1937–38 NCAA men's basketball season

1937–38 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Helms National Champions	Temple (retroactive selection in 1943)
Other champions	Temple (NIT)
Player of the Year (Helms)	Hank Luisetti, Stanford (retroactive selection in 1944)

The 1937–38 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1937, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1938.

Rule changes

After a field goal, the opposing team receives possession of the ball. Previously, a jump ball at center court had taken place after every field goal.

Season headlines

• The New England Conference played its first season at the major-program level.
• The Northern California Conference began play.
• Hank Luisetti of Stanford became the first player to score 50 or more points in one game when he scored 50 in a win over Duquesne on January 1, 1938.
• The Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association founded the National Invitation Tournament (NIT), which was played for the first time in 1938. A field of six teams participated, with the Temple Owls winning the first NIT championship. Although the NCAA tournament began play the following season, the NIT, playing its games at Madison Square Garden and easily accessible to the New York City media, was considered the more glamorous and prestigious of the two tournaments until at least the mid-1950s
• In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Temple as its national champion for the 1937–38 season.
• In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Temple as its national champion for the 1937–38 season.

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
Colorado College Tigers	Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Non-major basketball program
Northeastern Huskies	Non-major basketball program	New England Conference
Pacific Tigers	Non-major basketball program	Northern California Conference
Saint Louis Billikens	Independent	Missouri Valley Conference
Saint Mary's (Calif.) Gaels	Independent	Northern California Conference
San Francisco Dons	Independent	Northern California Conference
San Jose State Spartans	Non-major basketball program	Northern California Conference
Santa Clara Broncos	Independent	Northern California Conference
Virginia Cavaliers	Southern Conference	Independent

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	Kansas	None selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Purdue	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	Temple	None selected	No Tournament
Metropolitan New York Conference	NYU	None selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Oklahoma A&M	None selected	No Tournament
New England Conference	Rhode Island State		No Tournament
Northern California Conference	San Jose State & Santa Clara		No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference	Oregon (North); Stanford (South)		No Tournament; Stanford defeated Oregon in best-of-three conference championship playoff series
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Colorado & Utah		No Tournament
Southeastern Conference	Georgia Tech	None selected	1938 SEC men's basketball tournament	Huey Long Field House (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)	Georgia Tech
Southern Conference	North Carolina	None selected	1938 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Thompson Gym (Raleigh, North Carolina)	Duke
Southwest Conference	Arkansas	None selected	No Tournament

