# 1930–31 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1930–31 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1930, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1931.

## Rule changes

If the player with the ball is guarded closely and withholds the ball from play for five seconds, a "held ball" can be called.

## Season headlines

* On February 20, 1931, St. John's and Carnegie Tech met in the first college basketball game ever filmed for a newsreel.
* In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Northwestern as its national champion for the 1930–31 season.
* In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Northwestern as its national champion for the 1930–31 season.

## 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 | Northwestern | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Columbia | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Missouri Valley Conference | Creighton & Oklahoma A&M | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Pacific Coast Conference | Washington (North); USC (South) | | No Tournament; Washington defeated USC in best-of-three conference championship playoff series | No Tournament; Washington defeated USC in best-of-three conference championship playoff series | No Tournament; Washington defeated USC in best-of-three conference championship playoff series |
| Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference | Wyoming (Eastern); Utah (Western) | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Southern Conference | Georgia | None selected | 1931 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament | Municipal Auditorium (Atlanta, Georgia) | Maryland |
| Southwest Conference | TCU | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |

#### Conference standings

1930–31 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings :
| 1930–31 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Kansas7–3 .70015–3  .833 Nebraska6–4 .6009–9  .500 Kansas State5–5 .50011–6  .647 Missouri5–5 .5008–9  .471 Iowa State4–6 .4008–8  .500 Oklahoma3–7 .30010–8  .556 | 1930–31 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Northwestern11–1 .91716–1  .941 Michigan8–4 .66713–4  .765 Minnesota8–4 .66713–4  .765 Purdue8–4 .66712–5  .706 Illinois7–5 .58312–5  .706 Indiana5–7 .4179–8  .529 Chicago4–8 .3338–9  .471 Wisconsin4–8 .3338–9  .471 Ohio State3–9 .2504–13  .235 Iowa2–10 .1675–12  .294 | 1930–31 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Columbia10–0 1.00020–2  .909 Dartmouth6–4 .60014–7  .667 Yale6–4 .60015–8  .652 Cornell4–6 .40010–9  .526 Penn3–7 .3009–17  .346 Princeton1–9 .1009–13  .409 |
| 1930–31 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Creighton5–3 .6258–10  .444 Oklahoma A&M5–3 .6257–9  .438 Washington University5–3 .6256–12  .333 Grinnell3–5 .3757–8  .467 Drake2–6 .2504–15  .211 | 1930–31 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L PCTW L PCT North Washington †14–2 .87525–3  .893 Washington State10–6 .62518–7  .720 Oregon State9–7 .56319–9  .679 Oregon6–10 .37512–10  .545 Idaho1–15 .0633–16  .158 South California6–3 .66712–10  .545 USC5–4 .5568–8  .500 UCLA4–5 .4449–6  .600 Stanford3–0 1.0008–9  .471 † Conference playoff series winner | 1930–31 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Eastern Wyoming11–1 .91719–4  .826 Northern Colorado10–4 .71411–5  .688 Colorado8–4 .6678–7  .533 Western State5–4 .5568–5  .615 Denver7–7 .50010–8  .556 Colorado College5–9 .35714–15  .483 Colorado Agricultural4–8 .3334–8  .333 Colorado Mines0–12 .0000–12  .000 Western Utah8–4 .66721–6  .778 Utah State7–5 .58313–7  .650 BYU7–5 .58320–13  .606 Montana State2–10 .1679–13  .409 |
| 1930–31 Southern Conference men's basketball standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Georgia15–1 .93823–2  .920 Maryland †8–1 .88918–4  .818 Alabama11–2 .84614–6  .700 Kentucky8–2 .80015–3  .833 Auburn7–4 .6368–6  .571 Washington and Lee4–3 .57111–7  .611 Duke5–4 .55614–7  .667 Georgia Tech8–7 .53311–13  .458 Vanderbilt7–7 .50016–8  .667 North Carolina6–6 .50015–9  .625 North Carolina State5–5 .5008–8  .500 LSU4–4 .5007–8  .467 Virginia5–6 .45511–9  .550 Florida5–7 .41710–9  .526 Clemson3–5 .3756–7  .462 Sewanee3–5 .3755–9  .357 Tennessee4–8 .33311–10  .524 Ole Miss2–4 .3336–9  .400 Virginia Tech3–7 .3005–10  .333 VMI2–8 .2004–12  .250 Tulane2–10 .1676–14  .300 South Carolina1–12 .0771–17  .056 † Southern Conference Tournament winner | 1930–31 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings vteConf.Overall TeamW L PCTW L PCT TCU9–3 .75018–4  .818 SMU8–4 .6679–8  .529 Arkansas7–5 .58314–9  .609 Baylor7–5 .58312–8  .600 Texas A&M5–7 .41714–8  .636 Rice4–8 .3338–9  .471 Texas2–10 .1679–15  .375 |

