# 1933–34 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1933–34 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1933, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1934.

## Rule changes

* The "10-second" rule went into effect, requiring the team on offense to get the ball past the midcourt line within 10 seconds.
* A new substitution rule allowed each player to re-enter a game twice. Previously, each player could re-enter a game only once.
* The number of referees increased from one to two.

## Season headlines

* The Metropolitan New York Conference began play, with 10 original members.
* In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Wyoming as its national champion for the 1933–34 season.
* In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Kentucky as its national champion for the 1933–34 season.

## Conference membership changes

| School | Former conference | New conference |
| Brooklyn Bulldogs | Non-major basketball program | Metropolitan New York Conference |
| Bucknell Bison | Independent | Eastern Intercollegiate Conference |
| CCNY Beavers | Independent | Metropolitan New York Conference |
| Columbia Lions | See note | Metropolitan New York Conference |
| Fordham Rams | Independent | Metropolitan New York Conference |
| Harvard Crimson | Independent | Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League |
| Long Island Blackbirds | Independent | Metropolitan New York Conference |
| Manhattan Jaspers | Independent | Metropolitan New York Conference |
| NYU Violets | Independent | Metropolitan New York Conference |
| Pratt Cannoneers | Non-major basketball program | Metropolitan New York Conference |
| St. Francis (NY) Terriers | Independent | Metropolitan New York Conference |
| St. John's Redmen | Independent | Metropolitan New York Conference |
NOTE: Columbia joined the Metropolitan New York Conference while remaining a member of the Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League. It retained its membership in both until 1939.

## 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 | Purdue | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Border Conference | Texas Tech | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Penn | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Eastern Intercollegiate Conference | Pittsburgh | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Metropolitan New York Conference | NYU | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Missouri Valley Conference | Butler | 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); BYU (Western) | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Southeastern Conference | Alabama | None selected | 1934 SEC men's basketball tournament | Atlanta Athletic Club (Atlanta, Georgia) | Alabama |
| Southern Conference | South Carolina | None selected | 1934 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament | Thompson Gym (Raleigh, North Carolina) | Washington and Lee |
| Southwest Conference | TCU | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |

#### Conference standings

1933–34 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings :
| 1933–34 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Kansas9–1 .90016–1  .941 Missouri6–4 .60010–8  .556 Oklahoma6–4 .60010–8  .556 Nebraska5–5 .5007–11  .389 Iowa State2–8 .2006–11  .353 Kansas State2–8 .2003–15  .167 | 1933–34 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Purdue10–2 .83317–3  .850 Wisconsin8–4 .66714–6  .700 Northwestern8–4 .66711–8  .579 Illinois7–5 .58313–6  .684 Iowa6–6 .50013–7  .650 Indiana6–6 .50013–7  .650 Minnesota5–7 .4179–11  .450 Ohio State4–8 .3338–12  .400 Michigan4–8 .3336–14  .300 Chicago2–10 .1675–15  .250 | 1933–34 Border Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Texas Tech7–1 .87518–5  .783 Arizona9–3 .75018–9  .667 New Mexico6–4 .60016–4  .800 Arizona State Teachers8–10 .4449–11  .450 Arizona State Teachers–Flagstaff6–10 .3759–14  .391 New Mexico A&M2–6 .25010–9  .526 |
| 1933–34 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Penn10–2 .83316–3  .842 Cornell9–3 .75010–6  .625 Princeton7–5 .58313–8  .619 Yale7–5 .58314–9  .609 Dartmouth6–6 .50013–7  .650 Columbia3–9 .2505–14  .263 Harvard0–12 .0003–19  .136 | 1933–34 Eastern Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Pittsburgh8–0 1.00018–4  .818 West Virginia7–3 .70014–5  .737 Georgetown5–5 .50012–11  .522 Temple5–5 .5009–12  .429 Carnegie Tech2–7 .2221–8  .111 Bucknell0–7 .0002–16  .111 | 1933–34 Metropolitan New York Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT NYU9–0 1.00016–0  1.000 LIU4–0 1.00026–1  .963 CCNY4–1 .80014–1  .933 Manhattan4–4 .5008–10  .444 St. John's3–4 .42916–3  .842 St. Francis (NY)3–8 .27313–11  .542 Fordham1–4 .20011–5  .688 Brooklyn1–6 .14314–7  .667 Pratt Institute– –8–6  .571 |
| 1933–34 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Butler9–1 .90014–7  .667 Creighton7–3 .70014–3  .824 Grinnell5–5 .5008–7  .533 Washington University4–6 .4007–11  .389 Drake4–6 .4006–12  .333 Oklahoma A&M1–9 .1004–14  .222 | 1933–34 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT North Washington †14–2 .87520–5  .800 Oregon9–7 .56317–8  .680 Oregon State7–9 .43814–10  .583 Washington State6–10 .37514–11  .560 Idaho4–12 .25016–13  .552 South USC9–3 .75016–8  .667 California8–4 .66719–7  .731 Stanford5–7 .4178–12  .400 UCLA2–10 .16710–13  .435 † Conference playoff series winner | 1933–34 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Eastern Wyoming14–0 1.00026–4  .867 Colorado7–5 .5839–8  .529 Colorado College7–5 .58310–11  .476 Denver7–7 .5008–9  .471 Northern Colorado6–8 .42913–14  .481 Colorado Agricultural5–7 .4175–7  .417 Western State4–6 .4009–8  .529 Colorado Mines1–13 .0711–13  .071 Western BYU9–3 .75018–12  .600 Utah State7–5 .58314–6  .700 Utah7–5 .58314–9  .609 Montana State1–11 .0835–22  .185 |
| 1933–34 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Kentucky11–0 1.00016–1  .941 Alabama †13–2 .86716–2  .889 LSU13–3 .81313–4  .765 Florida4–2 .66711–7  .611 Vanderbilt8–5 .61511–6  .647 Tulane8–10 .44410–10  .500 Georgia Tech5–8 .3856–12  .333 Tennessee3–5 .37510–7  .588 Mississippi State4–8 .3338–11  .421 Georgia3–6 .33310–9  .526 Ole Miss2–8 .2007–9  .438 Auburn2–9 .1822–11  .154 Sewanee0–10 .0000–13  .000 † Regular-season championship and 1934 SEC Tournament winner | 1933–34 Southern Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT South Carolina6–0 1.00018–1  .947 North Carolina12–2 .85718–4  .818 Maryland6–1 .85711–8  .579 Duke9–4 .69218–6  .750 North Carolina State6–5 .54511–6  .647 Washington and Lee †4–5 .44410–6  .625 VMI3–6 .3334–9  .308 Virginia1–9 .1007–11  .389 Virginia Tech1–10 .0911–15  .063 Clemson0–6 .0007–12  .368 † Southern Conference Tournament winner | 1933–34 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT TCU10–2 .83313–2  .867 Texas A&M7–5 .58314–6  .700 Arkansas6–6 .50016–8  .667 Texas6–6 .50014–8  .636 Rice6–6 .5006–6  .500 SMU5–7 .4176–9  .400 Baylor2–10 .1678–10  .444 |

