1968–69 NCAA University Division men's basketball season

The 1968–69 NCAA University Division men's basketball season began in December 1968, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1969 NCAA University Division basketball tournament championship game on March 22, 1969, at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. The UCLA Bruins won their fifth NCAA national championship with a 92–72 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers.

1968–69 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Preseason AP No. 1	UCLA[1][2]
NCAA Tournament	1969
Tournament dates	March 8 – 22, 1969
National Championship	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
NCAA Champions	UCLA
Helms National Champions	UCLA
Other champions	Temple (NIT)
Player of the Year (Naismith, Wooden)	Lew Alcindor, UCLA (Naismith)
Player of the Year (Helms)	Lew Alcindor, UCLA
← 1967–68 1969–70 →

Season headlines

• The Associated Press (AP) Poll returned to a Top 20 format, expanding from the Top 10 format it used from the 1961–62 season through the 1967–68 season. It previously had used a Top 20 format from its inception in the 1948–49 season through the 1960–61 season.^[3]
• On December 7, 1968, Calvin Murphy of Niagara scored 68 points in a game against Syracuse, setting the record for points scored by a single player against an NCAA University Division (later NCAA Division I) opponent. His record stood until February 1970, when Pete Maravich of LSU scored 69 points in a game against Alabama.^[4][5]
• The NCAA tournament expanded from 23 to 25 teams.
• UCLA won its third NCAA championship in a row, fifth overall, and fifth in six seasons. In the Pacific 8 Conference, it also won its third of what ultimately would be 13 consecutive conference titles.
• The Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU), informally known as the "Pacific 8," formally renamed itself the Pacific 8 Conference. It became the Pacific 10 Conference in 1978 and the Pac-12 Conference in 2011.
• The Southland Conference, founded in 1963, began NCAA University Division-level play.
• The NCAA tournament's Final Four games were played on Thursday and Saturday for the first time.^[6]
• Lew Alcindor of UCLA became the first three-time NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player. He previously had been the tournament's Most Outstanding Player in 1967 and 1968.^[6]
• The Metropolitan Collegiate Conference was dissolved at the end of the season.

Pre-season polls

Main article: 1968–69 NCAA University Division men's basketball rankings

The Top 20 from the AP Poll and Coaches Poll during the pre-season.^[7][8]

Associated Press Ranking Team 1 UCLA 2 North Carolina 3 Kentucky 4 Notre Dame 5 Kansas 6 Davidson 7 St. Bonaventure 8 Houston 9 New Mexico 10 Purdue 11 Villanova 12 Ohio State 13 Vanderbilt 14 Cincinnati 15 Marquette 16 Western Kentucky 17 Duke 18 Detroit 19 Florida 20 Tennessee

UPI Coaches Ranking Team 1 UCLA 2 North Carolina 3 Kentucky 4 Notre Dame 5 Kansas 6 Houston 7 Davidson 8 New Mexico 9 Villanova 10 Cincinnati 11 Purdue 12 St. Bonaventure 13 New Mexico State 14 Ohio State 15 (tie) Duke Western Kentucky 17 Santa Clara 18 USC 19 Florida 20 California

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
St. Francis Terriers	Metropolitan Collegiate Conference	NCAA University Division independent
West Virginia Mountaineers	Southern Conference	NCAA University Division independent

