# 1920–21 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1920–21 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1920, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1921.

## Rule changes

* The basket was moved to 2 feet (0.6 m) from the baseline and the padded wall behind the basket was ruled out of bounds. Previously, players could climb the wall to get closer to the basket for a shot.
* A new substitution rule allowed a player who left the game to re-enter it once. Previously, a player who left the game could not re-enter it.

## Season headlines

* The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference played the first college conference championship tournament. Kentucky won.
* In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Penn as its national champion for the 1920–21 season.
* In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Missouri as its national champion for the 1920–21 season.

## Conference membership changes

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

## Regular season
### Conferences
#### Conference winners and tournaments

| Conference | Regular season winner | Conference player of the year | Conference tournament | Tournament venue (City) | Tournament winner |
| Big Ten Conference | Michigan, Purdue & Wisconsin | 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 | Missouri | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Pacific Coast Conference | Stanford | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference | Colorado | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association | none (see note) | None selected | 1921 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball tournament | Municipal Auditorium (Atlanta, Georgia) | Kentucky |
| Southwest Conference | Texas A&M | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
NOTE: The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association did not have an official regular-season champion, but it sponsored the 1921 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball tournament, whose champion claimed the mythical title of "Champions of the South."

#### Conference standings

1920–21 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings :
| 1920–21 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Michigan8–4 .66718–4  .818 Wisconsin8–4 .66713–4  .765 Purdue8–4 .66713–7  .650 Minnesota7–5 .58310–5  .667 Illinois7–5 .58311–7  .611 Indiana6–5 .54515–6  .714 Iowa6–5 .5459–9  .500 Chicago6–6 .50014–6  .700 Ohio State2–10 .1674–13  .235 Northwestern1–11 .0832–12  .143 | 1920–21 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Penn9–1 .90021–2  .913 Dartmouth7–3 .70013–9  .591 Cornell6–4 .60012–10  .545 Princeton4–6 .40014–9  .609 Columbia3–7 .3007–9  .438 Yale1–9 .1009–17  .346 | 1920–21 Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Missouri17–1 .94417–1  .944 Nebraska9–1 .90015–3  .833 Kansas State11–4 .73314–5  .737 Kansas10–8 .55610–8  .556 Iowa State6–8 .42910–8  .556 Oklahoma5–9 .35710–8  .556 Drake5–8 .38510–8  .556 Grinnell2–12 .1436–12  .333 Washington University2–16 .1113–17  .150 |
| 1920–21 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Stanford8–3 .72715–3  .833 California8–3 .72715–4  .789 Washington10–4 .71418–4  .818 Oregon8–4 .66715–5  .750 Washington State3–11 .21412–16  .429 Oregon Agricultural2–14 .1256–17  .261 As of 1921 | 1920–21 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings ConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Colorado6–0 1.0008–0  1.000 Colorado College3–2 .6007–4  .636 Colorado Agricultural2–4 .3332–7  .222 Denver0–5 .0002–8  .200 Colorado Mines– –5–2  .714 | 1920–21 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Texas A&M10–2 .83316–6  .727 Baylor8–4 .66713–11  .542 Texas9–5 .64313–5  .722 Rice4–9 .3085–10  .333 SMU0–11 .0006–13  .316 |

