1920–21 NCAA men's basketball season

Men's collegiate basketball season

1920–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Helms National Champions	Penn (retroactive selection in 1943)
Player of the Year (Helms)	George Williams, Missouri (retroactive selection in 1944)
← 1919–20 1921–22 →

The 1920–21 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1920, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1921.

Rule changes

The basket was moved to 2 feet (0.6 m) from the baseline and the padded wall behind the basket was ruled out of bounds. Previously, players could climb the wall to get closer to the basket for a shot.^[1]^[2]
A new substitution rule allowed a player who left the game to re-enter it once. Previously, a player who left the game could not re-enter it.^[1]^[2]

Season headlines

The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference played the first college conference championship tournament. Kentucky won.^[3]
In February 1943, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected Penn as its national champion for the 1920–21 season.^[4]
In 1995, the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively selected Missouri as its national champion for the 1920–21 season.^[5]

Conference membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
Nebraska Cornhuskers	Independent	Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Phillips Haymakers	Southwest Conference	No major basketball program

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 Ten Conference	Michigan, Purdue & Wisconsin	None selected	No Tournament
Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League	Penn	None selected	No Tournament
Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Missouri	None selected	No Tournament
Pacific Coast Conference	Stanford		No Tournament
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference	Colorado		No Tournament
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association	none (see note)	None selected	1921 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball tournament	Municipal Auditorium (Atlanta, Georgia)	Kentucky^[7]
Southwest Conference	Texas A&M	None selected	No Tournament

NOTE: The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association did not have an official regular-season champion, but it sponsored the 1921 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball tournament, whose champion claimed the mythical title of "Champions of the South."^[4]

Conference standings

1920–21 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Michigan	8	–	4	.667	18	–	4	.818
Wisconsin	8	–	4	.667	13	–	4	.765
Purdue	8	–	4	.667	13	–	7	.650
Minnesota	7	–	5	.583	10	–	5	.667
Illinois	7	–	5	.583	11	–	7	.611
Indiana	6	–	5	.545	15	–	6	.714
Iowa	6	–	5	.545	9	–	9	.500
Chicago	6	–	6	.500	14	–	6	.700
Ohio State	2	–	10	.167	4	–	13	.235
Northwestern	1	–	11	.083	2	–	12	.143

1920–21 Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Penn	9	–	1	.900	21	–	2	.913
Dartmouth	7	–	3	.700	13	–	9	.591
Cornell	6	–	4	.600	12	–	10	.545
Princeton	4	–	6	.400	14	–	9	.609
Columbia	3	–	7	.300	7	–	9	.438
Yale	1	–	9	.100	9	–	17	.346

1920–21 Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Missouri	17	–	1	.944	17	–	1	.944
Nebraska	9	–	1	.900	15	–	3	.833
Kansas State	11	–	4	.733	14	–	5	.737
Kansas	10	–	8	.556	10	–	8	.556
Iowa State	6	–	8	.429	10	–	8	.556
Oklahoma	5	–	9	.357	10	–	8	.556
Drake	5	–	8	.385	10	–	8	.556
Grinnell	2	–	12	.143	6	–	12	.333
Washington University	2	–	16	.111	3	–	17	.150

1920–21 Pacific Coast Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Stanford	8	–	3	.727	15	–	3	.833
California	8	–	3	.727	15	–	4	.789
Washington	10	–	4	.714	18	–	4	.818
Oregon	8	–	4	.667	15	–	5	.750
Washington State	3	–	11	.214	12	–	16	.429
Oregon Agricultural	2	–	14	.125	6	–	17	.261

As of 1921^[8]

1920–21 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings
	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Colorado	6	–	0	1.000	8	–	0	1.000
Colorado College	3	–	2	.600	7	–	4	.636
Colorado Agricultural	2	–	4	.333	2	–	7	.222
Denver	0	–	5	.000	2	–	8	.200
Colorado Mines		–		–	5	–	2	.714

