# 1919–20 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1919–20 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1919, progressed through the regular season, and concluded in March 1920.

## Season headlines

* Penn of the Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League met Chicago of the Big Ten Conference in a three-game national championship playoff, with the first game at Chicago, the second at Penn, and the third at Princeton University. Chicago won the first game 28–24, and Penn the second game, 29-18, after which Penn students celebrated all night and threw bricks and fired shots at policemen. Penn also won the third game, 23-21, to win the championship. On February 25, 1921, the Atlanta Constitution ran an article by sportswriter Walter Camp in which Camp observed that the Chicago-Penn championship series had demonstrated the need for a national standardization of college basketball rules and the interpretation of them and expressed the view that no way of determining a national champion yet existed in college basketball.
* NYU, led by Howard Cann, won the post-season Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national championship tournament by defeating Rutgers, 49-24. NYU became the second of only four collegiate teams to win the tournament — in which a mix of collegiate and non-collegiate amateur teams competed — and the only one to do so between 1916 and 1924.
* In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Penn as its national champion for the 1919–20 season.
* In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Penn as its national champion for the 1919–20 season.

## Conference membership changes

| School | Former Conference | New Conference |
| Nebraska Cornhuskers | Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Independent |
| Oklahoma Sooners | Independent | Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association |
| Phillips Haymakers | No major basketball program | Southwest Conference |

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

| Conference | Regular Season Winner | Conference Player of the Year | Conference Tournament | Tournament Venue (City) | Tournament Winner |
| Big Ten Conference | Chicago | None Selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | None | None Selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Missouri | None Selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Pacific Coast Conference | Stanford | None Selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference | Colorado | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Vanderbilt | None Selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Southwest Conference | Texas A&M | None Selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
$^a$ Dartmouth was unable to field a team, so Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League conference play was informal in 1919–20 and no official champion was declared. However, had a champion been named, Penn would have won the regular-season championship with a 7–1 conference record.

#### Conference standings

1919–20 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings :
| 1919–20 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Chicago10–2 .83314–4  .778 Purdue8–2 .80016–4  .800 Illinois8–4 .6679–4  .692 Indiana6–4 .60013–8  .619 Wisconsin7–5 .58315–5  .750 Iowa6–6 .5009–10  .474 Ohio State3–9 .25017–10  .630 Minnesota3–9 .2507–9  .438 Michigan3–9 .25010–13  .435 Northwestern2–6 .2503–7  .300 | 1919–20 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Penn10–0 1.00022–1  .957 Princeton6–4 .60016–6  .727 Yale6–4 .60016–9  .640 Cornell4–6 .40014–6  .700 Columbia3–7 .3004–10  .286 Dartmouth1–9 .1005–20  .200 | 1919–20 Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Missouri17–1 .94417–1  .944 Washington University11–5 .68813–5  .722 Kansas9–7 .56311–7  .611 Kansas State8–8 .50010–8  .556 Oklahoma3–7 .3009–7  .563 Drake3–7 .30012–11  .522 Iowa State2–10 .1676–12  .333 Grinnell1–9 .1004–10  .286 |
| 1919–20 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Stanford9–1 .9008–3  .727 California5–5 .5008–5  .615 Washington State6–7 .46210–11  .476 Oregon Agricultural5–7 .4177–12  .368 Washington5–7 .4177–8  .467 Oregon5–8 .3858–9  .471 As of 1920 | 1919–20 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings ConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Colorado†– –6–4  .600 Colorado Mines– –3–8  .273 Colorado College– –9–6  .600 Colorado Agricultural– –5–5  .500 Denver– –1–8  .111 † Official championship winner | 1919–20 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Texas A&M16–0 1.00019–0  1.000 Phillips2–1 .6670–0  – Texas4–6 .40010–6  .625 Rice2–5 .2865–6  .455 SMU2–8 .2004–9  .308 Baylor1–7 .1258–13  .381 |

