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1953–54 NCAA men's basketball season

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The 1953–54 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1953, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1954 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 20, 1954, at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The La Salle Explorers won their first NCAA national championship with a 92–76 victory over the Bradley Braves.

Season headlines

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  • The Atlantic Coast Conference began play, with eight original members.
  • Frank Selvy of Furman scored 100 points in a 149–95 victory over Newberry in Greenville, South Carolina, on February 13, 1954, becoming the first player to score 100 or more points in a game.[3] Selvy finished the season with 1,209 points for the year, the first player to score 1,000 or more points in a single season.[3] He also averaged 41.7 points per game for the season, the first player to average 40 or more points per game in a season,[3] and finished his career (1952–1954) averaging 32.5 points a game, the first player to average 30 or more points per game during a collegiate career.[3]
  • The NCAA tournament expanded from 22 to 24 teams.
  • Kentucky went undefeated, finishing with a 25–0 record. The Helms Athletic Foundation awarded its national championship to Kentucky rather than to the 1954 NCAA basketball tournament champion, La Salle.[2] It was the fourth and final time that the NCAA champion and the Helms champion differed. In the final AP Poll, taken after the completion of the 1954 NCAA basketball tournament and the then-presitigious National Invitation Tournament, Kentucky was ranked No. 1 ahead of No. 2 La Salle (NCAA tournament champion) and No. 3 Holy Cross (1954 National Invitation Tournament champion).[4]
  • The NCAA tournament's Final Four games were played on Friday and Saturday for the first time.[5]
  • The NCAA tournament's championship game was televised nationally for the first time. The broadcast rights fee was $7,500.[5]

Season outlook

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Pre-season polls

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The Top 20 from the AP Poll and the UP Coaches Poll during the pre-season.[6][7]

Associated Press
Ranking Team
1 Indiana
2 Kentucky
3 Duquesne
4 Oklahoma A&M
5 Kansas
6 La Salle
7 NC State
8 Kansas State
9 Illinois
10 LSU
11 Western Kentucky State
12 Minnesota
13 Oregon State
14 Wyoming
15 Dayton
16 Santa Clara
17 California
18 Saint Louis
19
(tie)
Holy Cross
Oklahoma City
UP Coaches
Ranking Team
1 Indiana
2 Kentucky
3 Duquesne
4 Kansas
5 Oklahoma A&M
6 La Salle
7 LSU
8 NC State
9 Minnesota
10 California
11 Illinois
12 Kansas State
13 Saint Louis
14 Holy Cross
15 Oregon State
16 Dayton
17 Wyoming
18 Santa Clara
19 Notre Dame
20 UCLA

Conference membership changes

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School Former conference New conference
Brown Bears Independent Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League
CCNY Beavers Metropolitan New York Conference Non-major basketball program
Cincinnati Bearcats Mid-American Conference Independent
Clemson Tigers Southern Conference Atlantic Coast Conference
Duke Blue Devils Southern Conference Atlantic Coast Conference
Maryland Terrapins Southern Conference Atlantic Coast Conference
North Carolina Tar Heels Southern Conference Atlantic Coast Conference
North Carolina State Wolfpack Southern Conference Atlantic Coast Conference
South Carolina Gamecocks Southern Conference Atlantic Coast Conference
Wake Forest Demon Deacons Southern Conference Atlantic Coast Conference
Virginia Cavaliers Independent Atlantic Coast Conference

Regular season

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Conferences

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Conference winners and tournaments

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Conference Regular
season winner[8]
Conference
player of the year
Conference
tournament
Tournament
venue (City)
Tournament
winner
Atlantic Coast Conference Duke Dickie Hemric, Wake Forest[9] 1954 ACC men's basketball tournament Reynolds Coliseum
(Raleigh, North Carolina)
NC State
Big Seven Conference Colorado & Kansas None selected No Tournament
Big Ten Conference Indiana None selected No Tournament
Border Conference Texas Tech No Tournament
California Basketball Association Santa Clara None selected No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Cornell None selected No Tournament
Metropolitan New York Conference St. Francis (NY) No Tournament
Mid-American Conference Toledo None selected No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference Oklahoma A&M None selected No Tournament
Mountain States (Skyline) Conference Colorado A&M No Tournament
Ohio Valley Conference Western Kentucky State None selected 1954 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament Jefferson County Armory (Louisville, Kentucky) Western Kentucky State
Pacific Coast Conference Oregon State (North); USC (South) No Tournament;
USC defeated Oregon State in best-of-three conference championship playoff series
Southeastern Conference Kentucky & LSU None selected No Tournament
Southern Conference George Washington Frank Selvy, Furman[10] 1954 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament WVU Fieldhouse
(Morgantown, West Virginia)
George Washington[11]
Southwest Conference Rice & Texas None selected No Tournament
Western New York Little Three Conference Niagara No Tournament
Yankee Conference Connecticut None selected No Tournament