### Independents

A total of 120 college teams played as major independents. Among independents that played at least 10 games, St. John's of Ohio (15–0) was undefeated, and Central Missouri (22–2), Oberlin (22–2), and Wabash (22–4) finished with the most wins.
1920–21 NCAA men's basketball independents standings :
* 1920–21 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
* vteConfOverall
* TeamW L PCTW L PCT
* Arizona– –7–0
* 1.000
* Holy Cross– –2–0
* 1.000
* St. John's (Ohio)– –15–0
* 1.000
* Navy– –18–1
* .947
* Grove City– –16–1
* .941
* North Dakota– –14–1
* .933
* New York University– –12–1
* .923
* Central Missouri– –22–2
* .917
* Oberlin– –22–2
* .917
* VMI– –11–1
* .917
* New Mexico A&M– –9–1
* .900
* Tulsa– –18–2
* .900
* Fairmount– –16–2
* .889
* Gettysburg– –7–1
* .875
* Penn State– –14–2
* .875
* Akron– –11–2
* .846
* Wabash– –22–4
* .846
* Brigham Young– –10–2
* .833
* DePauw– –15–3
* .833
* Utah– –5–1
* .833
* Louisiana State– –19–4
* .826
* Marquette– –14–3
* .824
* Ohio– –14–3
* .824
* Saint Francis (N.Y.)– –14–3
* .824
* Butler– –16–4
* .800
* Denison– –12–3
* .800
* UCLA– –8–2
* .800
* West Texas State– –8–2
* .800
* Valparaiso– –19–5
* .792
* Virginia Tech– –19–5
* .792
* Idaho– –15–4
* .789
* Niagara– –15–4
* .789
* North Dakota Agricultural– –15–4
* .789
* Tempe Normal– –11–3
* .786
* Army– –18–5
* .783
* Nevada– –10–3
* .769
* Carleton– –13–4
* .765
* Seton Hall– –13–4
* .765
* Bucknell– –12–4
* .750
* Millikin– –18–6
* .750
* Ripon– –9–3
* .750
* CCNY– –11–4
* .733
* Lafayette– –11–4
* .733
* Southwestern (Kan.)– –19–7
* .731
* Colgate– –16–6
* .727
* The Citadel– –8–3
* .727
* William & Mary– –8–3
* .727
* Virginia– –13–5
* .722
* Georgetown– –10–4
* .714
* Southern California– –10–4
* .714
* Western State Normal– –12–5
* .706
* Washington and Lee– –9–4
* .692
* Creighton– –13–6
* .684
* Indiana State– –15–7
* .682
* Boston University– –2–1
* .667
* Buffalo– –12–6
* .667
* Kalamazoo– –18–9
* .667
* Northern Colorado– –6–3
* .667
* Saint Louis– –12–6
* .667
* Vermont– –10–5
* .667
* Loyola (Ill.)– –7–4
* .636
* Temple– –7–4
* .636
* Fordham– –15–9
* .625
* Michigan State Normal– –13–8
* .619
* Montana State– –8–5
* .615
* Wooster– –8–5
* .615
* Mount Union– –11–7
* .611
* Trinity (N.C.)– –9–6
* .600
* Miami (Ohio)– –9–6
* .600
* Montana– –12–8
* .600
* North Carolina– –12–8
* .600
* Utah State– –6–4
* .600
* Duquesne– –10–7
* .588
* Rutgers– –7–5
* .583
* Pittsburgh– –12–9
* .571
* Syracuse– –12–9
* .571
* Ole Miss– –9–7
* .563
* Northern Arizona Normal– –9–7
* .563
* Muhlenberg– –14–11
* .560
* Canisius– –5–4
* .556
* Detroit– –10–8
* .556
* Springfield (Mass.)– –10–8
* .556
* West Virginia– –11–9
* .550
* Alabama– –12–10
* .545
* Bowling Green State– –8–7
* .533
* Villanova– –8–7
* .533
* Rhode Island State– –9–8
* .529
* Washburn– –9–8
* .529
* St. John's (N.Y.)– –10–9
* .526
* Union (N.Y.)– –10–9
* .526
* Davidson– –7–7
* .500
* Washington College– –6–6
* .500
* Cincinnati– –10–11
* .476
* Harvard– –9–10
* .474
* Florida– –5–6
* .455
* Bradley– –7–9
* .438
* Connecticut– –7–9
* .438
* Franklin– –6–8
* .429
* Lehigh– –6–8
* .429
* Wyoming– –3–4
* .429
* Wake Forest– –7–10
* .412
* Marshall– –6–9
* .400
* Notre Dame– –9–14
* .391
* Vanderbilt– –8–13
* .381
* Kent State Normal– –4–7
* .364
* Brown– –5–9
* .357
* North Carolina State– –6–14
* .300
* Xavier– –3–7
* .300
* George Washington– –4–10
* .286
* St. Joseph's– –4–10
* .286
* Santa Clara– –2–5
* .286
* Dayton– –6–16
* .273
* Louisville– –3–8
* .273
* Richmond– –4–13
* .235
* Oklahoma A&M– –2–9
* .182
* St. Bonaventure– –2–13
* .133
* Toledo– –1–12
* .077
* Manhattan– –0–6
* .000
* Saint Mary's (Calif.)– –0–2
* .000
* Texas Christian– –0–3
* .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 1920–21 season.
| Player | Team |
| R. D. Birkhoff | Chicago |
| Herb Bunker | Missouri |
| Everett Dean | Indiana |
| Forrest DeBernardi | Westminster (Mo.) |
| Edwin Durno | Oregon |
| Basil Hayden | Kentucky |
| Dan McNichol | Pennsylvania |
| Arnold Oss | Minnesota |
| Donald White | Purdue |
| George Williams | Missouri |

### Major player of the year awards

* Helms Player of the Year: George Williams, Missouri (retroactive selection in 1944)

## Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
| Team | Former Coach | Interim Coach | New Coach | Reason |
| John O'Reilly | | | James Colliflower | After the conclusion of the 1920–21 season, O'Reilly suffered health problems that forced him to miss the next two seasons. For the 1921–22 season, Colliflower returned for a second stint as head coach, without pay. |