The 1953–54 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1953, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the

1954 NCAA basketball tournament The 1954 NCAA basketball tournament involved 24 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8 and ended with the championship game on March 20 in ...

championship game on March 20, 1954, 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 t ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') 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 border ...

. The

La Salle Explorers The La Salle Explorers are the varsity sports teams from La Salle University in Philadelphia. The Explorers compete in NCAA Division I as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The men's and women's basketball teams also participate in the Phi ...

won their first NCAA national championship with a 92–76 victory over the

Bradley Braves The Bradley Braves are the intercollegiate athletics teams of Bradley University, located in Peoria, Illinois, United States. The Braves' athletic program is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) and competes at the Division I (NCAA), ...

Season headlines

* The

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

began play, with eight original members. *

Frank Selvy Franklin Delano Selvy (November 9, 1932 – August 13, 2024) was an American National Basketball Association (NBA) player who was best known for holding the record for the most points (100) in a Division I college basketball game. Born in Corb ...

of Furman scored 100 points in a 149–95 victory over

Newberry Newberry is a surname, a variant of Newbury. Notable people with the surname include: * Booker Newberry III (1956–2023), American singer and keyboardist * Brennan Newberry (born, 1990), American professional stock car racing driver * Brian Ne ...

in Greenville,

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, on February 13, 1954, becoming the first player to score 100 or more points in a game. Selvy finished the season with 1,209 points for the year, the first player to score 1,000 or more points in a single season. He also averaged 41.7 points per game for the season, the first player to average 40 or more points per game in a season, and finished his career (1952–1954) averaging 32.5 points a game, the first player to average 30 or more points per game during a collegiate career. * The NCAA tournament expanded from 22 to 24 teams. *

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

went undefeated, finishing with a 25–0 record. 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 owner ...

awarded its national championship to Kentucky rather than to the

champion, La Salle. It was the fourth and final time that the NCAA champion and the Helms champion differed. In the final AP Poll, taken after the completion of the

and the then-presitigious

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

, Kentucky was ranked No. 1 ahead of No. 2 La Salle (NCAA tournament champion) and No. 3 Holy Cross (

1954 National Invitation Tournament The 1954 National Invitation Tournament was the 1954 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. Selected teams Below is a list of the 12 teams selected for the tournament.

champion). * The NCAA tournament's

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

games were played on Friday and Saturday for the first time. * The NCAA tournament's championship game was televised nationally for the first time. The broadcast rights fee was $7,500.

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The Top 20 from the AP Poll and the UP

Coaches Poll In the United States, the Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has ...

during the pre-season.

Conference membership changes

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference standings

Major independents

A total of 42 college teams played as major independents. Among them, (26–2) and (26–2) had the best

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

(.929), and Holy Cross, Seattle, (26–3), and La Salle (26–4) finished with the most wins.

Statistical leaders

Post-season tournaments

NCAA tournament

Final Four

National Invitation tournament

Semifinals & finals

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Major player of the year awards

* Helms Player of the Year:

Tom Gola Thomas Joseph Gola (January 13, 1933 – January 26, 2014) was an American basketball player and politician. He is widely considered one of the greatest NCAA basketball players of all time. Gola was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball ...

, La Salle

Other major awards

* NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

metro area):

Ed Conlin Edward James Conlin (September 2, 1933 – September 21, 2012) was an American basketball player and coach. A 6'5" guard/ forward from Fordham University, Conlin played in the National Basketball Association from 1955 to 1962 as a member of the ...

Fordham Fordham may refer to: Education * Fordham Preparatory School, an all-male, Jesuit high school in New York City * Fordham University, a Jesuit university in New York City ** Fordham Rams, athletic teams of the above university ** Fordham University ...

Coaching changes

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1953-54 Ncaa Men's Basketball Season