The 1929–30 NCAA men's basketball season began in December 1929, progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded in March 1930.

Rules changes

* The practice of enclosing basketball courts in

chicken wire The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and ...

chain-link fencing A chain-link fence (also referred to as wire netting, wire-mesh fence, chain-wire fence, cyclone fence, hurricane fence, or diamond-mesh fence) is a type of woven fence usually made from Galvanization, galvanized or linear low-density polyethy ...

, or rope — giving basketball the nickname "the cage game" — ended. Intended to increase the tempo of play by keeping the ball from going

out of bounds In sports, out of bounds (or out-of-bounds) refers to being outside the playing boundaries of the field. The legality of going out of bounds (intentionally or not), and the ease of prevention, vary by sport. Sports that use this term include Am ...

, to protect players and rowdy spectators from each other, and to prevent fans from throwing objects onto the court, the use of these "cages" had led to rough physical play in which players body-checked each other into the barrier, resulting in injuries. The slang term "cager" for a basketball player derives from the use of these "cages."Schleyer, Claudia, "The Rules of Basketball: Boy How They've Changed!", Youth Hoops 101 Accessed 15 May 2021
/ref>Hoop Tactics "The Evolution of Basketball: A Chronological Look At The Major Refinements" Accessed 15 May 2021
/ref> * The number of referees increased from one to two.

Season headlines

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

defeated

Montana State Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana, United States. It enrolls more students than any other college or university in the state. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's d ...

37–36 in what was billed as a national championship game. * 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 owner ...

retroactively selected Pittsburgh as its national champion for the 1929–30 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

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

as its national champion for the 1929–30 season.

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference standings

Major independents

A total of 92 college teams played as major independents. (31–0) was undefeated and finished with the most wins. (20–0) and (17–0) also were undefeated.

Rules changes

Season headlines

Regular season

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Conference standings

Major independents

Statistical leaders

Awards

Consensus All-American team

Major player of the year awards

Coaching changes

References