1920–21 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1920–21 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1920, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1921.

1920–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Helms National Champions	Penn (retroactive selection in 1943)
Player of the Year (Helms)	George Williams, Missouri (retroactive selection in 1944)
← 1919–20 1921–22 →

Rule changes

• The basket was moved to 2 feet (0.6 m) from the baseline and the padded wall behind the basket was ruled out of bounds. Previously, players could climb the wall to get closer to the basket for a shot.^[1][2]
• A new substitution rule allowed a player who left the game to re-enter it once. Previously, a player who left the game could not re-enter it.^[1][2]

Season headlines

• The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference played the first college conference championship tournament. Kentucky won.^[3]
• In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Penn as its national champion for the 1920–21 season.^[4]
• In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Missouri as its national champion for the 1920–21 season.^[5]

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
Nebraska Cornhuskers	Independent	Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Phillips Haymakers	Southwest Conference	No major basketball program

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference	Regular season winner[6]	Conference player of the year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Big Ten Conference	Michigan, Purdue & Wisconsin	None selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Penn	None selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Missouri	None selected	No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference	Stanford		No Tournament
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Colorado		No Tournament
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association	none (see note)	None selected	1921 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball tournament	Municipal Auditorium (Atlanta, Georgia)	Kentucky[7]
Southwest Conference	Texas A&M	None selected	No Tournament

NOTE: The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association did not have an official regular-season champion, but it sponsored the 1921 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball tournament, whose champion claimed the mythical title of "Champions of the South."^[4]

Conference standings

1920–21 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Michigan 8 – 4   .667 18 – 4   .818 Wisconsin 8 – 4   .667 13 – 4   .765 Purdue 8 – 4   .667 13 – 7   .650 Minnesota 7 – 5   .583 10 – 5   .667 Illinois 7 – 5   .583 11 – 7   .611 Indiana 6 – 5   .545 15 – 6   .714 Iowa 6 – 5   .545 9 – 9   .500 Chicago 6 – 6   .500 14 – 6   .700 Ohio State 2 – 10   .167 4 – 13   .235 Northwestern 1 – 11   .083 2 – 12   .143	1920–21 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Penn 9 – 1   .900 21 – 2   .913 Dartmouth 7 – 3   .700 13 – 9   .591 Cornell 6 – 4   .600 12 – 10   .545 Princeton 4 – 6   .400 14 – 9   .609 Columbia 3 – 7   .300 7 – 9   .438 Yale 1 – 9   .100 9 – 17   .346	1920–21 Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Missouri 17 – 1   .944 17 – 1   .944 Nebraska 9 – 1   .900 15 – 3   .833 Kansas State 11 – 4   .733 14 – 5   .737 Kansas 10 – 8   .556 10 – 8   .556 Iowa State 6 – 8   .429 10 – 8   .556 Oklahoma 5 – 9   .357 10 – 8   .556 Drake 5 – 8   .385 10 – 8   .556 Grinnell 2 – 12   .143 6 – 12   .333 Washington University 2 – 16   .111 3 – 17   .150
1920–21 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Stanford 8 – 3   .727 15 – 3   .833 California 8 – 3   .727 15 – 4   .789 Washington 10 – 4   .714 18 – 4   .818 Oregon 8 – 4   .667 15 – 5   .750 Washington State 3 – 11   .214 12 – 16   .429 Oregon Agricultural 2 – 14   .125 6 – 17   .261 As of 1921[8]	1920–21 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Colorado 6 – 0   1.000 8 – 0   1.000 Colorado College 3 – 2   .600 7 – 4   .636 Colorado Agricultural 2 – 4   .333 2 – 7   .222 Denver 0 – 5   .000 2 – 8   .200 Colorado Mines –   – 5 – 2   .714	1920–21 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Texas A&M 10 – 2   .833 16 – 6   .727 Baylor 8 – 4   .667 13 – 11   .542 Texas 9 – 5   .643 13 – 5   .722 Rice 4 – 9   .308 5 – 10   .333 SMU 0 – 11   .000 6 – 13   .316

Independents

A total of 120 college teams played as major independents. Among independents that played at least 10 games, St. John's of Ohio (15–0) was undefeated, and Central Missouri (22–2), Oberlin (22–2), and Wabash (22–4) finished with the most wins.^[9]