### Independents

A total of 130 college teams played as major independents. Among independents that played at least 10 games, Montana State (13–0), North Dakota (16–0), Southwestern (14–0), and Westminster (17–0) were undefeated, and Millikin (22–1) and Nebraska (22–2) finished with the most wins.
1919–20 NCAA men's basketball independents standings :
* 1919–20 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
* vteConfOverall
* TeamW L PCTW L PCT
* Montana State– –13–0
* 1.000
* North Dakota– –16–0
* 1.000
* Northern Arizona Normal– –2–0
* 1.000
* Southwestern (Kan.)– –14–0
* 1.000
* The Citadel– –9–0
* 1.000
* Utah State– –2–0
* 1.000
* Washington and Lee– –6–0
* 1.000
* Westminster (Mo.)– –17–0
* 1.000
* Millikin– –22–1
* .957
* New York University– –16–1
* .941
* Georgetown– –13–1
* .929
* Penn State– –12–1
* .923
* Nebraska– –22–2
* .917
* VMI– –11–1
* .917
* Wyoming– –10–1
* .909
* Louisiana State– –19–2
* .905
* Buffalo– –9–1
* .900
* Central Missouri– –17–2
* .895
* Franklin– –8–1
* .889
* Creighton– –15–2
* .882
* WPI– –14–2
* .875
* Delaware– –13–2
* .867
* Akron– –12–2
* .857
* Army– –12–2
* .857
* UCLA– –12–2
* .857
* Ripon– –11–2
* .846
* Tulsa– –16–3
* .842
* Marietta– –15–3
* .833
* Syracuse– –15–3
* .833
* Utah– –5–1
* .833
* Idaho– –14–3
* .824
* Navy– –14–3
* .824
* CCNY– –13–3
* .813
* DePauw– –13–3
* .813
* Southern California– –8–2
* .800
* Stevens Institute– –12–3
* .800
* Tennessee– –11–3
* .786
* Nevada– –7–2
* .778
* Vanderbilt– –14–4
* .778
* Virginia Tech– –14–4
* .778
* Seton Hall– –10–3
* .769
* Virginia– –10–3
* .769
* Marquette– –9–3
* .750
* Niagara– –6–2
* .750
* Washburn– –12–4
* .750
* Denison– –11–4
* .733
* Rutgers– –11–4
* .733
* Wooster– –11–4
* .733
* Toledo– –8–3
* .727
* Western State Normal– –8–3
* .727
* Birmingham–Southern– –5–2
* .714
* Canisius– –10–4
* .714
* Trinity (N.C.)– –10–4
* .714
* Mississippi A&M– –12–5
* .706
* Bucknell– –14–6
* .700
* Colgate– –16–7
* .696
* Carleton– –9–4
* .692
* Ole Miss– –9–4
* .692
* Wake Forest– –9–4
* .692
* North Carolina State– –11–5
* .688
* Brigham Young– –4–2
* .667
* Gettysburg– –6–3
* .667
* Grove City– –13–7
* .650
* Arizona– –9–5
* .643
* Miami (Ohio)– –9–5
* .643
* Detroit– –12–7
* .632
* Kalamazoo– –12–7
* .632
* Tempe Normal– –5–3
* .625
* North Dakota Agricultural– –10–6
* .625
* Wabash– –13–8
* .619
* Millsaps– –8–5
* .615
* Springfield (Mass.)– –8–5
* .615
* Auburn– –11–7
* .611
* Pittsburgh– –9–6
* .600
* St. Joseph's– –9–6
* .600
* Valparaiso– –12–8
* .600
* Connecticut– –7–5
* .583
* Mount Union– –7–5
* .583
* Clemson– –8–6
* .571
* Fordham– –12–9
* .571
* Georgia– –9–7
* .563
* Temple– –9–7
* .563
* New Mexico A&M– –5–4
* .556
* Louisville– –6–5
* .545
* West Virginia– –12–10
* .545
* Geneva– –10–9
* .526
* Michigan State Normal– –12–11
* .522
* Fairmount– –8–8
* .500
* Muhlenberg– –8–9
* .471
* North Carolina– –8–9
* .471
* Union (N.Y.)– –8–9
* .471
* Ohio– –5–6
* .455
* Washington College– –5–6
* .455
* Montana– –7–9
* .438
* Alabama– –5–7
* .417
* Kentucky– –5–7
* .417
* Lehigh– –5–7
* .417
* William & Mary– –5–7
* .417
* Georgia Tech– –7–10
* .412
* Indiana State– –4–6
* .400
* St. John's (N.Y.)– –9–14
* .391
* South Carolina– –7–11
* .389
* Dayton– –5–8
* .385
* Duquesne– –6–10
* .375
* St. Bonaventure– –6–10
* .375
* Northern Colorado– –4–7
* .364
* Cincinnati– –5–9
* .357
* Tulane– –5–9
* .357
* Beloit– –5–10
* .333
* Bradley– –5–10
* .333
* Brown– –5–10
* .333
* Butler– –2–4
* .333
* Kent State Normal– –2–4
* .333
* Santa Clara– –2–4
* .333
* Bowling Green State– –4–9
* .308
* Lafayette– –3–7
* .300
* Notre Dame– –5–13
* .278
* Rhode Island State– –3–8
* .273
* Davidson– –3–10
* .231
* Richmond– –3–10
* .231
* Saint Louis– –2–11
* .154
* Furman– –2–12
* .143
* Texas Christian– –1–7
* .125
* Manhattan– –1–8
* .111
* Loyola (Md.)– –1–11
* .083
* Oklahoma A&M– –1–12
* .077
* Boston University– –0–6
* .000
* New Mexico– –0–3
* .000
* Saint Mary's (Calif.)– –0–6
* .000
* Xavier– –0–3
* .000

