1940–41 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team

The 1940–41 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team represented the University of Wisconsin. The head coach was Bud Foster, coaching his seventh season with the Badgers and were members of the Big Ten Conference. Wisconsin won their only NCAA title, defeating Washington State 39–34 in the championship game in Kansas City.

1940–41 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball
NCAA tournament National champions Big Ten regular season champions
National Championship Game, W 39–34 vs. Washington State
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	20–3 (11–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Harold E. Foster
Assistant coach	Fred Wegner
Home arena	Wisconsin Field House
Seasons ← 1939–40 1941–42 →

1940–41 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Wisconsin	11	–	1		.917			20	–	3		.870
Indiana	10	–	2		.833			17	–	3		.850
Illinois	7	–	5		.583			13	–	7		.650
Minnesota	7	–	5		.583			11	–	9		.550
Ohio State	7	–	5		.583			10	–	10		.500
Purdue	6	–	6		.500			13	–	7		.650
Michigan	5	–	7		.417			9	–	10		.474
Iowa	4	–	8		.333			12	–	8		.600
Northwestern	3	–	9		.250			7	–	11		.389
Chicago	0	–	12		.000			4	–	16		.200

The Badgers would not return to the National Championship game until 2015, where they lost to the Duke Blue Devils by a score of 68–63.

Schedule

Date time, TV	Opponent	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
12/02/1940*	vs. Ripon (WI)	W 39–20	1–0	Wisconsin Rapids, WI
12/07/1940*	Marquette	W 38–32	2–0	UW Fieldhouse  Madison, WI
12/14/1940*	Notre Dame	W 44–43	3–0	UW Fieldhouse  Madison, WI
12/18/1940*	Pittsburgh	L 34–36	3–1	UW Fieldhouse  Madison, WI
12/21/1940*	at Marquette	L 30–40	3–2	Marquette Gymnasium  Milwaukee, WI
12/31/1940*	vs. Princeton	W 52–40	4–2	Marquette Gymnasium  Milwaukee, WI
1/04/1941*	at Nebraska	W 46–31	5–2	Nebraska Coliseum  Lincoln, NE
1/06/1941	at Minnesota	L 27–44	5–3 (0–1)	Minnesota Field House  Minneapolis, MN
1/11/1941	Iowa	W 49–35	6–3 (1–1)	UW Fieldhouse  Madison, WI
1/13/1941	Purdue	W 48–42 OT	7–3 (2–1)	UW Fieldhouse  Madison, WI
1/18/1941	at Michigan	W 40–30	8–3 (3–1)	Yost Field House  Ann Arbor, MI
1/20/1941	at Chicago	W 44–37	9–3 (4–1)	Henry Crown Field House  Chicago, IL
1/25/1941	Ohio State	W 46–31	10–3 (5–1)	UW Fieldhouse  Madison, WI
2/08/1941*	Butler	W 59–55	11–3	UW Fieldhouse  Madison, WI
2/10/1941	at Northwestern	W 48–46 OT	12–3 (6–1)	Patten Gymnasium  Evanston, IL
2/15/1941	Illinois	W 46–30	13–3 (7–1)	UW Fieldhouse  Madison, WI
2/17/1941	at Purdue	W 43–42	14–3 (8–1)	Lambert Fieldhouse  West Lafayette, IN
2/22/1941	Chicago	W 65–25	15–3 (9–1)	UW Fieldhouse  Madison, WI
2/24/1941	at Indiana	W 38–30	16–3 (10–1)	IU Fieldhouse  Bloomington, IN
3/01/1941	Minnesota	W 42–32	17–3 (11–1)	UW Fieldhouse  Madison, WI
NCAA tournament
3/21/1941*	Dartmouth Quarterfinal	W 51–50	18–3	UW Fieldhouse  Madison, WI
3/22/1941*	Pittsburgh Semifinal	W 36–30	19–3	UW Fieldhouse  Madison, WI
3/29/1941*	vs. Washington State Final	W 39–34	20–3	Municipal Auditorium  Kansas City, MO
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Source:^[1]

Awards and honors

• Gene Englund, Consensus first team All-American
• John Kotz, NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player