1974–75 NCAA Division I men's basketball season

The 1974–75 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1974, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1975 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Championship Game on March 31, 1975, at the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California. The UCLA Bruins won their tenth NCAA national championship with a 92–85 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats.

1974–75 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Preseason AP No. 1	NC State Wolfpack[1][2]
NCAA Tournament	1975
Tournament dates	March 15 – 31, 1975
National Championship	San Diego Sports Arena San Diego, California
NCAA Champions	UCLA Bruins
Helms National Champions	UCLA Bruins
Other champions	Princeton Tigers (NIT)
Player of the Year (Naismith, Wooden)	David Thompson, NC State Wolfpack
Player of the Year (Helms)	David Thompson, NC State Wolfpack
← 1973–74 1975–76 →

Season headlines

• The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament expanded from 25 to 32 teams.^[3]
• For the first time, teams other than the conference champion could be chosen at large from the same conference for the NCAA tournament. No more than two teams from any one conference could be chosen for the tournament until 1980,^[4] but the NCAA's decision to allow even as many as two teams per conference into the annual tournament threatened to greatly reduce or even eliminate the access of Division I independents — most of which were located in the Northeastern United States — to the tournament. This resulted in a steady decline in the number of independents in ensuing seasons as former independents formed conferences to ensure their access to an automatic tournament bid each year.^[5]
• In a 1975 Cleveland Plain Dealer article, sportswriter Ed Chay used the term "final four" to refer to the semifinals of the NCAA tournament, giving rise to a myth that this was the first such use of the term.^[4][6] In fact, the term "final four" already was in use in the 1960s.^[7][8]
• In the Pacific 8 Conference, UCLA won its ninth of what would ultimately be 13 consecutive conference titles.
• The National Commissioners Invitational Tournament (NCIT), a new postseason tournament created by the NCAA in 1974 as the Collegiate Commissioners Association Tournament to compete with the National Invitation Tournament, was played for the second and final time in 1975.

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

Main article: 1974–75 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

The top 20 from the AP Poll during the pre-season.^[9][10]

'Associated Press' Ranking Team 1 NC State 2 UCLA 3 Indiana 4 Maryland 5 Marqette 6 Kansas 7 South Carolina 8 Louisville 9 Alabama 10 USC 11 North Carolina 12 Notre Dame 13 Purdue 14 Providence 15 Memphis State 16 Kentucky 17 Michigan 18 Minnesota 19 Arizona 20 Penn

UPI Coaches Ranking Team 1 NC State 2 UCLA 3 Indiana 4 Louisville 5 North Carolina 6 USC 7 Marquette 8 Alabama 9 Kansas 10 Maryland 11 Notre Dame 12 South Carolina 13 Penn 14 Arizona State 15 Arizona 16 (tie) Oregon State Purdue 18 Memphis State 19 (tie) Michigan Oregon

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
American Eagles	Middle Atlantic Conference	East Coast Conference
Baptist Buccaneers	non-Division I	Division I independent
Bucknell Bison	Middle Atlantic Conference	East Coast Conference
Cal State Fullerton Titans	Non-Division I	Pacific Coast Athletic Association
Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens	Middle Atlantic Conference	East Coast Conference
Drexel Dragons	Middle Atlantic Conference	East Coast Conference
Hofstra Pride	Middle Atlantic Conference	East Coast Conference
La Salle Explorers	Middle Atlantic Conference	East Coast Conference
Lafayette Leopards	Middle Atlantic Conference	East Coast Conference
Lehigh Engineers	Middle Atlantic Conference	East Coast Conference
Rider Broncs	Middle Atlantic Conference	East Coast Conference
St. Joseph's Hawks	Middle Atlantic Conference	East Coast Conference
Saint Louis Billikens	Missouri Valley Conference	Division I independent
Temple Owls	Middle Atlantic Conference	East Coast Conference
West Chester Golden Rams	Middle Atlantic Conference	East Coast Conference

