1938–39 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1938–39 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1938, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1939 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 27, 1939, at Patten Gymnasium in Evanston, Illinois. The Oregon Webfoots won the first NCAA national championship with a 46–33 victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes.

1938–39 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
National Championship	Patten Gymnasium Evanston, Illinois
NCAA Champions	Oregon
Helms National Champions	Long Island (retroactive selection in 1943)
Other champions	Long Island (NIT)
Player of the Year (Helms)	Chet Jaworski, Rhode Island State (retroactive selection in 1944)

Rule changes

After a team makes a free throw as a result of a technical foul, it retains possession and throws the ball in from out of bounds. Previously, a jump ball at center court had taken place after a team shot a free throw as a result of a technical foul.

Season headlines

• The Mountain States Athletic Conference, popularly known as the Mountain States Conference and the Skyline Conference, began play, with seven original members. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference became a non-major conference after the departure of seven of its larger members for the Skyline Conference.
• The practice of naming a Consensus All-American Second Team began.
• The NCAA tournament was held for the first time, operated by the National Association of Basketball Coaches rather than the National Collegiate Athletic Association itself. Eight teams competed. In the first game, Villanova defeated Brown 42–30 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 17, and Oregon defeated Ohio State 46–33 in Evanston, Illinois, in the first championship game on March 27. Jimmy Hull of Ohio State was named the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player. The tournament lost $2,500; although 5,000 fans attended the championship game, many of the tickets were given away. The NCAA viewed its champion as the official national champion, the National Invitation Tournament, which had debuted the previous year, widely was considered the more prestigious of the two tournaments and the "true" national championship tournament through at least the mid-1950s, with better teams often choosing the NIT over the NCAA or playing in both tournaments in the same year.
• Howard Hobson of Oregon became the first head coach to win the NCAA tournament at his alma mater.
• Bruce Drake of Oklahoma became the first head coach to lead his team to a finish among the final four teams in the NCAA tournament in his first season as a head coach.
• The Eastern Intercollegiate Conference and the Northern California Conference both disbanded at the end of the season.
• In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Long Island, the 1938 National Invitation Tournament winner, as its national champion for the 1938–39 season.
• In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Long Island as its national champion for the 1938–39 season.

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
BYU Cougars	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Mountain States (Skyline) Conference
Colorado Buffaloes	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Mountain States (Skyline) Conference
Colorado State Rams	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Mountain States (Skyline) Conference
Denver Pioneers	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Mountain States (Skyline) Conference
Utah Redskins	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Mountain States (Skyline) Conference
Utah State Aggies	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Mountain States (Skyline) Conference
Wyoming Cowboys	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Mountain States (Skyline) 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	Missouri & Oklahoma	None selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Ohio State	None selected	No Tournament
Border Conference	New Mexico State	None selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Dartmouth	None selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Conference	Carnegie Tech & Georgetown	None selected	No Tournament
Metropolitan New York Conference	Long Island	None selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Drake & Oklahoma A&M	None selected	No Tournament
Mountain States (Skyline) Conference	Colorado		No Tournament
New England Conference	Rhode Island State		No Tournament
Northern California Conference	Santa Clara		No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference	Oregon (North); USC (South)		No Tournament; Oregon defeated USC in best-of-three conference championship playoff series
Southeastern Conference	Kentucky	None selected	1939 SEC men's basketball tournament	Alumni Memorial Gym (Knoxville, Tennessee)	Kentucky
Southern Conference	Wake Forest	None selected	1939 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Thompson Gym (Raleigh, North Carolina)	Clemson
Southwest Conference	Texas	None selected	No Tournament

