1948–49 NCAA men's basketball rankings

The 1948–49 NCAA men's basketball rankings was made up of a single human poll – the AP Poll – with weekly editions released between January 18, 1949, and March 8, 1949.

1948–49 NCAA men's basketball rankings
Season	1948–49
NCAA Tournament	1949
NCAA Tournament Champions	Kentucky
NCAA men's basketball rankings 1949–50 →

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		New to rankings from previous week
Italics		Number of first place votes
(#–#)		Win–loss record
т		Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

AP Poll

This was the initial season for the AP college basketball poll. It was modeled after its college football poll, which began in the mid-1930s.^[1]

	Week 1 Jan. 17[1][2]	Week 2 Jan. 24[1][3]	Week 3 Jan. 31[1][4]	Week 4 Feb. 7[1][5]	Week 5 Feb. 14[1][6]	Week 6 Feb. 21[1][7]	Week 7 Feb. 28[1][8]	Final Mar. 7[1][9]
1.	Saint Louis (11–0) (69)	Saint Louis (12–1) (39)	Kentucky (13–1) (39)	Kentucky (17–1)	Kentucky (20–1)	Kentucky (22–1)	Kentucky (25–1)	Kentucky (29–1)	1.
2.	Kentucky (11–1) (16)	Kentucky (12–1) (33)	Saint Louis (13–1) (25)	Saint Louis (15–1)	Saint Louis (16–2)	Saint Louis (18–2)	Oklahoma A&M (19–4)	Oklahoma A&M (20–4)	2.
3.	Western Kentucky (12–0) (2)	Oklahoma A&M (10–2) (15)	Oklahoma A&M (11–2) (4)	Oklahoma A&M (13–2)	Oklahoma A&M (16–3)	Oklahoma A&M (17–3)	Saint Louis (19–3)	Saint Louis (20–3)	3.
4.	Minnesota (12–0) (3)	Western Kentucky (15–0) (9)	Illinois (13–1) (1)	Illinois (14–2)	Illinois (16–2)	Illinois (16–2)	Illinois (19–2)	Illinois (19–2)	4.
5.	Oklahoma A&M (9–2) (3)	Minnesota (13–0) (8)	Minnesota (13–1)	Hamline (15–0)	Tulane (19–2)	Minnesota (16–2)	Minnesota (18–2)	Western Kentucky (25–3)	5.
6.	San Francisco (13–1)	Illinois (12–1)	Western Kentucky (16–1) (1)	Western Kentucky (17–2)	Minnesota (15–2)	Tulane (20–2)	Western Kentucky (25–3)	Minnesota (18–3)	6.
7.	Illinois (12–1)	Hamline (13–0)	Villanova (12–1)	Minnesota (14–2)	Western Kentucky (20–3)	Western Kentucky (22–3)	Tulane (21–3)	Bradley (25–6)	7.
8.	Hamline (11–0)	Villanova (11–0)	Hamline (14–0)	Tulane (18–2)	San Francisco (19–4)	San Francisco (20–5)	San Francisco (21–5)	San Francisco (21–5)	8.
9.	Villanova (11–0)	San Francisco (15–2)	Stanford (17–2) (1)	San Francisco (18–3)	Hamline (17–1)	Bowling Green (18–6)	Bowling Green (20–6)	Tulane (24–4)	9.
10.	Utah (10–2)	Utah (13–2)	San Francisco (16–2)	Stanford (17–3)	Bowling Green (16–6)	Bradley (23–4)	Bradley (25–5)	Bowling Green (21–6)	10.
11.	Tulane (13–2)	Stanford (15–2)	Tulane (15–2)	Loyola-Chicago (16–3)	Butler (15–3)	Butler (17–3)	Butler (18–5)	Yale (21–5)	11.
12.	Loyola-Chicago (11–2)	Tulane (15–2)	Utah (14–3)	Utah (16–4)	Bradley (22–4)	Loyola-Chicago (18–4)	Wyoming (22–8)	Utah (24–7)	12.
13.	Cincinnati (8–1)	Loyola-Chicago (13–2)	Loyola-Chicago (14–2)	Villanova (13–3)	Loyola-Chicago (16–4)	Yale (18–4)	Utah (23–6)	NC State (25–8)	13.
14.	Holy Cross (8–5)	Washington State (18–1)	Bowling Green (10–6)	Bowling Green (12–6)	Utah (18–5)	Wyoming (22–6)	Loyola-Chicago (21–5)	Villanova (20–3)	14.
15.	Bowling Green (9–6)	NC State (11–7) (1)	NYU (7–3) т	Holy Cross (12–5)	Villanova (15–3)	Hamline (19–3)	NC State (22–8)	UCLA (21–5)	15.
16.	Bradley (15–3)	DePaul (10–6)	Butler (12–3) т	Butler (13–3)	Oklahoma (11–5)	Utah (20–6)	Hamline (23–3)	Loyola-Chicago (22–5)	16.
17.	Stanford (11–2)	Butler (11–3)	NC State (14–7)	Washington State (18–2)	DePaul (14–7) т	Duquesne (15–4)	Villanova (18–3)	Wyoming (24–8)	17.
18.	Washington State (17–1) т	Baylor (10–6) т	Bradley (19–3)	Ohio State (9–4)	NC State (17–8) т	Ohio State (11–6)	Yale (19–5)	Butler (18–5)	18.
19.	Butler (9–2) т	Bradley (18–3) т	Holy Cross (9–5)	Wyoming (17–6)	Wyoming (20–6) т	USC (12–8)	Ohio State (13–7)	Hamline (23–3)	19.
20.	NYU (7–3)	Holy Cross (9–5)	Eastern Kentucky (12–3)	Duquesne (13–2)	Duquesne (15–3) т Stanford (17–5) т Yale (15–4) т	Texas (16–5)	Arkansas (12–10)	Ohio State (14–7)	20.
	Week 1 Jan. 17[1][10]	Week 2 Jan. 24[1][11]	Week 3 Jan. 31[1][12]	Week 4 Feb. 7[1][13]	Week 5 Feb. 14[1][14]	Week 6 Feb. 21[1][15]	Week 7 Feb. 28[1][16]	Final Mar. 7[1][17]
		Dropped: Cincinnati (8–3) Bowling Green (9–6) NYU (7–3)	Dropped: Washington State (18–2) DePaul Baylor	Dropped: NYU NC State Bradley Eastern Kentucky	Dropped: Holy Cross Washington State Ohio State (9–6)	Dropped: Villanova Oklahoma DePaul NC State Stanford	Dropped: Duquesne USC Texas	Dropped: Arkansas (14–10)