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference	Regular season winner[11]	Conference player of the year	Conference tournament	Tournament venue (City)	Tournament winner
Atlantic Coast Conference	Maryland	David Thompson, NC State[12]	1975 ACC men's basketball tournament	Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, North Carolina)	North Carolina
Big Eight Conference	Kansas	Alvan Adams, Oklahoma[13]	No Tournament
Big Sky Conference	Montana	None selected	No Tournament
Big Ten Conference	Indiana	None Selected	No Tournament
East Coast Conference	American & La Salle (East) Lafayette (West)	Wilbur Thomas, American (East) & Henry Horne, Lafayette (West)	1975 East Coast Conference men's basketball tournament	Kirby Sports Center (Easton, Pennsylvania)	La Salle
Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC)	Division I ECAC members played as independents during the regular season (see note)		1975 ECAC Metro Region tournament	Madison Square Garden (New York, New York)	Rutgers
			1975 ECAC New England Region tournament	Springfield Civic Center (Springfield, Massachusetts)	Boston College
			1975 ECAC Southern Region tournament	WVU Coliseum (Morgantown, West Virginia)	Georgetown
			1975 ECAC Upstate Region tournament	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium (Buffalo, New York)	Syracuse
Ivy League	Penn	Ron Haigler, Penn[14]	No Tournament
Mid-American Conference	Central Michigan	Dan Roundfield, Central Michigan[15]	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Conference	Louisville	Junior Bridgeman, Louisville	No Tournament
Ohio Valley Conference	Middle Tennessee	George Sorrell, Middle Tennessee	1975 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament	Murphy Center (Murfreesboro, Tennessee) (Semifinals and Finals)	Middle Tennessee
Pacific-8 Conference	UCLA	None Selected	No Tournament
Pacific Coast Athletic Association	Long Beach State	Bob Gross, Long Beach State	No Tournament
Southeastern Conference	Alabama & Kentucky	Kevin Grevey, Kentucky, & Bernard King, Tennessee[16]	No Tournament
Southern Conference	Furman	Clyde Mayes, Furman[17]	1975 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament	Greenville Memorial Auditorium (Greenville, South Carolina) (Semifinals and Finals)	Furman[18]
Southland Conference	McNeese State	Henry Ray, McNeese State[19]	No Tournament
Southwest Conference	Texas A&M	Rick Bullock, Texas Tech	No Tournament
West Coast Athletic Conference	UNLV	Ricky Sobers, UNLV	No Tournament
Western Athletic Conference	Arizona State	None Selected	No Tournament
Yankee Conference	Massachusetts	None Selected	No Tournament

NOTE: From 1975 to 1981, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), a loosely organized sports federation of colleges and universities in the Northeastern United States, organized Division I ECAC regional tournaments for those of its members that were independents in basketball. Each 1975 tournament winner received an automatic bid to the 1975 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament in the same way that the tournament champions of conventional athletic conferences did.^[20]

