The 1940–41 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1940, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1941 NCAA basketball tournament championship game on March 29, 1941, at Municipal Auditorium in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. The

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

won their first NCAA national championship with a 39–34 victory over the

Washington State Cougars The Washington State Cougars (known informally as the Cougs) are the athletic teams that represent Washington State University. Located in Pullman, Washington, WSU is a member of the Pac-12 Conference in NCAA Division I. The athletic program co ...

Season headlines

* The

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...

— considered until at least the mid-1950s to be more prestigious than the NCAA tournament — expanded from six to eight teams. * The

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, head men's basketball coach at the University o ...

turned over operation of the NCAA tournament to the NCAA itself. * In February 1943, the

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his ownership ...

retroactively selected

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

as its national champion for the 1940–41 season. * In 1995, the

Premo-Porretta Power Poll The Premo-Porretta Power Poll is a retroactive end-of-year ranking for American college basketball teams competing in the 1895–96 through the 1947–48 seasons. The Premo-Porretta Polls are intended to serve collectively as a source of informa ...

retroactively selected

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

as its national champion for the 1940–41 season.

Conference membership changes

Regular season

Conference winners and tournaments

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Semifinals & finals

National Invitation tournament

Semifinals & finals

* Third Place – CCNY 42, Seton Hall 27

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Major player of the year awards

* Helms Player of the Year:

George Glamack George Gregory Glamack (June 7, 1919 – March 10, 1987) was an American professional basketball player. Biography Born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, he was of Serbian origin. A 6'6" forward-center, Glamack attended the University of North Caroli ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

(retroactive selection in 1944)

Other major awards

* NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

metro area):

Jack Garfinkel Jack "Dutch" Garfinkel (June 13, 1918 – August 14, 2013) was an American basketball player. Garfinkel attended Thomas Jefferson High School (Brooklyn, New York), Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn and then nearby St. John's University (N ...

, St. John's

Coaching changes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1940-41 Ncaa Men's Basketball Season