# 1936–37 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1936–37 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1936, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1937.

## Season headlines

* In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Stanford as its national champion for the 1936–37 season.
* In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Stanford as its national champion for the 1936–37 season.

## Conference membership changes

| School | Former conference | New conference |
| The Citadel Bulldogs | Independent | Southern Conference |
| Davidson Wildcats | Independent | Southern Conference |
| Furman Paladins | Independent | Southern Conference |
| Richmond Spiders | Independent | Southern Conference |
| Wake Forest Demon Deacons | Independent | Southern Conference |
| William & Mary Indians | Independent | Southern Conference |

## 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 & Nebraska | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Big Ten Conference | Illinois & Minnesota | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Border Conference | New Mexico State | 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 & Temple | None selected | No Tournament; Pittsburgh defeated Temple in a single-game conference playoff | No Tournament; Pittsburgh defeated Temple in a single-game conference playoff | No Tournament; Pittsburgh defeated Temple in a single-game conference playoff |
| Metropolitan New York Conference | Long Island | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Missouri Valley Conference | Oklahoma A&M | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Pacific Coast Conference | Washington State (North); Stanford (South) | | No Tournament; Stanford defeated Washington State in best-of-three conference championship playoff series | No Tournament; Stanford defeated Washington State in best-of-three conference championship playoff series | No Tournament; Stanford defeated Washington State in best-of-three conference championship playoff series |
| Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference | Colorado & Denver (Eastern); Montana State & Utah (Western) | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Southeastern Conference | Kentucky | None selected | 1937 SEC men's basketball tournament | Alumni Memorial Gym (Knoxville, Tennessee) | Kentucky |
| Southern Conference | Washington and Lee | None selected | 1937 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament | Thompson Gym (Raleigh, North Carolina) | Washington and Lee |
| Southwest Conference | SMU | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |

#### Conference standings

1936–37 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings :
| 1936–37 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Kansas8–2 .80015–4  .789 Nebraska8–2 .80013–7  .650 Oklahoma7–3 .70012–4  .750 Kansas State5–5 .5009–9  .500 Missouri2–8 .2007–9  .438 Iowa State0–10 .0003–15  .167 | 1936–37 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Illinois10–2 .83314–4  .778 Minnesota10–2 .83314–6  .700 Michigan9–3 .75016–4  .800 Purdue8–4 .66715–5  .750 Ohio State7–5 .58313–7  .650 Indiana6–6 .50013–7  .650 Northwestern4–8 .33311–9  .550 Iowa3–9 .25011–9  .550 Wisconsin3–9 .2508–12  .400 Chicago0–12 .0004–16  .200 | 1936–37 Border Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT New Mexico A&M15–3 .83322–5  .815 Texas Tech11–5 .68818–7  .720 Arizona9–7 .56314–11  .560 New Mexico10–10 .50012–14  .462 Arizona State–Flagstaff6–10 .37511–13  .458 Arizona State–Tempe7–11 .3898–12  .400 Texas State M&M0–10 .0002–16  .111 |
| 1936–37 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Penn12–0 1.00017–3  .850 Dartmouth8–4 .66714–8  .636 Columbia7–5 .58314–6  .700 Yale7–5 .58312–8  .600 Harvard6–6 .50010–8  .556 Princeton2–10 .1676–14  .300 Cornell0–12 .0003–14  .176 | 1936–37 Eastern Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Temple7–3 .70017–6  .739 Pittsburgh†7–3 .70014–7  .667 Penn State6–4 .60010–7  .588 Carnegie Tech4–6 .4009–11  .450 Georgetown3–7 .3009–8  .529 West Virginia3–7 .3009–14  .391 † Postseason conference championship playoff game winner As of end of 1936-37 season | 1936–37 Metropolitan New York Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT LIU2–0 1.00028–3  .903 Fordham5–1 .83313–3  .813 Manhattan5–2 .71414–4  .778 NYU4–2 .66710–6  .625 CCNY3–3 .50010–6  .625 St. John's1–4 .20012–7  .632 St. Francis (NY)1–5 .16713–8  .619 Brooklyn1–6 .14311–8  .579 |
| 1936–37 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Oklahoma A&M11–1 .91720–3  .870 Creighton8–4 .66711–9  .550 Drake7–5 .58313–10  .565 Grinnell7–5 .5838–10  .444 Tulsa4–8 .3339–9  .500 Washington University3–9 .2506–12  .333 Washburn2–10 .1674–17  .190 | 1936–37 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT North Washington State11–5 .68824–8  .750 Oregon11–5 .68820–9  .690 Washington11–5 .68815–11  .577 Oregon State5–11 .31311–15  .423 Idaho2–14 .1258–19  .296 South Stanford †10–2 .83325–2  .926 USC8–4 .66719–6  .760 California4–8 .33317–10  .630 UCLA2–10 .1676–13  .316 † Conference playoff series winner | 1936–37 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Eastern Denver10–2 .83314–6  .700 Colorado10–2 .83310–5  .667 Western State5–3 .62510–7  .588 Colorado State7–5 .5837–6  .538 Northern Colorado8–6 .5719–8  .529 Wyoming7–7 .5008–9  .471 Colorado College3–11 .2144–14  .222 Colorado Mines0–14 .0000–14  .000 Western Utah7–5 .58317–7  .708 Montana State7–5 .58317–10  .630 BYU5–7 .41717–10  .630 Utah State5–7 .4176–9  .400 |
| 1936–37 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Georgia Tech10–0 1.00013–2  .867 Tennessee7–1 .87517–5  .773 Ole Miss7–3 .70020–6  .769 Auburn7–4 .63611–4  .733 Kentucky †5–3 .62517–5  .773 Georgia5–3 .62510–6  .625 LSU7–6 .53813–7  .650 Alabama7–8 .46711–10  .524 Mississippi State6–7 .46215–9  .625 Tulane4–8 .3336–8  .429 Vanderbilt3–7 .3006–10  .375 Florida1–9 .1005–13  .278 Sewanee0–10 .0001–15  .063 † Regular-season championship and SEC Tournament winner | 1936–37 Southern Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Washington and Lee †11–1 .91717–4  .810 North Carolina14–3 .82418–5  .783 Wake Forest9–4 .69215–6  .714 North Carolina State14–7 .66715–9  .625 Duke11–6 .64715–8  .652 South Carolina7–4 .63613–7  .650 Richmond5–4 .55613–7  .650 Virginia6–7 .4629–10  .474 Furman3–4 .4298–7  .533 Davidson5–8 .38513–10  .565 Maryland5–8 .3858–12  .400 Virginia Tech4–9 .3086–11  .353 VMI5–11 .3136–11  .353 Clemson2–7 .2226–15  .286 The Citadel0–5 .0007–12  .368 William & Mary0–13 .0000–18  .000 † Southern Conference Tournament winner | 1936–37 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT SMU10–2 .83313–8  .619 Arkansas8–4 .66712–6  .667 Rice7–5 .5836–10  .375 Baylor6–6 .50011–9  .550 Texas5–7 .41713–10  .565 Texas A&M5–7 .41712–13  .480 TCU1–11 .0831–13  .071 |