Conference standings

1974–75 ACC men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 5 Maryland 10 – 2   .833 24 – 5   .828 No. 9 North Carolina † 8 – 4   .667 23 – 8   .742 Clemson 8 – 4   .667 17 – 11   .607 No. 7 NC State 8 – 4   .667 22 – 6   .786 Virginia 4 – 8   .333 12 – 13   .480 Duke 2 – 10   .167 13 – 13   .500 Wake Forest 2 – 10   .167 13 – 13   .500 † 1975 ACC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll	1974–75 Big Eight Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Kansas 11 – 3   .786 19 – 8   .704 No. 15 Kansas State 10 – 4   .714 20 – 9   .690 Missouri 9 – 5   .643 18 – 9   .667 Nebraska 7 – 7   .500 14 – 12   .538 Oklahoma 6 – 8   .429 13 – 13   .500 Oklahoma State 5 – 9   .357 10 – 16   .385 Iowa State 4 – 10   .286 10 – 16   .385 Colorado 4 – 10   .286 7 – 19   .269 Rankings from AP Poll[21]	1974–75 Big Sky men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Montana 13 – 1   .929 21 – 8   .724 Idaho State 9 – 5   .643 16 – 10   .615 Boise State 7 – 7   .500 13 – 13   .500 Gonzaga 7 – 7   .500 13 – 13   .500 Weber State 6 – 8   .429 11 – 15   .423 Montana State 5 – 9   .357 11 – 15   .423 Northern Arizona 5 – 9   .357 9 – 17   .346 Idaho 4 – 10   .286 10 – 16   .385
1974–75 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 3 Indiana 18 – 0   1.000 31 – 1   .969 No. 19 Michigan 12 – 6   .667 19 – 8   .704 Minnesota 11 – 7   .611 18 – 8   .692 Purdue 11 – 7   .611 17 – 11   .607 Michigan State 10 – 8   .556 17 – 9   .654 Ohio State 8 – 10   .444 14 – 14   .500 Iowa 7 – 11   .389 10 – 16   .385 Wisconsin 5 – 13   .278 8 – 18   .308 Illinois 4 – 14   .222 8 – 18   .308 Northwestern 4 – 14   .222 6 – 20   .231 Rankings from AP Poll	1974–75 ECC men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT East American 5 – 1   .833 16 – 10   .615 La Salle † 5 – 1   .833 22 – 7   .759 Temple 4 – 2   .667 7 – 19   .269 Hofstra 3 – 3   .500 11 – 13   .458 Saint Joseph's 3 – 3   .500 8 – 17   .320 West Chester 1 – 5   .167 8 – 17   .320 Drexel 0 – 6   .000 12 – 11   .522 West Lafayette 7 – 1   .875 22 – 6   .786 Rider 5 – 3   .625 16 – 11   .593 Bucknell 4 – 4   .500 14 – 12   .538 Delaware 4 – 4   .500 12 – 13   .480 Lehigh 0 – 8   .000 1 – 23   .042 † 1975 ECC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll	1974–75 Ivy League men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Pennsylvania 13 – 1   .929 23 – 5   .821 No. 12 Princeton 12 – 2   .857 22 – 8   .733 Brown 9 – 5   .643 14 – 12   .538 Harvard 9 – 5   .643 12 – 13   .480 Dartmouth 5 – 9   .357 8 – 18   .308 Cornell 4 – 10   .286 7 – 18   .280 Columbia 2 – 12   .143 4 – 22   .154 Yale 2 – 12   .143 3 – 20   .130 Rankings from AP Poll
1974–75 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Central Michigan 10 – 4   .714 22 – 6   .786 Toledo 9 – 5   .643 17 – 9   .654 Bowling Green State 9 – 5   .643 18 – 10   .643 Miami (Ohio) 8 – 5   .615 19 – 7   .731 Western Michigan 8 – 6   .571 16 – 10   .615 Eastern Michigan 4 – 9   .308 12 – 14   .462 Ohio 4 – 10   .286 12 – 14   .462 Kent State 3 – 11   .214 6 – 20   .231 Rankings from AP Poll	1974–75 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 4 Louisville 12 – 2   .857 28 – 3   .903 New Mexico State 11 – 3   .786 20 – 7   .741 No. 16 Drake 9 – 5   .643 19 – 10   .655 Bradley 7 – 7   .500 15 – 11   .577 Wichita State 6 – 8   .429 11 – 15   .423 Tulsa 5 – 9   .357 15 – 14   .517 West Texas State 3 – 11   .214 9 – 17   .346 North Texas State 3 – 11   .214 6 – 20   .231 Southern Illinois 0 – 0   – 18 – 9   .667 Rankings from AP Poll	1974–75 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Middle Tennessee† 12 – 2   .857 23 – 5   .821 Western Kentucky 11 – 3   .786 16 – 8   .667 Austin Peay State 10 – 4   .714 17 – 10   .630 Tennessee Tech 7 – 7   .500 13 – 12   .520 Morehead State 5 – 9   .357 13 – 13   .500 East Tennessee State 5 – 9   .357 9 – 14   .391 Murray State 3 – 11   .214 10 – 15   .400 Eastern Kentucky 3 – 11   .214 7 – 18   .280 † Ohio Valley Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll
