1925–26 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1925–26 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1925, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1926.

Georgia Tech's team

1925–26 NCAA men's basketball season
Helms National Champions	Syracuse (retroactive selection in 1943)
Player of the Year (Helms)	Jack Cobb, North Carolina (retroactive selection in 1944)
← 1924–25 1926–27 →

Season headlines

1925–26 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team

• In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Syracuse as its national champion for the 1925–26 season.^[1]
• In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Syracuse as its national champion for the 1925–26 season.^[2]

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
Oklahoma A&M Aggies	Southwest Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
USC Trojans	Independent	Pacific Coast Conference
Union Dutchmen	Independent	Non-major basketball program
VMI Keydets	Independent	Southern Conference

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference	Regular season winner[3]	Conference player of the year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Big Ten Conference	Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, & Purdue	None selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Columbia	None selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Kansas	None selected	No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference	Oregon (North); California (South)		No Tournament; California defeated Oregon in best-of-three conference championship playoff series
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Colorado Agricultural & Colorado State Normal (Eastern); Utah & Utah Agricultural (Western)		No Tournament
Southern Conference	Kentucky	None selected	1926 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Municipal Auditorium (Atlanta, Georgia)	North Carolina[4]
Southwest Conference	Arkansas	None selected	No Tournament

Conference standings

1925–26 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Purdue 8 – 4   .667 13 – 4   .765 Indiana 8 – 4   .667 12 – 5   .706 Iowa 8 – 4   .667 12 – 5   .706 Michigan 8 – 4   .667 12 – 5   .706 Illinois 6 – 6   .500 9 – 8   .529 Ohio State 6 – 6   .500 10 – 7   .588 Minnesota 5 – 7   .417 7 – 10   .412 Wisconsin 4 – 8   .333 8 – 9   .471 Northwestern 4 – 8   .333 5 – 11   .313 Chicago 3 – 9   .250 5 – 12   .294	1925–26 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Columbia 9 – 1   .900 15 – 2   .882 Dartmouth 6 – 4   .600 11 – 7   .611 Penn 5 – 5   .500 14 – 7   .667 Princeton 5 – 5   .500 9 – 13   .409 Cornell 5 – 5   .500 8 – 12   .400 Yale 0 – 10   .000 5 – 15   .250	1925–26 Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Kansas 16 – 2   .889 16 – 2   .889 Oklahoma 9 – 3   .750 11 – 4   .733 Kansas State 9 – 3   .750 11 – 7   .611 Missouri 8 – 8   .500 8 – 10   .444 Nebraska 7 – 7   .500 8 – 10   .444 Drake 7 – 9   .438 9 – 9   .500 Washington University 7 – 9   .438 7 – 9   .438 Oklahoma A&M 5 – 7   .417 9 – 9   .500 Iowa State 3 – 11   .214 4 – 14   .222 Grinnell 1 – 13   .071 1 – 14   .067
1925–26 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT North Oregon 10 – 0   1.000 18 – 4   .818 Oregon Agricultural 6 – 4   .600 18 – 6   .750 Idaho 5 – 4   .556 15 – 10   .600 Washington 5 – 5   .500 10 – 6   .625 Montana 2 – 8   .200 5 – 10   .333 Washington State 1 – 8   .111 9 – 17   .346 South California † 5 – 0   1.000 14 – 0   1.000 Stanford 3 – 2   .600 10 – 6   .625 USC 0 – 6   .000 4 – 8   .333 † Conference playoff series winner	1925–26 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Eastern Northern Colorado 13 – 1   .929 13 – 5   .722 Colorado College 9 – 4   .692 9 – 4   .692 Wyoming 7 – 5   .583 12 – 5   .706 Colorado 7 – 5   .583 8 – 5   .615 Denver 5 – 7   .417 5 – 7   .417 Colorado Mines 3 – 7   .300 3 – 7   .300 Colorado Agricultural 2 – 10   .167 2 – 11   .154 Western State 0 – 5   .000 5 – 9   .357 Western Utah Agricultural 8 – 4   .667 13 – 5   .722 BYU 7 – 5   .583 11 – 5   .688 Montana State 5 – 7   .417 20 – 12   .625 Utah 4 – 8   .333 4 – 8   .333
1925–26 Southern Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Kentucky 8 – 0   1.000 15 – 3   .833 North Carolina† 7 – 0   1.000 20 – 5   .800 Mississippi 8 – 1   .889 16 – 2   .889 Maryland 7 – 1   .875 14 – 3   .824 Georgia 9 – 4   .692 18 – 6   .750 South Carolina 4 – 2   .667 9 – 5   .643 NC State 5 – 3   .625 20 – 3   .870 Mississippi A&M 5 – 3   .625 14 – 8   .636 Tulane 10 – 7   .588 11 – 7   .611 Alabama 6 – 6   .500 10 – 11   .476 Virginia 4 – 4   .500 9 – 6   .600 LSU 4 – 5   .444 9 – 9   .500 VMI 3 – 5   .375 8 – 6   .571 Georgia Tech 4 – 10   .286 6 – 11   .353 Virginia Tech 2 – 5   .286 3 – 10   .231 Washington and Lee 2 – 6   .250 9 – 7   .563 Tennessee 1 – 3   .250 9 – 8   .529 Vanderbilt 2 – 7   .222 8 – 18   .308 Auburn 1 – 7   .125 5 – 10   .333 Clemson 1 – 7   .125 4 – 17   .190 Sewanee 0 – 2   .000 4 – 6   .400 Florida 0 – 3   .000 7 – 7   .500 † Southern Conference Tournament winner As of April 30, 1926 Rankings from none	1925–26 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Arkansas 11 – 1   .917 23 – 2   .920 SMU 8 – 4   .667 10 – 6   .625 TCU 7 – 5   .583 13 – 9   .591 Texas 6 – 6   .500 12 – 10   .545 Baylor 5 – 7   .417 8 – 7   .533 Texas A&M 4 – 8   .333 8 – 9   .471 Rice 1 – 11   .083 1 – 13   .071