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference	Regular season winner[9]	Conference player of the year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Atlantic Coast Conference	North Carolina	John Roche, South Carolina[10]	1969 ACC men's basketball tournament	Charlotte Coliseum (Charlotte, North Carolina)	North Carolina
Big Eight Conference	Colorado	Cliff Meely, Colorado[11]	No Tournament
Big Sky Conference	Weber State	None selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Purdue	None selected	No Tournament
Ivy League	Princeton	None selected	No Tournament
Metropolitan Collegiate Conference	Manhattan & St. Peter's		No Tournament
Mid-American Conference	Ohio	Steve Mix, Toledo[12]	No Tournament
Middle Atlantic Conference	Temple		No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Drake & Louisville	Bingo Smith, Tulsa	No Tournament
Ohio Valley Conference	Morehead State & Murray State	Claude Virden, Murray State	No Tournament
Pacific 8 Conference	UCLA	None selected	No Tournament
Southeastern Conference	Kentucky	Pete Maravich, LSU[13]	No Tournament
Southern Conference	Davidson	Mike Maloy, Davidson[14]	1969 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Charlotte Coliseum (Charlotte, North Carolina)	Davidson[15]
Southland Conference	Trinity	Larry Jeffries, Trinity[16]	No Tournament
Southwest Conference	Texas A&M	Ronnie Peret, Texas A&M & Greg Williams, Rice	No Tournament
West Coast Athletic Conference	Santa Clara	Dennis Awtrey, Santa Clara	No Tournament
Western Athletic Conference	BYU, New Mexico, & Wyoming	None selected	No Tournament
Yankee Conference	Massachusetts	None selected	No Tournament