1920–21 NCAA men's basketball independents standings v t e Conf Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Arizona –   – 7 – 0   1.000 Holy Cross –   – 2 – 0   1.000 St. John's (Ohio) –   – 15 – 0   1.000 Navy –   – 18 – 1   .947 Grove City –   – 16 – 1   .941 North Dakota –   – 14 – 1   .933 New York University –   – 12 – 1   .923 Central Missouri –   – 22 – 2   .917 Oberlin –   – 22 – 2   .917 VMI –   – 11 – 1   .917 New Mexico A&M –   – 9 – 1   .900 Tulsa –   – 18 – 2   .900 Fairmount –   – 16 – 2   .889 Gettysburg –   – 7 – 1   .875 Penn State –   – 14 – 2   .875 Akron –   – 11 – 2   .846 Wabash –   – 22 – 4   .846 Brigham Young –   – 10 – 2   .833 DePauw –   – 15 – 3   .833 Utah –   – 5 – 1   .833 Louisiana State –   – 19 – 4   .826 Marquette –   – 14 – 3   .824 Ohio –   – 14 – 3   .824 Saint Francis (N.Y.) –   – 14 – 3   .824 Butler –   – 16 – 4   .800 Denison –   – 12 – 3   .800 UCLA –   – 8 – 2   .800 West Texas State –   – 8 – 2   .800 Valparaiso –   – 19 – 5   .792 Virginia Tech –   – 19 – 5   .792 Idaho –   – 15 – 4   .789 Niagara –   – 15 – 4   .789 North Dakota Agricultural –   – 15 – 4   .789 Tempe Normal –   – 11 – 3   .786 Army –   – 18 – 5   .783 Nevada –   – 10 – 3   .769 Carleton –   – 13 – 4   .765 Seton Hall –   – 13 – 4   .765 Bucknell –   – 12 – 4   .750 Millikin –   – 18 – 6   .750 Ripon –   – 9 – 3   .750 CCNY –   – 11 – 4   .733 Lafayette –   – 11 – 4   .733 Southwestern (Kan.) –   – 19 – 7   .731 Colgate –   – 16 – 6   .727 The Citadel –   – 8 – 3   .727 William & Mary –   – 8 – 3   .727 Virginia –   – 13 – 5   .722 Georgetown –   – 10 – 4   .714 Southern California –   – 10 – 4   .714 Western State Normal –   – 12 – 5   .706 Washington and Lee –   – 9 – 4   .692 Creighton –   – 13 – 6   .684 Indiana State –   – 15 – 7   .682 Boston University –   – 2 – 1   .667 Buffalo –   – 12 – 6   .667 Kalamazoo –   – 18 – 9   .667 Northern Colorado –   – 6 – 3   .667 Saint Louis –   – 12 – 6   .667 Vermont –   – 10 – 5   .667 Loyola (Ill.) –   – 7 – 4   .636 Temple –   – 7 – 4   .636 Fordham –   – 15 – 9   .625 Michigan State Normal –   – 13 – 8   .619 Montana State –   – 8 – 5   .615 Wooster –   – 8 – 5   .615 Mount Union –   – 11 – 7   .611 Trinity (N.C.) –   – 9 – 6   .600 Miami (Ohio) –   – 9 – 6   .600 Montana –   – 12 – 8   .600 North Carolina –   – 12 – 8   .600 Utah State –   – 6 – 4   .600 Duquesne –   – 10 – 7   .588 Rutgers –   – 7 – 5   .583 Pittsburgh –   – 12 – 9   .571 Syracuse –   – 12 – 9   .571 Ole Miss –   – 9 – 7   .563 Northern Arizona Normal –   – 9 – 7   .563 Muhlenberg –   – 14 – 11   .560 Canisius –   – 5 – 4   .556 Detroit –   – 10 – 8   .556 Springfield (Mass.) –   – 10 – 8   .556 West Virginia –   – 11 – 9   .550 Alabama –   – 12 – 10   .545 Bowling Green State –   – 8 – 7   .533 Villanova –   – 8 – 7   .533 Rhode Island State –   – 9 – 8   .529 Washburn –   – 9 – 8   .529 St. John's (N.Y.) –   – 10 – 9   .526 Union (N.Y.) –   – 10 – 9   .526 Davidson –   – 7 – 7   .500 Washington College –   – 6 – 6   .500 Cincinnati –   – 10 – 11   .476 Harvard –   – 9 – 10   .474 Florida –   – 5 – 6   .455 Bradley –   – 7 – 9   .438 Connecticut –   – 7 – 9   .438 Franklin –   – 6 – 8   .429 Lehigh –   – 6 – 8   .429 Wyoming –   – 3 – 4   .429 Wake Forest –   – 7 – 10   .412 Marshall –   – 6 – 9   .400 Notre Dame –   – 9 – 14   .391 Vanderbilt –   – 8 – 13   .381 Kent State Normal –   – 4 – 7   .364 Brown –   – 5 – 9   .357 North Carolina State –   – 6 – 14   .300 Xavier –   – 3 – 7   .300 George Washington –   – 4 – 10   .286 St. Joseph's –   – 4 – 10   .286 Santa Clara –   – 2 – 5   .286 Dayton –   – 6 – 16   .273 Louisville –   – 3 – 8   .273 Richmond –   – 4 – 13   .235 Oklahoma A&M –   – 2 – 9   .182 St. Bonaventure –   – 2 – 13   .133 Toledo –   – 1 – 12   .077 Manhattan –   – 0 – 6   .000 Saint Mary's (Calif.) –   – 0 – 2   .000 Texas Christian –   – 0 – 3   .000

Statistical leaders

Awards

Helms College Basketball All-Americans

Main article: 1921 NCAA Men's 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 1920–21 season.^[10]

Player	Team
R. D. Birkhoff	Chicago
Herb Bunker	Missouri
Everett Dean	Indiana
Forrest DeBernardi	Westminster (Mo.)
Edwin Durno	Oregon
Basil Hayden	Kentucky
Dan McNichol	Pennsylvania
Arnold Oss	Minnesota
Donald White	Purdue
George Williams	Missouri

Major player of the year awards

• Helms Player of the Year: George Williams, Missouri (retroactive selection in 1944)

Coaching changes

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

Team	Former Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach	Reason
John O'Reilly			James Colliflower	After the conclusion of the 1920–21 season, O'Reilly suffered health problems that forced him to miss the next two seasons. For the 1921–22 season, Colliflower returned for a second stint as head coach, without pay.[11]

References

1. orangehoops.org History of NCAA Basketball Rule Changes
2. Schleyer, Claudia, "The Rules of Basketball: Boy How They've Changed!", Youth Hoops 101 Accessed 15 May 2021
3. "Playing Rules History" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. p. 11. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
4. Scott, Jon (November 9, 2010). "The truth behind the Helms Committee". Retrieved May 10, 2021.
5. ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. pp. 526, 529–587. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
6. "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
7. 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
8. "2017-18 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. p. 72. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
9. "1920-21 Men's Independent Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
10. The Association for Professional Basketball Research "NCAA All-American Teams, 1919–20 to 1998–99"
11. "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Head Coaches". Archived from the original on May 27, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2014.