# 1918–19 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1918–19 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1918, progressed through the regular season, and concluded in March 1919.

## Season headlines

* The 1918–19 season took place between the fall 1918 second surge and spring 1919 third surge of the so-called "Spanish flu" pandemic, forcing some schools to play shortened seasons or cancel their seasons. Young men leaving school for World War I military service also affected teams.
* In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Minnesota as its national champion for the 1918–19 season.
* In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Navy as its national champion for the 1918–19 season.

## Conference membership changes

| School | Former Conference | New Conference |
| Grinnell Pioneers | Independent | Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association |
| Oklahoma A&M Aggies | Southwest Conference | Independent |
| SMU Mustangs | Independent | Southwest Conference |
| Stanford Indians | Independent | Pacific Coast Conference |
| Washington State Cougars | Independent | Pacific Coast 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 | Minnesota | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Penn | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Kansas State | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Pacific Coast Conference | Oregon | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference | Colorado | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Southwest Conference | Texas | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |

#### Conference standings

1918–19 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings :
| 1918–19 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Minnesota10–0 1.00013–0  1.000 Chicago10–2 .83321–6  .778 Northwestern6–4 .6006–6  .500 Michigan5–5 .50018–6  .750 Illinois5–7 .4176–8  .429 Indiana4–6 .40010–7  .588 Iowa4–7 .3648–7  .533 Purdue4–7 .3646–8  .429 Wisconsin3–9 .2505–11  .313 Ohio State2–6 .2507–12  .368 | 1918–19 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Penn7–1 .87515–1  .938 Yale4–2 .6677–2  .778 Cornell2–3 .40011–3  .786 Princeton2–5 .2865–5  .500 Columbia2–6 .2503–7  .300 | 1918–19 Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Kansas State10–2 .83316–2  .889 Missouri11–3 .78614–3  .824 Nebraska10–6 .62510–6  .625 Grinnell5–3 .6256–5  .545 Kansas5–9 .3577–9  .438 Iowa State3–8 .2735–11  .313 Washington University2–8 .2009–9  .500 Drake2–9 .18210–18  .357 |
| 1918–19 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Oregon11–3 .78613–4  .765 Washington State7–5 .58310–11  .476 California2–2 .5006–3  .667 Washington5–7 .4176–10  .375 Oregon Agricultural3–9 .2503–13  .188 Stanford0–2 .0009–3  .750 As of 1919 | 1918–19 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings ConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Colorado– –8–1  .889 Colorado College– –8–3  .727 Denver– –5–4  .556 Colorado Mines– –2–6  .250 Colorado Agricultural– –1–13  .071 | 1918–19 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Texas11–2 .84617–3  .850 Texas A&M7–3 .70014–4  .778 SMU5–6 .4557–8  .467 Rice2–8 .2004–10  .286 Baylor2–8 .2002–9  .182 |