Conference standings

1968–69 ACC men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 4 North Carolina † 12 – 2   .857 27 – 5   .844 No. 13 South Carolina 11 – 3   .786 21 – 7   .750 Duke 8 – 6   .571 15 – 13   .536 NC State 8 – 6   .571 15 – 10   .600 Wake Forest 8 – 6   .571 18 – 9   .667 Virginia 5 – 9   .357 10 – 15   .400 Maryland 2 – 12   .143 8 – 18   .308 Clemson 2 – 12   .143 6 – 19   .240 † 1969 ACC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll	1968–69 Big Eight Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 18 Colorado 10 – 4   .714 21 – 7   .750 No. 19 Kansas 9 – 5   .643 20 – 7   .741 Kansas State 9 – 5   .643 14 – 12   .538 Iowa State 8 – 6   .571 14 – 12   .538 Missouri 7 – 7   .500 14 – 11   .560 Oklahoma State 5 – 9   .357 12 – 13   .480 Nebraska 5 – 9   .357 12 – 14   .462 Oklahoma 3 – 11   .214 7 – 19   .269 Rankings from AP Poll[17]	1968–69 Big Sky men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Weber State 15 – 0   1.000 27 – 3   .900 Montana State 11 – 4   .733 17 – 8   .680 Gonzaga 6 – 9   .400 11 – 15   .423 Idaho 6 – 9   .400 11 – 15   .423 Montana 4 – 11   .267 9 – 17   .346 Idaho State 3 – 12   .200 8 – 18   .308
1968–69 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 6 Purdue 13 – 1   .929 23 – 5   .821 No. 20 Illinois 9 – 5   .643 19 – 5   .792 Ohio State 9 – 5   .643 17 – 7   .708 Michigan 7 – 7   .500 13 – 11   .542 Northwestern 6 – 8   .429 14 – 10   .583 Minnesota 6 – 8   .429 12 – 12   .500 Michigan State 6 – 8   .429 11 – 12   .478 Iowa 5 – 9   .357 12 – 12   .500 Wisconsin 5 – 9   .357 11 – 13   .458 Indiana 4 – 10   .286 9 – 15   .375 Rankings from AP Poll[18]	1968–69 Ivy League men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Princeton 14 – 0   1.000 19 – 7   .731 Columbia 11 – 3   .786 20 – 4   .833 Penn 10 – 4   .714 15 – 10   .600 Cornell 7 – 7   .500 12 – 13   .480 Yale 6 – 8   .429 9 – 16   .360 Dartmouth 4 – 10   .286 10 – 15   .400 Harvard 3 – 11   .214 7 – 18   .280 Brown 1 – 13   .071 3 – 23   .115 Rankings from AP Poll[19]	1968–69 Metropolitan Collegiate Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Saint Peter's 7 – 1   .875 21 – 7   .750 Manhattan 7 – 1   .875 13 – 9   .591 LIU 6 – 2   .750 17 – 6   .739 Iona 4 – 4   .500 11 – 11   .500 Hofstra 4 – 4   .500 12 – 13   .480 Seton Hall 4 – 4   .500 9 – 16   .360 Fairleigh Dickinson 2 – 6   .250 9 – 13   .409 Wagner –   – 18 – 10   .643 Rankings from AP Poll
1968–69 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Miami (Ohio) 10 – 2   .833 15 – 12   .556 Ohio 9 – 3   .750 17 – 9   .654 Kent State 6 – 6   .500 14 – 10   .583 Western Michigan 6 – 6   .500 11 – 13   .458 Toledo 5 – 7   .417 13 – 11   .542 Bowling Green State 3 – 9   .250 9 – 15   .375 Marshall 3 – 9   .250 9 – 15   .375 Rankings from AP Poll	1968–69 MAC men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 2 La Salle† 5 – 0   1.000 23 – 1   .958 Temple 6 – 1   .857 22 – 8   .733 Bucknell 7 – 2   .778 13 – 11   .542 Gettysburg 6 – 4   .600 14 – 10   .583 Delaware 5 – 4   .556 11 – 10   .524 Saint Joseph's 2 – 2   .500 17 – 11   .607 Lehigh 4 – 6   .400 7 – 17   .292 Rider 2 – 5   .286 11 – 14   .440 Lafayette 3 – 9   .250 9 – 17   .346 American 0 – 7   .000 4 – 19   .174 West Chester (Pa.)* –   – 12 – 13   .480 † Regular-season championship winner * – Played as non-major program Rankings from AP Poll	1968–69 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 11 Drake 13 – 3   .813 26 – 5   .839 No. 15 Louisville 13 – 3   .813 21 – 6   .778 Tulsa 11 – 5   .688 19 – 8   .704 Cincinnati 8 – 8   .500 17 – 9   .654 North Texas State 8 – 8   .500 15 – 10   .600 Bradley 7 – 9   .438 14 – 12   .538 Wichita State 7 – 9   .438 11 – 15   .423 Saint Louis 5 – 11   .313 6 – 20   .231 Memphis State 0 – 16   .000 6 – 19   .240 Rankings from AP Poll[20]
1968–69 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Murray State 11 – 3   .786 22 – 6   .786 Morehead State 11 – 3   .786 18 – 9   .667 Western Kentucky 9 – 5   .643 16 – 10   .615 Eastern Kentucky 7 – 7   .500 13 – 9   .591 East Tennessee State 6 – 8   .429 15 – 11   .577 Tennessee Tech 5 – 9   .357 13 – 11   .542 Middle Tennessee 4 – 10   .286 13 – 13   .500 Austin Peay State 3 – 11   .214 10 – 14   .417 Rankings from AP Poll	1968–69 Pacific-8 Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 1 UCLA 13 – 1   .929 29 – 1   .967 Washington State 11 – 3   .786 18 – 8   .692 USC 8 – 6   .571 15 – 11   .577 Washington 6 – 8   .429 13 – 13   .500 Oregon 5 – 9   .357 13 – 13   .500 Oregon State 5 – 9   .357 12 – 14   .462 California 4 – 10   .286 12 – 13   .480 Stanford 4 – 10   .286 8 – 17   .320 As of April 15, 1969[21] Rankings from AP Poll	1968–69 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 7 Kentucky 16 – 2   .889 23 – 5   .821 Tennessee 13 – 5   .722 21 – 7   .750 Florida 12 – 6   .667 18 – 9   .667 Auburn 10 – 8   .556 15 – 10   .600 Vanderbilt 9 – 9   .500 15 – 11   .577 Georgia 9 – 9   .500 13 – 12   .520 LSU 7 – 11   .389 13 – 13   .500 Ole Miss 7 – 11   .389 10 – 14   .417 Mississippi State 6 – 12   .333 8 – 17   .320 Alabama 1 – 17   .056 4 – 20   .167 Rankings from AP Poll[22]
1968–69 Southern Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 5 Davidson † 9 – 0   1.000 27 – 3   .900 East Carolina 9 – 2   .818 17 – 11   .607 George Washington 7 – 5   .583 14 – 11   .560 Richmond 6 – 7   .462 13 – 14   .481 Furman 5 – 6   .455 9 – 17   .346 The Citadel 5 – 8   .385 13 – 12   .520 William & Mary 3 – 8   .273 6 – 20   .231 VMI 3 – 11   .214 5 – 18   .217 † 1969 Southern Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll	1968–69 Southland Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Trinity (Tex.)* –   – 19 – 5   .792 Lamar* –   – 20 – 4   .833 Texas-Arlington –   – 8 – 18   .308 Arkansas State* –   – 6 – 16   .273 Abilene Christian* –   – 5 – 20   .200 * – Played as non-major program Rankings from AP poll[23]	1968–69 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Texas A&M 12 – 2   .857 18 – 9   .667 Baylor 10 – 4   .714 18 – 6   .750 SMU 8 – 6   .571 12 – 12   .500 Texas Tech 6 – 8   .429 11 – 13   .458 Rice 6 – 8   .429 10 – 14   .417 Texas 5 – 9   .357 9 – 15   .375 TCU 5 – 9   .357 12 – 12   .500 Arkansas 4 – 10   .286 10 – 14   .417 Rankings from AP Poll
1968–69 West Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 3 Santa Clara 13 – 0   1.000 27 – 2   .931 San Jose State –   – 16 – 8   .667 Pacific 7 – 5   .583 17 – 9   .654 UC Santa Barbara 8 – 4   .667 17 – 9   .654 Pepperdine 6 – 6   .500 14 – 12   .538 Loyola (Calif.) 3 – 9   .250 6 – 19   .240 Saint Mary's 3 – 9   .250 6 – 19   .240 San Francisco 3 – 10   .231 7 – 18   .280 Rankings from AP poll	1968–69 WAC men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Wyoming 6 – 4   .600 19 – 9   .679 BYU 6 – 4   .600 16 – 12   .571 Arizona 5 – 5   .500 17 – 10   .630 Utah 5 – 5   .500 13 – 13   .500 New Mexico 4 – 6   .400 17 – 9   .654 Arizona State 4 – 6   .400 11 – 15   .423 Rankings from AP Poll[24]	1968–69 Yankee Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Massachusetts 9 – 1   .900 17 – 7   .708 Rhode Island 7 – 3   .700 10 – 15   .400 Maine 5 – 5   .500 10 – 13   .435 Vermont 3 – 7   .300 14 – 11   .560 New Hampshire 3 – 7   .300 9 – 15   .375 Connecticut 3 – 7   .300 5 – 19   .208

