1929–30 NCAA men's basketball season

The 1929–30 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1929, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1930.

1929–30 NCAA men's basketball season
Helms National Champions	Pittsburgh (retroactive selection in 1943)
Player of the Year (Helms)	Chuck Hyatt, Pittsburgh (retroactive selection in 1944)
← 1928–29 1930–31 →

Rules changes

• The practice of enclosing basketball courts in chicken wire, chain-link fencing, or rope — giving basketball the nickname "the cage game" — ended. Intended to increase the tempo of play by keeping the ball from going out of bounds, to protect players and rowdy spectators from each other, and to prevent fans from throwing objects onto the court, the use of these "cages" had led to rough physical play in which players body-checked each other into the barrier, resulting in injuries. The slang term "cager" for a basketball player derives from the use of these "cages."^[1][2]
• The number of referees increased from one to two.^[1]

Season headlines

• Pittsburgh defeated Montana State 37–36 in what was billed as a national championship game.^[3]
• In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Pittsburgh as its national champion for the 1929–30 season.^[4]
• In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Alabama as its national champion for the 1929–30 season.^[5]

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 Six Conference	Missouri	None selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Purdue	None selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Columbia	None selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Creighton & Washington University	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	Colorado (Eastern); Montana State & Utah State (Western)		No Tournament
Southern Conference	Alabama	None selected	1930 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Municipal Auditorium (Atlanta, Georgia)	Alabama[7]
Southwest Conference	Arkansas	None selected	No Tournament

Conference standings

1929–30 Big Six Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Missouri 8 – 2   .800 15 – 3   .833 Kansas 7 – 3   .700 14 – 4   .778 Nebraska 6 – 4   .600 9 – 9   .500 Iowa State 5 – 5   .500 9 – 8   .529 Kansas State 4 – 6   .400 9 – 7   .563 Oklahoma 0 – 10   .000 6 – 12   .333	1929–30 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Purdue 10 – 0   1.000 13 – 2   .867 Wisconsin 8 – 2   .800 15 – 2   .882 Illinois 7 – 5   .583 8 – 8   .500 Indiana 7 – 5   .583 8 – 9   .471 Michigan 6 – 4   .600 9 – 5   .643 Northwestern 6 – 6   .500 8 – 8   .500 Minnesota 3 – 9   .250 8 – 9   .471 Chicago 2 – 10   .167 5 – 12   .294 Ohio State 1 – 9   .100 4 – 11   .267 Iowa 0 – 0   – 4 – 13   .235	1929–30 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Columbia 9 – 1   .900 15 – 5   .750 Penn 7 – 3   .700 20 – 6   .769 Yale 4 – 6   .400 13 – 8   .619 Dartmouth 4 – 6   .400 11 – 9   .550 Princeton 3 – 7   .300 13 – 12   .520 Cornell 3 – 7   .300 6 – 12   .333
1929–30 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Creighton 6 – 2   .750 12 – 7   .632 Washington University 6 – 2   .750 8 – 8   .500 Drake 4 – 4   .500 10 – 9   .526 Grinnell 4 – 4   .500 6 – 9   .400 Oklahoma A&M 0 – 8   .000 1 – 15   .063	1929–30 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT North Washington 12 – 4   .750 21 – 7   .750 Washington State 9 – 7   .563 14 – 12   .538 Oregon 8 – 8   .500 14 – 12   .538 Oregon State 7 – 9   .438 14 – 13   .519 Idaho 4 – 12   .250 7 – 18   .280 South USC † 7 – 2   .778 15 – 5   .750 California 6 – 3   .667 9 – 8   .529 UCLA 3 – 6   .333 14 – 8   .636 Stanford 2 – 7   .222 10 – 9   .526 † Conference playoff series winner	1929–30 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Eastern Colorado 11 – 3   .786 11 – 6   .647 Wyoming 7 – 3   .700 13 – 6   .684 Colorado College 9 – 5   .643 20 – 11   .645 Western State 6 – 6   .500 9 – 6   .600 Denver 7 – 7   .500 10 – 7   .588 Northern Colorado 7 – 7   .500 7 – 7   .500 Colorado Agricultural 4 – 10   .286 4 – 10   .286 Colorado Mines 1 – 11   .083 1 – 11   .083 Western Utah State 7 – 5   .583 15 – 7   .682 Montana State 7 – 5   .583 21 – 10   .677 BYU 6 – 6   .500 23 – 7   .767 Utah 4 – 8   .333 15 – 12   .556
1929–30 Southern Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Alabama † 10 – 0   1.000 20 – 0   1.000 Duke 9 – 1   .900 18 – 2   .900 Kentucky 9 – 1   .900 16 – 3   .842 Washington and Lee 9 – 2   .818 16 – 4   .800 Tennessee 7 – 2   .778 13 – 4   .765 Georgia 7 – 3   .700 17 – 6   .739 Tulane 7 – 3   .700 16 – 7   .696 Clemson 8 – 4   .667 16 – 9   .640 Sewanee 5 – 3   .625 9 – 11   .450 Maryland 8 – 5   .615 16 – 6   .727 NC State 7 – 5   .583 11 – 6   .647 Ole Miss 6 – 6   .500 6 – 7   .462 LSU 6 – 7   .462 10 – 11   .476 Florida 2 – 3   .400 10 – 4   .714 Georgia Tech 5 – 8   .385 11 – 13   .458 North Carolina 4 – 7   .364 14 – 11   .560 VMI 2 – 6   .250 4 – 10   .286 Mississippi A&M 2 – 7   .222 5 – 8   .385 Virginia 2 – 8   .200 3 – 12   .200 Virginia Tech 2 – 10   .167 5 – 14   .263 Vanderbilt 1 – 9   .100 6 – 16   .273 Auburn 1 – 10   .091 1 – 10   .091 South Carolina 0 – 10   .000 6 – 10   .375 † Southern Conference Tournament winner	1929–30 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Arkansas 10 – 2   .833 16 – 7   .696 Texas 8 – 4   .667 12 – 8   .600 SMU 6 – 6   .500 8 – 10   .444 Baylor 4 – 6   .400 10 – 6   .625 Texas A&M 4 – 6   .400 8 – 10   .444 Rice 4 – 8   .333 7 – 9   .438 TCU 4 – 8   .333 7 – 10   .412

