1918–19 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1918–19 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1918, progressed through the regular season, and concluded in March 1919.

1918–19 NCAA men's basketball season
Helms National Champions	Minnesota (retroactive selection in 1943)
Player of the Year (Helms)	Erling Platou, Minnesota (retroactive selection in 1944)
← 1917–18 1919–20 →

Season headlines

• The 1918–19 season took place between the fall 1918 second surge and spring 1919 third surge of the so-called "Spanish flu" pandemic, forcing some schools to play shortened seasons or cancel their seasons.^[1][2] Young men leaving school for World War I military service also affected teams.^[2]
• In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Minnesota as its national champion for the 1918–19 season.^[3]
• In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Navy as its national champion for the 1918–19 season.^[4]

Conference membership changes

School	Former Conference	New Conference
Grinnell Pioneers	Independent	Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Oklahoma A&M Aggies	Southwest Conference	Independent
SMU Mustangs	Independent	Southwest Conference
Stanford Indians	Independent	Pacific Coast Conference
Washington State Cougars	Independent	Pacific Coast Conference

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners

Conference	Regular Season Winner[5]	Conference Player of the Year	Conference Tournament	Tournament Venue (City)	Tournament Winner
Big Ten Conference	Minnesota	None selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Penn	None selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Kansas State	None selected	No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference	Oregon		No Tournament
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Colorado		No Tournament
Southwest Conference	Texas	None selected	No Tournament

Conference standings

1918–19 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Minnesota 10 – 0   1.000 13 – 0   1.000 Chicago 10 – 2   .833 21 – 6   .778 Northwestern 6 – 4   .600 6 – 6   .500 Michigan 5 – 5   .500 18 – 6   .750 Illinois 5 – 7   .417 6 – 8   .429 Indiana 4 – 6   .400 10 – 7   .588 Iowa 4 – 7   .364 8 – 7   .533 Purdue 4 – 7   .364 6 – 8   .429 Wisconsin 3 – 9   .250 5 – 11   .313 Ohio State 2 – 6   .250 7 – 12   .368	1918–19 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Penn 7 – 1   .875 15 – 1   .938 Yale 4 – 2   .667 7 – 2   .778 Cornell 2 – 3   .400 11 – 3   .786 Princeton 2 – 5   .286 5 – 5   .500 Columbia 2 – 6   .250 3 – 7   .300	1918–19 Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Kansas State 10 – 2   .833 16 – 2   .889 Missouri 11 – 3   .786 14 – 3   .824 Nebraska 10 – 6   .625 10 – 6   .625 Grinnell 5 – 3   .625 6 – 5   .545 Kansas 5 – 9   .357 7 – 9   .438 Iowa State 3 – 8   .273 5 – 11   .313 Washington University 2 – 8   .200 9 – 9   .500 Drake 2 – 9   .182 10 – 18   .357
1918–19 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Oregon 11 – 3   .786 13 – 4   .765 Washington State 7 – 5   .583 10 – 11   .476 California 2 – 2   .500 6 – 3   .667 Washington 5 – 7   .417 6 – 10   .375 Oregon Agricultural 3 – 9   .250 3 – 13   .188 Stanford 0 – 2   .000 9 – 3   .750 As of 1919[6]	1918–19 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Colorado –   – 8 – 1   .889 Colorado College –   – 8 – 3   .727 Denver –   – 5 – 4   .556 Colorado Mines –   – 2 – 6   .250 Colorado Agricultural –   – 1 – 13   .071	1918–19 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Texas 11 – 2   .846 17 – 3   .850 Texas A&M 7 – 3   .700 14 – 4   .778 SMU 5 – 6   .455 7 – 8   .467 Rice 2 – 8   .200 4 – 10   .286 Baylor 2 – 8   .200 2 – 9   .182

Independents

A total of 122 college teams played as major independents. Among independents that played at least 10 games, Akron (14–0), Centre (11–0), Creighton (14–0), Navy (16–0), and Oklahoma (12–0) were undefeated, and Fordham (24–5) finished with the most wins.^[7]

