# 1928–29 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1928–29 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1928, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1929.

## Rule changes

The charging foul by the player dribbling the ball was introduced.

## Season headlines

* The Big Six Conference and the Missouri Valley Conference began play. Both had formed when the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) split into the two new conferences in May 1928, with the Big Six Conference officially retaining the MVIAA's name and the Missouri Valley Conference retaining its staff. Both claimed the MVIAA's founding date (1907) and its history from 1907 to 1928 as their own, and both claimed to be a continuation of the original conference.
* The practice of naming an annual Consensus All-American Team began.
* In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Montana State as its national champion for the 1928–29 season.
* In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Montana State as its national champion for the 1928–29 season.

## Conference membership changes

| School | Former conference | New conference |
| Drake Bulldogs | Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Missouri Valley Conference |
| Duke Blue Devils | Independent | Southern Conference |
| Grinnell Pioneers | Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Missouri Valley Conference |
| Iowa State Cyclones | Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Big Six Conference |
| Kansas Jayhawks | Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Big Six Conference |
| Kansas State Wildcats | Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Big Six Conference |
| Missouri Tigers | Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Big Six Conference |
| Nebraska Cornhuskers | Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Big Six Conference |
| Oklahoma Sooners | Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Big Six Conference |
| Oklahoma A&M Aggies | Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Missouri Valley Conference |
| Washington University in St. Louis Bears | Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Missouri Valley 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 | Oklahoma | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Big Ten Conference | Michigan & Wisconsin | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League | Penn | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Missouri Valley Conference | Washington University | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Pacific Coast Conference | Washington (North); California (South) | | No Tournament; California defeated Washington in best-of-three conference championship playoff series | No Tournament; California defeated Washington in best-of-three conference championship playoff series | No Tournament; California defeated Washington in best-of-three conference championship playoff series |
| Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference | Colorado (Eastern); Montana State (Western) | | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |
| Southern Conference | Washington and Lee | None selected | 1929 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament | Municipal Auditorium (Atlanta, Georgia) | NC State |
| Southwest Conference | Arkansas | None selected | No Tournament | No Tournament | No Tournament |

#### Conference standings

1928–29 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings :
| 1928–29 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Oklahoma10–0 1.00013–2  .867 Missouri7–3 .70011–7  .611 Nebraska5–5 .50011–5  .688 Iowa State4–6 .4008–7  .533 Kansas State2–8 .2006–10  .375 Kansas2–8 .2003–15  .167 | 1928–29 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Wisconsin10–2 .83315–2  .882 Michigan10–2 .83313–3  .813 Purdue9–3 .75013–4  .765 Northwestern7–5 .58312–5  .706 Illinois6–6 .50010–7  .588 Ohio State6–6 .5009–8  .529 Iowa5–7 .4179–8  .529 Indiana4–8 .3337–10  .412 Chicago2–10 .1675–11  .313 Minnesota1–11 .0834–13  .235 | 1928–29 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Penn8–2 .80020–6  .769 Dartmouth7–3 .70013–6  .684 Columbia5–5 .5009–9  .500 Cornell5–5 .5009–11  .450 Yale4–6 .40011–9  .550 Princeton1–9 .1009–15  .375 |
| 1928–29 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Washington University7–0 1.00011–7  .611 Creighton4–1 .80013–4  .765 Drake3–4 .4296–13  .316 Oklahoma A&M0–4 .0001–14  .067 Grinnell0–5 .0006–11  .353 | 1928–29 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT North Washington10–0 1.00018–2  .900 Idaho6–4 .60011–10  .524 Washington State5–5 .5009–14  .391 Oregon State4–6 .40012–8  .600 Oregon3–7 .30010–8  .556 Montana2–8 .2009–11  .450 South California †9–0 1.00017–3  .850 Stanford6–3 .66713–6  .684 USC2–7 .22216–6  .727 UCLA1–8 .1117–9  .438 † Conference playoff series winner | 1928–29 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Eastern Colorado10–2 .83310–2  .833 Wyoming11–3 .78615–4  .789 Northern Colorado8–6 .5718–6  .571 Denver7–7 .50012–8  .600 Colorado Agricultural6–6 .5006–6  .500 Colorado College6–6 .5008–9  .471 Western State1–9 .1001–9  .100 Colorado School of Mines1–11 .0831–11  .083 Western Montana State11–1 .91736–2  .947 BYU6–6 .50020–10  .667 Utah State4–8 .3338–10  .444 Utah3–9 .2505–12  .294 |
| 1928–29 Southern Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Washington and Lee7–1 .87516–2  .889 North Carolina12–2 .85717–8  .680 Georgia Tech10–2 .83315–6  .714 Georgia13–4 .76517–7  .708 Tulane9–4 .6929–5  .643 Kentucky7–4 .63612–5  .706 Tennessee7–4 .63611–5  .688 Alabama10–6 .62516–10  .615 Clemson6–4 .60015–12  .556 Duke5–4 .55612–8  .600 NC State†6–5 .54515–6  .714 Mississippi7–8 .4679–9  .500 Virginia Tech5–7 .4175–13  .278 Mississippi A&M5–8 .3858–15  .348 Virginia3–6 .3339–10  .474 LSU5–9 .3578–13  .381 South Carolina4–10 .2868–13  .381 Vanderbilt2–5 .2864–12  .250 Florida4–11 .2677–13  .350 Auburn3–9 .2506–15  .286 Maryland2–6 .2507–9  .438 VMI1–7 .1256–7  .462 Sewanee0–7 .0003–8  .273 † Southern Conference Tournament winner | 1928–29 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings vteConfOverall TeamW L PCTW L PCT Arkansas11–1 .91719–1  .950 Texas10–2 .83318–2  .900 SMU6–6 .5007–9  .438 TCU5–7 .41710–7  .588 Texas A&M4–6 .40012–6  .667 Baylor2–8 .2007–9  .438 Rice2–10 .1672–10  .167 |