University Division independents

A total of 56 college teams played as University Division independents. Among them, Boston College (24–4) had the best winning percentage (.857). Boston College, Marquette (24–5), and New Mexico State (24–5) finished with the most wins.^[25]

1968–69 NCAA University Division men's basketball independents standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 16 Boston College –   – 24 – 4   .857 Rutgers –   – 21 – 4   .840 No. 14 Marquette –   – 24 – 5   .828 No. 12 New Mexico State –   – 24 – 5   .828 No. 9 Duquesne –   – 21 – 5   .808 No. 10 Villanova –   – 21 – 5   .808 No. 8 St. John's –   – 23 – 6   .793 Dayton –   – 20 – 7   .741 No. 17 Notre Dame –   – 20 – 7   .741 Seattle –   – 20 – 8   .714 Colorado State –   – 17 – 7   .708 Jacksonville –   – 17 – 7   .708 St. Bonaventure –   – 17 – 7   .708 Florida State –   – 18 – 8   .692 West Texas State –   – 18 – 8   .692 Holy Cross –   – 16 – 8   .667 Oklahoma City –   – 18 – 9   .667 Saint Francis (PA) –   – 16 – 8   .667 Southern Illinois –   – 16 – 8   .667 Fordham –   – 17 – 9   .654 Army –   – 18 – 10   .643 Texas Western –   – 16 – 9   .640 Detroit –   – 16 – 10   .615 Houston –   – 16 – 10   .615 Penn State –   – 13 – 9   .591 Boston University –   – 14 – 10   .583 Miami (FL) –   – 14 – 10   .583 Providence –   – 14 – 10   .583 NYU –   – 12 – 9   .571 DePaul –   – 14 – 11   .560 Northern Illinois –   – 13 – 11   .542 Virginia Tech –   – 14 – 12   .538 Creighton –   – 13 – 13   .500 Georgetown –   – 12 – 12   .500 Hardin–Simmons –   – 13 – 13   .500 Georgia Tech –   – 12 – 13   .480 Tulane –   – 12 – 14   .462 West Virginia –   – 12 – 14   .462 Air Force –   – 11 – 13   .458 Niagara –   – 11 – 13   .458 Colgate –   – 11 – 14   .440 Butler –   – 11 – 15   .423 Loyola (IL) –   – 9 – 14   .391 Fairfield –   – 10 – 16   .385 Xavier –   – 10 – 16   .385 Syracuse –   – 9 – 16   .360 Utah State –   – 9 – 17   .346 Centenary –   – 9 – 18   .333 Navy –   – 7 – 14   .333 Pan American –   – 8 – 17   .320 Canisius –   – 7 – 16   .304 St. Francis –   – 7 – 16   .304 Loyola (LA) –   – 5 – 19   .208 Pittsburgh –   – 4 – 20   .167 Portland –   – 3 – 23   .115 Denver –   – 2 – 24   .077 Rankings from AP Poll