Conference standings

1938–39 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Missouri 7 – 3   .700 12 – 6   .667 Oklahoma 7 – 3   .700 12 – 6   .667 Kansas 6 – 4   .600 13 – 7   .650 Iowa State 5 – 5   .500 8 – 9   .471 Nebraska 3 – 7   .300 7 – 13   .350 Kansas State 2 – 8   .200 5 – 13   .278	1938–39 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Ohio State 10 – 2   .833 16 – 7   .696 Indiana 9 – 3   .750 17 – 3   .850 Illinois 8 – 4   .667 14 – 5   .737 Minnesota 7 – 5   .583 14 – 6   .700 Purdue 6 – 6   .500 12 – 7   .632 Northwestern 5 – 7   .417 7 – 13   .350 Michigan 4 – 8   .333 11 – 9   .550 Wisconsin 4 – 8   .333 10 – 10   .500 Chicago 4 – 8   .333 9 – 11   .450 Iowa 3 – 9   .250 8 – 11   .421	1938–39 Border Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT New Mexico A&M 14 – 2   .875 20 – 4   .833 Texas Tech 13 – 5   .722 13 – 6   .684 Arizona State–Flagstaff 12 – 6   .667 13 – 11   .542 Arizona State–Tempe 11 – 11   .500 13 – 13   .500 Arizona 8 – 10   .444 12 – 11   .522 Texas State M&M 6 – 12   .333 6 – 13   .316 New Mexico 4 – 16   .200 4 – 21   .160
1938–39 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Dartmouth 10 – 2   .833 18 – 5   .783 Columbia 9 – 3   .750 11 – 5   .688 Cornell 7 – 5   .583 12 – 12   .500 Princeton 6 – 6   .500 10 – 9   .526 Penn 6 – 6   .500 7 – 11   .389 Yale 3 – 9   .250 4 – 16   .200 Harvard 1 – 11   .083 5 – 14   .263	1938–39 Eastern Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Carnegie Tech 6 – 4   .600 12 – 7   .632 Georgetown 6 – 4   .600 13 – 9   .591 Penn State 5 – 5   .500 13 – 10   .565 Pittsburgh 5 – 5   .500 10 – 8   .556 West Virginia 4 – 6   .400 10 – 9   .526 Temple 4 – 6   .400 10 – 12   .455	1938–39 Metropolitan New York Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT LIU 21 – 0   1.000 24 – 0   1.000 St. John's 17 – 2   .895 18 – 4   .818 Manhattan 12 – 5   .706 12 – 5   .706 St. Francis (NY) 15 – 7   .682 15 – 7   .682 CCNY 11 – 6   .647 11 – 6   .647 Fordham 10 – 8   .556 10 – 8   .556 Brooklyn 9 – 8   .529 9 – 8   .529 NYU 11 – 11   .500 11 – 11   .500
1938–39 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Oklahoma A&M 11 – 3   .786 19 – 8   .704 Drake 11 – 3   .786 14 – 7   .667 Grinnell 8 – 6   .571 14 – 7   .667 Tulsa 8 – 6   .571 15 – 8   .652 Creighton 7 – 7   .500 11 – 12   .478 Washington University 6 – 8   .429 11 – 10   .524 Saint Louis 3 – 11   .214 5 – 16   .238 Washburn 2 – 12   .143 4 – 18   .182	1938–39 Mountain States Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Colorado 10 – 2   .833 14 – 4   .778 Utah State 8 – 4   .667 17 – 7   .708 Utah 7 – 5   .583 13 – 7   .650 Wyoming 7 – 5   .583 10 – 11   .476 BYU 4 – 8   .333 12 – 12   .500 Denver 4 – 8   .333 5 – 13   .278 Colorado State 2 – 10   .167 2 – 14   .125	1938–39 New England Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Rhode Island State 7 – 1   .875 17 – 4   .810 Connecticut 6 – 2   .750 12 – 6   .667 Maine 4 – 4   .500 8 – 4   .667 Northeastern 3 – 5   .375 6 – 12   .333 New Hampshire 0 – 8   .000 3 – 14   .176
1938–39 Northern California Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Santa Clara 7 – 1   .875 15 – 5   .750 San Jose State 5 – 3   .625 11 – 7   .611 San Francisco 4 – 4   .500 7 – 10   .412 Saint Mary's 3 – 5   .375 11 – 10   .524 Pacific 1 – 7   .125 5 – 14   .263	1938–39 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT North Oregon † 14 – 2   .875 29 – 5   .853 Washington 11 – 5   .688 20 – 5   .800 Washington State 8 – 8   .500 23 – 10   .697 Oregon State 6 – 10   .375 13 – 11   .542 Idaho 1 – 15   .063 12 – 19   .387 South California 9 – 3   .750 24 – 8   .750 USC 9 – 3   .750 20 – 5   .800 Stanford 6 – 6   .500 16 – 9   .640 UCLA 0 – 12   .000 7 – 20   .259 † Conference playoff series winner	1938–39 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Alabama 13 – 4   .765 16 – 5   .762 Georgia 8 – 3   .727 11 – 6   .647 Kentucky † 5 – 2   .714 16 – 4   .800 LSU 10 – 5   .667 13 – 7   .650 Auburn 8 – 4   .667 16 – 6   .727 Vanderbilt 7 – 5   .583 14 – 7   .667 Florida 5 – 4   .556 9 – 6   .600 Tennessee 6 – 5   .545 14 – 7   .667 Georgia Tech 4 – 7   .364 6 – 9   .400 Mississippi State 5 – 10   .333 8 – 12   .400 Tulane 3 – 6   .333 5 – 13   .278 Ole Miss 4 – 10   .286 10 – 16   .385 Sewanee 0 – 13   .000 1 – 16   .059 † Regular-season championship and SEC Tournament winner
1938–39 Southern Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Wake Forest 15 – 3   .833 18 – 6   .750 Maryland 8 – 3   .727 15 – 9   .625 Washington and Lee 8 – 3   .727 13 – 9   .591 The Citadel 7 – 3   .700 14 – 5   .737 Davidson 9 – 7   .563 19 – 10   .655 North Carolina 8 – 7   .533 10 – 11   .476 North Carolina State 7 – 6   .538 10 – 7   .588 Duke 8 – 8   .500 10 – 12   .455 Clemson † 6 – 6   .500 16 – 8   .667 VMI 6 – 6   .500 7 – 10   .412 Richmond 5 – 5   .500 10 – 10   .500 William & Mary 4 – 9   .308 9 – 12   .429 South Carolina 2 – 8   .200 5 – 18   .217 Virginia Tech 2 – 10   .167 3 – 14   .176 Furman 0 – 10   .000 6 – 16   .273 † Southern Conference Tournament winner	1938–39 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Texas 10 – 2   .833 19 – 6   .760 Arkansas 9 – 3   .750 18 – 5   .783 SMU 8 – 4   .667 14 – 8   .636 Baylor 7 – 5   .583 14 – 7   .667 Rice 6 – 6   .500 10 – 11   .476 Texas A&M 2 – 10   .167 7 – 16   .304 TCU 0 – 12   .000 2 – 17   .105