1918–19 NCAA men's basketball independents standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Akron –   – 14 – 0   1.000 Centre (KY) –   – 11 – 0   1.000 The Citadel –   – 9 – 0   1.000 Creighton –   – 14 – 0   1.000 Louisiana State –   – 1 – 0   1.000 Navy –   – 16 – 0   1.000 Niagara –   – 1 – 0   1.000 Oklahoma –   – 12 – 0   1.000 Washington College –   – 1 – 0   1.000 Santa Clara –   – 14 – 1   .933 Southwestern (KS) –   – 13 – 1   .929 Georgetown –   – 9 – 1   .900 Rhode Island State –   – 7 – 1   .875 Idaho –   – 13 – 2   .867 Beloit –   – 12 – 2   .857 Roanoke –   – 12 – 2   .857 Penn State –   – 11 – 2   .846 Toledo –   – 10 – 2   .833 Fordham –   – 24 – 5   .828 Virginia Tech –   – 18 – 4   .818 Bucknell –   – 13 – 3   .813 Denison –   – 13 – 3   .813 Syracuse –   – 13 – 3   .813 Delaware –   – 8 – 2   .800 DePauw –   – 12 – 3   .800 New Mexico A&M –   – 8 – 2   .800 Vanderbilt –   – 8 – 2   .800 North Carolina State –   – 11 – 3   .786 Utah –   – 7 – 2   .778 Wyoming –   – 7 – 2   .778 Washington and Lee –   – 10 – 3   .769 Wabash –   – 13 – 4   .765 Clemson –   – 3 – 1   .750 Lafayette –   – 12 – 4   .750 Millikin –   – 12 – 4   .750 Millsaps –   – 9 – 3   .750 North Dakota –   – 6 – 2   .750 Saint Francis (PA) –   – 9 – 3   .750 Virginia –   – 11 – 4   .733 Western State Normal –   – 11 – 4   .733 Carleton –   – 8 – 3   .727 Union (NY) –   – 8 – 3   .727 Michigan State Normal –   – 10 – 4   .714 Central Missouri –   – 14 – 6   .700 Washington & Jefferson –   – 7 – 3   .700 Colgate –   – 13 – 6   .684 Arizona –   – 6 – 3   .667 CCNY –   – 8 – 4   .667 Indiana State –   – 6 – 3   .667 Northern Arizona Normal –   – 4 – 2   .667 Rutgers –   – 6 – 3   .667 Tulane –   – 6 – 3   .667 Utah State –   – 6 – 3   .667 Washburn –   – 10 – 5   .667 Gettysburg –   – 9 – 5   .643 North Dakota Agricultural –   – 9 – 5   .643 Louisville –   – 7 – 4   .636 Mount Union –   – 7 – 4   .636 Brigham Young –   – 5 – 3   .625 Georgia –   – 5 – 3   .625 Tulsa –   – 5 – 3   .625 Buffalo –   – 8 – 5   .615 Lehigh –   – 8 – 5   .615 Stevens Institute –   – 8 – 5   .615 WPI –   – 8 – 5   .615 Miami (Ohio) –   – 7 – 5   .583 Auburn –   – 4 – 3   .571 Catholic –   – 4 – 3   .571 Marietta –   – 8 – 6   .571 Mississippi A&M –   – 4 – 3   .571 VMI –   – 8 – 6   .571 North Carolina –   – 9 – 7   .563 Ohio –   – 5 – 4   .556 Trinity (N.C.) –   – 6 – 5   .545 Franklin –   – 7 – 6   .538 Alabama –   – 3 – 3   .500 Kalamazoo –   – 7 – 7   .500 Michigan State –   – 9 – 9   .500 Oklahoma A&M –   – 5 – 5   .500 Pittsburgh –   – 7 – 7   .500 St. Joseph's –   – 3 – 3   .500 West Virginia –   – 8 – 8   .500 New York University –   – 5 – 6   .455 Swarthmore –   – 5 – 6   .455 Detroit –   – 4 – 5   .444 Dayton –   – 3 – 4   .429 Tempe Normal –   – 3 – 4   .429 Kentucky –   – 6 – 8   .429 Wooster –   – 6 – 8   .429 Bradley –   – 6 – 9   .400 Duquesne –   – 4 – 6   .400 Springfield (Mass.) –   – 4 – 6   .400 Texas Christian –   – 4 – 6   .400 Wake Forest –   – 6 – 9   .400 Muhlenberg –   – 7 – 11   .389 Nevada –   – 5 – 8   .385 Army –   – 3 – 5   .375 South Carolina –   – 4 – 7   .364 Northern Colorado –   – 5 – 9   .357 Davidson –   – 3 – 6   .333 Manhattan –   – 2 – 4   .333 Montana State –   – 1 – 2   .333 New Mexico –   – 2 – 4   .333 Saint Louis –   – 4 – 8   .333 Saint Mary's (CA) –   – 3 – 6   .333 Valparaiso –   – 1 – 2   .333 William & Mary –   – 3 – 6   .333 Bowling Green State –   – 2 – 5   .286 Marshall –   – 2 – 5   .286 Southern California –   – 3 – 8   .273 Grove City –   – 3 – 9   .250 Tennessee –   – 2 – 6   .250 Cincinnati –   – 3 – 11   .214 North Central –   – 3 – 11   .214 Notre Dame –   – 2 – 10   .167 Richmond –   – 1 – 5   .167 Brown –   – 2 – 12   .143 Fairmount –   – 1 – 7   .125 Connecticut –   – 1 – 8   .111 Butler –   – 1 – 9   .100 Ole Miss –   – 0 – 3   .000 St. John's (NY) –   – 0 – 7   .000

