1927–28 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1927–28 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1927, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1928.

1927–28 NCAA men's basketball season
Helms National Champions	Pittsburgh (retroactive selection in 1943)
Player of the Year (Helms)	Victor Holt, Oklahoma (retroactive selection in 1944)
← 1926–27 1928–29 →

Season headlines

• On April 9, 1927, the Joint Basketball Rules Committee announced a sudden change in dribbling rules, eliminating the continuous dribble that had become legal in the 1909–10 season and replacing it with the rule in use from the 1901–02 through 1908–09 seasons, which restricted each dribble to a single bounce.^[1][2] The committee made the change in the belief that elimination of the continuous dribble would make the game less rough and reward greater team play by encouraging more passing.^[2] In response, Kansas head coach Phog Allen founded the National Association of Basketball Coaches, which under his leadership sponsored a nationwide protest against the change.^[3] By May 1927, the committee had reversed its decision, and the continuous dribble remained legal.^[1][4]
• After the end of the 1927–28 season, the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) split into the Big Six Conference and the Missouri Valley Conference in May 1928. Both claimed to be a continuation of the MVIAA.
• In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Pittsburgh as its national champion for the 1927–28 season.^[5]
• In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Pittsburgh as its national champion for the 1927–28 season.^[6]

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
UCLA Bruins	Independent	Pacific Coast Conference

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference	Regular season winner[7]	Conference player of the year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Big Ten Conference	Indiana & Purdue	None selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Penn	None selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Oklahoma	None selected	No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference	Washington (North); USC (South)		No Tournament; USC defeated Washington in best-of-three conference championship playoff series
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Wyoming (Eastern); Montana State (Western)		No Tournament
Southern Conference	Auburn	None selected	1928 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Municipal Auditorium (Atlanta, Georgia)	Mississippi[8]
Southwest Conference	Arkansas	None selected	No Tournament

Conference standings

1927–28 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Indiana 10 – 2   .833 15 – 2   .882 Purdue 10 – 2   .833 15 – 2   .882 Wisconsin 9 – 3   .750 13 – 4   .765 Northwestern 9 – 3   .750 12 – 5   .706 Michigan 7 – 5   .583 10 – 7   .588 Chicago 5 – 7   .417 8 – 9   .471 Iowa 3 – 9   .250 6 – 11   .353 Ohio State 3 – 9   .250 5 – 12   .294 Illinois 2 – 10   .167 5 – 12   .294 Minnesota 2 – 10   .167 4 – 12   .250	1927–28 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Penn† 7 – 3   .700 22 – 5   .815 Princeton 7 – 3   .700 14 – 10   .583 Dartmouth 6 – 4   .600 19 – 8   .704 Cornell 5 – 5   .500 7 – 11   .389 Yale 3 – 7   .300 12 – 9   .571 Columbia 2 – 8   .200 4 – 13   .235 † Conference championship winner	1927–28 Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Oklahoma 18 – 0   1.000 18 – 0   1.000 Missouri 13 – 5   .722 13 – 5   .722 Oklahoma A&M 11 – 7   .611 11 – 8   .579 Kansas 9 – 9   .500 9 – 9   .500 Kansas State 8 – 10   .444 10 – 10   .500 Washington University 8 – 10   .444 10 – 12   .455 Drake 7 – 11   .389 7 – 13   .350 Nebraska 7 – 11   .389 7 – 11   .389 Grinnell 6 – 12   .333 6 – 13   .316 Iowa State 3 – 15   .167 3 – 15   .167
1927–28 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT North Washington 9 – 1   .900 22 – 6   .786 Oregon 8 – 2   .800 18 – 3   .857 Idaho 4 – 6   .400 7 – 7   .500 Oregon State 4 – 6   .400 15 – 16   .484 Montana 4 – 6   .400 6 – 8   .429 Washington State 1 – 9   .100 7 – 17   .292 South USC † 6 – 3   .667 22 – 4   .846 California 6 – 3   .667 9 – 6   .600 UCLA 5 – 4   .556 10 – 5   .667 Stanford 1 – 8   .111 8 – 13   .381 † Conference playoff series winner	1927–28 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Eastern Wyoming 9 – 3   .750 13 – 8   .619 Colorado College 9 – 5   .643 10 – 7   .588 Denver 8 – 6   .571 10 – 6   .625 Northern Colorado 8 – 6   .571 8 – 6   .571 Colorado 5 – 7   .417 5 – 7   .417 Colorado Agricultural 5 – 7   .417 5 – 7   .417 Colorado Mines 5 – 7   .417 5 – 7   .417 Western State 1 – 9   .100 10 – 12   .455 Western Montana State 11 – 1   .917 36 – 2   .947 Utah Agricultural 5 – 7   .417 7 – 7   .500 Utah 5 – 7   .417 7 – 10   .412 BYU 3 – 9   .250 13 – 10   .565
1927–28 Southern Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Auburn 12 – 1   .923 20 – 2   .909 Mississippi A&M 10 – 1   .909 13 – 7   .650 North Carolina 8 – 1   .889 17 – 2   .895 Maryland 8 – 1   .889 14 – 4   .778 Kentucky 8 – 1   .889 12 – 6   .667 LSU 7 – 3   .700 14 – 4   .778 Virginia 10 – 5   .667 20 – 6   .769 Georgia 8 – 5   .615 13 – 10   .565 VMI 5 – 5   .500 7 – 6   .538 Alabama 5 – 5   .500 10 – 10   .500 Clemson 5 – 7   .417 9 – 14   .391 South Carolina 4 – 7   .364 8 – 12   .400 Mississippi† 5 – 9   .357 10 – 9   .526 NC State 3 – 6   .333 10 – 8   .556 Vanderbilt 2 – 5   .286 5 – 7   .417 Virginia Tech 3 – 7   .300 5 – 11   .313 Washington and Lee 3 – 7   .300 5 – 12   .294 Florida 2 – 10   .167 5 – 16   .238 Sewanee 1 – 5   .167 2 – 7   .222 Tulane 3 – 15   .167 3 – 15   .167 Tennessee 0 – 8   .000 0 – 12   .000 † Southern Conference Tournament winner	1927–28 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Arkansas 12 – 0   1.000 19 – 1   .950 SMU 10 – 2   .833 14 – 3   .824 Texas 7 – 5   .583 12 – 5   .706 TCU 5 – 7   .417 9 – 8   .529 Rice 3 – 9   .250 3 – 9   .250 Baylor 2 – 8   .200 8 – 10   .444 Texas A&M 1 – 9   .100 4 – 12   .250