Major independents

A total of 92 college teams played as major independents. Northwest Missouri State (31–0) was undefeated and finished with the most wins. Pittsburg State (20–0) and Western State Teachers College (17–0) also were undefeated.^[8]

1929–30 NCAA men's basketball independents standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Northwest Missouri State –   – 31 – 0   1.000 Pittsburg State –   – 20 – 0   1.000 Western State Teachers –   – 17 – 0   1.000 St. John's (N.Y.) –   – 23 – 1   .958 Furman –   – 16 – 1   .941 Buffalo –   – 15 – 1   .938 East Central –   – 23 – 2   .920 Pittsburgh –   – 23 – 2   .920 Syracuse –   – 18 – 2   .900 Indiana State –   – 16 – 2   .889 Carleton –   – 14 – 2   .875 Westminster (Pa.) –   – 14 – 2   .875 Marshall –   – 13 – 2   .867 Temple –   – 18 – 3   .857 Wooster –   – 12 – 2   .857 Rider –   – 17 – 3   .850 New York University –   – 13 – 3   .813 New Mexico –   – 16 – 4   .800 Providence –   – 15 – 4   .789 CCNY –   – 11 – 3   .786 West Texas State –   – 18 – 5   .783 Cincinnati –   – 13 – 4   .765 Wichita Municipal –   – 14 – 4   .778 St. Bonaventure –   – 17 – 5   .773 Bradley –   – 13 – 4   .765 DePaul –   – 15 – 5   .750 Michigan State –   – 12 – 4   .750 William & Mary –   – 16 – 6   .727 Fordham –   – 13 – 5   .722 Loyola (Ill.) –   – 13 – 5   .722 Arizona –   – 15 – 6   .714 Rutgers –   – 10 – 4   .714 Manhattan –   – 12 – 5   .706 Notre Dame –   – 14 – 6   .700 Saint Louis –   – 14 – 6   .700 Santa Clara –   – 14 – 6   .700 Harvard –   – 9 – 4   .692 St. Ignatius –   – 9 – 4   .692 Texas Tech –   – 13 – 6   .684 Texas State M&M –   – 13 – 6   .684 Rhode Island State –   – 10 – 5   .667 Loyola (Md.) –   – 11 – 6   .647 Villanova –   – 11 – 6   .647 Duquesne –   – 18 – 10   .643 Lehigh –   – 9 – 5   .643 Davidson –   – 12 – 7   .632 Holy Cross –   – 12 – 7   .632 Mount Union –   – 10 – 6   .625 Navy –   – 10 – 6   .625 Army –   – 9 – 6   .600 Butler –   – 12 – 8   .600 Colgate –   – 12 – 8   .600 Louisville –   – 9 – 6   .600 Montana –   – 13 – 9   .591 Seton Hall –   – 13 – 9   .591 Springfield (Mass.) –   – 10 – 7   .588 LIU –   – 14 – 10   .583 Ohio –   – 12 – 9   .571 St. Joseph's –   – 12 – 9   .571 DePauw –   – 9 – 7   .563 George Washington –   – 9 – 7   .563 Connecticut –   – 8 – 7   .533 Muhlenberg –   – 9 – 8   .529 Northern Arizona State –   – 9 – 8   .529 Detroit –   – 10 – 9   .526 West Virginia –   – 11 – 10   .524 Georgetown –   – 13 – 12   .520 Xavier –   – 8 – 8   .500 Marquette –   – 11 – 12   .478 Richmond –   – 7 – 8   .467 New Mexico A&M –   – 12 – 14   .462 Lafayette –   – 9 – 11   .450 Niagara –   – 9 – 11   .450 The Citadel –   – 9 – 11   .450 Washburn –   – 8 – 13   .381 Brown –   – 7 – 12   .368 Penn State –   – 5 – 9   .357 Toledo –   – 5 – 9   .357 Arizona State –   – 6 – 11   .353 Boston University –   – 4 – 8   .333 Bucknell –   – 6 – 12   .333 Miami (Ohio) –   – 5 – 10   .333 Saint Francis (N.Y.) –   – 6 – 12   .333 Bowling Green State –   – 5 – 11   .313 Kent State –   – 4 – 9   .308 Canisius –   – 5 – 12   .294 Valparaiso –   – 4 – 11   .267 Saint Mary's (Calif.) –   – 5 – 15   .250 Tulsa –   – 2 – 6   .250 Western Kentucky State –   – 4 – 12   .250 Dayton –   – 4 – 14   .222 Wake Forest –   – 2 – 11   .154