1974–75 Pacific-8 Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 1 UCLA 12 – 2   .857 28 – 3   .903 No. 18 Oregon State 10 – 4   .714 19 – 12   .613 USC 8 – 6   .571 18 – 8   .692 California 7 – 7   .500 17 – 9   .654 Oregon 6 – 8   .429 21 – 9   .700 Washington 6 – 8   .429 16 – 10   .615 Stanford 6 – 8   .429 12 – 14   .462 Washington State 1 – 13   .071 10 – 16   .385 Rankings from AP Poll[22]	1974–75 Pacific Coast Athletic Association men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Long Beach State 8 – 2   .800 19 – 7   .731 San Diego State 6 – 4   .600 14 – 13   .519 Fresno State 5 – 5   .500 16 – 10   .615 San Jose State 4 – 6   .400 16 – 13   .552 Cal State Fullerton 4 – 6   .400 13 – 11   .542 Pacific 3 – 7   .300 12 – 14   .462 Rankings from AP Poll[23]	1974–75 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 2 Kentucky 15 – 3   .833 26 – 5   .839 No. 10 Alabama 15 – 3   .833 22 – 5   .815 Auburn 12 – 6   .667 18 – 8   .692 Tennessee 12 – 6   .667 18 – 8   .692 Vanderbilt 10 – 8   .556 15 – 11   .577 Florida 8 – 10   .444 12 – 16   .429 LSU 6 – 12   .333 10 – 16   .385 Mississippi State 5 – 13   .278 9 – 17   .346 Ole Miss 4 – 14   .222 8 – 18   .308 Georgia 3 – 15   .167 8 – 17   .320 Rankings from AP Poll
1974–75 Southern Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Furman† 12 – 0   1.000 22 – 7   .759 East Carolina 11 – 3   .786 19 – 9   .679 William & Mary 6 – 5   .545 16 – 12   .571 Richmond 7 – 7   .500 10 – 16   .385 VMI 6 – 6   .500 13 – 13   .500 Davidson 4 – 6   .400 7 – 19   .269 The Citadel 2 – 11   .154 5 – 15   .250 Appalachian State 1 – 11   .083 3 – 23   .115 † Southern Conference Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll	1974–75 Southland Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT McNeese State 6 – 2   .750 16 – 8   .667 Louisiana Tech 5 – 3   .625 12 – 13   .480 Lamar 4 – 4   .500 7 – 16   .304 Arkansas State 3 – 5   .375 13 – 12   .520 Texas-Arlington 2 – 6   .250 6 – 20   .231 Southwestern Louisiana* 0 – 0   – 0 – 0   – * – Served second season of NCAA two-season ban on competing. Rankings from AP Poll[24]	1974–75 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Texas A&M 12 – 2   .857 20 – 7   .741 Texas Tech 11 – 3   .786 18 – 8   .692 Arkansas 11 – 3   .786 17 – 9   .654 Texas 6 – 8   .429 10 – 15   .400 Baylor 6 – 8   .429 10 – 16   .385 TCU 4 – 10   .286 9 – 16   .360 SMU 4 – 10   .286 8 – 18   .308 Rice 2 – 12   .143 5 – 21   .192 Rankings from AP Poll
1974–75 West Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 17 UNLV 13 – 1   .929 24 – 5   .828 San Francisco 9 – 5   .643 19 – 7   .731 Pepperdine 8 – 6   .571 17 – 8   .680 Loyola Marymount 7 – 7   .500 14 – 12   .538 Saint Mary's 7 – 7   .500 14 – 12   .538 Seattle 6 – 8   .429 8 – 18   .308 Santa Clara 4 – 10   .286 10 – 16   .385 Nevada 2 – 12   .143 10 – 16   .385 Rankings from AP Poll[25]	1974–75 WAC men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT No. 8 Arizona State 12 – 2   .857 25 – 4   .862 UTEP 10 – 4   .714 20 – 6   .769 Arizona 9 – 5   .643 22 – 7   .759 Utah 7 – 7   .500 17 – 9   .654 Colorado State 6 – 8   .429 14 – 12   .538 BYU 5 – 9   .357 12 – 14   .462 New Mexico 4 – 10   .286 13 – 13   .500 Wyoming 3 – 11   .214 10 – 16   .385 Rankings from AP Poll[26]	1974–75 Yankee Conference men's basketball standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Massachusetts 10 – 2   .833 18 – 8   .692 Connecticut 9 – 3   .750 18 – 10   .643 Vermont 8 – 4   .667 16 – 10   .615 Boston University 7 – 4   .636 12 – 13   .480 Rhode Island 3 – 7   .300 5 – 20   .200 New Hampshire 2 – 10   .167 6 – 18   .250 Maine 1 – 10   .091 11 – 14   .440