Independents

A total of 90 college teams played as major independents. Pittsburgh (21–0) finished both undefeated and with the most wins.^[9]

1927–28 NCAA men's basketball independents standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Pittsburgh –   – 21 – 0   1.000 Detroit City College –   – 18 – 1   .947 Carleton –   – 13 – 1   .929 Illinois Wesleyan –   – 13 – 1   .929 Georgetown –   – 12 – 1   .923 Springfield (Mass.) –   – 18 – 2   .900 Xavier –   – 9 – 1   .900 Butler –   – 19 – 3   .864 Santa Clara –   – 12 – 2   .857 Westminster (Pa.) –   – 17 – 3   .850 Furman –   – 15 – 3   .833 West Texas State –   – 19 – 4   .826 Evansville –   – 14 – 3   .824 Notre Dame –   – 18 – 4   .818 St. John's (N.Y.) –   – 18 – 4   .818 Arizona –   – 13 – 3   .813 Miami (Ohio) –   – 13 – 3   .813 Fordham –   – 16 – 4   .800 Loyola (Ill.) –   – 16 – 4   .800 Northern Arizona State –   – 12 – 3   .800 Connecticut –   – 11 – 3   .786 Cincinnati –   – 14 – 4   .778 Temple –   – 17 – 5   .773 Manhattan –   – 13 – 4   .765 Wooster –   – 13 – 4   .765 Bucknell –   – 16 – 5   .762 Pittsburg State –   – 16 – 5   .762 St. Ignatius –   – 16 – 5   .762 Louisville –   – 12 – 4   .750 Rhode Island State –   – 15 – 5   .750 William & Mary –   – 15 – 5   .750 Bradley –   – 14 – 5   .737 CCNY –   – 11 – 4   .733 Detroit –   – 11 – 4   .733 Michigan State –   – 11 – 4   .733 Valparaiso –   – 11 – 4   .733 Navy –   – 13 – 5   .722 The Citadel –   – 13 – 5   .722 Indiana State –   – 12 – 5   .706 Wichita Municipal –   – 14 – 6   .700 Seton Hall –   – 9 – 4   .692 Washburn –   – 9 – 4   .692 Dayton –   – 11 – 5   .688 Niagara –   – 11 – 5   .688 Richmond –   – 11 – 5   .688 Holy Cross –   – 13 – 6   .684 Duquesne –   – 15 – 7   .682 Tempe State –   – 10 – 5   .667 Army –   – 10 – 5   .667 Lehigh –   – 10 – 5   .667 Mount Union –   – 12 – 6   .667 Penn State –   – 10 – 5   .667 St. Bonaventure –   – 14 – 7   .667 West Virginia –   – 13 – 7   .650 George Washington –   – 11 – 6   .647 Duke –   – 9 – 5   .643 Rutgers –   – 9 – 5   .643 New Mexico –   – 12 – 7   .632 Syracuse –   – 10 – 6   .625 Canisius –   – 8 – 5   .615 Colgate –   – 12 – 8   .600 Lafayette –   – 10 – 7   .588 Western Kentucky State –   – 10 – 7   .588 New York University –   – 8 – 6   .571 Bowling Green State –   – 9 – 7   .563 Davidson –   – 9 – 7   .563 Texas Tech –   – 9 – 7   .563 Toledo –   – 9 – 7   .563 Harvard –   – 8 – 7   .533 Saint Francis (N.Y.) –   – 9 – 8   .529 Western State Teachers –   – 9 – 8   .529 Boston University –   – 8 – 8   .500 Buffalo –   – 8 – 8   .500 Marshall –   – 10 – 10   .500 Ohio –   – 10 – 10   .500 Saint Louis –   – 11 – 11   .500 DePauw –   – 8 – 9   .471 Saint Mary's (Calif.) –   – 7 – 8   .467 Texas State M&M –   – 6 – 8   .429 Brown –   – 7 – 10   .412 Marquette –   – 7 – 11   .389 Muhlenberg –   – 6 – 11   .353 St. Joseph's –   – 6 – 11   .353 Wake Forest –   – 6 – 14   .300 DePaul –   – 2 – 5   .286 Villanova –   – 4 – 11   .267 Loyola (Md.) –   – 4 – 12   .250 New Mexico A&M –   – 3 – 11   .214 Kent State Normal –   – 3 – 13   .188 Tulsa –   – 2 – 12   .143

