The 1945–46 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1945, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1946 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 26, 1946, at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. The Oklahoma A&M Aggies won their second NCAA national championship with a 43–40 victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Season headlines
The Middle Atlantic States Conference North began play, with five original members. The New England Conference disbanded at the end of the season."New England/Yankee regular-season champions," Coaches Database Accessed April 27, 2021 The 1946 NCAA tournament was the first NCAA tournament in which four teams (California, North Carolina, Ohio State, and Oklahoma A&M) advanced to the finals site. However, they advanced from two regional sites, so the NCAA does not consider the first "true" Final Four to have occurred until the 1952 tournament, when the four teams advanced from four separate regional sites. The NCAA tournament began holding a national third-place game between the teams which lost in the semifinals. The national third-place game continued through the 1981 tournament. Bob Kurland of Oklahoma A&M became the first player to dunk in the NCAA championship game, doing so twice late in the game on March 26. Oklahoma A&M defeated North Carolina 43–40 in the championship game of the 1946 NCAA tournament, becoming the first school to repeat as NCAA champion, following its tournament championship in 1945. Bob Kurland of Oklahoma A&M became the first two-time NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player. He previously had received the honor in 1945. For the first time, the NCAA tournament championship game was televised. WCBS-TV aired the game locally in New York City, with an estimated viewership of 500,000. In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected as its top-ranked team for the 1945–46 season.
Conference membership changes
SchoolFormer conferenceNew conference Independent Middle Atlantic States Conference North No athletic programs Independent No NCAA basketball program Middle Atlantic States Conference North Independent Middle Atlantic States Conference North Independent Middle Atlantic States Conference North Independent Middle Atlantic States Conference North Independent Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Independent Missouri Valley Conference
Regular season Conferences Conference winners and tournaments
ConferenceRegular season winnerConference player of the yearConference tournamentTournament venue (City)Tournament winnerBig Six Conference Kansas None selected No TournamentBig Ten Conference Ohio State None selected No TournamentBorder Conference Arizona None selected No TournamentEastern Intercollegiate Basketball League Dartmouth None selected No TournamentMetropolitan New York Conference NYU & No TournamentMiddle Atlantic States Conference North Lafayette No TournamentMissouri Valley Conference Oklahoma A&M None selected No TournamentMountain States (Skyline) Conference Wyoming No TournamentNew England Conference Rhode Island State No TournamentPacific Coast Conference ; No Tournament;California defeated Idaho in best-of-three conference championship playoff seriesSoutheastern Conference Kentucky None selected 1946 SEC men's basketball tournament Jefferson County Armory,(Louisville, Kentucky) KentuckySouthern Conference North Carolina None selected 1946 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Thompson Gym(Raleigh, Duke2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section , Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09Southwest Conference Baylor None selected No Tournament Conference standings
Major independents A total of 54 college teams played as major independents. (14–1) had the best winning percentage (.933) and (28–5) finished with the most wins.
Post-season tournaments
NCAA tournament
Semifinals & finals
National Invitation tournament
Semifinals & finals
Awards
Consensus All-American teams
+ Consensus First Team Player Position Class Team Leo Klier F Senior Notre Dame Bob Kurland C Senior Oklahoma A&M George Mikan C Senior DePaul Max Morris F Senior Northwestern Sid Tanenbaum G Junior NYU
+ Consensus Second Team Player Position Class Team Charles B. Black F Junior Kansas John Dillon G Sophomore North Carolina Billy Hassett G Senior Notre Dame Tony Lavelli F Freshman Yale Jack Parkinson G Junior Kentucky Ken Sailors G Senior Wyoming
Major player of the year awards
Helms Player of the Year: Bob Kurland, Oklahoma A&M
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. TeamFormerCoachInterimCoachNewCoachReasonAlabamaHank CrispFloyd Burdette AuburnRalph JordanV. J. Edney Jordan left to coach Georgia.BrownRip EngleWeeb Ewbank CanisiusArt PowellEarl Brown CincinnatiRay FarnhamJohn Wiethe The CitadelEugene ClarkWhitey Piro ClemsonRock NormanBanks McFadden ConnecticutBlair GullionHugh Greer CornellSpeed WilsonRoyner Greene CreightonDuce BelfordEddie HickeyDartmouthOsbore CowlesElmer A. LampeDenverKen LoefflerEllison Ketchum DetroitLloyd BrazilJohn ShadaDrakeVee FreenFroddy Anderson FloridaSpurgeon CherrySam J. McAllister GeorgetownKen EnglesElmer RipleyEngles – the only player-coach in Georgetown men's basketball history – stepped aside at the end of the year after coaching the Hoyas for a single season as they reconstituted their basketball program with a mostly walk-on team after a two-season hiatus due to World War II, making way for Ripley to return after a three-year absence for a third stint as coach.GeorgiaElmer A. LampeRalph Jordan Lampe left to coach Dartmouth.Georgia TechDwight KeithRoy McArthur HarvardFloyd StahlWilliam Barclay IdahoJames A. BrownGuy Wicks IndianaHarry GoodBranch McCracken Good left to coach Nebraska.Indiana StateGlenn M. CurtisJohn Wooden Kansas StateFitz KnorrJack Gardner La SalleJoseph MeehanCharlie McGlone LehighLeo PrendergastDan Yarbro ManhattanHoney RussellKen Norton MichiganBennie OosterbaanOsborne Cowles MissouriGeorge R. EdwardsWilbur Stalcup NavyJohn WilsonBen Carnevale NC StateLeron JayEverett Case NebraskaL. F. KleinHarry Good New HampshireHenry SwaseyEd Stanczyk New Mexico A&MKermit LaabsJerry Hines NiagaraEdward FlynnJohn J. Gallagher North CarolinaBen CarnevaleTom Scott NortheasternEugene PareWilliam Grinnell Notre DameElmer RipleyMoose Krause Ohio StateHarold OlsenTippy Dye Ole MissBuster PooleJim Whatley PennsylvaniaRob DoughertyRed Kellett PrincetonWes FeslerFranklin Cappon PurdueWard LambertMel Taube RiceBuster BrannonJoe Davis San FranciscoWilliam BusseniusPete Newell St. BonaventureAnselm KriegerHarry Singleton Texas TechPolk RobisonBerl Huffman ToledoRollie BoldtBill Orwig VanderbiltGarland MorrowNorm Cooper VMIJay McWilliamsLoyd Roberts William & MarySam B. HoltRichard F. Gallagher YaleRed RolfeIvy Williamson
References