Independents

A total of 94 college teams played as major independents. Mount Union (10–0) was undefeated, and Notre Dame (19–1) and Syracuse (19–1) had the next-highest winning percentage (.950). North Dakota Agricultural (22–3) finished with the most wins.^[5]

1925–26 NCAA men's basketball independents standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Mount Union –   – 10 – 0   1.000 Notre Dame –   – 19 – 1   .950 Syracuse –   – 19 – 1   .950 Manchester –   – 15 – 1   .938 Lehigh –   – 13 – 1   .929 Washburn –   – 12 – 1   .923 Cincinnati –   – 17 – 2   .895 Muskingum –   – 17 – 2   .895 Dickinson –   – 15 – 2   .882 North Dakota Agricultural –   – 22 – 3   .880 UCLA –   – 14 – 2   .875 Massachusetts –   – 12 – 2   .857 New Mexico –   – 12 – 2   .857 Springfield (Mass.) –   – 10 – 2   .833 West Texas State –   – 14 – 3   .824 Fordham –   – 18 – 4   .818 Bradley –   – 15 – 4   .789 Duquesne –   – 15 – 4   .789 Western State Normal –   – 15 – 4   .789 Connecticut –   – 11 – 3   .786 Saint Mary's (Calif.) –   – 11 – 3   .786 Bowling Green State –   – 10 – 3   .769 Butler –   – 16 – 5   .762 Tempe State –   – 9 – 3   .750 Loyola (Md.) –   – 9 – 3   .750 Evansville –   – 8 – 3   .727 Richmond –   – 16 – 6   .727 St. John's (N.Y.) –   – 18 – 7   .720 New York University –   – 10 – 4   .714 St. Bonaventure –   – 15 – 6   .714 Western Kentucky State –   – 10 – 4   .714 Navy –   – 12 – 5   .706 Fairmount –   – 14 – 6   .700 Saint Louis –   – 9 – 4   .692 DePaul –   – 11 – 5   .688 Villanova –   – 11 – 5   .688 Detroit –   – 13 – 6   .684 Wake Forest –   – 13 – 6   .684 Bucknell –   – 8 – 4   .667 Colgate –   – 14 – 7   .667 Harvard –   – 8 – 4   .667 Niagara –   – 12 – 6   .667 Temple –   – 12 – 6   .667 New Mexico A&M –   – 13 – 7   .650 Army –   – 11 – 6   .647 Buffalo –   – 11 – 6   .647 Pittsburgh –   – 11 – 6   .647 CCNY –   – 9 – 5   .643 Brown –   – 10 – 6   .625 The Citadel –   – 10 – 6   .625 Ohio –   – 15 – 9   .625 Loyola (Ill.) –   – 13 – 8   .619 Muhlenberg –   – 9 – 6   .600 Marshall –   – 10 – 7   .588 Seton Hall –   – 7 – 5   .583 St. Ignatius –   – 8 – 6   .571 Denison –   – 9 – 7   .563 DePauw –   – 9 – 7   .563 Xavier –   – 10 – 8   .556 Creighton –   – 11 – 9   .550 Furman –   – 11 – 9   .550 Wooster –   – 8 – 7   .533 Carleton –   – 7 – 7   .500 Indiana State –   – 9 – 9   .500 Manhattan –   – 7 – 7   .500 Penn State –   – 7 – 7   .500 Rhode Island State –   – 8 – 8   .500 West Virginia –   – 10 – 11   .476 Davidson –   – 8 – 9   .471 Holy Cross –   – 8 – 9   .471 William & Mary –   – 8 – 9   .471 Dayton –   – 7 – 8   .467 Arizona –   – 6 – 7   .462 Boston University –   – 6 – 7   .462 Miami (Ohio) –   – 7 – 9   .438 Kent State Normal –   – 6 – 8   .429 Texas Tech –   – 6 – 8   .429 Tulsa –   – 7 – 10   .412 Duke –   – 8 – 12   .400 Canisius –   – 5 – 8   .385 Georgetown –   – 5 – 8   .385 Northern Arizona State –   – 5 – 8   .385 Marquette –   – 8 – 13   .381 Texas State M&M –   – 3 – 5   .375 George Washington –   – 5 – 9   .357 Louisville –   – 4 – 8   .333 Santa Clara –   – 5 – 10   .333 Lafayette –   – 6 – 13   .316 Valparaiso –   – 6 – 13   .316 Rutgers –   – 4 – 9   .308 Michigan State –   – 5 – 13   .278 Toledo –   – 3 – 8   .273 St. Joseph's –   – 4 – 11   .267 Saint Francis (N.Y.) –   – 1 – 6   .143