1920–21 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Texas A&M	10	–	2	.833	16	–	6	.727
Baylor	8	–	4	.667	13	–	11	.542
Texas	9	–	5	.643	13	–	5	.722
Rice	4	–	9	.308	5	–	10	.333
SMU	0	–	11	.000	6	–	13	.316

Independents

A total of 120 college teams played as major independents. Among independents that played at least 10 games, St. John's of Ohio (15–0) was undefeated, and Central Missouri (22–2), Oberlin (22–2), and Wabash (22–4) finished with the most wins.^[9]

1920–21 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Arizona		–		–	7	–	0	1.000
Holy Cross		–		–	2	–	0	1.000
St. John's (Ohio)		–		–	15	–	0	1.000
Navy		–		–	18	–	1	.947
Grove City		–		–	16	–	1	.941
North Dakota		–		–	14	–	1	.933
New York University		–		–	12	–	1	.923
Central Missouri		–		–	22	–	2	.917
Oberlin		–		–	22	–	2	.917
VMI		–		–	11	–	1	.917
New Mexico A&M		–		–	9	–	1	.900
Tulsa		–		–	18	–	2	.900
Fairmount		–		–	16	–	2	.889
Gettysburg		–		–	7	–	1	.875
Penn State		–		–	14	–	2	.875
Akron		–		–	11	–	2	.846
Wabash		–		–	22	–	4	.846
Brigham Young		–		–	10	–	2	.833
DePauw		–		–	15	–	3	.833
Utah		–		–	5	–	1	.833
Louisiana State		–		–	19	–	4	.826
Marquette		–		–	14	–	3	.824
Ohio		–		–	14	–	3	.824
Saint Francis (N.Y.)		–		–	14	–	3	.824
Butler		–		–	16	–	4	.800
Denison		–		–	12	–	3	.800
UCLA		–		–	8	–	2	.800
West Texas State		–		–	8	–	2	.800
Valparaiso		–		–	19	–	5	.792
Virginia Tech		–		–	19	–	5	.792
Idaho		–		–	15	–	4	.789
Niagara		–		–	15	–	4	.789
North Dakota Agricultural		–		–	15	–	4	.789
Tempe Normal		–		–	11	–	3	.786
Army		–		–	18	–	5	.783
Nevada		–		–	10	–	3	.769
Carleton		–		–	13	–	4	.765
Seton Hall		–		–	13	–	4	.765
Bucknell		–		–	12	–	4	.750
Millikin		–		–	18	–	6	.750
Ripon		–		–	9	–	3	.750
CCNY		–		–	11	–	4	.733
Lafayette		–		–	11	–	4	.733
Southwestern (Kan.)		–		–	19	–	7	.731
Colgate		–		–	16	–	6	.727
The Citadel		–		–	8	–	3	.727
William & Mary		–		–	8	–	3	.727
Virginia		–		–	13	–	5	.722
Georgetown		–		–	10	–	4	.714
Southern California		–		–	10	–	4	.714
Western State Normal		–		–	12	–	5	.706
Washington and Lee		–		–	9	–	4	.692
Creighton		–		–	13	–	6	.684
Indiana State		–		–	15	–	7	.682
Boston University		–		–	2	–	1	.667
Buffalo		–		–	12	–	6	.667
Kalamazoo		–		–	18	–	9	.667
Northern Colorado		–		–	6	–	3	.667
Saint Louis		–		–	12	–	6	.667
Vermont		–		–	10	–	5	.667
Loyola (Ill.)		–		–	7	–	4	.636
Temple		–		–	7	–	4	.636
Fordham		–		–	15	–	9	.625
Michigan State Normal		–		–	13	–	8	.619
Montana State		–		–	8	–	5	.615
Wooster		–		–	8	–	5	.615
Mount Union		–		–	11	–	7	.611
Trinity (N.C.)		–		–	9	–	6	.600
Miami (Ohio)		–		–	9	–	6	.600
Montana		–		–	12	–	8	.600
North Carolina		–		–	12	–	8	.600
Utah State		–		–	6	–	4	.600
Duquesne		–		–	10	–	7	.588
Rutgers		–		–	7	–	5	.583
Pittsburgh		–		–	12	–	9	.571
Syracuse		–		–	12	–	9	.571
Ole Miss		–		–	9	–	7	.563
Northern Arizona Normal		–		–	9	–	7	.563
Muhlenberg		–		–	14	–	11	.560
Canisius		–		–	5	–	4	.556
Detroit		–		–	10	–	8	.556
Springfield (Mass.)		–		–	10	–	8	.556
West Virginia		–		–	11	–	9	.550
Alabama		–		–	12	–	10	.545
Bowling Green State		–		–	8	–	7	.533
Villanova		–		–	8	–	7	.533
Rhode Island State		–		–	9	–	8	.529
Washburn		–		–	9	–	8	.529
St. John's (N.Y.)		–		–	10	–	9	.526
Union (N.Y.)		–		–	10	–	9	.526
Davidson		–		–	7	–	7	.500
Washington College		–		–	6	–	6	.500
Cincinnati		–		–	10	–	11	.476
Harvard		–		–	9	–	10	.474
Florida		–		–	5	–	6	.455
Bradley		–		–	7	–	9	.438
Connecticut		–		–	7	–	9	.438
Franklin		–		–	6	–	8	.429
Lehigh		–		–	6	–	8	.429
Wyoming		–		–	3	–	4	.429
Wake Forest		–		–	7	–	10	.412
Marshall		–		–	6	–	9	.400
Notre Dame		–		–	9	–	14	.391
Vanderbilt		–		–	8	–	13	.381
Kent State Normal		–		–	4	–	7	.364
Brown		–		–	5	–	9	.357
North Carolina State		–		–	6	–	14	.300
Xavier		–		–	3	–	7	.300
George Washington		–		–	4	–	10	.286
St. Joseph's		–		–	4	–	10	.286
Santa Clara		–		–	2	–	5	.286
Dayton		–		–	6	–	16	.273
Louisville		–		–	3	–	8	.273
Richmond		–		–	4	–	13	.235
Oklahoma A&M		–		–	2	–	9	.182
St. Bonaventure		–		–	2	–	13	.133
Toledo		–		–	1	–	12	.077
Manhattan		–		–	0	–	6	.000
Saint Mary's (Calif.)		–		–	0	–	2	.000
Texas Christian		–		–	0	–	3	.000

