The 1919–20 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1919, progressed through the regular season, and concluded in March 1920.
Season headlines
Penn of the Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League met Chicago of the Big Ten Conference in a three-game national championship playoff, with the first game at Chicago, the second at Penn, and the third at Princeton University. Chicago won the first game 28–24, and Penn the second game, 29-18, after which Penn students celebrated all night and threw bricks and fired shots at policemen. Penn also won the third game, 23-21, and claimed the mythical national championship. On February 25, 1921, the Atlanta Constitution ran an article by sportswriter Walter Camp in which Camp observed that the Chicago-Penn championship series had demonstrated the need for a national standardization of college basketball rules and the interpretation of them and expressed the view that no way of determining a national champion yet existed in college basketball. NYU, led by Howard Cann, won the post-season Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national championship tournament by defeating Rutgers, 49-24. NYU became the second of only four collegiate teams to win the tournament — in which a mix of collegiate and non-collegiate amateur teams competed — and the only one to do so between 1916 and 1924. In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Penn as its national champion for the 1919–20 season. In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Penn as its top-ranked team for the 1919–20 season.
Conference membership changes SchoolFormer ConferenceNew Conference Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association Independent Independent Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association No major basketball program Southwest Conference
Regular season Conferences Conference winners ConferenceRegular Season WinnerConference Player of the YearConference TournamentTournament Venue (City)Tournament WinnerBig Ten Conference Chicago None Selected No TournamentEastern Intercollegiate Basketball League None None Selected No TournamentMissouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association Missouri None Selected No TournamentPacific Coast Conference Stanford None Selected No TournamentRocky Mountain Athletic Conference Colorado No TournamentSouthern Intercollegiate Athletic Association Vanderbilt None Selected No TournamentSouthwest Conference Texas A&M None Selected No Tournament
Dartmouth was unable to field a team, so Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League conference play was informal in 1919–20 and no official champion was declared. However, had a champion been named, Penn would have won the regular-season championship with a 7–1 conference record.
Conference standings
Independents A total of 130 college teams played as major independents. Among independents that played at least 10 games, (13–0), (14–0), and (17–0) were undefeated, and (22–1) and (22–2) finished with the most wins.
Premo-Porretta Power Poll St. Bonaventure University accounting professor Patrick M. Premo and computer programmer Phil Porretta researched teams from the 1895–96 through the 1947–48 seasons, reviewing results, opponents, and margins of victory to create retroactive polls for the seasons predating the debut of the AP Poll. In 1995, they released their retroactive annual rankings as the Premo-Porretta Power Poll. Their poll for the 1919–20 season is below.
1920 Premo-Porretta Power PollRankingTeam1 Penn (22–1)2 Missouri (17–1)3 NYU (16–1)4 Penn State (12–1)5 Texas A&M (19–0)6 Georgetown (13–1)7 Purdue (16–4)8 Chicago (27–8)9 Delaware (13–2)10 Southwestern (Kan.) (20–0)11 Navy (14–3)12 VMI (11–1)13 Westminster (Mo.) (17–0)14 Army (12–2)15 Montana State (13–0)16 Nebraska (22–2)17 Buffalo (9–1)18 Syracuse (15–3)19 DePauw (13–3)20 Nevada (7–2)21 North Dakota (16–0)22 CCNY (13–3)23 Millikin (24–1)24 Stevens Tech (12–3)25 Worcester Polytechnic Institute (14–2)
Post-season
Penn of the Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League met Chicago of the Big Ten Conference in a three-game national championship playoff, with the first game at Chicago, the second at Penn, and the third at Princeton University. Chicago won the first game 28–24, and Penn the second game, 29-18. Penn won the third game, 23-21, to win the championship.
Award winners
Helms College Basketball All-Americans
The practice of selecting a Consensus All-American Team did not begin until the 1928–29 season. The Helms Athletic Foundation later retroactively selected a list of All-Americans for the 1919–20 season.The Association for Professional Basketball Research "NCAA All-American Teams, 1919–20 to 1998–99"
Player Team Howard Cann New York University Chuck Carney Illinois Erving Cook Washington Forrest DeBernardi Westminster (Mo.) George Gardner Southwestern (Kan.) Tony Hinkle Chicago Dan McNichol Pennsylvania Hubert Peck Pennsylvania George Sweeney Pennsylvania George Williams Missouri
Major player of the year awards
Helms Foundation Player of the Year: Howard Cann, New York University
Coaching changes A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended. TeamFormerCoachInterimCoachNewCoachReason Alabama Bill Moore Charles A. Bernier Baylor Charles Mosley Frank Bridges Bradley Fred Brown Alfred J. Robertson Robertson also became the athletic director, baseball coach, and football coach. Brown Ed Freeman Florence Harvey Bucknell Malcolm Musser Clarence Glass Butler F. E. Ellis Harlan Page BYU E. L. Roberts lvin Twitchell California Bill Hollander Earl Wright Canisius Edward C. Miller Mike Sweeney Clemson Country Morris Larry Conover Columbia Claus Benson Joseph Deering Creighton Tommy Mills Eddie Mulholland Dayton Harry Solimano Dutch Thiele Denver George Koonsman Thomas Thompson Drexel James Barrett William McAvoy Duquesne Eugene McGuigan Ben Lubic Fairmount Kenneth Cassidy Wilmer D. Elfrink Fordham Arthur Devlin Orson Kinney Georgia Tech William Alexander Joe Bean Idaho Ralph Hutchinson Dave MacMillan Illinois Ralph Jones Frank Winters Indiana Ewald O. Stiehm George Levis Iowa State Punk Berryman Maury Kent Kansas State Zora Clevenger E. A. Knoth Lafayette William McAvoy Bill Anderson Louisiana State Charles C. Stroud Branch Bocock Louisville Tuley Brucker Jimmie Powers Manhattan Edward Hanrahan Edward P. Winters Marquette John J. Ryan Frank Murray Michigan State George Gauthier Lyman Frimodig Missouri Walter Meanwell J. Craig Ruby Montana Agricultural Walter D. Powell D. V. Graves Powell left to coach at Stanford. New Mexico A&M John G. Griffith Dutch Bergman Northern Arizona Normal Gus O'Connor Lacey Eastburn Northwestern J. Norman Elliott Ray Elder Notre Dame Gus Dorais Walter Halas Ohio Frank Gullum Russ Finsterwald Oregon Charles A. Huntington George Bohler Oregon Agricultural Homer Woodson Hargiss Dick Rutherford Penn Lon Jourdet Edward McNichol Princeton Frederick Luehring Lewis Sugarman Rice Leslie Mann Pete Cawthon Rhode Island State Fred Murray Frank Keaney Saint Mary's (Calif.) Percival Ritchie H. C. McDonald South Carolina Dixon Foster Sol Metzger St. Bonaventure Richard Phelan Al Carmont Stanford Bob Evans Walter D. Powell Toledo Watt Hobt Darrell Fox Texas Christian Ted D. Hackney William L. Driver Texas Berry Whitaker L. Theo Bellmont Texas A&M William L. Driver Dana X. Bible Trinity (N. C.) Walter Rothensies Floyd J. Egan Tulane M. A. Moenck Claude Simons Sr. Virginia Tech Charles A. Bernier William L. Younger Wake Forest Bill Holding James L. White Xavier Harry Gilligan Joseph A. Meyer
References