Conference standings

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1953–54 ACC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 15 Duke 9 1   .900 21 6   .778
No. 20 Maryland 7 2   .778 23 7   .767
Wake Forest 8 4   .667 17 12   .586
NC State 5 3   .625 26 7   .788
North Carolina 5 6   .455 11 10   .524
South Carolina 2 8   .200 10 16   .385
Virginia 1 4   .200 16 11   .593
Clemson 0 9   .000 5 18   .217
1954 ACC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll
1953–54 Big Seven Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 18 Kansas 10 2   .833 16 5   .762
Colorado 10 2   .833 11 11   .500
Missouri 6 6   .500 11 10   .524
Kansas State 5 7   .417 11 10   .524
Nebraska 5 7   .417 8 13   .381
Oklahoma 4 8   .333 8 13   .381
Iowa State 2 10   .167 6 15   .286
Rankings from AP Poll[12]
1953–54 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 4 Indiana 12 2   .857 20 4   .833
No. 13 Iowa 11 3   .786 17 5   .773
No. 19 Illinois 10 4   .714 17 5   .773
Minnesota 10 4   .714 17 5   .773
Wisconsin 6 8   .429 12 10   .545
Northwestern 6 8   .429 9 13   .409
Ohio State 5 9   .357 11 11   .500
Michigan State 4 10   .286 9 13   .409
Michigan 3 11   .214 9 13   .409
Purdue 3 11   .214 9 13   .409
Rankings from AP Poll
1953–54 Border Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Texas Tech 11 1   .917 20 5   .800
West Texas State 9 3   .750 13 7   .650
Arizona 8 4   .667 14 10   .583
Texas Western 4 8   .333 8 14   .364
Hardin–Simmons 4 8   .333 7 17   .292
New Mexico A&M 3 9   .250 6 12   .333
Arizona State–Tempe 3 9   .250 5 18   .217
† Regular-season co-championship winner
Rankings from AP Poll
1953–54 California Basketball Association men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Santa Clara 9 3   .750 20 7   .741
San Francisco 8 4   .667 14 7   .667
San Jose State 6 6   .500 12 15   .444
Saint Mary's 4 8   .333 10 14   .417
Pacific 3 9   .250 9 17   .346
Rankings from AP Poll[13]
1953–54 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Cornell 11 3   .786 17 7   .708
Princeton 11 3   .786 16 9   .640
Pennsylvania 10 4   .714 17 8   .680
Yale 7 7   .500 12 14   .462
Columbia 6 8   .429 11 13   .458
Dartmouth 5 9   .357 13 13   .500
Brown 4 10   .286 13 11   .542
Harvard 2 12   .143 9 16   .360
† Regular-season championship winner
Rankings from AP Poll
1953–54 Metropolitan New York Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
St. Francis (NY) 5 0   1.000 23 5   .821
Fordham 3 1   .750 18 6   .750
Manhattan 3 3   .500 15 11   .577
NYU 2 2   .500 9 9   .500
St. John's 2 3   .400 9 11   .450
CCNY 2 4   .333 10 8   .556
Brooklyn 0 4   .000 6 11   .353
Rankings from AP Poll
1953–54 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Toledo 10 2   .833 13 10   .565
Bowling Green 10 3   .769 17 7   .708
Miami (Ohio) 7 5   .583 12 10   .545
Marshall 6 7   .462 12 9   .571
Western Michigan 4 5   .444 10 11   .476
Ohio 5 7   .417 12 10   .545
Kent State 3 9   .250 8 13   .381
Western Reserve 2 9   .182 7 17   .292
Rankings from AP Poll
1953–54 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 10 Oklahoma A&M 9 1   .900 24 5   .828
Wichita Municipal 8 2   .800 27 4   .871
Tulsa 5 5   .500 15 4   .789
Saint Louis 4 6   .400 14 12   .538
Houston 3 7   .300 11 15   .423
Detroit 1 9   .100 11 17   .393