### Independents

A total of 91 college teams played as major independents. Loyola of Illinois (16–0) was undefeated, and St. John's (23–2) finished with the most wins.
1928–29 NCAA men's basketball independents standings :
* 1928–29 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
* vteConfOverall
* TeamW L PCTW L PCT
* Loyola (Ill.)– –16–0
* 1.000
* Rhode Island State– –15–1
* .938
* St. John's (N.Y.)– –23–2
* .920
* East Central– –21–2
* .913
* St. Ignatius– –21–2
* .913
* Fordham– –18–2
* .900
* Butler– –17–2
* .895
* Westminster (Pa.)– –15–2
* .882
* West Texas State– –21–3
* .875
* Rider– –19–3
* .864
* Ohio Wesleyan– –18–3
* .857
* Mount Union– –17–3
* .850
* Providence– –17–3
* .850
* Northern Arizona State– –15–3
* .833
* Arizona– –19–4
* .826
* Springfield (Mass.)– –14–3
* .824
* Temple– –17–4
* .810
* Carleton– –12–3
* .800
* Colgate– –16–4
* .800
* Indiana State– –15–4
* .789
* Saint Louis– –14–4
* .778
* Santa Clara– –10–3
* .769
* Cincinnati– –13–4
* .765
* Pittsburgh– –16–5
* .762
* Notre Dame– –15–5
* .750
* The Citadel– –12–4
* .750
* Seton Hall– –11–4
* .733
* Syracuse– –11–4
* .733
* West Virginia– –16–6
* .727
* Wichita Municipal– –16–6
* .727
* New York University– –13–5
* .722
* St. Bonaventure– –17–7
* .708
* Army– –12–5
* .706
* Georgetown– –12–5
* .706
* Washburn– –12–5
* .706
* Wooster– –12–5
* .706
* Muhlenberg– –9–4
* .692
* Loyola (Md.)– –11–5
* .688
* Michigan State– –11–5
* .688
* Furman– –12–6
* .667
* Marshall– –14–7
* .667
* Richmond– –10–5
* .667
* Rutgers– –10–5
* .667
* Connecticut– –11–6
* .647
* CCNY– –9–5
* .643f
* Kent State Normal– –11–7
* .611
* New Mexico– –14–9
* .609
* Duquesne– –12–8
* .600
* Louisville– –12–8
* .600
* Holy Cross– –10–7
* .588
* Canisius– –7–5
* .583
* Western State Teachers– –11–8
* .579
* Niagara– –12–9
* .571
* Pittsburg State– –13–10
* .565
* Bucknell– –10–8
* .556
* Davidson– –10–8
* .556
* DePaul– –5–4
* .556
* DePauw– –9–8
* .529
* Saint Francis (N.Y.)– –9–8
* .529
* Texas Tech– –9–8
* .529
* Xavier– –9–8
* .529
* Penn State– –10–9
* .526
* Valparaiso– –11–10
* .524
* Bradley– –8–8
* .500
* Lehigh– –7–7
* .500
* Marquette– –8–8
* .500
* Navy– –8–8
* .500
* Ohio– –10–10
* .500
* Dayton– –9–10
* .474
* LIU– –10–12
* .455
* William & Mary– –9–11
* .450
* St. Joseph's– –8–10
* .444
* Western Kentucky State– –8–10
* .444
* Harvard– –6–8
* .429
* Villanova– –6–8
* .429
* New Mexico A&M– –6–9
* .400
* Buffalo– –7–11
* .389
* Miami (Ohio)– –7–11
* .389
* Wake Forest– –5–8
* .385
* Toledo– –6–10
* .375
* Bowling Green State– –6–11
* .353
* Boston University– –4–8
* .333
* Lafayette– –6–12
* .333
* Saint Mary's (Calif.)– –5–10
* .333
* Tempe State– –5–12
* .294
* Detroit– –4–11
* .267
* Manhattan– –4–11
* .267
* Brown– –4–13
* .235
* Texas State M&M– –4–14
* .222
* George Washington– –2–8
* .200
* Tulsa– –2–11
* .154

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

Consensus Team :
| Player | Class | Team |
| Tom Churchill | Junior | Oklahoma |
| Vern Corbin | Senior | California |
| Charley Hyatt | Junior | Pittsburgh |
| Stretch Murphy | Junior | Purdue |
| Joe Schaaf | Senior | Pennsylvania |
| Cat Thompson | Junior | Montana State |

### Major player of the year awards

* Helms Player of the Year: John "Cat" Thompson, Montana State (retroactive selection in 1944)

## Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
| Team | Former Coach | New Coach | Reason |
| Georgetown | Elmer Ripley | Bill Dudack | Ripley left to coach at Yale. His assistant Dudack replaced him. |
| Iowa | Sam Barry | Rollie Williams | |
| USC | Leo Calland | Sam Barry | |