### Major independents

A total of 95 college teams played as major independents. Buffalo (15–0), Central Normal (19–0), and Pittsburg State (21–0) were undefeated and Northwest Missouri State (32–6) finished with the most wins.
1930–31 NCAA men's basketball independents standings :
* 1930–31 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
* vteConf.Overall
* TeamW L PCTW L PCT
* Buffalo– –15–0
* 1.000
* Central Normal– –19–0
* 1.000
* Pittsburg State– –21–0
* 1.000
* St. John's (N.Y.)– –21–1
* .955
* Michigan State– –16–1
* .941
* Loyola (Md.)– –14–1
* .933
* Westminster (Pa.)– –13–1
* .929
* Wittenberg– –18–2
* .900
* Butler– –17–2
* .895
* Manhattan– –17–2
* .895
* Rider– –17–2
* .895
* Valparaiso– –16–2
* .889
* Wooster– –16–2
* .889
* Furman– –15–2
* .882
* Mount Union– –19–3
* .864
* West Texas State– –18–3
* .857
* East Central– –22–4
* .846
* Northwest Missouri State– –32–6
* .842
* Santa Clara– –16–3
* .842
* LIU– –15–3
* .833
* Pittsburgh– –20–4
* .833
* Navy– –14–3
* .824
* Western State Teachers– –14–3
* .824
* DePaul– –13–3
* .813
* Temple– –17–4
* .810
* Army– –12–3
* .800
* Carleton– –12–3
* .800
* Syracuse– –16–4
* .800
* Western Kentucky State– –11–3
* .786
* Wichita Municipal– –18–5
* .783
* St. Bonaventure– –10–3
* .769
* Xavier– –10–3
* .769
* Rhode Island State– –13–4
* .765
* William & Mary– –13–6
* .684
* St. Joseph's– –16–5
* .762
* CCNY– –12–4
* .750
* Ohio– –12–4
* .750
* Fordham– –14–5
* .737
* Providence– –14–5
* .737
* Tulsa– –10–4
* .714
* George Washington– –11–5
* .688
* Saint Louis– –13–6
* .684
* Arizona State– –12–6
* .667
* Bowling Green State– –10–5
* .667
* Canisius– –10–5
* .667
* DePauw– –12–6
* .667
* Duquesne– –12–6
* .667
* Harvard– –10–5
* .667
* San Francisco– –12–6
* .667
* Springfield (Mass.)– –11–6
* .647
* Connecticut– –10–6
* .625
* Holy Cross– –10–6
* .625
* Colgate– –11–7
* .611
* Marquette– –11–7
* .611
* Arizona– –9–6
* .600
* New York University– –9–6
* .600
* Notre Dame– –12–8
* .600
* New Mexico– –9–7
* .563
* Texas Tech– –11–9
* .550
* Niagara– –12–10
* .545
* Loyola (Ill.)– –8–7
* .533
* Northern Arizona State– –8–7
* .533
* Marshall– –9–8
* .529
* Bradley– –10–9
* .526
* Detroit– –10–9
* .526
* Seton Hall– –12–11
* .522
* Saint Francis (N.Y.)– –17–16
* .515
* Davidson– –8–8
* .500
* Brown– –9–10
* .474
* Kent State– –8–9
* .471
* Indiana State– –7–8
* .467
* Boston University– –6–7
* .462
* Montana– –10–12
* .455
* West Virginia– –9–11
* .450
* Wake Forest– –8–10
* .444
* Texas State M&M– –7–9
* .438
* Richmond– –6–8
* .429
* Lafayette– –8–12
* .400
* The Citadel– –6–9
* .400
* Muhlenberg– –6–9
* .400
* Rutgers– –6–9
* .400
* New Mexico A&M– –9–14
* .391
* Bucknell– –6–11
* .353
* Villanova– –7–13
* .350
* Miami (Ohio)– –5–10
* .333
* Louisville– –5–11
* .313
* Toledo– –5–12
* .294
* Washburn– –4–11
* .267
* Georgetown– –5–16
* .238
* Saint Mary's (Calif.)– –4–13
* .235
* Lehigh– –4–14
* .222
* Penn State– –3–12
* .200
* Cincinnati– –2–15
* .118
* Dayton– –2–15
* .118

### Statistical leaders
## Awards
### Consensus All-American team

Consensus Team :
| Player | Class | Team |
| Wes Fesler | Senior | Ohio State |
| George Gregory | Senior | Columbia |
| Joe Reiff | Sophomore | Northwestern |
| Elwood Romney | Sophomore | Brigham Young |
| John Wooden | Junior | Purdue |

### Major player of the year awards

* Helms Player of the Year: Bart Carlton, Ada Teachers College (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 |
| Georgetown | John Colrick | | Fred Mesmer | |