Statistical leaders

Awards

Helms College 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 1920–21 season.^[10]

Player	Team
R. D. Birkhoff	Chicago
Herb Bunker	Missouri
Everett Dean	Indiana
Forrest DeBernardi	Westminster (Mo.)
Edwin Durno	Oregon
Basil Hayden	Kentucky
Dan McNichol	Pennsylvania
Arnold Oss	Minnesota
Donald White	Purdue
George Williams	Missouri

Major player of the year awards

Helms Player of the Year: George Williams, Missouri (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
John O'Reilly			James Colliflower	After the conclusion of the 1920–21 season, O'Reilly suffered health problems that forced him to miss the next two seasons. For the 1921–22 season, Colliflower returned for a second stint as head coach, without pay.^[11]

References

^ ^a ^b orangehoops.org History of NCAA Basketball Rule Changes
^ ^a ^b Schleyer, Claudia, "The Rules of Basketball: Boy How They've Changed!", Youth Hoops 101 Accessed 15 May 2021
^ "Playing Rules History" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. p. 11. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Scott, Jon (November 9, 2010). "The truth behind the Helms Committee". Retrieved May 10, 2021.
^ ESPN, ed. (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. New York, NY: ESPN Books. pp. 526, 529–587. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
^ 2008–09 SoCon Men's Basketball Media Guide – Postseason Section, Southern Conference, retrieved 2009-02-09
^ "2017-18 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. p. 72. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
^ "1920-21 Men's Independent Season Summary". Sports Reference. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
^ The Association for Professional Basketball Research "NCAA All-American Teams, 1919–20 to 1998–99"
^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Head Coaches". Archived from the original on May 27, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2014.

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