Conference standings

1937–38 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Kansas 9 – 1   .900 18 – 2   .900 Oklahoma 8 – 2   .800 14 – 4   .778 Missouri 4 – 6   .400 9 – 9   .500 Nebraska 4 – 6   .400 9 – 11   .450 Kansas State 3 – 7   .300 7 – 11   .389 Iowa State 2 – 8   .200 6 – 9   .400	1937–38 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Purdue 10 – 2   .833 18 – 2   .900 Minnesota 9 – 3   .750 16 – 4   .800 Ohio State 7 – 5   .583 12 – 8   .600 Northwestern 7 – 5   .583 10 – 10   .500 Michigan 6 – 6   .500 12 – 8   .600 Iowa 6 – 6   .500 11 – 9   .550 Wisconsin 5 – 7   .417 10 – 10   .500 Illinois 4 – 8   .333 9 – 9   .500 Indiana 4 – 8   .333 10 – 10   .500 Chicago 2 – 10   .167 6 – 12   .333	1937–38 Border Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT New Mexico A&M 18 – 0   1.000 22 – 3   .880 Arizona 9 – 7   .563 13 – 8   .619 Arizona State–Tempe 9 – 9   .500 11 – 12   .478 Texas Tech 7 – 7   .500 9 – 13   .409 New Mexico 6 – 10   .375 9 – 16   .360 Arizona State–Flagstaff 4 – 12   .250 6 – 15   .286 Texas State M&M 3 – 11   .214 4 – 17   .190
1937–38 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Dartmouth 8 – 4   .667 20 – 5   .800 Harvard 7 – 5   .583 13 – 5   .722 Penn 7 – 5   .583 8 – 10   .444 Cornell 6 – 6   .500 11 – 7   .611 Columbia 6 – 6   .500 10 – 8   .556 Princeton 5 – 7   .417 10 – 10   .500 Yale 3 – 9   .250 7 – 12   .368	1937–38 Eastern Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Temple 9 – 1   .900 23 – 2   .920 Penn State 6 – 4   .600 13 – 5   .722 Pittsburgh 5 – 5   .500 9 – 12   .429 Georgetown 5 – 5   .500 7 – 11   .389 Carnegie Tech 3 – 7   .300 3 – 7   .300 West Virginia 2 – 8   .200 6 – 13   .316	1937–38 Metropolitan New York Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT NYU 6 – 0   1.000 16 – 8   .667 LIU 3 – 0   1.000 23 – 5   .821 CCNY 4 – 2   .667 13 – 3   .813 St. John's 4 – 2   .667 15 – 4   .789 Manhattan 2 – 4   .333 12 – 6   .667 Brooklyn 2 – 4   .333 7 – 8   .467 St. Francis (NY) 1 – 5   .167 14 – 8   .636 Fordham 0 – 6   .000 10 – 10   .500
1937–38 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Oklahoma A&M 13 – 1   .929 25 – 3   .893 Drake 10 – 4   .714 14 – 6   .700 Tulsa 8 – 6   .571 12 – 10   .545 Grinnell 7 – 7   .500 10 – 9   .526 Creighton 7 – 7   .500 11 – 14   .440 Washington University 6 – 8   .429 4 – 17   .190 Saint Louis 3 – 11   .214 8 – 21   .276 Washburn 2 – 12   .143 9 – 13   .409	1937–38 New England Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Rhode Island State 8 – 0   1.000 19 – 2   .905 Connecticut 4 – 4   .500 13 – 5   .722 New Hampshire 4 – 4   .500 12 – 6   .667 Northeastern 4 – 4   .500 6 – 12   .333 Maine 1 – 7   .125 4 – 9   .308	1937–38 Northern California Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT San Jose State 6 – 2   .750 19 – 4   .826 Santa Clara 6 – 2   .750 12 – 6   .667 Saint Mary's 5 – 3   .625 10 – 9   .526 San Francisco 3 – 5   .375 10 – 12   .455 Pacific 0 – 8   .000 6 – 13   .316
1937–38 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT North Oregon 14 – 6   .700 25 – 8   .758 Washington 13 – 7   .650 29 – 7   .806 Washington State 12 – 8   .600 19 – 11   .633 Idaho 12 – 8   .600 24 – 11   .686 Oregon State 6 – 14   .300 17 – 16   .515 Montana 3 – 17   .150 10 – 19   .345 South Stanford † 10 – 2   .833 21 – 3   .875 California 8 – 4   .667 18 – 11   .621 USC 6 – 6   .500 17 – 9   .654 UCLA 0 – 12   .000 4 – 20   .167 † Conference playoff series winner	1937–38 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Utah 10 – 2   .833 20 – 4   .833 Colorado 10 – 2   .833 15 – 6   .714 Wyoming 8 – 4   .667 12 – 5   .706 Utah State 6 – 6   .500 11 – 9   .550 BYU 4 – 8   .333 8 – 13   .381 Colorado State 3 – 9   .250 7 – 9   .438 Denver 1 – 11   .083 2 – 16   .111	1937–38 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Kentucky 6 – 0   1.000 13 – 5   .722 Ole Miss 11 – 2   .846 22 – 12   .647 Georgia Tech † 9 – 2   .818 18 – 2   .900 Auburn 6 – 3   .667 14 – 5   .737 Tennessee 7 – 4   .636 15 – 8   .652 LSU 7 – 6   .538 10 – 10   .500 Tulane 5 – 6   .455 8 – 10   .444 Mississippi State 7 – 9   .438 9 – 12   .429 Georgia 4 – 6   .400 12 – 10   .545 Vanderbilt 4 – 8   .333 9 – 12   .429 Florida 3 – 7   .300 11 – 9   .550 Alabama 4 – 12   .250 4 – 13   .235 Sewanee 2 – 10   .167 4 – 13   .235 † Regular-season championship and SEC Tournament winner
1937–38 Southern Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT North Carolina 13 – 3   .813 16 – 5   .762 North Carolina State 10 – 3   .769 13 – 6   .684 The Citadel 7 – 3   .700 13 – 5   .722 Clemson 9 – 4   .692 16 – 7   .696 Duke † 9 – 5   .643 15 – 9   .625 Richmond 7 – 4   .636 15 – 5   .750 Maryland 6 – 4   .600 15 – 9   .625 Washington and Lee 6 – 5   .545 12 – 9   .571 Wake Forest 7 – 8   .467 7 – 12   .368 Virginia Tech 4 – 5   .444 6 – 8   .429 Davidson 4 – 11   .267 10 – 12   .455 Furman 2 – 6   .250 6 – 13   .316 VMI 2 – 7   .222 4 – 11   .267 South Carolina 2 – 12   .143 3 – 21   .125 William & Mary 0 – 9   .000 2 – 10   .167 † Southern Conference Tournament winner	1937–38 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Arkansas 11 – 1   .917 19 – 3   .864 Baylor 9 – 3   .750 10 – 6   .625 SMU 8 – 4   .667 9 – 6   .600 Texas A&M 6 – 6   .500 10 – 8   .556 Texas 5 – 7   .417 11 – 11   .500 Rice 2 – 10   .167 6 – 17   .261 TCU 1 – 11   .083 8 – 15   .348