Statistical leaders

Awards

Consensus All-American team

Main article: 1930 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

Consensus Team

Player	Class	Team
Charley Hyatt	Senior	Pittsburgh
Branch McCracken	Senior	Indiana
Stretch Murphy	Senior	Purdue
Cat Thompson	Senior	Montana State
Frank Ward	Senior	Montana State
John Wooden	Sophomore	Purdue

Major player of the year awards

• Helms Player of the Year: Chuck Hyatt, Pittsburgh (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
Arizona State	Aaron McCreary		Ted Shipkey	McCreary left to coach at Arizona State Teachers College at Flagstaff.
Arizona State Teachers College at Flagstaff	Rudy Lavik		Aaron McCreary
Auburn	Hal Lee		Sam J. McAllister
The Citadel	Benny Blatt		Johnny Douglas
Denver	Burt Potter		Stuart Clark
Detroit	Louis Conroy		Lloyd Brazil
George Washington	Joe Mitchell		Jim Pixlee
Georgetown	Bill Dudack		John Colrick	Georgetown did not rehire Dudack to coach for a second season.
Kentucky	John Mauer		Adolph Rupp	Mauer left to coach Miami (Ohio).
Louisville	Tom King		Edward Weber	King stayed with Louisville to continue being the athletic director.
Loyola (Md.)	John Menton		Tony Comerford
Marquette	Cord Lipe		Bill Chandler
Miami (Ohio)	Roy Tillotson		John Mauer
NC State	Gus Tebell		Ray Sermon	Tebell left to coach at Virginia.
Ole Miss	Homer Hazel		Ed Walker
Penn	Edward McNichol		Lon Jourdet
Saint Francis (N.Y.)	Edward Keating		George Hinchcliffe
Seton Hall	Frank Hill		Dan Steinberg
Stanford	Husky Hunt		John Bunn
Texas Tech	Victor Payne		W. L. Golightly
Tulane	Bernie Bierman		Claude Simons Sr.
Tulsa	J. B. Miller		Oliver Hodge
Virginia	Roy Randall		Gus Tebell
Virginia Tech	R. S. Warren		C. D. Rhodes
Wake Forest	Pat Miller		R. S. Hayes
Wyoming	George McLaren		Willard White