Rankings from AP Poll
1953–54 Mountain States Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Colorado A&M 12 2   .857 22 7   .759
Wyoming 10 4   .714 19 9   .679
BYU 9 5   .643 18 11   .621
Utah State 7 7   .500 14 13   .519
Utah 7 7   .500 12 14   .462
New Mexico 5 9   .357 11 11   .500
Montana 3 11   .214 7 20   .259
Denver 3 11   .214 6 21   .222
Rankings from AP Poll
1953–54 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 8 Western Kentucky State 9 1   .900 29 3   .906
Murray State 6 4   .600 15 16   .484
Morehead State   16 7   .696
Eastern Kentucky State 4 6   .400 7 16   .304
Tennessee Tech   12 10   .545
Middle Tennessee   12 17   .414
Ohio Valley Conference Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll
1953–54 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
North
Oregon State 11 5   .688 22 8   .733
Idaho 9 7   .563 15 8   .652
Oregon 9 7   .563 17 10   .630
Washington 7 9   .438 8 18   .308
Washington State 4 12   .250 10 17   .370
South
No. 11 USC 8 4   .667 19 14   .576
UCLA 7 5   .583 18 7   .720
California 6 6   .500 17 7   .708
Stanford 3 9   .250 15 10   .600
† Conference playoff series winner
Rankings from AP Poll[14]
1953–54 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 1 Kentucky 14 0   1.000 25 0   1.000
No. 14 LSU 14 0   1.000 20 5   .800
Alabama 10 4   .714 16 8   .667
Tulane 10 4   .714 15 8   .652
Auburn 8 6   .571 16 8   .667
Ole Miss 7 7   .500 12 12   .500
Tennessee 7 7   .500 11 12   .478
Vanderbilt 5 9   .357 12 10   .545
Mississippi State 5 9   .357 11 10   .524
Florida 3 11   .214 7 15   .318
Georgia 2 12   .143 7 18   .280
Georgia Tech 0 14   .000 2 22   .083
Rankings from AP Poll[15]
1953–54 Southern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 12 George Washington 10 0   1.000 23 3   .885
Furman 6 1   .857 23 9   .719
Richmond 10 3   .769 23 8   .742
West Virginia 6 4   .600 12 11   .522
William & Mary 6 5   .545 9 14   .391
VMI 6 7   .462 11 12   .478
Davidson 3 5   .375 7 15   .318
Washington and Lee 3 9   .250 6 17   .261
Virginia Tech 3 13   .188 3 24   .111
The Citadel 1 7   .125 2 17   .105
Southern Conference Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll
1953–54 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Rice 9 3   .750 23 5   .821
Texas 9 3   .750 16 9   .640
Arkansas 6 6   .500 13 9   .591
SMU 6 6   .500 13 9   .591
Baylor 6 6   .500 12 11   .522
TCU 5 7   .417 10 14   .417
Texas A&M 1 11   .083 2 20   .091
Rankings from AP Poll
1953–54 Western New York Little Three Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 16 Niagara 3 1   .750 24 6   .800
St. Bonaventure 2 2   .500 12 11   .522
Canisius 1 3   .250 9 14   .391
Rankings from AP Poll
1953–54 Yankee Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Connecticut 7 0   1.000 23 3   .885
Massachusetts 5 1   .833 13 9   .591
Rhode Island 4 4   .500 7 14   .333
New Hampshire 2 6   .250 8 10   .444
Vermont 1 2   .333 13 7   .650
Maine 1 7   .125 6 12   .333

Major independents

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A total of 42 college teams played as major independents. Among them, Holy Cross (26–2) and Seattle (26–2) had the best winning percentage (.929), and Holy Cross, Seattle, Duquesne (26–3), and La Salle (26–4) finished with the most wins.[16]

