The 1970–71 NCAA University Division men's basketball season began in December 1970, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the

1971 NCAA University Division basketball tournament The 1971 NCAA University Division basketball tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1971, and ended with the champi ...

championship game on March 27, 1971, at the

Astrodome The NRG Astrodome, also known as the Houston Astrodome or simply the Astrodome, is the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium, located in Houston, Texas. It was financed and assisted in development by Roy Hofheinz, mayor of Housto ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. The

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

won their seventh NCAA national championship with a 68–62 victory over the Villanova Wildcats.

Season headlines

* The NCAA introduced a new rule prohibiting any team which turned down an invitation to the NCAA tournament from playing in any other postseason tournament. The effect of the rule is to prevent NCAA Tournament invitees from accepting a National Invitation Tournament instead, diminishing the quality of the pool of teams eligible to play in the NIT. *

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

won its fifth NCAA championship in a row, seventh overall, and seventh in eight seasons. In the Pacific 8 Conference, it also won its fifth of what ultimately would be 13 consecutive conference titles.

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The Top 20 from the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broa ...

and Coaches Poll during the pre-season.

Conference membership changes

Regular season

Conference winners and tournaments

Informal championships

Statistical leaders

Postseason tournaments

NCAA tournament

Final Four

* Third Place – Western Kentucky 77, Kansas 75

National Invitation tournament

Semifinals & finals

* Third Place – St. Bonaventure 92, Duke 88

Awards

Consensus All-American teams

Major player of the year awards

* Naismith Award: Austin Carr,

Notre Dame Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, th ...

* Helms Player of the Year: Austin Carr, Notre Dame, & Sidney Wicks,

* Associated Press Player of the Year: Austin Carr, Notre Dame * UPI Player of the Year: Austin Carr, Notre Dame * Oscar Robertson Trophy ( USBWA): Sidney Wicks, UCLA * ''Sporting News'' Player of the Year: Sidney Wicks, UCLA

Major coach of the year awards

* Associated Press Coach of the Year: Al McGuire, Marquette * Henry Iba Award ( USBWA):

John Wooden John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball coach and player. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, Los Angeles, Westwood, he won ten National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I men's basket ...

* NABC Coach of the Year:

Jack Kraft John Jack Kraft (February 10, 1921 – August 28, 2014) was an American basketball coach who coached Villanova for 12 years, from 1961 through 1973. He compiled a 238–95 record (.715). Kraft led Villanova to the NCAA Tournament six times, ...

, Villanova * UPI Coach of the Year: Al McGuire, Marquette * ''Sporting News'' Coach of the Year: Al McGuire, Marquette

Other major awards

* Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (Best player under 6'0): Charles Johnson,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

Robert V. Geasey Trophy The Robert V. Geasey Trophy is awarded to the most outstanding men's basketball player in the Philadelphia Big 5, an informal association of college athletic programs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The trophy does not represent the e ...

(Top player in Philadelphia Big 5):

Ken Durrett Kenneth L. Durrett (December 8, 1948 – January 7, 2001) was an American professional basketball player with the National Basketball Association's Kansas City Kings and Philadelphia 76ers. A Power forward (basketball), power forward, Durrett ...

, La Salle * NIT/Haggerty Award (Top player in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

metro area): Charlie Yelverton, Fordham

Coaching changes

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

References

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