# 1904–05 collegiate men's basketball season in the United States

The 1904–05 collegiate men's basketball season in the United States began in December 1904, progressed through the regular season, and concluded in March 1905.

## Season headlines

* Christian Steinmetz of Wisconsin becomes the first player to score at least 1,000 points during his career.
* In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Columbia as its national champion for the 1904–05 season.
* In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Columbia as its national champion for the 1904–05 season.

## Conference membership changes

| School | Former Conference | New Conference |
| Harvard Crimson | Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Independent |
| Northwestern Wildcats | No major basketball program | Western Conference |

## Regular season
### Conference winners

| Conference | Regular Season Winner | Conference Player of the Year | Conference Tournament | Tournament Venue (City) | Tournament Winner |
| Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Columbia | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Western Conference | None (see note) | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
NOTE: The Western Conference (the future Big Ten Conference) did not sponsor an official conference season or recognize a regular-season champion until the 1905–06 season, although intermural games took place between conference members during the 1904–05 season. In 1904–05, Chicago (9–3) finished with the best winning percentage (.750) and Wisconsin (10–8) with the most wins.
1904–05 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings :
| 1904–05 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Columbia8–0 1.00019–1  .950 Yale5–3 .62522–13  .629 Princeton4–4 .5008–5  .615 Cornell2–6 .2505–16  .238 Penn1–7 .1259–14  .391 | 1904–05 Western Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Chicago†5–2 .7149–3  .750 Wisconsin1–1 .50010–8  .556 Minnesota3–1 .7507–7  .500 Northwestern1–2 .3332–2  .500 Iowa0–3 .0006–8  .429 Purdue1–3 .2503–6  .333 Indiana1–1 .5005–12  .294 † Intramural play only, the conference did not have an official champion winner |

### Independents

A total of 64 college teams played as major independents. Among them, Williams (20–2) and Lewis (20–5) finished with the most wins.
1904–05 collegiate men's basketball independents standings :
* 1904–05 collegiate men's basketball independents standings
* vteConfOverall
* TeamW L PCTW L PCT
* Arizona– –1–0
* 1.000
* Augustana (Ill.)– –9–0
* 1.000
* Denver– –1–0
* 1.000
* Muskingum– –8–0
* 1.000
* New Mexico– –1–0
* 1.000
* Wabash– –8–0
* 1.000
* Washington University– –1–0
* 1.000
* Wyoming– –1–0
* 1.000
* Williams– –20–2
* .909
* Bucknell– –8–1
* .889
* Dayton– –6–1
* .857
* Ohio State– –12–2
* .857
* Allegheny– –10–2
* .833
* Lewis– –20–5
* .800
* Grove City– –15–4
* .789
* North Dakota– –7–2
* .778
* Wheaton (Ill.)– –10–3
* .769
* Brigham Young– –9–3
* .750
* Butler– –6–2
* .750
* Fordham– –18–6
* .750
* Penn State– –6–2
* .750
* Montana State– –5–2
* .714
* Harvard– –11–5
* .688
* Nebraska– –11–5
* .688
* Brown– –13–6
* .684
* Cincinnati– –6–3
* .667
* Dartmouth– –20–10
* .667
* North Dakota Agricultural– –6–3
* .667
* Syracuse– –14–7
* .667
* Denison– –9–5
* .643
* Canisius– –7–4
* .636
* Oberlin– –7–4
* .636
* Michigan State– –5–3
* .625
* Oregon Agricultural– –5–3
* .625
* Southwestern (Kan.)– –5–3
* .625
* Colorado– –3–2
* .600
* Holy Cross– –6–4
* .600
* Washington State– –3–2
* .600
* Colgate– –10–7
* .588
* Akron– –8–6
* .571
* Bradley– –5–4
* .556
* Westminster (Pa.)– –6–5
* .545
* Bloomsburg– –3–3
* .500
* Colorado Architectural– –2–2
* .500
* Connecticut– –3–3
* .500
* Illinois State– –4–4
* .500
* Indiana State– –5–5
* .500
* Manhattan– –3–3
* .500
* Wisconsin–Stevens Point– –3–3
* .500
* Kansas– –5–6
* .455
* Lehigh– –4–5
* .444
* Maine– –7–9
* .438
* Army– –3–4
* .429
* Mount Union– –6–8
* .429
* West Virginia– –6–9
* .400
* Temple– –3–5
* .375
* Baker– –5–10
* .333
* Gettysburg– –3–6
* .333
* Wooster– –3–8
* .273
* Kentucky– –1–4
* .200
* Lake Forest– –0–5
* .000
* New Mexico A&M– –0–1
* .000
* Washington– –0–2
* .000
* Wesleyan (Conn.)– –0–12
* .000

### Statistical leaders
## Awards
### 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 1904–05 season.
| Player | Team |
| Harry A. Fisher | Columbia |
| Marcus Hurley | Columbia |
| Willard Hyatt | Yale |
| Gilmore Kinney | Yale |
| C. D. McLees | Wisconsin |
| James Ozanne | Chicago |
| Walter Runge | Colgate |
| Chris Steinmetz | Wisconsin |
| George Tuck | Minnesota |
| Oliver deGray Vanderbilt | Princeton |

### Major player of the year awards

* Helms Player of the Year: Christian Steinmetz, Wisconsin (retroactive selection in 1944)