Major independents

A total of 48 college teams played as major independents. Loyola of Illinois (21–1) had the best winning percentage (.955). Western Kentucky State| (22–3) and Marshall (22–5) finished with the most wins.

1938–39 NCAA men's basketball independents standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Loyola (Ill.) –   – 21 – 1   .955 Western Kentucky State –   – 22 – 3   .880 Army –   – 13 – 2   .867 Bradley –   – 19 – 3   .864 Marshall –   – 22 – 5   .815 Brown –   – 16 – 4   .800 Siena –   – 8 – 2   .800 Villanova –   – 20 – 5   .800 Syracuse –   – 15 – 4   .789 Duquesne –   – 14 – 4   .778 Detroit –   – 15 – 5   .750 Virginia –   – 15 – 5   .750 Boston University –   – 10 – 4   .714 Notre Dame –   – 15 – 6   .714 Cincinnati –   – 12 – 5   .706 Marquette –   – 12 – 5   .706 Butler –   – 14 – 6   .700 La Salle –   – 13 – 6   .684 DePaul –   – 15 – 7   .682 Seton Hall –   – 15 – 7   .682 Lehigh –   – 10 – 5   .667 Xavier –   – 13 – 7   .650 Bowling Green State –   – 12 – 7   .632 Toledo –   – 17 – 10   .630 Montana State –   – 18 – 11   .621 George Washington –   – 13 – 8   .619 Muhlenberg –   – 13 – 8   .619 Ohio –   – 12 – 8   .600 St. Bonaventure –   – 10 – 7   .588 Niagara –   – 11 – 8   .579 Navy –   – 8 – 6   .571 Rutgers –   – 8 – 6   .571 Montana –   – 17 – 13   .567 Michigan State Normal –   – 9 – 8   .529 Indiana State –   – 10 – 9   .526 Kent State –   – 12 – 11   .522 Bucknell –   – 8 – 8   .500 Loyola (Md.) –   – 10 – 13   .435 St. Joseph's –   – 9 – 12   .429 Wichita Municipal –   – 9 – 12   .429 Western State Teachers –   – 7 – 10   .412 Lafayette –   – 6 – 11   .353 Valparaiso –   – 5 – 10   .333 Colgate –   – 6 – 13   .316 Miami (Ohio) –   – 5 – 13   .278 Dayton –   – 2 – 12   .143 Louisville –   – 1 – 15   .063 Canisius –   – 0 – 13   .000

Post-Season Tournaments

NCAA Tournament

Main articles: 1939 NCAA basketball tournament and 1939 NCAA basketball championship game

Semifinals & final

The Patten Gymnasium in Evanston, Illinois, hosted the NCAA men's Final Four.

	National Semifinals				National Final
	Villanova	36
	Ohio State	53
					Ohio State	33
					Oregon	46
	Oregon	55
	Oklahoma	37

National Invitation Tournament

Main article: 1939 National Invitation Tournament

Semifinals & finals

	Semifinals				Finals
	Bradley	32
	Long Island	36
					Long Island	44
					Loyola (Ill.)	32
	Loyola (Ill.)	51
	St. John's	46			Third place
					Bradley	40
					St. John's	35

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Main article: 1939 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

Consensus First Team

Player	Class	Team
Ernie Andres	Senior	Indiana
Jimmy Hull	Senior	Ohio State
Chet Jaworski	Senior	Rhode Island State
Irving Torgoff	Senior	Long Island
Slim Wintermute	Senior	Oregon

Consensus Second Team

Player	Class	Team
Bobby Anet	Senior	Oregon
Bob Calihan	Junior	Detroit
Bob Hassmiller	Senior	Fordham
Mike Novak	Senior	Loyola-Chicago
Bernard Opper	Senior	Kentucky

Major player of the year awards

• Helms Player of the Year: Chet Jaworski, Rhode Island State (retroactive selection in 1944)

Other major awards

• NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Irv Torgoff, Long Island

Coaching changes

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

Team	Former Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach	Reason
Kansas State	Frank Root		Jack Gardner
Wyoming	Willard Witte		Everett Shelton