### Major independents

A total of 52 college teams played as major independents. Western Kentucky State (21–2) had the best winning percentage (.913) and Marshall (23–8) finished with the most wins.
1936–37 NCAA men's basketball independents standings :
* 1936–37 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
* vteConfOverall
* TeamW L PCTW L PCT
* Western Kentucky State– –21–2
* .913
* Notre Dame– –20–3
* .870
* Rutgers– –13–2
* .867
* Ohio– –18–3
* .857
* Rhode Island State– –18–3
* .857
* Central Missouri State– –17–3
* .850
* Loyola (Ill.)– –16–3
* .842
* Toledo– –18–4
* .818
* George Washington– –16–4
* .800
* Bradley– –15–4
* .789
* St. Joseph's– –15–4
* .789
* Syracuse– –13–4
* .765
* Western State Teachers– –13–4
* .765
* Marshall– –23–8
* .742
* DePaul– –15–6
* .714
* Detroit– –11–5
* .688
* Duquesne– –13–6
* .684
* Santa Clara– –13–6
* .684
* Kent State– –15–7
* .682
* Villanova– –15–8
* .652
* Navy– –9–5
* .643
* La Salle– –12–7
* .632
* Connecticut– –11–7
* .611
* Saint Mary's (Calif.)– –14–9
* .609
* Boston University– –9–6
* .600
* Colgate– –9–6
* .600
* San Francisco– –10–7
* .588
* Bucknell– –9–7
* .563
* Canisius– –9–7
* .563
* Niagara– –12–10
* .545
* Army– –7–6
* .538
* Indiana State– –7–6
* .538
* Montana– –14–12
* .538
* Marquette– –8–8
* .500
* Muhlenberg– –9–9
* .500
* Valparaiso– –9–9
* .500
* Xavier– –7–7
* .500
* Cincinnati– –9–10
* .474
* Wichita Municipal– –9–12
* .429
* Dayton– –7–12
* .368
* St. Bonaventure– –4–7
* .364
* Lehigh– –5–10
* .333
* Louisville– –4–8
* .333
* Seton Hall– –5–10
* .333
* Lafayette– –6–13
* .316
* Brown– –5–11
* .313
* Miami (Ohio)– –5–11
* .313
* Butler– –6–14
* .300
* Michigan State Normal– –5–12
* .294
* Saint Louis– –6–15
* .286
* Bowling Green State– –4–11
* .267
* Loyola (Md.)– –4–12
* .250

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

Consensus Team :
| Player | Class | Team |
| Jules Bender | Senior | Long Island |
| Hank Luisetti | Junior | Stanford |
| John Moir | Junior | Notre Dame |
| Paul Nowak | Junior | Notre Dame |
| Jewell Young | Junior | Purdue |

### Major player of the year awards

* Helms Player of the Year: Hank Luisetti, Stanford (retroactive selection in 1944)

### Other major awards

* Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Ben Kramer, Long Island