### Premo-Porretta Power Poll

St. Bonaventure University accounting professor Patrick M. Premo and computer programmer Phil Porretta researched teams from the 1895–96 through the 1947–48 seasons, reviewing results, opponents, and margins of victory to create retroactive polls for the seasons predating the debut of the AP Poll. In 1995, they released their retroactive annual rankings as the Premo-Porretta Power Poll. Their poll for the 1919–20 season is below.
1920 Premo-Porretta Power Poll :
| Ranking | Team |
| 1 | Penn (22–1) |
| 2 | Missouri (17–1) |
| 3 | NYU (16–1) |
| 4 | Penn State (12–1) |
| 5 | Texas A&M (19–0) |
| 6 | Georgetown (13–1) |
| 7 | Purdue (16–4) |
| 8 | Chicago (27–8) |
| 9 | Delaware (13–2) |
| 10 | Southwestern (Kan.) (20–0) |
| 11 | Navy (14–3) |
| 12 | VMI (11–1) |
| 13 | Westminster (Mo.) (17–0) |
| 14 | Army (12–2) |
| 15 | Montana State (13–0) |
| 16 | Nebraska (22–2) |
| 17 | Buffalo (9–1) |
| 18 | Syracuse (15–3) |
| 19 | DePauw (13–3) |
| 20 | Nevada (7–2) |
| 21 | North Dakota (16–0) |
| 22 | CCNY (13–3) |
| 23 | Millikin (24–1) |
| 24 | Stevens Tech (12–3) |
| 25 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute (14–2) |

### Statistical leaders
## Award winners
### 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 1919–20 season.
| Player | Team |
| Howard Cann | New York University |
| Chuck Carney | Illinois |
| Erving Cook | Washington |
| Forrest DeBernardi | Westminster (Mo.) |
| George Gardner | Southwestern (Kan.) |
| Tony Hinkle | Chicago |
| Dan McNichol | Pennsylvania |
| Hubert Peck | Pennsylvania |
| George Sweeney | Pennsylvania |
| George Williams | Missouri |

### Major player of the year awards

* Helms Foundation Player of the Year: Howard Cann, New York University

## Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
| Team | Former Coach | Interim Coach | New Coach | Reason |
| Rhode Island State | Fred Murray | | Frank Keaney | |