richmond4–8 .3339–9  .500 Virginia Tech4–8 .33310–10  .500 VMI5–10 .3337–11  .389 Maryland3–8 .2737–15  .318 Davidson3–9 .25012–13  .480 Clemson2–10 .1673–14  .176 The Citadel1–12 .0772–14  .125 † Southern Conference Tournament winner | 1941–42 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Arkansas10–2 .83319–4  .826 Rice10–2 .83322–5  .815 TCU6–6 .50013–10  .565 Baylor6–6 .50011–9  .550 Texas5–7 .41714–9  .609 Texas A&M4–8 .3338–16  .333 SMU1–11 .0833–16  .158 |

### Major independents

A total of 65 college teams played as major independents. LIU (25–3) had the best winning percentage (.893) and Western Kentucky State (29–5) finished with the most wins.
1941–42 NCAA men's basketball independents standings :
* 1941–42 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
* vteConfOverall
* TeamW L PCTW L PCT
* LIU– –25–3
* .893
* St. Francis (NY)– –16–2
* .889
* Penn State– –18–3
* .857
* Western Kentucky State– –29–5
* .853
* CCNY– –16–3
* .842
* Seton Hall– –16–3
* .842
* West Virginia– –19–4
* .826
* Toledo– –23–5
* .821
* Loyola (Md.)– –18–4
* .818
* Indiana State– –17–4
* .810
* Saint Mary's– –20–5
* .800
* St. John's– –16–5
* .762
* Bradley– –15–5
* .750
* Loyola (Ill.)– –17–6
* .739
* Niagara– –16–6
* .727
* Notre Dame– –16–6
* .727
* Duquesne– –15–6
* .714
* Michigan State Normal– –15–6
* .714
* Syracuse– –15–6
* .714
* Muhlenberg– –17–7
* .708
* Canisius– –12–6
* .667
* Dayton– –12–6
* .667
* St. Joseph's– –12–6
* .667
* Boston University– –9–5
* .643
* Montana State– –14–8
* .636
* Fordham– –12–7
* .632
* NYU– –12–7
* .632
* Army– –10–6
* .625
* Marshall– –15–9
* .625
* Detroit– –13–8
* .619
* Brown– –11–7
* .611
* St. Bonaventure– –12–8
* .600
* Western Michigan– –12–8
* .600
* Butler– –13–9
* .591
* Villanova– –13–9
* .591
* Montana– –14–10
* .583
* San Francisco– –14–10
* .583
* Navy– –8–6
* .571
* Ohio– –12–9
* .571
* Siena– –9–7
* .563
* Kent State– –14–11
* .560
* Brooklyn– –10–8
* .556
* Holy Cross– –5–4
* .556
* Temple– –10–8
* .556
* Xavier– –10–8
* .556
* Washington & Jefferson– –9–8
* .529
* Santa Clara– –10–9
* .526
* La Salle– –12–11
* .522
* Bucknell– –9–9
* .500
* Cincinnati– –10–10
* .500
* Manhattan– –10–10
* .500
* Lehigh– –7–8
* .467
* DePaul– –10–12
* .455
* Georgetown– –9–11
* .450
* Rutgers– –8–10
* .444
* Louisville– –7–10
* .412
* Virginia– –7–10
* .412
* Bowling Green State– –8–12
* .400
* Miami (Ohio)– –6–9
* .400
* Colgate– –5–9
* .357
* Marquette– –6–11
* .353
* Pittsburgh– –5–10
* .333
* Lafayette– –4–12
* .250
* Valparaiso– –4–13
* .235
* Wichita Municipal– –4–16
* .200

### Statistical leaders
## Post-season tournaments
### NCAA tournament
#### Semifinals & final

| National Semifinals | National Semifinals | National Semifinals | National Final | National Final | National Final |
| Dartmouth | Dartmouth | 47 | | | |
| Kentucky | Kentucky | 28 | | | |
| Kentucky | Kentucky | 28 | Dartmouth | Dartmouth | 38 |
| | | | Stanford | Stanford | 53 |
| Stanford | Stanford | 46 | Stanford | Stanford | 53 |
| Colorado | Colorado | 35 | | | |

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

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| West Virginia | 51 | | |
| Toledo | 39 | | |
| Toledo | 39 | West Virginia | 47 |
| | | Western Kentucky State | 45 |
| Creighton | 36 | Western Kentucky State | 45 |
| Western Kentucky State | 49 | Third place | Third place |
| | | Toledo | 46 |
| | | Creighton | 48 |

## Awards
### Consensus All-American teams

Consensus First Team :
| Player | Class | Team |
| Price Brookfield | Senior | West Texas State |
| Bob Davies | Senior | Seton Hall |
| Bob Kinney | Senior | Rice |
| John Kotz | Junior | Wisconsin |
| Andy Phillip | Sophomore | Illinois |
Consensus Second Team :
| Player | Class | Team |
| Don Burness | Senior | Stanford |
| Gus Doerner | Senior | Evansville |
| Bob Doll | Senior | Colorado |
| John Mandic | Senior | Oregon State |
| Stan Modzelewski | Senior | Rhode Island State |
| George Munroe | Junior | Dartmouth |

### Major player of the year awards

* Helms Player of the Year: Stan Modzelewski, Rhode Island State

### Other major awards

* NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Jim White, St. John's (retroactive selection in 1944)

## Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
| Team | Former Coach | New Coach |
| Bowling Green | Paul Landis | Harold Anderson |
| DePaul | Bill Wendt | Ray Meyer |
| Kansas State | Jack Gardner | Chili Cochrane |
| Toledo | Harold Anderson | Burl Friddle |
| Yale | Ken Loeffler | Red Rolfe |