Division I independents

A total of 83 college teams played as Division I independents. Among them, Texas–Pan American (22–2) had the best winning percentage (.917) and Centenary (25–4) finished with the most wins.^[27]

1974–75 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT Texas–Pan American –   – 22 – 2   .917 UNC Charlotte –   – 23 – 3   .885 Centenary (LA) –   – 25 – 4   .862 No. 11 Marquette –   – 23 – 4   .852 Stetson –   – 22 – 4   .846 No. 13 Cincinnati –   – 23 – 6   .793 Utah State –   – 21 – 6   .778 Rutgers –   – 22 – 7   .759 Creighton –   – 20 – 7   .741 Memphis State –   – 20 – 7   .741 South Alabama –   – 19 – 7   .731 No. 6 Syracuse –   – 23 – 9   .719 Holy Cross –   – 20 – 8   .714 Oral Roberts –   – 20 – 8   .714 Boston College –   – 21 – 9   .700 Florida State –   – 18 – 8   .692 Portland State –   – 18 – 8   .692 UC Santa Barbara –   – 18 – 8   .692 VCU –   – 17 – 8   .680 South Carolina –   – 19 – 9   .679 St. John's –   – 21 – 10   .677 No. 14 Notre Dame –   – 19 – 10   .655 Detroit –   – 17 – 9   .654 No. 20 Providence –   – 20 – 11   .645 Georgetown –   – 18 – 10   .643 George Washington –   – 17 – 10   .630 Pittsburgh –   – 18 – 11   .621 Houston –   – 16 – 10   .615 Illinois State –   – 16 – 10   .615 Tulane –   – 16 – 10   .615 Virginia Tech –   – 16 – 10   .615 Canisius –   – 15 – 10   .600 DePaul –   – 15 – 10   .600 Northeast Louisiana –   – 15 – 10   .600 South Florida –   – 15 – 10   .600 Seton Hall –   – 16 – 11   .593 Jacksonville –   – 15 – 11   .577 Duquesne –   – 14 – 11   .560 Hawaii –   – 14 – 11   .560 Saint Peter's –   – 15 – 12   .556 Cleveland State –   – 13 – 11   .542 Manhattan –   – 14 – 12   .538 Air Force –   – 13 – 12   .520 LIU –   – 13 – 12   .520 St. Bonaventure –   – 14 – 13   .519 West Virginia –   – 14 – 13   .519 Cal State Los Angeles –   – 13 – 13   .500 Marshall –   – 13 – 13   .500 Navy –   – 12 – 12   .500 Northeastern –   – 12 – 12   .500 Fairfield –   – 13 – 14   .481 Niagara –   – 13 – 14   .481 Fordham –   – 12 – 13   .480 Penn State –   – 11 – 12   .478 Indiana State –   – 12 – 14   .462 Oklahoma City –   – 12 – 14   .462 Saint Louis –   – 12 – 14   .462 Fairleigh Dickinson –   – 11 – 13   .458 Portland –   – 13 – 16   .448 Saint Francis (PA) –   – 11 – 14   .440 Georgia Tech –   – 11 – 15   .423 Southern Miss –   – 11 – 15   .423 Xavier –   – 11 – 15   .423 Ball State –   – 10 – 15   .400 Loyola-Chicago –   – 10 – 15   .400 Butler –   – 10 – 16   .385 Dayton –   – 10 – 16   .385 Denver –   – 9 – 16   .360 Northern Illinois –   – 8 – 15   .348 Houston Baptist –   – 9 – 17   .346 Mercer –   – 9 – 17   .346 Samford –   – 9 – 17   .346 Colgate –   – 8 – 16   .333 Villanova –   – 9 – 18   .333 Buffalo –   – 8 – 17   .320 Georgia Southern –   – 8 – 18   .308 Georgia State –   – 8 – 18   .308 Wisconsin-Milwaukee –   – 8 – 18   .308 St. Francis (NY) –   – 7 – 19   .269 Baptist –   – 4 – 16   .200 Hardin-Simmons –   – 5 – 20   .200 Iona –   – 4 – 19   .174 Army –   – 3 – 22   .120 Rankings from AP Poll[28]