Statistical leaders

Awards

Helms College Basketball All-Americans

Main article: 1928 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 1927–28 season.^[10]

Helms NCAA All-Americans

Player	Team
Victor Holt	Oklahoma
Charley Hyatt	Pittsburgh
Alfred James	Washington
Stretch Murphy	Purdue
Bennie Oosterbaan	Michigan
Sykes Reed	Pittsburgh
Glen Rose	Arkansas
Joe Schaaf	Penn
Ernest Simpson	Colorado College
Cat Thompson	Montana State

Major player of the year awards

• Helms Player of the Year: Victor Holt, Oklahoma (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
Auburn	Mike Papke		George Bohler
BYU	E. L. Roberts		G. Ott Romney
Cincinnati	Boyd Chambers		Frank E. Rice
Colgate	William Reid		Lloyd Jordan
Dartmouth	Leonard Wachter		Dolly Stark
Dayton	Harry Bujan		George Fitzgerald
Duke	George Buchheit		Eddie Cameron
Furman	Rock Norman		Dizzy McLeod	Norman left to coach at South Carolina.
Iowa State	Bill Chandler		Louis Menze	Chandler left to be an assistant coach at Wisconsin.
Loyola (Md.)	Pat Miller		Tony Comerford	Miller left to coach at Wake Forest.
Manhattan	Chief Muller		James Houlihan
Michigan	E. J. Mather		George F. Veenker
Montana State	G. Ott Romney		Schubert R. Dyche
New Hampshire	Butch Cowell		Henry Swasey
Oregon State	Robert Hager		Slats Gill
Saint Joseph's	Tom Temple		Bill Ferguson
Saint Louis	Harry Reget		Mike Nylkos
South Carolina	A. Burnet Stoney		Rock Norman
St. Bonaventure	Frederick V. Ostergren		Mike Reilly
Saint Francis (N. Y.)	Nip Lynch		Edward Keating
Texas State M&M	E. J. Stewart		Mack Saxon
Tulane	Claude Simons Sr.		Bernie Bierman
Virginia Tech	Bud Moore		I. E. Randall
Washington State	Karl Schlademan		Jack Friel	Schlademan left to coach the Washington State track team.
Wake Forest	James A. Baldwin		Pat Miller
Wichita Municipal	Leonard J. Umnus		Gene Johnson
Wyoming	Stewart Clark		George McLaren
Yale	George Taylor		Elmer Ripley