Statistical leaders

Awards

Helms College Basketball All-Americans

Main article: 1919 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 1918–19 season.^[8]

Player	Team
Lance Farwell	Navy
Tony Hinkle	Chicago
Dutch Lonborg	Kansas
Leon Marcus	Syracuse
Dan McNichol	Penn
Arnold Oss	Minnesota
George Parrish	Virginia Tech
Erling Platou	Minnesota
Craig Ruby	Missouri
Andrew Stannard	Penn

Major player of the year awards

• Helms Player of the Year: Erling Platou, Minnesota (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
Alabama	Yancey Goodall		Bill Moore
Army	Ivens Jones		Joseph O'Shea
Bradley	Harold Olsen		Fred Brown
Brown	Louis Pieri		Ed Freeman
Bucknell	Haps Benfer		Malcolm Musser
Butler	Joe Mullane		F. E. Ellis
Central Missouri	Phog Allen		William N. Greim	Allen left to coach at Kansas.
Clemson	Edward Donahue		Country Morris
Colgate	Walt Hammond		William Reid
Columbia	Fred Dawson		Claus Benson
Connecticut	John F. Donahue		Ross Swartz
Cornell	Albert Sharpe		Howard Ortner	Sharpe left to coach Yale and be the athletic director and football coach.
Dayton	Al Mahrt		Harry Solimano
Denver	Charles Wingender		George Koonsman
Detroit	Royal R. Campbell		James M. Brown
Fordham	Edward Siskind		Arthur Devlin
Georgia	Kennon Mott		Herman Stegeman
Idaho	Wilfred C. Bleamaster		Ralph Hutchinson
Indiana	Dana Evans		Ewald O. Stiehm
Iowa	Edwin Bannick		James N. Ashmore
Iowa State	H. H. Walters		Punk Berryman
Kansas	W. O. Hamilton		Phog Allen
Kentucky	Thomas Andrew Gill		George Buchheit
Lafayette	Bill Anderson		William McAvoy
Lehigh	Roy Geary		J. Murphy
Louisiana State	R. E. Edmonds		Charles C. Stroud
Louisville	Earl Ford		Tuley Brucker
Miami (Ohio)	George Rider		George Little
Michigan	Elmer Mitchell		E. J. Mather
Missouri	John F. Miller		Walter Meanwell
Montana State	Fred Bennion		Walter D. Powell
NC State	Tal Stafford		Richard Crozier
Nebraska	E. J. Stewart		Paul J. Schissler
Nevada	Silas Ross		Ray Courtright
New Mexico	John F. McGough		Roy W. Johnson
Niagara	John O'Shea		John F. Blake
North Carolina	Howell Peacock		Fred Boye
North Dakota	Harry Caldwell		Phil J. Davis
North Dakota Agricultural	Curly Movold		Stanley Borleske
Northern Colorado	Ralph Glaze		William E. Search
Northwestern	Tom Robinson		J. Norman Elliott
Notre Dame	Jesse Harper		Gus Dorais
Ohio State	Lynn St. John		George Trautman
Oklahoma A&M	Earl A. Pritchard		Jim Pixlee
Ole Miss	Dudy Noble		R. L. Sullivan
Rhode Island State	Mysterious Walker		Fred Murray
Rice	Wilbur Tisdale		Leslie Mann
Richmond	Robert C. Marshall		Frank Dobson
Saint Joseph's	John Donahue		John Lavin
Santa Clara	Norbert Keefe		Robert E. Harmon
Southern California	Motts Blair		Gus Henderson
Tennessee	R. H. Fitzgerald		John R. Bender
Texas	Roy Henderson		Berry Whitaker
Toledo	Sam Monetta		Watt Hobt
Trinity (N.C.)	Henry Cole		Walter Rothensies
Utah State	Joseph Jensen		Dick Romney
Valparaiso	Sidney Winters		George Keogan
Vanderbilt	Ray Morrison		Guy T. Denton
VMI	Earl Abell		Pinky Spruhan
Wake Forest	Irving E. Carlyle		Bill Holding
West Virginia	H. P. Mullenex		Francis Stadsvold
Yale	Walter Mace		Albert Sharpe