Informal championships

Conference	Regular season winner	Most Valuable Player
Philadelphia Big 5	La Salle	Ron Haigler, Penn

La Salle finished with a 4–0 record in head-to-head competition among the Philadelphia Big 5.

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Main articles: 1975 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament and 1975 NCAA Division I Basketball Championship Game

Final Four

	National semifinals					National finals
	E	Syracuse	79
	ME	Kentucky	95
						ME	Kentucky	85
						W	UCLA	92
	MW	Louisville	74
	W	UCLA	75			Third place
						E	Syracuse	88
						MW	Louisville	96

National Invitation tournament

Main article: 1975 National Invitation Tournament

Semifinals & finals

	Semifinals				Finals
	Providence	85
	St. John's	72
					Providence	69
					Princeton	80
	Oregon	79
	Princeton	58			Third place
					St. John's	76
					Oregon	80

National Commissioners Invitational Tournament

Main article: 1975 National Commissioners Invitational Tournament

The Collegiate Commissioners Association Tournament debuted the previous season as a new postseason tournament created by the NCAA to compete with the NIT. Renamed the National Commissioners Invitational Tournament, it was played for the second and last time in 1975.

Semifinals & final

	Semifinals				Final
	Drake	78
	Bowling Green State	65
					Drake	83
					Arizona	76
	Arizona	102
	Purdue	96

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Main article: 1975 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

Consensus First Team

Player	Position	Class	Team
Adrian Dantley	F	Sophomore	Notre Dame
John Lucas	G	Junior	Maryland
Scott May	F	Junior	Indiana
Dave Meyers	F	Senior	UCLA
David Thompson	G/F	Senior	North Carolina State

Consensus Second Team

Player	Position	Class	Team
Luther Burden	G	Junior	Utah
Leon Douglas	F/C	Junior	Alabama
Kevin Grevey	G	Senior	Kentucky
Ron Lee	G	Junior	Oregon
Gus Williams	G	Senior	Southern California

Major player of the year awards

• Naismith Award: David Thompson, NC State
• Helms Player of the Year: David Thompson, NC State
• Associated Press Player of the Year: David Thompson, NC State
• UPI Player of the Year: David Thompson, NC State
• NABC Player of the Year: David Thompson, NC State
• Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): David Thompson, NC State
• Adolph Rupp Trophy: David Thompson, NC State
• Sporting News Player of the Year: David Thompson, NC State

Major coach of the year awards

• Associated Press Coach of the Year: Bob Knight, Indiana
• Henry Iba Award (USBWA): Bob Knight, Indiana
• NABC Coach of the Year: Bob Knight, Indiana
• UPI Coach of the Year: Bob Knight, Indiana
• Sporting News Coach of the Year: Bob Knight, Indiana

Other major awards

• Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player under 6'0): Monte Towe, NC State
• Robert V. Geasey Trophy (Top player in Philadelphia Big 5): Ron Haigler, Penn
• NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in New York City metro area): Phil Sellers, Rutgers

Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.

Team	Former Coach	Interim Coach	New Coach	Reason
Army	Dan Dougherty		Mike Krzyzewski
Hardin–Simmons	Russell Berry		Preston Vice
Illinois	Gene Bartow		Lou Henson	Bartow left for UCLA and was replaced by New Mexico State coach Lou Henson.
New Mexico State	Lou Henson		Ken Hayes
Tulsa	Ken Hayes		Jim King
UCLA	John Wooden		Gene Bartow	Wooden announced his retirement during the 1975 Final Four, where he won his record tenth NCAA title. He was replaced by Illinois head coach Bartow.