1953–54 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 3 Holy Cross   26 2   .929
No. 17 Seattle   26 2   .929
No. 5 Duquesne   26 3   .897
No. 6 Notre Dame   22 3   .880
No. 2 La Salle   26 4   .867
Dayton   25 7   .781
Louisville   22 7   .759
No. 9 Penn State   18 6   .750
Oklahoma City   18 7   .720
Navy   18 8   .692
Army   15 7   .682
Villanova   20 11   .645
Lafayette   17 10   .630
Saint Joseph's   14 9   .609
Xavier   18 12   .600
No. 7 Bradley   19 13   .594
John Carroll   15 11   .577
Seton Hall   13 10   .565
Temple   15 12   .556
Muhlenberg   12 10   .545
Washington University   12 10   .545
Syracuse   10 9   .526
Cincinnati   11 10   .524
DePaul   11 10   .524
Iona   11 10   .524
Butler   13 12   .520
Boston College   11 11   .500
Loyola (Calif.)   14 16   .467
Rutgers   11 13   .458
Creighton   14 17   .452
Gonzaga   12 15   .444
Valparaiso   10 13   .435
Marquette   11 15   .423
Lehigh   8 12   .400
Pittsburgh   9 14   .391
Georgetown   11 18   .379
Siena   7 14   .333
Portland   9 19   .321
Loyola (IL)   7 15   .318
Drake   7 16   .304
Colgate   5 12   .294
Bucknell   4 16   .200
Rankings from AP Poll

Statistical leaders

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Post-season tournaments

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NCAA tournament

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Final Four

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National semifinals National finals
    
Penn State 54
La Salle 69
La Salle 92
Bradley 76
Bradley 74
USC 72 Third place
Penn State 70
USC 61

National Invitation tournament

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Semifinals & finals

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Semifinals Finals
    
Western Kentucky State 69
Holy Cross 75
Holy Cross 71
Duquesne 62
Duquesne 66
Niagara 51 Third place
Western Kentucky State 66
Niagara 71

Awards

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Consensus All-American teams

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Consensus First Team
Player Position Class Team
Tom Gola F Junior La Salle
Cliff Hagan F Senior Kentucky
Bob Pettit C Senior Louisiana State
Don Schlundt C Junior Indiana
Frank Selvy G Senior Furman


Consensus Second Team
Player Position Class Team
Bobby Leonard G Senior Indiana
Tom Marshall F Senior Western Kentucky State
Bob Mattick C Senior Oklahoma A&M
Frank Ramsey G/F Senior Kentucky
Dick Ricketts F/C Junior Duquesne

Major player of the year awards

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Other major awards

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Coaching changes

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

Team Former
Coach
Interim
Coach
New
Coach
Reason
John Carroll Fred George Silvio Cornachione[17]

References

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  1. ^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 625. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  2. ^ a b "Helms Bypasses La Salle — Kentucky Named Top Team". The Daily O'Collegian. April 1, 1954. Retrieved December 25, 2023. Although La Salle won the NCAA title, and Holy Cross the National Invitational crown, Helms Athletic foundation has elected to hand the national championship honors for the 1954 season to the University of Kentucky's undefeated in 25 games Wildcats.
  3. ^ a b c d "Playing Rules History" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. p. 13. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  4. ^ Fullerton, Jr., Hugh (March 23, 1954). Written at New York. "Kentucky Beats Out Tourney Winners in Final Cage Poll". Abilene Reporter-News. Abilene, Texas. Associated Press. Retrieved December 25, 2023. Kentucky's unbeaten basketball team, which refrained from tournament competition this year, came out ahead of the two national tournament winners, La Salle and Holy Cross, in the final Associated Press ranking poll of the 1953–54 season today.
  5. ^ a b "Playing Rules History" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. p. 11. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  6. ^ ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. p. 836. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  7. ^ "1977 Preseason AP Men's Basketball Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  8. ^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
  9. ^ 2008–09 ACC Men's Basketball Media Guide – Year by Year section Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2009-02-14
  10. ^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Honors Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
  11. ^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
  12. ^ sports-reference.com 1953-54 Big Seven Conference Season Summary
  13. ^ sports-reference.com 1953-54 California Basketball Association Season Summary
  14. ^ "2017-18 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. p. 72. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  15. ^ sports-reference.com 1953-54 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
  16. ^ "1953-54 Men's Independent Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  17. ^ "2021 John Carroll Blue Streaks men's basketball history & records guide, page 28" (PDF). John Carroll Blue Streaks. Retrieved May 9, 2021.