Major independents

A total of 46 college teams played as major independents. St. Bonaventure (9–0) was undefeated, and Western Kentucky State (30–3) finished with the most wins.

1937–38 NCAA men's basketball independents standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT St. Bonaventure –   – 9 – 0   1.000 Western Kentucky State –   – 30 – 3   .909 Bradley –   – 18 – 2   .900 Marshall –   – 28 – 4   .875 Notre Dame –   – 20 – 3   .870 Army –   – 12 – 2   .857 Villanova –   – 25 – 5   .833 Montana State –   – 22 – 5   .815 Bowling Green State –   – 16 – 4   .800 Detroit –   – 16 – 4   .800 Navy –   – 11 – 3   .786 George Washington –   – 13 – 4   .765 Marquette –   – 14 – 5   .737 Syracuse –   – 14 – 5   .737 Rutgers –   – 11 – 4   .733 St. Joseph's –   – 13 – 5   .722 Toledo –   – 14 – 6   .700 Miami (Ohio) –   – 11 – 5   .688 Valparaiso –   – 13 – 6   .684 Loyola (Ill.) –   – 12 – 8   .600 Ohio –   – 11 – 8   .579 Loyola (Md.) –   – 9 – 7   .563 Seton Hall –   – 10 – 8   .556 DePaul –   – 12 – 10   .545 Bucknell –   – 7 – 6   .538 La Salle –   – 9 – 8   .529 Lafayette –   – 9 – 8   .529 Michigan State Normal –   – 9 – 8   .529 Colgate –   – 10 – 9   .526 Xavier –   – 10 – 9   .526 Boston University –   – 9 – 9   .500 Butler –   – 11 – 12   .478 Canisius –   – 8 – 9   .471 Lehigh –   – 7 – 8   .467 Muhlenberg –   – 9 – 11   .450 Kent State –   – 10 – 13   .435 Wichita Municipal –   – 10 – 13   .435 Brown –   – 7 – 11   .389 Niagara –   – 8 – 13   .381 Virginia –   – 6 – 10   .375 Cincinnati –   – 6 – 11   .353 Dayton –   – 6 – 11   .353 Duquesne –   – 6 – 11   .353 Western State Teachers –   – 6 – 12   .333 Louisville –   – 4 – 11   .267 Indiana State –   – 1 – 17   .056

Post-season tournaments

National Invitation Tournament

Main article: 1938 National Invitation Tournament

Semifinals & finals

	Semifinals				Finals
	Oklahoma A&M	55
	Temple	56
					Temple	60
					Colorado	36
	Colorado	48
	NYU	47			Third place
					Oklahoma A&M	37
					NYU	24

Awards

Consensus All-American team

Main article: 1938 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

Consensus Team

Player	Class	Team
Meyer Bloom	Senior	Temple
Hank Luisetti	Senior	Stanford
John Moir	Senior	Notre Dame
Paul Nowak	Senior	Notre Dame
Fred Pralle	Senior	Kansas
Jewell Young	Senior	Purdue

Major player of the year awards

• Helms Player of the Year: Hank Luisetti, Stanford (retroactive selection in 1944)

Other major awards

• NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Bernie Fliegel, CCNY

Coaching changes

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

Team	Former Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach	Reason
Georgetown	Fred Mesmer		Elmer Ripley	Mesmer stepped aside after seven seasons to allow Ripley to return for a second stint as head coach.
Indiana	Everett Dean		Branch McCracken
Oklahoma	Hugh McDermott		Bruce Drake
Stanford	John Bunn		Everett Dean