### Independents

A total of 122 college teams played as major independents. Among independents that played at least 10 games, Akron (14–0), Centre (11–0), Creighton (14–0), Navy (16–0), and Oklahoma (12–0) were undefeated, and Fordham (24–5) finished with the most wins.
1918–19 NCAA men's basketball independents standings :
* 1918–19 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
* vteConfOverall
* TeamW L PCTW L PCT
* Akron– –14–0
* 1.000
* Centre (Ky.)– –11–0
* 1.000
* The Citadel– –9–0
* 1.000
* Creighton– –14–0
* 1.000
* Louisiana State– –1–0
* 1.000
* Navy– –16–0
* 1.000
* Niagara– –1–0
* 1.000
* Oklahoma– –12–0
* 1.000
* Washington College– –1–0
* 1.000
* Santa Clara– –14–1
* .933
* Southwestern (Kan.)– –13–1
* .929
* Georgetown– –9–1
* .900
* Rhode Island State– –7–1
* .875
* Idaho– –13–2
* .867
* Beloit– –12–2
* .857
* Roanoke– –12–2
* .857
* Penn State– –11–2
* .846
* Toledo– –10–2
* .833
* Fordham– –24–5
* .828
* Virginia Tech– –18–4
* .818
* Bucknell– –13–3
* .813
* Denison– –13–3
* .813
* Syracuse– –13–3
* .813
* Delaware– –8–2
* .800
* DePauw– –12–3
* .800
* New Mexico A&M– –8–2
* .800
* Vanderbilt– –8–2
* .800
* North Carolina State– –11–3
* .786
* Utah– –7–2
* .778
* Wyoming– –7–2
* .778
* Washington and Lee– –10–3
* .769
* Wabash– –13–4
* .765
* Clemson– –3–1
* .750
* Lafayette– –12–4
* .750
* Millikin– –12–4
* .750
* Millsaps– –9–3
* .750
* North Dakota– –6–2
* .750
* Saint Francis (N.Y.)– –9–3
* .750
* Virginia– –11–4
* .733
* Western State Normal– –11–4
* .733
* Carleton– –8–3
* .727
* Union (N.Y.)– –8–3
* .727
* Michigan State Normal– –10–4
* .714
* Central Missouri– –14–6
* .700
* Washington & Jefferson– –7–3
* .700
* Colgate– –13–6
* .684
* Arizona– –6–3
* .667
* CCNY– –8–4
* .667
* Indiana State– –6–3
* .667
* Northern Arizona Normal– –4–2
* .667
* Rutgers– –6–3
* .667
* Tulane– –6–3
* .667
* Utah State– –6–3
* .667
* Washburn– –10–5
* .667
* Gettysburg– –9–5
* .643
* North Dakota Agricultural– –9–5
* .643
* Louisville– –7–4
* .636
* Mount Union– –7–4
* .636
* Brigham Young– –5–3
* .625
* Georgia– –5–3
* .625
* Tulsa– –5–3
* .625
* Buffalo– –8–5
* .615
* Lehigh– –8–5
* .615
* Stevens Institute– –8–5
* .615
* WPI– –8–5
* .615
* Miami (Ohio)– –7–5
* .583
* Auburn– –4–3
* .571
* Catholic– –4–3
* .571
* Marietta– –8–6
* .571
* Mississippi A&M– –4–3
* .571
* VMI– –8–6
* .571
* North Carolina– –9–7
* .563
* Ohio– –5–4
* .556
* Trinity (N.C.)– –6–5
* .545
* Franklin– –7–6
* .538
* Alabama– –3–3
* .500
* Kalamazoo– –7–7
* .500
* Michigan State– –9–9
* .500
* Oklahoma A&M– –5–5
* .500
* Pittsburgh– –7–7
* .500
* St. Joseph's– –3–3
* .500
* West Virginia– –8–8
* .500
* New York University– –5–6
* .455
* Swarthmore– –5–6
* .455
* Detroit– –4–5
* .444
* Dayton– –3–4
* .429
* Tempe Normal– –3–4
* .429
* Kentucky– –6–8
* .429
* Wooster– –6–8
* .429
* Bradley– –6–9
* .400
* Duquesne– –4–6
* .400
* Springfield (Mass.)– –4–6
* .400
* Texas Christian– –4–6
* .400
* Wake Forest– –6–9
* .400
* Muhlenberg– –7–11
* .389
* Nevada– –5–8
* .385
* Army– –3–5
* .375
* South Carolina– –4–7
* .364
* Northern Colorado– –5–9
* .357
* Davidson– –3–6
* .333
* Manhattan– –2–4
* .333
* Montana State– –1–2
* .333
* New Mexico– –2–4
* .333
* Saint Louis– –4–8
* .333
* Saint Mary's (Calif.)– –3–6
* .333
* Valparaiso– –1–2
* .333
* William & Mary– –3–6
* .333
* Bowling Green State– –2–5
* .286
* Marshall– –2–5
* .286
* Southern California– –3–8
* .273
* Grove City– –3–9
* .250
* Tennessee– –2–6
* .250
* Cincinnati– –3–11
* .214
* North Central– –3–11
* .214
* Notre Dame– –2–10
* .167
* Richmond– –1–5
* .167
* Brown– –2–12
* .143
* Fairmount– –1–7
* .125
* Connecticut– –1–8
* .111
* Butler– –1–9
* .100
* Ole Miss– –0–3
* .000
* St. John's (N.Y.)– –0–7
* .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 1918–19 season.
| Player | Team |
| Lance Farwell | Navy |
| Tony Hinkle | Chicago |
| Dutch Lonborg | Kansas |
| Leon Marcus | Syracuse |
| Dan McNichol | Penn |
| Arnold Oss | Minnesota |
| George Parrish | Virginia Tech |
| Erling Platou | Minnesota |
| Craig Ruby | Missouri |
| Andrew Stannard | Penn |

### Major player of the year awards

* Helms Player of the Year: Erling Platou, Minnesota (retroactive selection in 1944)