Statistical leaders

Awards

Helms College Basketball All-Americans

Main article: 1926 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 1925–26 season.^[6]

Player	Team
Jack Cobb	North Carolina
George Dixon	California
Richard Doyle	Michigan
Emanuel Goldblatt	Pennsylvania
Gale Gordon	Kansas
Vic Hanson	Syracuse
Carl Loeb	Princeton
Al Peterson	Kansas
George Spradling	Purdue
Algot Westergren	Oregon

Major player of the year awards

• Helms Player of the Year: Jack Cobb, North Carolina (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
Army	Ernest Blood		Leo Novak
Baylor	Frank Bridges		Ralph Wolf
Brown	Harold Evans		Tuss McLaughry
Bucknell	Malcolm Musser		John Plant
Butler	Harlan Page		Tony Hinkle
The Citadel	Locke Brown		Benny Blatt
Denver	Jimmy Middlebrook		Burt Potter
Georgia Tech	Harold Hansen		Roy Mundorff
Kentucky	Ray Eklund		Basil Hayden
Lehigh	Charles Lingle		Roy Geary
Loyola (Md.)	William Schuerholz		Pat Miller
Manhattan	Arthur T. Carroll		Chief Muller
Marshall	Charles Tallman		Bill Strickling
Michigan State	John Kobs		Benjamin Van Alstyne
Missouri	George Bond		George R. Edwards
Navy	Herb Underwood		John Wilson
Nebraska	Ernest Bearg		Charlie T. Black
North Carolina	Harlan Sanborn		James N. Ashmore
North Dakota Agricultural	Ion Cortright		Leonard Saalwaechter
Northern Arizona State	Talbert D. Jessuppe		Emzy Harvey Lynch
Saint Joseph's	John Lavin		Tom Temple
Saint Louis	Dan J. Savage		Squint Hunter
Santa Clara	Russell T. Wilson		Harlan Dykes
St. Bonaventure	Glen Carberry		Jack Flavin
St. Francis (N.Y.)	Frank Brennan		Nip Lynch
Stanford	Andrew Kerr		Husky Hunt
Temple	Samuel Dienes		James Usilton
Tennessee	M. B. Banks		W. H. Britton
Toledo	Louis Moorhead		David V. Connelly
Valparaiso	Millard Anderson		Conrad Moll
Villanova	Michael Saxe		John Cashman
Virginia Tech	M. Buford Blair		Henry Redd
Wake Forest	R. S. Hayes		James A. Baldwin
Washington State	Fred Bohler		Karl Schlademan