1946–47 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1946–47 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1946, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1947 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 25, 1947, at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. The Holy Cross Crusaders won their first NCAA national championship with a 58–47 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners.

1946–47 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
NCAA Tournament	1947
Tournament dates	March 19 – 25, 1947
National Championship	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
NCAA Champions	Holy Cross
Helms National Champions	Holy Cross
Other champions	Utah (NIT)
Player of the Year (Helms)	Gerald Tucker, Oklahoma
← 1945–46 1947–48 →

Season headlines

• The Mid-American Conference began play, with five original members.
• The Western New York Little Three Conference began play.
• The Yankee Conference began play, with six original members.^[1]
• In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Kentucky as its national champion for the 1946–47 season.^[2]

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
Butler Bulldogs	Independent	Mid-American Conference
Canisius Golden Griffins	Independent	Western New York Little Three Conference
Chicago Maroons	Big Ten Conference	No NCAA basketball program
Cincinnati Bearcats	Independent	Mid-American Conference
Connecticut Huskies	New England Conference	Yankee Conference
Dickinson College Red Devils	No NCAA basketball program	Middle Atlantic States Conference North
Harvard Crimson	Independent	Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League
Maine Black Bears	New England Conference	Yankee Conference
Massachusetts Minutemen	Independent	Yankee Conference
New Hampshire Wildcats	New England Conference	Yankee Conference
Niagara Purple Eagles	Independent	Western New York Little Three Conference
Ohio Bobcats	Independent	Mid-American Conference
Rhode Island State Rams	New England Conference	Yankee Conference
St. Bonaventure Brown Indians	Independent	Western New York Little Three Conference
Vermont Catamounts	Independent	Yankee Conference
Wayne State Warriors	No NCAA basketball program	Mid-American Conference
Western Reserve Red Cats	No NCAA basketball program	Mid-American Conference
Yale Bulldogs	Independent	Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League

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	Oklahoma	None selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Wisconsin	None selected	No Tournament
Border Conference	Arizona	None selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Columbia	None selected	No Tournament
Metropolitan New York Conference	St. John's		No Tournament
Mid-American Conference	Butler & Cincinnati	None selected	No Tournament
Middle Atlantic States Conference North	Muhlenberg		No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Saint Louis	None selected	No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference	Oregon State (North); UCLA (South)		No Tournament; Oregon State defeated UCLA in best-of-three conference championship playoff series
Skyline Conference	Wyoming		No Tournament
Southeastern Conference	Kentucky	None selected	1947 SEC men's basketball tournament	Jefferson County Armory, (Louisville, Kentucky)	Kentucky
Southern Conference	NC State	None selected	1947 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Duke Indoor Stadium (Durham, North Carolina)	NC State^[4]
Southwest Conference	Texas	None selected	No Tournament
Western New York Little Three Conference	Canisius		No Tournament
Yankee Conference	Vermont	None selected	No Tournament

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Main articles: 1947 NCAA basketball tournament and 1947 NCAA Basketball Championship Game

Semifinals and finals

	National Semifinals					National Finals
	Holy Cross		60
	CCNY		45
						Holy Cross		58
						Oklahoma		47
	Texas		54
	Oklahoma		55

• Third Place – Texas 54, CCNY 50

National Invitation tournament

Main article: 1947 National Invitation Tournament

Semifinals and finals

	Semifinals					Finals
		Utah	64
		West Virginia	62
							Utah	49
							Kentucky	45
		Kentucky	60
		NC State	42

• Third Place – NC State 64, West Virginia 52

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Main article: 1947 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

Consensus First Team

Player	Position	Class	Team
Ralph Beard	G	Sophomore	Kentucky
Alex Groza	C	Sophomore	Kentucky
Ralph Hamilton	G	Senior	Indiana
Sid Tanenbaum	G	Senior	New York University
Gerry Tucker	C	Senior	Oklahoma

Consensus Second Team

Player	Position	Class	Team
Don Barksdale	C	Senior	UCLA
Arnie Ferrin	F	Junior	Utah
Vern Gardner	C	Senior	Utah
John Hargis	G	Senior	Texas
George Kaftan	F	Junior	Holy Cross
Ed Koffenberger	C	Junior	Duke
Andy Phillip	G/F	Senior	Illinois

Major player of the year awards

• Helms Player of the Year: Gerald Tucker, Oklahoma

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	Interim Coach	New Coach	Reason
Oregon	Howard Hobson		John A. Warren
St. John's	Joe Lapchick		Frank McGuire
Yale	Ivy Williamson		Howard Hobson

References

1. "New England/Yankee Regular Season Champions," Coaches Database Accessed April 27, 2021
2. ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. p. 526, 529–587. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
3. "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
4. 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09