Informal championships

Conference	Regular season winner	Most Valuable Player
Philadelphia Big 5	La Salle	Ken Durrett, La Salle, & Howard Porter, Villanova

La Salle finished with a 4–0 record in head-to-head competition among the Philadelphia Big 5.

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Main articles: 1969 NCAA University Division basketball tournament and 1969 NCAA University Division Basketball Championship Game

Final Four

	National semifinals					National finals
	E	North Carolina	65
	ME	Purdue	92
						ME	Purdue	72
						W	UCLA	92
	MW	Drake	82
	W	UCLA	85			Third place
						E	North Carolina	84
						MW	Drake	104

National Invitation tournament

Main article: 1969 National Invitation Tournament

Semifinals & finals

	Semifinals				Finals
	Temple	63
	Tennessee	58
					Temple	89
					Boston College	76
	Army	61
	Boston College	73			Third place
					Tennessee	64
					Army	52

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Main article: 1969 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

Consensus First Team

Player	Position	Class	Team
Lew Alcindor	C	Senior	UCLA
Spencer Haywood	F	Sophomore	Detroit
Pete Maravich	G/F	Junior	Louisiana State
Rick Mount	G/F	Junior	Purdue
Calvin Murphy	G	Junior	Niagara

Consensus Second Team

Player	Position	Class	Team
Dan Issel	F/C	Junior	Kentucky
Mike Maloy	F	Junior	Davidson
Bud Ogden	F	Senior	Santa Clara
Charlie Scott	F	Senior	North Carolina
Jo Jo White	G	Senior	Kansas

Major player of the year awards

• Naismith Award: Lew Alcindor, UCLA
• Helms Player of the Year: Lew Alcindor, UCLA
• Associated Press Player of the Year: Lew Alcindor, UCLA
• UPI Player of the Year: Lew Alcindor, UCLA
• Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): Pete Maravich, LSU
• Sporting News Player of the Year: Lew Alcindor, UCLA

Major coach of the year awards

• Associated Press Coach of the Year: John Wooden, UCLA
• Henry Iba Award (USBWA): John Wooden, UCLA
• NABC Coach of the Year: John Wooden, UCLA
• UPI Coach of the Year: John Wooden, UCLA
• Sporting News Coach of the Year: John Wooden, UCLA

Other major awards

• Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player under 6'0): Billy Keller, Purdue
• Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Ken Durrett, La Salle, & Howard Porter, Villanova
• NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Jim McMillian, Columbia

Coaching changes

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

Team	Former Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach	Reason
Boston College	Bob Cousy		Chuck Daly
Creighton	Red McManus		Eddie Sutton
Davidson	Lefty Driesell		Terry Holland
Marshall	Ellis T. Johnson		Stewart Way	Johnson resigned at the end of the season. He was replaced by his assistant coach, Stewart Way.
Maryland	Frank Fellows		Lefty Driesell	Successful Davidson coach Driesell was hired and proclaimed his intention to turn Maryland into the “UCLA of the East.”