1945–46 NCAA men's basketball season

1945–46 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
1945–46 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
NCAA Tournament	1946
Tournament dates	March 21 – 26, 1946
National Championship	Madison Square Garden; New York, New York
NCAA Champions	Oklahoma A&M
Helms National Champions	Oklahoma A&M
Other champions	Kentucky (NIT)
Player of the Year; (Helms)	Bob Kurland, Oklahoma A&M
	← 1944–45 1946–47 →

The 1945–46 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1945, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1946 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 26, 1946, at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. The Oklahoma A&M Aggies won their second NCAA national championship with a 43–40 victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Season headlines

The Middle Atlantic States Conference North began play, with five original members.
The New England Conference disbanded at the end of the season.^[1]
The NCAA tournament began holding a national third-place game between the teams which lost in the semifinals. The national third-place game would continue through the 1981 tournament.
In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Oklahoma A&M as its national champion for the 1945–46 season.^[2]

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
Brooklyn Bulldogs	Independent	Metropolitan New York Conference
Bucknell Bison	Independent	Middle Atlantic States Conference North
CCNY Beavers	Independent	Metropolitan New York Conference
Fordham Rams	Independent	Metropolitan New York Conference
Georgetown Hoyas	No athletic programs	Independent
Gettysburg Bullets	No NCAA basketball program	Middle Atlantic States Conference North
Harvard Crimson	Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Independent
Lafayette Leopards	Independent	Middle Atlantic States Conference North
Lehigh Engineers	Independent	Middle Atlantic States Conference North
Manhattan Jaspers	Independent	Metropolitan New York Conference
Muhlenberg Mules	Independent	Middle Atlantic States Conference North
NYU Violets	Independent	Metropolitan New York Conference
St. Francis (NY) Terriers	Independent	Metropolitan New York Conference
St. John's Redmen	Independent	Metropolitan New York Conference
Wichita Shockers	Independent	Missouri Valley Conference
Yale Bulldogs	Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Independent

Regular season

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference	Regular season winner^[3]	Conference player of the year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Big Six Conference	Kansas	None selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Ohio State	None selected	No Tournament
Border Conference	Arizona	None selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Dartmouth	None selected	No Tournament
Metropolitan New York Conference	NYU & St. John's		No Tournament
Middle Atlantic States Conference North	Lafayette		No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Oklahoma A&M	None selected	No Tournament
New England Conference	Rhode Island State		No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference	Idaho (North); California (South)		No Tournament; California defeated Idaho in best-of-three conference championship playoff series
Skyline Conference	Wyoming		No Tournament
Southeastern Conference	Kentucky	None selected	1946 SEC men's basketball tournament	Jefferson County Armory, (Louisville, Kentucky)	Kentucky
Southern Conference	North Carolina	None selected	1946 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Thompson Gym (Raleigh, North Carolina)	Duke^[4]
Southwest Conference	Baylor	None selected	No Tournament

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Semifinals & finals

National semifinals		National Finals

Ohio State	57

North Carolina	60^OT
		North Carolina	40

		Oklahoma A&M	43
Oklahoma A&M	52

California	35

Third Place – Ohio State 63, California 45

National Invitation tournament

Semifinals & finals

Semifinals			Finals

	Rhode Island State	59

	Muhlenberg	49
				Rhode Island State	45

				Kentucky	46
	West Virginia	51

	Kentucky	59'

Third Place – West Virginia 65, Muhlenberg 40

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

**Consensus First Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Leo Klier	F	Senior	Notre Dame
Bob Kurland	C	Senior	Oklahoma A&M
George Mikan	C	Senior	DePaul
Max Morris	F	Senior	Northwestern
Sid Tanenbaum	G	Junior	NYU

**Consensus Second Team**
Player	Position	Class	Team
Charles B. Black	F	Junior	Kansas
John Dillon	G	Sophomore	North Carolina
Billy Hassett	G	Senior	Notre Dame
Tony Lavelli	F	Freshman	Yale
Jack Parkinson	G	Junior	Kentucky
Ken Sailors	G	Senior	Wyoming

Major player of the year awards

Helms Player of the Year: Bob Kurland, Oklahoma A&M

Other major awards

NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Sid Tanenbaum, NYU

Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.

Team	Former Coach	New Coach	Reason
Georgetown	Ken Engles	Elmer Ripley	Engles – the only player-coach in Georgetown men's basketball history – stepped aside at the end of the year after coaching the Hoyas for a single season as they reconstituted their basketball program with a mostly walk-on team after a two-season hiatus due to World War II, making way for Ripley to return after a three-year absence for a third stint as coach.^[5]
Kansas State	Fitz Knorr	Jack Gardner
NC State	Leron Jay	Everett Case
North Carolina	Ben Carnevale	Tom Scott
Notre Dame	Elmer Ripley	Moose Krause
Purdue	Ward Lambert	Mel Taube

References

^ "New England/Yankee regular-season champions," Coaches Database Accessed April 27, 2021
^ ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. pp. 526, 529–587. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Head Coaches". Archived from the original on May 27, 2017. Retrieved January 4, 2014.

[1] "New England/Yankee regular-season champions," Coaches Database Accessed April 27, 2021

[ESPN_526-2] ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. pp. 526, 529–587. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[3] "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.

[4] 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09

[5] "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Head Coaches". Archived from the original on May 27, 2017. Retrieved January 4, 2014.

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v t e NCAA Division I men's basketball seasons
Pre-regulation	1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898-99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06
IAAUS / NCAA pre-Tournament era	1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38
NCAA Tournament era	1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24