### Major independents

A total of 63 college teams played as major independents. DePaul (17–0) was undefeated, and Western Kentucky State (28–8) finished with the most wins.
1933–34 NCAA men's basketball independents standings :
* 1933–34 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
* vteConfOverall
* TeamW L PCTW L PCT
* DePaul– –17–0
* 1.000
* Kansas State Teachers– –17–1
* .944
* Akron– –15–1
* .938
* Duquesne– –19–2
* .905
* Xavier– –9–1
* .900
* Syracuse– –15–2
* .882
* Navy– –11–2
* .846
* Notre Dame– –20–4
* .833
* Westminster (Pa.)– –24–5
* .828
* La Salle– –14–3
* .824
* Rhode Island State– –13–3
* .813
* Marquette– –15–4
* .789
* Western Kentucky State– –28–8
* .778
* Villanova– –9–3
* .750
* George Washington– –11–4
* .733
* Carleton– –12–5
* .706
* Michigan State Normal– –12–5
* .706
* Providence– –12–5
* .706
* Western State Teachers– –12–5
* .706
* Springfield (Mass.)– –11–5
* .688
* Colgate– –13–6
* .684
* Bowling Green State– –10–5
* .667
* Penn State– –8–4
* .667
* Richmond– –10–5
* .667
* Muhlenberg– –11–6
* .647
* Louisville– –16–9
* .640
* Cincinnati– –12–7
* .632
* Marshall– –13–8
* .619
* Montana– –16–10
* .615
* San Francisco– –8–5
* .615
* Rutgers– –9–6
* .600
* Dayton– –9–7
* .563
* Santa Clara– –9–7
* .563
* Saint Louis– –10–8
* .556
* Niagara– –11–9
* .550
* Canisius– –7–6
* .538
* Army– –8–7
* .533
* The Citadel– –8–7
* .533
* St. Bonaventure– –3–3
* .500
* Valparaiso– –9–9
* .500
* Indiana State– –8–9
* .471
* Detroit– –7–8
* .467
* Loyola (Ill.)– –7–8
* .467
* Washburn– –7–8
* .467
* Brown– –7–9
* .438
* Saint Mary's (Calif.)– –6–8
* .429
* Tulsa– –6–8
* .429
* Boston University– –5–7
* .417
* Toledo– –6–9
* .400
* Kent State– –5–9
* .357
* Lehigh– –5–9
* .357
* Wake Forest– –5–9
* .357
* St. Joseph's– –6–11
* .353
* Connecticut– –5–10
* .333
* Davidson– –6–13
* .316
* William & Mary– –4–9
* .308
* Furman– –5–12
* .294
* Miami (Ohio)– –4–11
* .267
* Ohio– –5–14
* .263
* Lafayette– –3–9
* .250
* Loyola (Md.)– –2–8
* .200
* Bradley– –3–14
* .176
* Texas State M&M– –3–16
* .158

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

Consensus Team :
| Player | Class | Team |
| Norman Cottom | Junior | Purdue |
| Claire Cribbs | Junior | Pittsburgh |
| Moose Krause | Senior | Notre Dame |
| Hal Lee | Senior | Washington |
| Les Witte | Senior | Wyoming |

### Major player of the year awards

* Helms Player of the Year: Wesley Bennett, Westminster (Pa.) (retroactive selection in 1944)

## Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
| Team | Former Coach | New Coach |
| Colorado | Henry Iba | Dutch Clark |
| Oklahoma A&M | Harold James | Henry Iba |
| Toledo | David V. Connelly | Harold Anderson |
| Wisconsin | Walter Meanwell | Harold E. Foster |